Truckin'

City Council Bounces Food Trucks From Mid-Wilshire

Scram!
Scram! Photo: RicardoDiaz11/Flickr

Wilshire-bound brick and mortars in Miracle Mile have triumphed in a fight against food trucks brewing since the summer of 2009, when the rolling restaurants first tasted a dramatic upswing in popularity. The L.A. City Council approved a measure this week that bans any over-sized trucks (those bigger than 22-feet) from parking on Wilshire Boulevard, in the Museum District between Fairfax and La Brea from the hours of 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., in addition to two other Wilshire passes, including the stretch between Orange Grove Avenue and Ogden Drive. The move effectively chases food trucks away from one of their more lucrative centers of lunchtime activity.

Council members cited safety concerns in justification of the measure, with no mention of its intent to placate the animosity felt towards the mobile vendors by existing businesses, with Tom LaBonge fretting that the large vehicles restrict driver visibility. Southern California Food Vendors Association’s Matt Geller disputes this argument for a lack of evidence and tells Park La Brea News, “The real losers are all the consumers.”

Of course, if we know the organization like we think we do, the real winners will be likely a mob of lonchera litigation lawyers.

L.A. City Council Approves Ordinance Restricting Food Truck Parking Near LACMA [CBS]

Earlier: South Pasadena Wants Food Trucks Out [GS]
Monrovia Would Rather Have Korean Tacos Than a Lawsuit [GS]
Are Food Trucks Hoarding Parking Before Abbot Kinney’s “First Fridays? [GS]

City Council Bounces Food Trucks From Mid-Wilshire