Chicago Can Keep Rules Some 'Pop Star' Food Truck Vendors Find Too Restrictive: Judge

CHICAGO, IL — A Cook County Circuit judge's ruling Monday means Chicago food trucks must continue to operate under city regulations that some vendors say are too restrictive and hurting business, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The decision is the result of a 2012 lawsuit by Laura Pekarik, owner of food truck vendor Cupcakes for Courage, that challenged parts of the Chicago's food truck ordinance, the report states. The two contentious areas of the ordinance concerned the following requirements, the Tribune reports:

• Food trucks must use a city-monitored GPS unit.
• Vendors must be at least 200 feet away from other food businesses.

Pekarik's lawsuit claimed those regulations were unconstitutinal, as well as financially harmful to food truck vendors, such as the Schnitzel King, an original plaintiff that has gone out of business, the report added.

Judge Anna Helen Demacopoulos disagreed. Referring to food truck vendors as "young pop stars," Demacopoulos said the city has the right to regulate competition with its ordinance, which was approved by the City Council in 2012, the report stated. The lawsuit did not challenge the part of the regulation stipulating that vendors couldn't park in a space for more than two hours, the report added.

Pekarik, who is represented by the Institute of Justice, plans to appeal the ruling within the next 30 days, the report stated.

More via the Chicago Tribune

photo via Patch archive

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