Local Food Trucks Take On The City of San Diego

A battle is brewing between San Diego food trucks and interim mayor Todd Gloria.

San Diego CityBeat says that the trucks are an unfortunate casualty of the city's crackdown on the distribution of medicinal marijuana; Gloria's decision to enforce the city's zoning laws has resulted in the halt of food truck gatherings that were previously held on private property.

Christian Murcia of Curbside Bites, a food truck booking service that facilitates multiple food truck gatherings, has launched a petition which currently has over 2,300 signatures. Murcia, who also operates events on state and federal property, and in other cities, says that two of his regular gatherings have recently been shut down - one in Mission Valley and another near the Civic Center - a worry since his employees depend on him to "provide hours for them to pay the bills and there is no interim plan to keep the industry alive."

Interim Mayor Gloria's office says that he is asking city staff to amend the code to allow food trucks on private property. Katie Keach, his director of communications, writes that "The City's code has never allowed food trucks to operate on private property. Instead of fixing the code as the current Interim Mayor is trying to do, the previous mayor chose to ignore it. Consistent with its practices, our Neighborhood Code Compliance Department will respond to complaints about this but is not expected to prioritize proactive enforcement. The Interim Mayor hopes new language can be developed and vetted quickly to ensure greater accessibility of food trucks in a manner that balances all community interests."
· Curbside Bites [Official Site]
· City of San Diego: Keep Food Trucks In San Diego [Change.org]