Image Credit: Blowin Smoke Barbecue / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
City commissioners voted Monday to amend an ordinance that protected local Mom and Pop restaurants in order to settle a lawsuit from outside area food trucks.
Mt. Juliet’s Board of Commissioners standardized food truck vendor permit fees rather than defend the ordinance in court as it has a “sunshine” clause and was set to expire in less than three months.
A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed earlier this month on behalf of two food truck operators by the Beacon Center of Tennessee. The Beacon Center said that the city’s ordinance violated the operators’ “right to earn a living” calling it “unfair and unconstitutional.”
The backstory of the lawsuit began in the early part of 2020. Mt. Juliet was dealt a double whammy on March 3rd, 2020 when an EF-3 tornado with winds around 155-160 mph devastated the city, and then stay-at-home orders commenced shortly after due to Covid-19.
The tornado destroyed several neighborhoods, damaged businesses, hit three schools and took the lives of an elderly couple in the community. In the wake of the disaster, the city suspended its rules on food trucks which allowed out-of-town operators to help feed the community amidst extensive clean up efforts.
A month later, the city reimposed its restrictions – that only allowed food trucks at city-sponsored events in areas such as parks – as local restaurants had reopened by then and the food trucks took business away from them as they struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic.
A pilot program that was set to expire February 15th, 2024 and that allows food trucks to operate within the city’s residential and industrial districts was approved in July. The trial period required out-of-city operators to pay $100 per day in order to legally operate within city limits compared to $100 per year for existing Mt. Juliet businesses, an amendment put forth by City Mayor James Maness. However, these tiered fees which are part of the complaint in the lawsuit were not in effect back in April when the city revoked their permission that had allowed out-of-area food trucks to operate within the city earlier in the year.
The commissioners voted unanimously on Monday night to amend the ordinance so that all food trucks pay $100 annually to operate in the city, thereby settling the lawsuit. City attorney Gino Marchetti said that it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to defend the city’s tiered fees, hardly worthwhile with the sunset period set to expire soon.
Commissioner Jennifer Milele made a motion to extend the expiration date to June 30th, 2024 which passed 3-2.
According to Commissioner Scott Hefner, part of the reasoning behind the tiered system was to offset the cost of hiring someone to handle permitting and to make up for loss of sales tax revenue. Only one food truck permit had been issued according to city records.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
Sounds fare. Let the better food will. Competition is always good.