Despite creating a new permitting system for Lodi’s taco trucks last year, city officials are now looking to cap the number of taco trucks allowed to operate within the city limits.

According to the Lodi News-Sentinel:

In 2008, there were 16 taco trucks permitted by the city, and in 2009, there were 22. Before 2008, the city didn’t require a mobile food vendor permit for the vendors.

The city started requiring permits after several council members expressed concern about whether mobile food vendors had the correct health permits and business licenses, said Joseph Wood, neighborhood services manager.

There’s the usual points brought up about taco trucks being “unfair competition” to established brick-and-mortar restaurants.

However, the City of Lodi may want to consult this part of the article before making any ruling, which to me, shows how much taco trucks want to work with city officials to keep themselves in business:

The community development department has heard very few complaints about the taco trucks, including the ones near residential areas, Wood said. With the new permitting process, the department performs spot checks to see if there are any problems with the trucks.

One of the problems Wood spotted was a taco truck had a non-approved water connection because it didn’t have a hose that met state health requirements. The taco truck owner removed the hose, Wood said.

Another had an electric connection crossing a roadway or pedestrian area. While taco trucks can have electric connections, they cannot cross property where people are driving or walking, so the truck had to remove it.

I wonder what local attorney David LeBeouf has to say about this.

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