It ain’t over in Santa Monica, my hometown.

That Bayside District Corporation still has its knickers in a twist and is ready to kick things up a notch.

According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, the BDC is going to ask the City Council to consider new legislation restricting the number and location of trucks operating in the Promenade (downtown Santa Monica) area.

“While we understand that these mobile food vendors can be a very good thing for Downtown and any area, we are concerned that if we have a proliferation of those trucks they could have a negative impact on businesses,” Kathleen Rawson, the CEO of Bayside, told the paper.

Again, not surprisingly, the argument presented here is that the restaurant owners feel that “it’s not fair” they have to pay high rent when the trucks can just zoom away when the clientele disappear. Again, my response is: boo freakin’ hoo. I’d bet that nearly all of the restaurants on the Promenade, and especially the high-end joints nearer to the beach have liquor licenses. Are you honestly telling me that a place like I Cugini, with its $15 lunch entrees, is competing with the likes of Kogi?

The paper adds that already:

food trucks to have a vendor permit through the Santa Monica Police Department and a business license through City Hall, Currently, trucks can conduct business in any legal parking spot but are limited to 30 minutes after which they must move at least 100 feet away. Food truck owners have said that it takes longer than 20 to 30 minutes to fill the orders.

The trucks must also be located at least 10 feet away from the entrance of doors, vestibules, driveways and outdoor dining areas of any business.

I’m not really sure how much more regulated they can be.

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