Thread: PVE council restricts lunch trucks

PVE council restricts lunch trucks
By Melissa Pamer, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/10/2008 10:48:57 PM PDT


Click photo to enlargeVendors serve workers along Granvia Altamira in Palos Verdes... (Robert Casillas/Staff Photographer)«1»For almost 20 years, Juan Antonio "Tony" Ardon has been serving up cabeza tacos, chicken burritos and sausage tortas to the hungry workers who build the houses and groom the gardens of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Ardon gets up at dawn to drive from his South Gate home to Hawthorne, where his Ardony Foods catering truck is among a fleet of other mobile kitchens parked overnight. From there, it's up The Hill for breakfast and lunch service.

"We have real food," Ardon said, standing in front of his truck this week as his wife put whole chilies on top of a plate of carne asada tacos.

"7-Eleven wants to sell hot dogs, but people are looking for real food."

Over the years, Ardon and other lunch truck operators - also called "loncheros" - have seen fluctuating efforts to enforce restrictions on when and where the trucks can operate on the Peninsula.

Things got tougher for truck owners several years ago when they stopped going directly to construction sites and started parking in residential neighborhoods where they could broaden their customer base. A regular cost of business became paying parking tickets.

Now, two years after Rancho Palos Verdes implemented a permit system for "peddlers" that requires catering trucks to move at least 500 feet every 10 minutes, more operators are parking over the border in Palos Verdes Estates.

And that doesn't sit well with some of that city's residents, who have complained to officials


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about trash, traffic and noise from the trucks, which offer largely Mexican specialties, but also burgers and deli-meat sandwiches.
Frank Clark, who lives near grassy Coronel Plaza, where catering trucks are known to park for lunch, said his residential street is "turned into a commercial zone" at midday.

"We end up with 20, 30 vehicles at Coronel Plaza. Cars making U-turns, parking in front of the fire hydrant," he told the Palos Verdes Estates City Council on Tuesday. "Our residents are tired of, on routine basis, going on trash patrol."

In response to residents such as Clark, the council this week voted in new regulations that will require truck operators and cooks to undergo background checks as part of a permitting process. The trucks would have to park no farther than 250 feet from a restroom facility that customers have permission to use - a clause that's designed to keep trucks close to construction sites. Operators would have to move every 30 minutes.

Officials say the ordinance will enable the vehicles - sometimes called "taco trucks" - to continue doing business with construction workers in a way that allays residents' frustrations.

"It puts the catering trucks where they are supposed to be operating. That's who the patrons are," said Palos Verdes Estates Police Chief Dan Dreiling, adding that he's heard residents voice concern about the character of truck customers, some of whom he termed "unsavory."

Parked along Granvia Altamira, truck operator Sergio Merida contested that image.

"These are the people who clean houses, maintain the homes," Merida said, looking with envy at the line of customers at Ardon's neighboring, more popular truck. "All we're doing is feeding the people who build the city."

Dreiling said he believes the city's new ordinance - which replaces a difficult-to-enforce 10-minute parking limit for mobile kitchens - will substantially solve the catering-truck conundrum.

Council members embraced the proposal, calling for officials to reduce the a proposed 500-feet restroom limit to 250 feet.

Mayor Joseph Sherwood suggested that the city supercede the county Department of Public Health's food inspection authority with its own program.

"I think that's one way we can control the quality of the food," Sherwood said.

The Palos Verdes Estates vote follows a move in April by the county Board of Supervisors to require catering trucks in unincorporated areas to move their vehicles every hour or face fines of $1,000 and/or up to six month in jail. That vote prompted rejoicing from restaurant owners who see the trucks as competition, while many truck patrons expressed frustration with the rules. One truck fan began selling T-shirts that read "Carne Asada is Not a Crime."

On The Hill, there is a patchwork of regulation for loncheros. In Rolling Hills Estates, the trucks are required to be licensed as "peddlers." They can stop for 10 minutes only when flagged down by a customer, Administrative Services Director Mike Whitehead said, adding that the trucks are rarely seen in the city.

In gated Rolling Hills, where the private streets are controlled by the Rolling Hills Community Association and contractors must pay to enter the city, workers typically go outside the city or bring their lunch, said Kristen Raig, the association manager. She said she didn't believe the association had a policy regarding catering trucks.

After Rancho Palos Verdes in 2006 implemented a permit system for the trucks, the city offered operators permits for extended parking at City Hall. Interest in that lasted only a few months, a city official said. Within the past year, no trucks sought permits to operate in the city.

At the same time, more trucks have parked on residential streets in Palos Verdes Estates, said City Manager Joe Hoefgen.

Earlier this year, Hoefgen met with operators, including Ardon. They agreed the trucks would no longer park near Coronel Plaza.

"They did that for a few weeks," Hoefgen told the City Council. "Apparently, business was just too good and they came back."

Ardon said that he'd reluctantly comply with the new rules, but worried that spotting active construction sites would be difficult and that some sites would have too few workers to make stopping worthwhile. He said he'd prefer the city designate a permanent parking spot.

While some lunch-truck customers said they'd be happy to have the mobile restaurants come to them, others were skeptical about the ordinance.

Chris Tuxford, a construction worker from Redondo Beach, said the trucks offer better meals than fast-food restaurants on The Hill, such as Burger King or Taco Bell.

Officials, he said, should think twice about making it tougher for the trucks to operate.

"They have to make an area for them to do this," Tuxford said, "or they're going to have all sorts of dirty construction people sitting next to them at their fancy restaurants."

melissa.pamer@dailybreeze.com
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9846603

"They have to make an area for them to do this," Tuxford said, "or they're going to have all sorts of dirty construction people sitting next to them at their fancy restaurants."

LOL if they can afford it! Whatever happened to packing your lunch from home? They too lazy to do that too?

We've had pushcarts in the US for more than 100 years, along with laws for them. These idiots don't like the laws? The get outta da business!

After Rancho Palos Verdes in 2006 implemented a permit system for the trucks, the city offered operators permits for extended parking at City Hall. Interest in that lasted only a few months, a city official said. Within the past year, no trucks sought permits to operate in the city.

At the same time, more trucks have parked on residential streets in Palos Verdes Estates, said City Manager Joe Hoefgen.

Well, it looks as if the "loncheros" have unilaterially decided they are going to do business without the required permits!

What a surprise. Another law they don't like so they just ignore it.