PoPo Lu holds drawings Thursday of the new food truck court she has planned at 121 Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville. Lu’s food trailer is shown behind her. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — The owner of a food truck court expected to open next spring at 121 Kennedy Memorial Drive must make some changes to the property such as replacing a recently installed fence, as required by the Planning Board.

A fence that Zhanpo “PoPo” Lu installed around the perimeter of the lot must be removed and replaced with a 6-foot-tall stockade fence and that fence must extend to the back of the property along Merryfield Avenue, planners told Lu at their meeting Tuesday.

The board reviewed initial plans for the food truck court June 25 and approved final plans July 24. At the time, planners said Lu must erect a stockade fence.

But the fence in place now is not a stockade fence and the wood won’t withstand the weather, Dan Bradstreet, the city’s code enforcement officer, told the board Tuesday. He also said the fence is lower than 6 feet high in places, and it must be 6 feet tall.

“It’s got some stability issues,” Bradstreet said. “I don’t think it will last the winter, essentially.”

Lu and her family own the half-acre lot and an adjoining lot behind it, off Merryfield Avenue, which they plan to use for food truck employee parking. Combined, the lots total about 1.25 acres.

Streets behind the proposed lot, such as Merryfield Avenue, and Carver, Brigham and Yeaton streets, are in a residential area. The proposed food truck court is located across KMD from Prompto 10 Minute Oil Change, Carroll’s Car Care and Aroma Joe’s Coffee.

The food trucks would be situated around the perimeter of the lot facing KMD, with traffic entering off KMD and exiting right only onto that road. Water and sewer would be connected to a small building to be built on the front of the lot, according to plans. The food truck court would close at 8 p.m., which is required by the property’s zoning.

PoPo Lu walks along Merryfield Avenue on Thursday, at right, where she plans to build a fence next to the food truck court she has planned at 121 Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The board originally had required Lu to plant a row of greenery along Merryfield Avenue as a buffer but on Tuesday, they asked that she extend the stockade fence along Merryfield instead to help block headlights at the food truck court from shining into windows of homes on Merryfield.

Merryfield resident Alden Gordon was one of a handful of neighbors who wanted to know what type of buffer would be installed along his street.

Board members debated the buffer issue at length, with some saying they thought a fence and arbor vitae hedge would be best, while others, including David Johnson and Scott Beale, saying that requiring both would be costly for Lu.

Board member Tom Nale Sr. said that greenery would take some five years to grow enough to block headlights and the immediate solution would be a stockade fence. “That will block out more light than anything,” Nale said.

Board member Cassie Julia also didn’t like the idea of having just greenery.

“Five years is an awfully long time to wait for headlights to stop shining in your windows and if it was my home, I’d be mad,” she said.

Johnson made a motion, seconded by Julia, to require the stockade fence.

Lu also said she would move a trash receptacle from where it was planned on the northeast corner of the lot to the northwest corner so as not to bother neighbors.

At the lot Thursday afternoon, Lu said she understands neighbors’ concerns and wants them to be satisfied with her plans.

She said she hopes to open the food truck court in the spring and start with six food trucks. She has received a lot of input from food truck owners interested in locating there, she said. Lu and her husband, Linjie Gu, plan to serve traditional Chinese food at their own food truck there.

“It’s not easy for food truck owners to find a place,” she said.