LOS ANGELES, CA – The City Council Tuesday delayed a vote for the third time on amending an ordinance to crack down on food truck operators who regularly park illegally in residential areas and “eat” the cost of the ticket as part their overhead.

City Councilman Mike Bonin, who introduced the motion, declined to comment or explain the delay. A spokesman for City Attorney Mike Feuer also declined to comment.

Matt Geller, CEO of the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association, said the delay might be due to objections his organization has raised over the legality of amending the ordinance in question.

The motion to amend the ordinance sailed through the Transportation Committee, which Bonin chairs, without any objections, but Geller said he was unaware the meeting was going on.

“It’s been a little weird. Honestly, when I’ve worked on other things with the city they keep me informed of meetings, they invite me to Transportation Committee hearings, and this is one of those things that I don’t think the city has been very pro-active on reaching out to the mobile food truck industry,” Geller said.

Food trucks are limited to parking in residential neighborhoods for only 30 minutes, but current city law only allows one ticket to be issued per day for a violation. The proposed amended ordinance — which only applies to food trucks — would create escalated penalties for each 30-minute increment during a parking violation in a residential area.

Find the entire article at mynewsla.com [here]