Would you like to see #FarragutFriday reduced to just 3 food trucks?  Do you think that the DC government can do a better job allocating food trucks around the city than trucks are doing on their own right now?

The proposed DC food truck regulations were meant to elevate DC’s gourmet food trucks from being governed like old school ice cream trucks.  The biggest complaint was having police force food trucks to pack up and move because they didn’t have a line of customers 100% of the time.

By the 4th revision of the proposed regulations, we’ve ended up with limited zones, unreasonable sidewalk restrictions, and an income generating lottery for the city.  Many mainstream media editorials put it best by saying, Why exactly do we have a need to regulate food trucks again?

Public comments are due by 5pm today (4/8) and can be sent to: Mr. Helder Gil, Legislative Affairs Specialist, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, at  DCVendingRegs@dc.gov.

Talking points (direct link to proposed regulations @ DCRA – look for the Related Documents section at the bottom)

• Don’t restrict food trucks in the most popular locations – eliminate the lottery system
• Don’t ban food trucks from serving from within 500 feet of lottery-assigned spaces
• Reduce the 10 foot unobstructed sidewalk rule, especially in areas where there are not street level retail, and not food options
• DO update the rules to remove the requirement that a food truck must have a line of customers
• DO require appropriate health permits and permitting checks to ensure public health and safety