Food Truck Law Changes Could be Decided Wednesday

After months of discussion and public input, Elk Grove officials this week could make a change to the laws that govern where food trucks can set up and how long they can stay there.

The Elk Grove City Council is scheduled to discuss potential changes to the city's mobile food vendor laws at its meeting Wednesday. The changes could allow food trucks like those at the popular and events to set up anywhere in the city, and stay there longer.

Current restrictions say the trucks can only set up for 15 minutes at a time on public streets, and must stop selling at 2 p.m. The proposed changes would extend those limits to two hours and 10 p.m.

, but pushed back a decision so staff could get more input. According to a staff report, one of the major sticking points was a proposal to require food trucks to stay 350 feet away from brick-and-mortar restaurants. 

The staff report advises against such a stipulation, because a Los Angeles court has already struck down a similar law.

"The court found there is no difference between a restaurant and other types of business such as a gas station," the staff report states. "The court went on to state this type of regulation was simply a restraint on trade and an attempt to protect local brick-and-mortar restaurants from competition by mobile food vendors."

The , restaurant owner Franco Casella and the newly created  support the 350-foot limit, while the SactoMofo group opposes it.

Some also aruge the time cutoff for food trucks should be extended to 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., the staff report states.

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Elk Grove City Council meeting
6 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 22
Elk Grove City Council Chambers, 7400 Laguna Palms Way 

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