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State Supreme Court upholds Chicago's food truck restrictions

May 24, 2019

The Illinois Supreme Court upheld Chicago's rule requiring food trucks to stay 200 feet away from ground floor, brick-and-mortar restaurants, according to the Chicago Sun Times. The ruling marks the most recent chapter in a series of challenges since 2012, when the city council passed the law. Opponents claim the rule prevents food trucks from competing freely.

Justice Anne Burke stated that restaurants pay property taxes and are invested in neighborhoods while food trucks work based on "mobility, not stability."

Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier and justices Mary Jane Theis, Thomas Kilbride, P. Scott Neville Jr. and Rita Garman concurred with the ruling.

The opinion also supported the rule requiring food trucks to have GPS tracking devices so they can be tracked. 

A Chicago Sun Times/ABC7 Chicago I-Team investigation in 2016 found food trucks frequently broke city rules without penalty due to lack of enforcement.