The Illinois Supreme Court sided with the city of Chicago following a yearslong court battle over some of the nation’s toughest food truck restrictions.

The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the city of Chicago in LMP Services, Inc. v. City of Chicago on May 23, upholding Chicago’s controversial “200-foot rule” and GPS tracking requirements. The high court said the regulations “balance the needs of both restaurants and food trucks” and did not violate the state constitution.

“Today’s ruling doesn’t protect public safety; instead, it protects brick-and-mortar restaurants from honest competition,” Institute for Justice senior attorney Robert Frommer, who was lead counsel on the case, said in a statement.

This decision deals another blow to struggling food truck vendors who’d been hoping for relief from some of the nation’s harshest food truck regulations.

In July 2012, Chicago passed rules prohibiting food trucks from doing business within 200 feet of a brick-and-mortar food establishment and requiring them to install a GPS device in their vehicle to track their location data.

The restrictions are so severe that just 3% of Chicago’s downtown Loop ­– one of the most lucrative and highly trafficked areas in the city – is legally operable for food trucks, according to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. It is not uncommon for food truck vendors in Chicago to suffer police crackdowns, and many lose business trying to navigate the city’s burdensome regulatory landscape. Between 2012 and 2017, Chicago’s food truck presence nearly halved.

Plaintiffs in the case lost in circuit court in December 2016, before suffering a subsequent loss in December 2017 at the Illinois Appellate Court. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in May 2018. On behalf of the Illinois Policy Institute, the Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus curiae brief in support of food truck entrepreneurs in August 2018.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke authored the unanimous opinion. Burke’s husband is powerful Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, 14th Ward, who currently faces felony attempted extortion charges.

Fighting for fairness

Laura Pekarik, who co-founded Cupcakes for Courage with her sister Kathryn, first brought this legal challenge against the city in 2012 with the help of the Institute for Justice. Cupcakes for Courage began as a small effort to raise money to help cover medical costs as Kathryn battled non-Hodgkin’s T-cell lymphoma. But the popularity of their baked goods inspired the sisters to grow their operation into a food truck enterprise, devoting a portion of their earnings to charities dedicated to cancer research.

But Chicago’s excessive regulations have made it increasingly difficult for food truck entrepreneurs such as Laura and Kathryn to do business in the city.

“Chicago admitted its 200-foot rule enriched restauranteurs by chasing away their mobile competitors. I hoped the Illinois Supreme Court would reject this kind of government picks the winners and losers approach, where success turns not on how good your product is, but on who you know at City Hall. Justice did not prevail today,” Laura said in a statement.

Other small businesses victimized by the city’s regulatory overreach include the Schnitzel King food truck, owned by Greg Burke and his fiancé, Kristin Casper. Greg originally joined the suit against the city along with Pekarik, but in 2014 Burke and Casper closed the Schnitzel King, citing Chicago’s “harsh food truck laws.”

200-foot rule

Section 7-38-115(f) of the Municipal Code of Chicago restricts food trucks from operating within 200 feet of a brick-and-mortar entrance to any “place where food and drink is prepared and served for the public for consumption on or off the premises.”

Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th Ward, a former chairman of the Illinois Restaurant Association – which lobbied for strict restrictions on food trucks – helped draft the ordinance. In the words of the IRA, these restrictions serve to protect brick-and-mortar restaurants. The Institute for Justice called it “pure protectionism” and argued it does not constitute a legitimate government interest.

The Illinois Supreme Court’s opinion sets a precedent that would allow local governments to treat businesses differently based on “increasing revenue for the City and improving stable economic growth,” which could open the door to further instances of protectionism in local economies.

Justice Anne Burke, who wrote the court’s unanimous opinion, found it in the interest of Chicago to encourage “the long-term stability and economic growth of its neighborhoods,” and that the controversial 200-foot rule accomplishes this by supporting “brick-and-mortar restaurants and, thus, neighborhood stability.”

This rationale enables local governments to set regulations that favor one class of businesses over another.

