WOODSTOCK — For almost four decades, Killington, Vt., resident John Hurley has been at the helm of West Woodstock’s casual eatery, the White Cottage Snack Bar.

This summer, Hurley plans to expand the restaurant’s reach by opening a food truck next to the Woodstock Green.

“I just really felt that a lot of restaurants in downtown Woodstock have closed, and there’s a need for it,” Hurley said in an interview.

He plans to have the truck operational by the end of next week and keep it running through mid-October.

The trailer-style truck, which will be staffed by two or three existing employees, will be open from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays through Mondays.

Hurley declined to give the exact cost of the food truck, but said that it was “over $50,000.”

He plans to accent the truck’s black exterior with the snack bar’s logo and some additional text.

“It should look nice,” he said. “I’m not going to junk it up.”

The truck’s interior will feature a 36-inch charbroiler for cooking burgers, a 36-inch flat top, two fryolators and a fridge for storing sodas.

Like the brick and mortar location, the food truck will offer a menu of hamburgers, fried foods, soft drinks and other casual lunch items.

Hurley has opted to leave ice cream off the menu, he said, to avoid competing with Woodstock Scoops, the ice cream shop located on Central Street, a short walk from the green.

There are no ordinances regarding food trucks in the village, and Hurley did not have to acquire a peddler’s license because the truck is in the street; he simply needs to pay the parking fee for the two spots that the truck will occupy opposite the courthouse.

In order to reserve the spots, which he may be able to pay for ahead of time through the Woodstock Police Department in the future, Hurley will set up orange cones each night before the truck is open.

Hurley said he hopes the food truck will help White Cottage garner business from summer tourists who opt to eat in the town’s center, rather than venturing to West Woodstock.

“I don’t think I’ll be competing with myself that much,” he said.

Despite Woodstock being a popular destination for leaf peepers and summer tourists, the Village Butcher, a high-end market that serves a selection of sandwiches and grinders, Mon Vert Cafe, and Dr. Coburn’s Tonic, an American-style eatery on Elm Street, are among the few lunch options in the center of the village.

Hurley said one of his goals is to provide downtown with more daytime food offerings, especially on Mondays, when the Village Butcher and Dr. Coburn’s Tonic are both closed.

“I look at downtown White River Junction and it’s kind of kicking Woodstock’s ass in the food department,” Hurley said.

Hartford’s downtown village includes eateries such as Big Fatty’s BBQ, C&S Pizza, Phnom Penh Sandwich Station, the Turkish restaurant Tuckerbox and its sister store, Cappadocia Cafe, which offers a selection of traditional pastries, coffee, wraps and salads.

“For our visitors, it’s beneficial,” Beth Finlayson, executive director of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce, said of the White Cottage food truck.

Kim Smith, who owns Central Street storefronts Woodstock Scoops, 37 Central Clothiers and Red Wagon Toy Company, voiced concerns that the food truck is only a temporary fix to Woodstock’s shortage of midday meal options.

“I would rather have someone go into an empty space and fill the need the year-round than be seasonal,” she said in a Thursday phone interview.

But “if it has to be someone,” she said, she’s glad it’s a local business.

Smith was concerned about other vendors following Hurley’s lead.

“I just don’t want to see a bunch of food trucks around the Green. I just don’t think it’s pretty,” she said.

In a Village Trustees meeting on May 13, Gail Stickney, who lives opposite the green, said that having the food truck there would be “dreadfully unattractive.”

Stickney also voiced concern about the truck facing into traffic and urged Hurley to find another spot.

“I say this all the time, I don’t care for food trucks on the green,” she said.

With the exception of the Mon Vert Mini, which operates on private land opposite the brick and mortar store, Woodstock has never had a long-term seasonal food truck, Finlayson said.

She said it’s possible that more regulations will be put in place regarding food trucks in town.

“It depends on how (residents on the green) present a case to the trustees,” she said, noting that they pay some of the largest property tax bills in town.

Marion Umpleby can be reached at mumpleby@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.