EVANSTON, IL – The lawsuit between the City of Evanston and a Chicago food truck service will go to court Jan. 29.

Beaver’s Coffee and Donuts sued the city in August for prohibiting them from operating as a mobile food vendor. The Cook County Circuit Court set the court date in late November.

An Evanston ordinance restricts food truck owners from selling their products within the city unless they own a physical restaurant.

Beavers Donuts co-owner Gabriel Wiesen said the ordinance hurts small businesses and residents.

“I think (the city is) doing a disservice to the citizens of Evanston by denying them potential revenue and denying them consumer choice,” Wiesen said.

When he started the doughnut truck with a partner in 2012, Wiesen said he thought Evanston would be a perfect market because the city is one of the few Illinois municipalities that allow mobile cooking trucks.

The doughnut truck has operated at NU events such as Dillo Day and several student-run fundraisers.

With so many students in the city, the Beavers owners decided to explore how to get a license to operate in the city, Wiesen said. Without the license, the truck could only operate for specific events.

Wiesen said they attempted to satisfy the city requirement by partnering with an Evanston bakery so the truck would sell products from both businesses. But the city told them the arrangement wouldn’t work because Beavers must be the actual owners of an establishment.

The owners then filed a lawsuit in August, after they were approached by Jacob Huebert, an attorney with Liberty Justice Center, a non-profit litigation center.

The city filed a motion to dismiss the case in October, arguing the Beaver owners cannot sue Evanston because they did not actually apply for a license.

Find the entire article by Olga Gonzalez Latapi at The Daily Northwestern <here>