LATHROP – The battle between mobile taco trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants in Lathrop continues.
Taco-truck vendors are insisting they are following all the city-mandated rules governed by the municipal ordinance adopted by the city and that they are simply trying to make a living
Restaurant owners though are complaining that the business playing field is not even because they have to jump through a lot of hoops just to open up their business, not to mention other operating expenses, while taco-truck vendors don’t have to do any of that.
The Lathrop City Council already adopted amendments to the mobile vendor ordinance due to complaints – the first one in September 2009 followed by another one in May 2010 due to complaints from business owners. But the city continued receiving complaints from business owners regarding taco trucks overstaying in one place. City code enforcement responded by enforcing the ordinance and going after the mobile taco vendors. The city’s action, in turn, resulted in the mobile vendors complaining about the enforcement.
It was that scenario which prompted the city council to once more revisit the ordinance.
Monday’s council meeting, with Vice Mayor Christopher Mateo holding the gavel for the out-of-town Mayor Joseph “Chaka” Santos, was heavily attended by restaurant owners who largely sat on the south side of the aisle, and mobile vendors and their supporters on the other side. The rest of the seats were taken by customers who strongly lobbied in favor of the taco truck operators.
At one point during the discussion, Mantecan Georgiana Reichelt stated strongly at the podium, “You stop messing around with my taco trucks! I love them.”
She declared her love of the popular Mexican delicacy about four times during her five-minute allotted speech.
And speaking in support of the peripatetic vendors, she said, “They just trying to make an honest living,” while adding with a tinge of sarcasm, “Of course, that’s not allowed anymore.”
Another Mantecan, Joe D’Angelis, reiterated Reichelt’s comment about the kind of tacos being sold by the mobile vendors, saying, “We can’t find a decent taco in Manteca so we have to come to Lathrop.”
Resident Shea Pitts, also a fan of the tacos sold by a particular mobile vendor that she follows the truck wherever it goes, went as far as to say that she finds these tacos even better than the food at McDonald’s.
They are apparently not the only ones who like the taco trucks to be around in the city. One taco truck operator, Oscar Munoz, told the council that a petition circulated to find out what the people of Lathrop say about the presence of these mobile vendors collected nearly 700 signatures from supporters.
“What (the petition) says is that Lathrop people like (the taco trucks),” Munoz said.
He added that they are already following all the rules, and every other rule that the city would adopt.
But Victor Padilla, owner of the Taqueria Vallarta in the Louise Avenue Plaza shopping center on the corner of Harlan Road, said it is unfair for brick-and-mortar restaurant owners to go “through all the hoops” and spend a lot of money in permitting and other city regulations while the mobile vendors are exempted from all that.
“Competition is good as long as everybody is playing by the same rules. But they’re not playing by the same rules,” he said of the taco truck vendors.
As restaurant business owners, they have to pay such expenses as worker’s compensation, taxes, insurance on their buildings – “all these fees that we have to pay that they don’t pay. Customers don’t know this because they don’t see them,” Padilla said.
“They have good food – tacos. We also have good food,” he added.
Another business owner piggybacked on Padilla’s comments, saying, “We have these bills that these people (truck vendors) don’t have. It took me eight to 10 months to get my business started. If I knew better, I could have bought a taco truck, or maybe two trucks” instead of opening a restaurant, he said.
One of the issues brought up during the lengthy discussion – almost an hour long – was the length of time that taco trucks should be allowed to be at a particular location. The time ranged from an hour to three hours. But Padilla said he disagrees “even with the three hours” that was suggested on the basis that this is not good for the public image that the city is trying to create.
“I don’t think this is the image that we want for the city,” he said, commenting on the number of taco trucks plying at street corners throughout Lathrop.
“In two to three years, are we going to be like Stockton or Modesto?” he asked, referring to the large number of trucks plying their food trades at practically all hours of the day and night.
“Is that the image that we want?” Padilla asked.
The agenda item was for discussion only and the council was not required to take action on the matter. As of 10 p.m., the discussion and comment period was still going on.
