Food Truck Regulation

The Sacramento City Council recently enacted an ordinance drastically restricting the ways in which mobile food vendors can do business in the City.

The truth is, most of these trucks do business from private property and pose no nuisance at all. And even though the ordinance claims to only regulate "operation on the public right-of-way," the city has been known to enforce it against trucks in private parking lots, as well, even if they have permission from the property owner to sell at that location.

Of course, these trucks should continue to be required to pass all health inspections imposed by the County. And, they need to abide by all noise ordinances and not disrupt nearby residences and businesses. However the ordinance needs to be revisited.

As written, the time restrictions alone are so limiting they make it almost impossible for these legitimate business men and women to survive. Why are we unnecessarily regulating these businesses out of business? Claims that there is a correlation between the presence of these trucks and crime in nearby areas are completely unsubstantiated. Further, food trucks are quickly becoming an exciting part of the restaurant scenes of cities across the country. Unfortunately, Sacramento is on track to miss the boat.