City is basically banning all gourmet food trucks

I had been working behind the scenes with someone else on bringing the gourmet food trucks to the Grove on a regular basis, in a "food court" type setting. They are all eager to set up here. So after seeing the City's new rules, which they released yesterday afternoon, it's a bit dismaying to see their stance on the subject.

We posted the new rules last night, you'll see that the city wants to kill the gourmet food trucks in the City of Miami, sending them to the rest of the county to operate, a pure case of NIMBY (not in my backyard).

They City will allow the trucks on City property, but under very strict guidelines and not on any regular basis. It's amazing how backwards this is. Cities like New York and Los Angeles have hundreds of these trucks and they welcome them.

Firstly, the City of Miami says that one option is that the trucks should have a "peddler's license," which means they must be on the move like an ice cream truck. I'm picturing the new "food court" being a convoy of trucks going down the street and people flagging them down if they want to order something.

The second way is a "Temporary Use/Special Event Permit," which would allow the operators to park the trucks on private property twice a year, up to two weeks each time." So the trucks that come in would not be allowed on a regular basis. I think Ms. Cheezious is coming back today, so I'm not sure how that will go over.

The third rule is to have a "Temporary Use of Vacant Land Permit," which means the truck can be on vacant land up to six months, but this does not include parking lots or parks, the land must be vacant.

So basically, the City is trying to kill the gourmet truck business. I guess our plans to bring them into the Grove, are a waste of time at this point.

I'm sure if the City found a way to make money off the trucks, they would be the first to allow them. Ironically, I see illegal Roach Coaches all over the Grove daily, one lady parks outside the Grove Bank lot and sells from a metered parking space, she also enters a local garage and sells illegally to people; another guy parks at Dinner Key daily and sells to people there, another is near City Hall. What's up with that?

I do think that the gourmet truck operators should go after the City in court. I see this as a civil rights issue. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what it looks like, especially when it comes to the private property part. If I own a parking lot or shopping center or school and I want to have a food court of trucks, that have been licensed and inspected, I don't see how the City can come in and tell me they cannot be there.

Coral Gables just had a big food court of these trucks set up on Miracle Mile last week as part of their Carnival on the Mile weekend. They were a big hit. Does that mean it cannot be done here as part of a festival or event? And what about these dilapidated fruit trucks that I see all over Little Havana and Coral Way? These traffic blocking road hazards sell fruit in bank parking lots, public parks and baseball field lots and even on the side of the road, they aren't on the move, they are parked for hours on end selling fruit from who knows where. Why are these allowed in the City and the licensed gourmet food trucks not?

And those trucks on 32nd Avenue, not far from the Boys and Girls Clubs, who sell uniforms and seafood of all things. They are parked on the side of the road daily. Why can they stay and sell illegally?

We would love to hear from the food truck operators and see how they feel about this, although we can guess. But what is your next step?