South Pasadena Says Food Trucks 'cannibalize' Restaurant Business

Here we are in late 2012, and not only are contemporary food trucks still a popular trend, but cities are still trying to kick them to the curb. One of the municipalities to voice a wish to put the brakes on the biz is South Pasadena, where business owners say they're a threat to brick-and-mortar restaurants.But South Pas doesn't want food trucks gone completely; they seem to want their cake and to be able to eat it too: In a recent piece in the Pasadena Sun, South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce President Scott Feldmann said:

There's some confusion about the law when it comes to food truck sales in South Pas:

That law, however, has some opposition from food truck advocates. "On Aug. 30, an organization representing food trucks, the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Assn., filed a lawsuit against the city," notes the Sun. Lawyers for the SCMVA call the law "invalid" and are looking for it to be repealed.

Last November, South Pasadena was grappling with their local laws and those of the state, and had to revise their to be in line with California. As South Pasadena Patch noted: "Pursuant to California Vehicle Code, the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that cities can only regulate food trucks according to public health. They cannot completely ban them." Public health, however, is the domain of L.A. County.

South Pasadena merchants are still hoping to come up with something on the books that curbs the trucks from parking outside their businesses and potentially stealing customers.