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Washington, D.C. lawmakers take action to halt monopolization of food truck parking spaces

December 27, 2018

The D.C. Council recently approved legislation to prevent food trucks from squatting on metered spaces of E Street SW and 12th Street SW, according to nbc4. Certain food trucks have reportedly been collaborating to prevent other operators from using the spaces.

The I-Team in February reported some food truck operators collaborated to prevent other operators from using top parking spaces near government buildings. After lunch time, the operators move their trucks from these spaces, but quickly move shared junk cars into the spaces, allowing the collaborating operators to hold the spaces.

The I-Team found that some of the placeholder vehicles have been ticketed multiple times as a result of the squatting. Tickets range between $30 and $50, but the amount does not increase for multiple violations. The cost of the tickets has been deemed acceptable by collaborating food truck owners, according to D.C. Council member Charles Allen.

The D.C. Council recently adjusted the parking laws so that the ticket costs would rise for repeat violations in those zones, making it prohibitively expensive to incur multiple tickets. The bill, if approvd by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the will become law next year.

The spaces are not part of the city’s 10 approved food truck lottery zones, in which the city uses a lottery to decide which trucks can park in certain premium lunchtime locations.