Your favourite food truck finally has a place to park at the park.

After two years in the planning slow cooker, a pilot project to allow food trucks in six city parks is expected to kick off in May.

If council signs off on the proposal, up to three food trucks per location will be able to apply for $50 daily permits for parks such as Confederation, Sam Lawrence, Turner, Bayfront, Pier 4 and Heritage Green. Truck limits would change for special events.

The culinary experiment was a long time coming, said Gorilla Cheese owner Graeme Smith, who pleaded for the change in 2012.

"I feel like I've reminded them four times since then, but . I'm pretty excited about it," he said. "Seriously, why should people in parks not have access to drinks and food? It just always seemed like a no-brainer to me."

Councillor Chad Collins said food truck vendors and their fans have had a long wait because of ongoing disagreements over how to regulate the pilot, tweeting Monday he originally pitched the idea to staff "before the Beatles broke up."

He also convinced the public works committee to add Confederation Park to the list.

The city updated its bylaws in 2012 to make it easier for food trucks to operate on city streets - but the move was not without controversy. After some restaurant operators opposed the idea of mobile competitors setting up outside their doors, the city set new limits for the distance allowed between the restaurants and the food trucks.

While some of the proposed park locations have few restaurants in the area, others are well known for their permanent park grub - such as Hutch's on the Beach near Confederation Park and the separately owned Hutch's Harbour Front at Bayfront Park.

The owner of the latter, Rod Styles, said extra competition won't help him recover from a Bay Street bridge rebuild that has routed customers away from his restaurant for months.

"I'm not really crazy about the idea," he said, adding he wasn't approached by the city for feedback on the food truck plan. "But I guess there's not much I can do about it."

The staff report said the chosen parks attract large numbers of visitors, are already zoned for restaurant use and have no volunteer charitable groups selling food already. Staff emphasized the benefits of a "diverse culinary experience" and the prospect of attracting new visitors.

The pilot will run only in the summer, when parks have more city staff on hand.

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Smith said he'd love to see year-round permits, along with trucks in more parks.

"I pitched the idea originally as a way to get more people using our skating rinks."