RALEIGH, NC – Food truck operators in Raleigh are banding together to keep city leaders from adopting new zoning restrictions they say will hurt their ability to do business. The trouble is, Raleigh’s top zoning officials maintain that the new zoning maps will actually provide thousands of more acres where food trucks can set up shop.

Raleigh is in the process of remapping nearly 34,000 parcels of land within the city’s borders. The project is designed to update the zoning map the city has used since the 1960s. But the project has proved to be controversial, given the number of businesses it has the potential to affect. The most recent dustup has come from the food truck community and its supporters.

Their concern centers upon one of the new zoning categories included in the proposed remapping plan. Under the plan, food trucks are not allowed to operate in neighborhood mixed use (NX) zones.

Travis Crane, planning and zoning administrator of Raleigh, says NX zones tend to be between residential neighborhoods and other more commercial areas of the city. About 713 acres of the city would be categorized as NX under the proposed plan.

More than 1,400 people have signed a petition to members of the Raleigh City Council, calling on them change the parameters of NX zones to allow food trucks to operate in NX zones. “In doing so, you will send a signal to your constituents that you support Raleigh’s rapid growth as well as a friendly small business climate for existing Raleigh entrepreneurs and those looking to move to the area,” the petition says. The petition is being organized by Generation Opportunity, an Arlington, Virginia-based political organization that seeks to represent younger voters.

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UPDATE: As a funny aside. Shortly after publishing this article the Downtown Raleigh Twitter account unfollowed us. Hmmm.