Food truck entrepreneurs seek justice

One of the nation's top libertarian business-rights groups, the Institute for Justice, has targeted tacos in Sarasota.

Not just for some good eats, but to bring attention to what it says are some business-crippling regulations that threaten to crush food trucks across Sarasota County. Food trucks, for one, can't operate on any public street within Sarasota city limits. And to open up shop on private property in the city or Sarasota County, the trucks must be at least 800 feet from any brick-and-mortar restaurant. That's the length of nearly three football fields.

“Once we looked into Sarasota,” Institute for Justice Activism Coordinator Phil Applebaum tells Coffee Talk, “we realized they had some of the worst laws in the country.”

The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm, hasn't sued any government offices in Sarasota over the food truck regulations — yet. Right now it's only consulting with a group of 20 area food truck owners, who recently formed The SRQ Food Truck Alliance. The goal is to use a public awareness campaign to get officials to ease up on the restrictions, especially the one that imposes such a long distance for potential customers.

The institute has some recent experience in this area. It recently helped food truck entrepreneurs in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans reform their cities' burdensome and anti-competitive laws, according to a statement. The firm is also currently in litigation with the city of Chicago over a 200-foot food truck ban in the Windy City. Says Applebaum: “Our main goal is to support economic liberty.”

Chris and Michelle Jett, owners of the Baja Boys food truck in Sarasota, helped launch The SRQ Food Truck Alliance. “We are not whining and crying and saying it's the end of the world,” Chris Jett says. “We just want to be treated fairly.”

Some government officials and food truck opponents, in previous statements with the Sarasota Observer, sister paper of the Business Observer, cite several reasons for regulations. Those include: cleanliness concerns, unfair competition with nearby restaurants and pedestrian safety.

The Institute for Justice is active in other cases in Florida, including a first amendment lawsuit against the Florida Department of Agriculture. In that case the institute alleges state officials have dictated what a Panhandle-based natural products creamery operator can and can't call milk. “We like to keep our eyes out for different situations,” says Applebaum. “I check the news out every morning to see what's out there.”