City Raises Regulatory Issues Regarding Food Trailers

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a tremendous growth in the number of food trailers dotting the landscape of Austin. The number has grown so rapidly that in my 2009 Year in Review, we dubbed it the “year of the trailer.” And the number is only going up. You can get almost anything from hot dogs to crepes to curry and Cuban sandwiches. So, of course the city had to get involved.

According to a recent AAS article, the decision to review health regulations on the trailer scene was sparked by Tom Ramsey, owner of Snappy Snacks, a company that leases 70 food trucks to firms that cater to construction workers and employees in office towers. He says the fixed trailers are killing his business.

His contention is that a lot of fly-by night vendors are violating a boat load of city health regulations along with operating practices that could be downright dangerous (improperly mounted propane tanks).

Bob Gentry, owner of Torchy’s Tacos is understandably against any changes in regulation. And from his perspective, that makes sense.

But owners of brick and mortar locations, who have to pass rigorous city code inspections and pay city development fees and property taxes (which most trailers don’t have to worry about), complain that all they want to do is level the playing field. And it’s fairly easy to see their point of view.

So once again, the city of Austin, which has not been the best friend to the Austin restaurant community over the years, has to step up and make a rational decision. Should fixed location trailers be treated different than mobile food vendors? And why should more traditional restaurants be forced into mountains of regulatory red tape while the fixed trailers and carts operate in a virtually unregulated environment?

I like having the trailers around. To my knowledge, almost no complaints relating to tainted food have been lodged against them. But if they’re going to serve food, they should have to work under the same constraints as anyone else.

Here’s a breathtaking solution: make everything simpler, for everyone. Less regulation fairly enforced. How about that? Comparable rules, within reason, for everyone, And let’s back off on the suffocating, often deal-breaking policies that the city imposes on some, but not others.

The trailers offer a certain type of appeal: yes they are cheaper to operate, but they can’t offer what a traditional restaurant can: air conditioned comfort, service, ambiance, a sizzling steak, and a host of other things. So I think both types of businesses should be able to coexist with a simple and similar set of rules.

Meanwhile, I’m off to Lucky J’s for some chicken and waffles. Let’s hope some sanity will prevail here.