Let me sell my taco! Food truck owners bite back over city rules on where they can operate

Want a quick hot dog, taco or barbecue sandwich for lunch downtown?

Forget about it — say two food truck owners who filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday arguing that a Louisville ordinance is making it unnecessarily difficult for food trucks to operate on city streets.

Troy King of Pollo food truck and Robert Martin of Red's Comfort Food said their businesses enliven Louisville but that they are hindered by a city rule that prohibits mobile food vendors from operating within 150 feet of a restaurant with a similar menu.

With their lawsuit, the pair hopes to get the ordinance repealed.

"We get complaints from restaurants, which I really don't understand because if you have McDonald's and Burger King across the street from each other, neither one of them are calling about the other," King said.

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Martin said he has been fined and threatened with having his truck towed from several locations downtown — places his regular customers know as his typical haunts.

"This suit is about nepotism, cronyism and favoritism ... all the food truckers want is a level playing field and for the customers to decide," he said.

Several local food truck owners said they have recently started noticing "no food trucks" signs going up in prime pedestrian locations, such as the corner of Fifth and Market streets.

City officials said they could not comment on the intent of the signs because of the pending litigation. But food truck owners have linked them to the proximity rule, which says mobile food vendors cannot operate within 150 feet of any restaurant that offers a "main featured item or items" similar to a nearby eating establishment unless given permission by that brick-and-mortar business.

Possible consequences for breaking the rule include fines, jail time or loss of license, said Arif Panju, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a civil liberties group that is representing the food truck operators in the suit. 

"We've been asked to move when we've been downtown because a restaurant nearby sold sandwiches," said Chris Williams, owner of 502 Cafe. "We sell barbecue."

Williams said he thinks the regulation should be changed because there are so many restaurants downtown that the rule could practically exile food trucks from high-traffic areas.

Mayor Greg Fischer streamlined rules for food truck operators during his first term in office. Those rules established that food trucks must follow the same health rules as brick-and-mortar restaurants, carry insurance and meet other peddler standards.

Panju, a lawyer for the Institute for Justice, said that "operating a business should not turn on whether your competitor sells something similar."

"The ban is designed to shut down food trucks and protect restaurants from honest competition," he said.

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The suit alleges the city is depriving King and Martin of their rights to pursue a lawful occupation free from unreasonable governmental interference. It seeks to block the 150-foot proximity ban and $1 in damages for each client. 

Fischer spokesman Chris Poynter said the city does not comment on pending litigation. 

Metro Councilman Brandon Coan, who attended Wednesday's press conference, helped write the food truck law in 2011 as a policy adviser in the Fischer administration.

"I believe in the past six years we've seen a lot of success with the number of food truck operators skyrocketing that employ a lot of people, provide the city revenue and feed a lot of happy customers," he said.

Coan said the proximity ban was developed to prevent "unfair competition" between traditional restaurants and mobile vendors. He said he hasn't seen the "no food trucks" signs but that he is open to revisiting the law if needed.

The Institute for Justice has spearheaded other cases that have led to the repeal of similar food truck proximity restrictions in El Paso and San Antonio, Texas. It is also involved in ongoing litigation against Baltimore and Chicago's regulations, where the cases are in trial and under appeal respectively.

Charlie Neal, co-owner of the Kentucky Taco Co., said food trucks serve a different customer base than sit-down lunch restaurants. He said he finds it ridiculous that any restaurant owners or city officials would be upset about more local operators adding to the overall food scene.

"We're supposedly such a mecca for food and culture, but I feel like we're still very close-minded when it comes to sharing the community," Neal said.

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Max Balliet, owner of the Holy Molé food truck, said that he agrees that the 150-foot regulation should be changed and that he'd like more restaurant owners to be on board with food trucks in their districts.

"Restaurant owners that I've talked with that I think have the healthiest approach to it want their neighborhood to be filled with food trucks because that makes their neighborhood cooler," said Balliet, who is working on opening his own restaurant, Lupo. "... They may think they own the area because they signed a lease on the spot, but that's not the way it works. You can't fight progress."

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com. Reporter Bailey Loosemore can be reached at 502-582-4646 or bloosemore@courier-journal.com.