Thread: COUNTY ORDINANCE LIMITS TACO TRUCKS, SPARKS WEB PROTEST

Eyesores or icons of L.A.?
COUNTY ORDINANCE LIMITS TACO TRUCKS, SPARKS WEB PROTEST
By Jennifer Steinhauer
New York Times
05/04/2008

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles, loath to rallying cohesively around a local cause, has joined hands around tortillas.

A new county ordinance restricting taco trucks has outraged food bloggers, construction workers, residents of East Los Angeles accustomed to plopping down in a folding chair, taco in one hand, non-alcoholic sangria in the other, as well as members of the taco-loving public willing to drive 15 miles for the best carnitas.

Nearly 5,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the new law at saveourtacotrucks.org, where "carne asada is not a crime." Enraged taco cart proprietors are defiant; some have hired lawyers. Thursday, people flocked to taco trucks in support.

"Taco trucks are iconic here," said Aaron Sonderleiter, a teacher from the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles and one of the petition founders. "You go to one and you see black, people, white people, old people, young people. They really capture a microcosm of L.A."

Under the new ordinance, which goes into effect this week, taco carts would be required to change location every hour, with violators facing fines, misdemeanor charges and, possibly, jail time.

County officials say the change comes at the behest of residents who find the carts eyesores, and some restaurant owners who feel undermined by the price-chopping ways of their mobile competition.

The new restrictions apply to the county's unincorporated areas, of which East Los Angeles, which lies just east of downtown, is the most populated.

At night, some serve as social centers, where communities gather to listen to music and chow down. Some trucks - loncheras - are adorned with names or art work that signifies the region of Mexico that the vendor hails from, and the food served often also has a regional distinction.

Several taco truck owners last week said they had heard of the law change and were displeased.

"We are hard workers and we pay taxes," said Jose Naranjo, who has been selling fish and shrimp tacos from his truck in East Los Angeles since 1989. "We are poor people feeding other poor people."

Nonetheless, law enforcement officials say that complaints about taco trucks are real and frequent, and that the new ordinance has clearer language that will make enforcement easier.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9149360

I read somewhere a month or two back that Stockton, CA and Lodi, CA were also limiting the taco trucks, seems basic sanitation standards were not being used and people were getting sick.

They were known as "Roach coaches" when I lived in L.A.

Lol. Yeah roach coaches alive and well in san diego. You will never catch me eating at one, they look disgustingly dirty, just completely filthy. And it's bad enough eating out at a restaurant you're risking your health so to be stupid enough to eat at a roach coach, no thank you.