First taco truck cited under new SoCal food vendor law

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON
Associated Press Writer


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The first taco truck to run afoul of Los Angeles County's new ordinance to regulate mobile food vendors was cited for allegedly staying in the same parking spot longer than permitted, police said Friday.

A truck called La Flor de Sahuayo was cited Wednesday by the parking enforcement detail after neighbors filed 20 complaints about it the past four months, said Sheriff's Lt. Linda Martinez, who declined to detail the complaints.

Alejandro Valdovino, who owns the truck, said he parks it in front of his restaurant in East Los Angeles.

"The policeman arrived with the citation in his hand," Valdovino said in Spanish in a phone interview Friday. "He didn't tell me to move. He just came and handed me the ticket."

"It's not right what they're doing," he said.

Phillip Greenwald, a lawyer who has consulted with taco truck owners, said Valdovino received a misdemeanor citation, and faces up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail if convicted.

After restaurateurs complained that taco trucks are unfair competition, county supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance last month making it a misdemeanor for the trucks to stay in a spot longer than one hour.

Some taco truck owners have vowed to defy the law, saying their businesses are popular and an essential part of the city's landscape and culinary traditions.

Valdovino, from Mexico, said nearby stores have complained his truck is "invading" the neighborhood, creating trash on the sidewalks and traffic in the streets.

"Whose business am I stealing? My own?" he said.

Valdovino and his two brothers started serving tacos out of a truck in 1983, he said, and moved their business into the restaurant 17 years ago.

"The truck outside is for busy people who only have a few minutes to eat. Customers arrive, order and are served," he said. "In the restaurant you have to wait longer, but inside there's more variety - enchiladas, quesadillas, caldos, birria, menudo."

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