Don’t look now but another Chicago politician is bowing down to Big Restaurants. With this proposed ordinance, Alderman Smith becomes the third politico to set rules up to prevent street food vendors from parking in their ward. The sad thing is, Lincoln Park is where Mobile Cuisine held Chicago’s first season long food truck event series in 2011.

CHICAGO, IL – Another Chicago alderman is moving to limit where newly legal food carts can operate in the city.

Alderman Michele Smith, 43rd Ward, introduced an ordinance Dec. 9 that would ban food carts from a number of heavily trafficked areas in the popular Lincoln Park neighborhood.

The neighborhood is a prime destination for retailers and restaurateurs alike — the proposed ordinance goes on at length about Lincoln Park’s economic vitality.

“Lincoln Park is a diverse arts and cultural hub that serves as a leading destination for tourists visiting the City of Chicago,” the ordinance reads.

There’s no question that a major driver behind Smith’s move is to protect existing brick-and-mortar businesses. Her ordinance notes that Lincoln Park “has the highest ratio of pedestrian-retail street designations throughout the City of Chicago.”

The ordinance also says that Lincoln Park is home to over 300 retail food licenses.

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