What's Happening in San Antonio, TX…

On November 19, the San Antonio city council voted to lift a ban on food trucks operating within 300 feet of restaurants that cannot be moved, known as “fixed food establishments”.

This was after four food-truck owners filed a lawsuit, claiming the law keeping the trucks at a distance violates the Texas state constitution.

Arif Panju, an attorney who represented the food truck vendors, said the restriction violated the state constitution's economic liberty protection. A few restaurant owners opposed the decision, and Rey Saldaña, a councilman, asked if there was an alternative to rescinding the 300-foot ban completely.

Martha Sepeda, acting City Attorney, made it clear the city has little choice. She said after the suit was filed, the city was advised to change its ordinance, and noted that the rule has been challenged in other cities, most recently El Paso. She also said the law keeping food trucks at a distance was designed to favor the restaurants, and “not necessarily in a constitutional way”. She ended by saying simply that the case is not defensible.

The outcome is that the food trucks may move closer to established restaurants. If they do so, the owners of the trucks might want to work with a flyer printing company on handouts to distribute in the new locations to draw customers to the trucks.