Kingsport Junction opens with fanfare, food trucks

KINGSPORT — Just in time for summer, Kingsport Junction celebrated its grand opening and ribbon cutting on Friday afternoon.City representatives, community members and food truck owners alike gathered at the new food truck space to commemorate more than a year's worth of effort. The ribbon cutting kicked off the park's weekend-long festivities."We are thrilled to have the opening of Kingsport Junction today in downtown Kingsport," said Robin Cleary, executive director of the Downtown Kingsport Association. "It takes a lot of things to make your downtown a vital area — food trucks are one of them. We've had them in downtown Kingsport for quite a while, but you're not sure where to find them, and we don't always have them at lunchtime."Cleary thanked co-founder Travis Featherstone for his work on a "great new addition" to downtown, which is located at 134 Cherokee St."You could have opened this up and done it anywhere, but you chose to do it in downtown Kingsport, and we're very grateful for that," she said. "So congratulations, and welcome to downtown."Kingsport Mayor Paul Montgomery said it was a "special day" to be celebrating the opening of another new business in the area. He recognized both Featherstone and business co-founder Nando Martinez as West Point graduates and thanked them for their service."Travis is such a great entrepreneur and such a great citizen for us here in Kingsport," he added.Both Featherstone and Martinez said they were appreciative of the gathered crowd and the support so far on their journey to open Kingsport Junction. According to Featherstone, Kingsport Junction was inspired by other food truck lot models."Food truck lots are common across the country, but being able to bring it here to East Tennessee, I think it gives the food trucks and these small businesses a larger runway," Featherstone said. "It also gives the community a consistent way to find them."Opening weekendFor opening weekend, Friday through Sunday, the following food trucks are scheduled to be available:• Qué Bolá Cuban Food• Blue Crab Bites• Wetzel's Pretzels• Dylan's Asian 1• Southern Flo• Dip's Ice CreamMi Cocina is planned to be there during the evening on opening weekend; Spud Wagon will be there Saturday night only, according to a Kingsport Junction social media post by Kingsport Junction.John King is scheduled to provide live music from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.The park will serve lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. seven days a week, dependent on whether food trucks booked for each day."A lot of it's going to be dependent on the food trucks themselves," Featherstone. "So as they book and they look at their calendars and different festivals and fairs that are going on throughout the year, we're hoping that in between then they'll be able to want to come here and serve lunchtime downtown Kingsport on a Tuesday — but the majority of the events are going to be Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday."Project backgroundElectrical and accessory structure commercial permits were previously approved for the park in April 2024, according to city of Kingsport permit records.The Kingsport Junction website states food trucks can reserve a spot at the site for single day, four-day weekday and three-day weekend use — as well as for corporate or private events.The Kingsport Board of Zoning Appeals listened to Featherstone's request for zoning interpretation/administrative review for the project at its Oct. 12, 2023, meeting.He submitted an application to the board on Sept. 14, 2023, according to the meeting agenda packet.Featherstone was "seeking an accessory structure designation from the Board concerning a proposed building on his lot that will house a bathroom, supply closet and picnic benches for people to use at his proposed food truck lot," the meeting minutes state.The board voted 3-0 to approve the request for the building.For more information, visit https://www.kingsportjunction.com/ or visit "The Kingsport Junction" Facebook page.What: Kingsport Junction food truck park/lotWhen: Opening weekend (May through May 11), hours 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch; 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for dinner. Further operations will vary depending on amount of booked food trucks.Where: 134 Cherokee Street in Kingsport