Submission: Westwood Community Council’s allegations against food trucks misguided

The original version of this article contained multiple errors and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for more information.

If the Westwood Community Council had its way in the 19th century, then we may never have progressed from typewriters to laptops. Economic trends, law, and consumer desires all stand in opposition to the Council’s recent push against food trucks.

In a follow-up to earlier complaints from local businesses, the council’s chair, Steve Sann, asked the city to give this ultimatum to the food trucks: comply with regulations, or be shut down. Among the concerns voiced by the Council were improper use of the lot and unfair competition to local businesses. Because of that, the city has asked food truck owners to obtain a parking lot permit and make physical changes to its site.

Unfortunately, the Council associates declining business with these trucks’ presence. Last Friday, Council Chairman Steve Sann labeled each food truck sale in Westwood as a loss for local restaurants.

Though food trucks likely do take some business from brick-and-mortar restaurants, it is a bold claim to say that this alleged loss comes at a 1:1 ratio.

The blame simply cannot be placed on food trucks. Brick-and-mortar restaurants have already been bleeding profits for the past four years. In March 2014, Daily Bruin writers Delara Shakib and Sam Hoff detailed exactly how transient Westwood’s own business climate can be. Of around 200 businesses in our neighborhood, 111 have closed since February 2010, while only 100 have opened. Fourteen didn’t even last those four years after opening. Protectionism cannot undo these trends.

The food truck lot is far from a loss for hungry Angelenos. Food trucks are quickly becoming an integral part of Los Angeles life. The “First Fridays” food truck festival at Venice Beach and its increasing presence throughout our city showcases this fact.

With declining brick-and-mortar business and growing food truck business in Westwood, it seems that our community leaders should encourage businesses that bring foot traffic (and revenue) to the neighborhood. The Council’s decision to oppose vibrant business evidently came without consideration for the benefits of potentially having more consumers actually on our sidewalks and visiting other businesses.

Arguments aside, Barry Fogel, who runs the food truck lot in Westwood, stated that these mobile entrepreneurs pay the landowner to use the space as well as sales tax. An empty lot, on the other hand, obviously does not generate much revenue for Westwood.

Still, the Council is right to feel unhappy about the fact that the food truck business model does not contribute much money to the neighborhood’s maintenance. Cracked sidewalks and potholes reflect poorly on newcomers and are a nuisance for residents, so the Council is right to ask for a fair contribution to maintenance. The Council would do better to negotiate better terms with Mr. Fogel and the landowner, Barry Beitler, rather than shut these vendors out.

More to the point, local businesses are in the wrong neighborhood to pick a fight with food truck vendors. In June 2009, a legal team that included UCLA law students helped catering truck owner Francisco Gonzalez overturn an intrusive city ordinance limiting his ability to reach consumers.

Even if the Council has its way with the dirt lot, California law can’t keep food vendors away from hungry UCLA students.

California Vehicle Code Section 22455 offers protection for commercial vehicles parked in residential areas. Given the choice between walking to Westwood proper or grabbing food from the street out front, I’m sure Westwood would lose even more business by pushing food trucks into residential areas. The long lines Westwood residents saw in front of a few food trucks parked at the corner of Roebling Avenue and Landfair Avenue testify to this fact.

Local businesses’ use of the city code as a crude weapon to beat vendors out of town would make sense if the food served by these food trucks harmed customers’ health in some way. The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, however, likely has more pressing problems to address than a plastic sign mounted on a chain-link fence or parking violations by food trucks.

The students of UCLA would love to hear a rousing defense of how an empty dirt lot serves us better. The facts show that this competition isn’t unfair; it’s progress.

Donovan is a fourth-year civil engineering student at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Corrections: Sann asked the city to tell the food truck owners to comply with city codes or shut down. The city asked the food truck owners to obtain a parking lot permit and make changes to the site. The food truck owners pay the landowner to use the space. The food trucks already contribute fees to the neighborhood’s improvement through the landowner.