Earlier this month, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors passed a new ordinance requiring mobile food vendors (that means taco trucks, folks) who operate in unincorporated parts of the county to get a business license for the first time. In order to obtain said license, vendors will will have to pass a criminal background check, pay $352 annually for the license and associated fees, and $100 per truck.

The vendors will also have to obey the following regulations, as reported by the The Foothills Sun-Gazette:

-In residential areas, vendors cannot operate from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and cannot stop for more than 10 minutes at a time.

-In nonresidential areas, vendors can operate at any hour, but can only park in one location for more than one hour if they can provide restroom facilities for their employees.

-Vendors can park in the public right of way along a highway if certain safety requirements are met.

-Vendors can park off the highway if they have written permission from the property owner.

-Trash must be removed when a vendor leaves a location.

-Business equipment must be removed when a vendor leaves a location unless they have written permission from the property owner to leave it there.

The new ordinance will take effect March 1, 2010.

The paper also reported that Barbara Booth Grunwald of the county’s counsel office, said: “Most of the vendors have said ‘We can live with this.’”

However, the Visalia Times-Delta reports today on Tacos Don Toño (pictured), a truck that’s been operating for 20 years just north of Visalia along Highway 63 just south of Avenue 326. Owner Carlos Huerta says he will be affected by the new laws, and that his customers — “mostly farmworkers” — can easily locate him.

The spot is next to a fruit packing plant, but Huerta said the plant doesn’t own the spot where he parks. That means he remains unsure “whether the spot is private land or part of the county’s road system.”

[Photo: Steve R. Fujimoto, Visalia Times Delta]

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Fortunately for taco lovers everywhere, David LeBeouf (pronounced le-BAFF) is on the case. He’s rallied the 40 Tulare County truck operators and has at least gotten the legislation to be postponed until they work out a better compromise — he’s aiming for the same deal that he got in the aforementioned cities.

Fresno Bee:

LeBeouf told supervisors the proposed ordinance violates state law, in part by restricting the sale of items on public property.“They have the perception you want to throw them out of business,” LeBeouf told supervisors.

Under proposed regulations, the county’s estimated 320 mobile food vendors would be required to apply for business licenses, have restricted hours of operation, would only be allowed to sell food in one location for one hour at a time and must be at least 1,000 feet away from a restaurant.

“I think it’s not fair,” said Diego Lua, who operates taco trucks in Orosi and Sultana. “We would be history.”

Lua said he contacted LeBeouf after being referred by a friend in Stockton who is part of an alliance of taco truck owners.

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