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Policy organization claims Illinois restaurants seek to protect eateries from food truck competition

December 5, 2018

Illinois Policy, an independent organization advocating public policy solutions to promote personal freedom in Illinois, recently posted an article on its website accusing the Illinois Restaurant Association of attempting to protect the state's restaurant industry from competition.

According to the article, the IRA has denied charges of protectionism, but recently filed an amicus brief in LMP Services Inc. v. City of Chicago supporting the city's food truck regulations, which Illinois Policy described as "onerous." In its amicus brief, the IRA argued that protecting the restaurant industry from food trucks is a legitimate government purpose.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced May 30 that it will hear the challenge to the Chicago food truck regulations filed in 2012 by Laura Pekarik of LMP Services. Pekaric co-founded Cupcakes for Courage, a food truck that she operates with her sister Kathryn. 

The lawsuit, which was filed with assistance from the Institute for Justice, takes issue with two Chicago ordinances regulating food trucks. The first ordinance, the "200-foot rule," dictates that no food truck may park within 200 feet of a brick-and-mortar establishment that serves or sells food.

The second ordinance requires food trucks to install a GPS tracking device. The lawsuit says that this ordinance violates the operator's Fourth Amendment right to due process and protection against unreasonable searches.

The Illinois Policy article said that as an enforcement measure, the city requires all food trucks licensed in Chicago to report their location every five minutes and make location history available upon request — without the provision of a court order or procedural protections.

Currently, only 3 percent of Chicago's downtown Loop is legally operable for food trucks, the article said.