New Food Truck Regulations Passed

On Monday, the City Council, approved new regulations on food trucks in San Diego. 

Read the full article from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

“The new regulations, which some mobile vendors say will harm their businesses, were necessary because there currently are no municipal code provisions that govern trucks serving food to the general public on private property, most notably in commercial areas.

“The net effect of the ordinance, expected to go into effect sometime in April, will be to disallow trucks in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, and portions of several beach areas. In addition, late-night operations in dense urban areas will be prohibited where food trucks are parked close to homes.

“The council did make one change Monday in response to concerns raised by truck owners over a requirement that permits must be obtained by property owners who want to host a food truck. No such permit would be required for industrially zoned land, and the council agreed to waive the permit as well for commercial office parks. The cost for obtaining such permits is between $491 to $935 for each location, a cost likely borne by the food truck owners.

“Other regulations include:

•Food trucks would be outlawed within eight blocks in the Gaslamp Quarter along Fifth Avenue and a six-block area of Little Italy.

•No food trucks would be allowed within the first two to three blocks adjacent to the beach in such communities as Ocean Beach, parts of Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla.

•A prohibition on food trucks within “parking-impacted neighborhoods” surrounding San Diego State, University of San Diego and UC San Diego.

UPDATE: City Has Banned 2 Food Truck Gatherings So Far

UPDATE: City Has Banned 2 Food Truck Gatherings So Far

food truck gatherings banned9/27/13: The second casualty of new mayor Todd Gloria’s crackdown on food truck laws in San Diego is the Mission Valley gathering on Wednesday nights.

9/24/13: The first casualty was the downtown gathering at the San Diego Civic Center. We received this information from food truck event organizer Curbside Bites:

The weekly food truck gathering at the Downtown San Diego Civic Center was SHUT DOWN today by the city as they begin their enforcement of NO FOOD TRUCKS ALLOWED ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. No timeline has been given by Interim Mayor Todd Gloria’s office as to when we can expect any amendments to the current codes which prohibit food trucks to vend on private property.

We also learned that “any shut downs they enforce are complaint driven (a person or business has to complain about the trucks being there).”

Click to read

Click to read

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, current San Diego law states that food trucks are not allowed to park on private property, but the law just wasn’t enforced under former Mayor Filner. New mayor Todd Gloria says he will enforce the law, but then he wants to change it to allow trucks back on the streets. There is no clear timeline for when this will happen. Here’s another article on the issue from San Diego6. And here’s a video piece from Fox 5 San Diego.

Pictured to the right is a letter received by a food truck event organizer, citing the rules they are breaking.

Every day a food truck isn’t allowed to sell, it’s a small business that is losing money. Help support food trucks in San Diego by signing the petition from change.org.