Taco-truck vendors are insisting they are following all the city-mandated rules governed by the municipal ordinance adopted by the city and that they are simply trying to make a living
Restaurant owners though are complaining that the business playing field is not even because they have to jump through a lot of hoops just to open up their business, not to mention other operating expenses, while taco-truck vendors don’t have to do any of that.
The Lathrop City Council already adopted amendments to the mobile vendor ordinance due to complaints – the first one in September 2009 followed by another one in May 2010 due to complaints from business owners. But the city continued receiving complaints from business owners regarding taco trucks overstaying in one place. City code enforcement responded by enforcing the ordinance and going after the mobile taco vendors. The city’s action, in turn, resulted in the mobile vendors complaining about the enforcement.
It was that scenario which prompted the city council to once more revisit the ordinance.
Monday’s council meeting, with Vice Mayor Christopher Mateo holding the gavel for the out-of-town Mayor Joseph “Chaka” Santos, was heavily attended by restaurant owners who largely sat on the south side of the aisle, and mobile vendors and their supporters on the other side. The rest of the seats were taken by customers who strongly lobbied in favor of the taco truck operators.
At one point during the discussion, Mantecan Georgiana Reichelt stated strongly at the podium, “You stop messing around with my taco trucks! I love them.”
She declared her love of the popular Mexican delicacy about four times during her five-minute allotted speech.
And speaking in support of the peripatetic vendors, she said, “They just trying to make an honest living,” while adding with a tinge of sarcasm, “Of course, that’s not allowed anymore.”
Another Mantecan, Joe D’Angelis, reiterated Reichelt’s comment about the kind of tacos being sold by the mobile vendors, saying, “We can’t find a decent taco in Manteca so we have to come to Lathrop.”
Resident Shea Pitts, also a fan of the tacos sold by a particular mobile vendor that she follows the truck wherever it goes, went as far as to say that she finds these tacos even better than the food at McDonald’s.
They are apparently not the only ones who like the taco trucks to be around in the city. One taco truck operator, Oscar Munoz, told the council that a petition circulated to find out what the people of Lathrop say about the presence of these mobile vendors collected nearly 700 signatures from supporters.
“What (the petition) says is that Lathrop people like (the taco trucks),” Munoz said.
He added that they are already following all the rules, and every other rule that the city would adopt.
But Victor Padilla, owner of the Taqueria Vallarta in the Louise Avenue Plaza shopping center on the corner of Harlan Road, said it is unfair for brick-and-mortar restaurant owners to go “through all the hoops” and spend a lot of money in permitting and other city regulations while the mobile vendors are exempted from all that.
“Competition is good as long as everybody is playing by the same rules. But they’re not playing by the same rules,” he said of the taco truck vendors.
As restaurant business owners, they have to pay such expenses as worker’s compensation, taxes, insurance on their buildings – “all these fees that we have to pay that they don’t pay. Customers don’t know this because they don’t see them,” Padilla said.
“They have good food – tacos. We also have good food,” he added.
Another business owner piggybacked on Padilla’s comments, saying, “We have these bills that these people (truck vendors) don’t have. It took me eight to 10 months to get my business started. If I knew better, I could have bought a taco truck, or maybe two trucks” instead of opening a restaurant, he said.
One of the issues brought up during the lengthy discussion – almost an hour long – was the length of time that taco trucks should be allowed to be at a particular location. The time ranged from an hour to three hours. But Padilla said he disagrees “even with the three hours” that was suggested on the basis that this is not good for the public image that the city is trying to create.
“I don’t think this is the image that we want for the city,” he said, commenting on the number of taco trucks plying at street corners throughout Lathrop.
“In two to three years, are we going to be like Stockton or Modesto?” he asked, referring to the large number of trucks plying their food trades at practically all hours of the day and night.
“Is that the image that we want?” Padilla asked.
The agenda item was for discussion only and the council was not required to take action on the matter. As of 10 p.m., the discussion and comment period was still going on.