Privacy violations

The court also upheld Chicago’s law requiring food trucks to install a GPS tracking device and make their location data available to the city, which the Institute for Justice had argued is an unreasonable and warrantless search. The court held that food trucks “have no expectation of privacy” and that the requirement does not act as a search, and therefore does not violate the right to privacy of food truck operators.

Moreover, the justices held that even if the requirement constituted a search, they would still find the requirement reasonable because the city has an interest in accessing location data for purposes involving health emergencies or inspections.

The future for food trucks

While a U.S. Supreme Court appeal could follow, the Institute for Justice has not announced further plans. In the meantime, food truck entrepreneurs must continue to comply with the city’s highly strict regulations – and hope that Chicago politicians eventually find an appetite for reform.

“We are just trying to serve the community like the other businesses in the city of Chicago,” said Jeff Doornbos, owner of American Glory Food Truck, after hearing in May 2018 that the Illinois Supreme Court would hear the case. “At the same time, we are trying to make sure that we are abiding by all the rules and regulations put forth by the city.”

Chicago leaders should work to accommodate a variety of food options and entrepreneurs, instead of discriminating against one class of food service while giving special protections to another.

While the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of Chicago’s established restaurant industry, city leaders would be wise to acknowledge that reforming its controversial food truck regulations would benefit aspiring small business owners, consumers and the local economy.

I rarely troll.

The food is just as expensive or more expensive than a restaurant
you get to stand there for 20 minutes waiting for food while standing on the sidewalk.

Secondly, if i'm busting my ass and paying downtown rent on Wells or Financial or whatever for my 900sf specialty restaurant, and you want to benefit from my foot traffic, guess what, sign a lease and rent the store front next to me.

I have mixed feelings about food trucks. If I had one, I would figure out a way to just do college campuses ( I am sure there are restrictions I am unaware of) and events, maybe bar strips at night. That strip of Clark south of Monroe, and over by Sears tower? It's the same guys all the time. they send a guy down to sit in a car at 6:00 A.M. and hold a spot.

Better plan is run the food truck at night and go to microbreweries that don't serve food. Too much competition during lunch to make it worth your while. Free business advice. Name a burger after me once you become a billionaire.

I don't get food trucks. The food is just as expensive or more expensive than a restaurant, but you get none of the service. And you get to stand there for 20 minutes waiting for food while standing on the sidewalk. Who the fuck wants that?

Chicago should let them at parks and and recreational areas, which I think they do, because that is the only place they make any sense.

I may name you in the bankruptcy lawsuit. How's that?

I don't get food trucks. The food is just as expensive or more expensive than a restaurant, but you get none of the service. And you get to stand there for 20 minutes waiting for food while standing on the sidewalk. Who the fuck wants that?

Chicago should let them at parks and and recreational areas, which I think they do, because that is the only place they make any sense.

They have been successful here too Kirkwood. In one trendier area in the upswing a smart group of people with a liquor license expanded their parking lot to be a giant beer garden of sorts that parks food trucks of all kinds all summer long. Evenings and night weekly and all day weekends they print money and everyone enjoys the rotations. Like your bar always has a fluid menu.

Another thing here is the mentioned brew pub/bar food truck alliance. Why no one figured that one out before given bar/restaurant risk and life cycles is beyond me. One truck/type of food not doing it try another without the relaunch.

They have been successful here too Kirkwood. In one trendier area in the upswing a smart group of people with a liquor license expanded their parking lot to be a giant beer garden of sorts that parks food trucks of all kinds all summer long. Evenings and night weekly and all day weekends they print money and everyone enjoys the rotations. Like your bar always has a fluid menu.

Another thing here is the mentioned brew pub/bar food truck alliance. Why no one figured that one out before given bar/restaurant risk and life cycles is beyond me. One truck/type of food not doing it try another without the relaunch.

This is a good point, Mike. If I am doing, say, Peruvian food, and interest in Peruvian food dries up, I can paint my truck and switch to something else. If I do that at my brick and mortar restaurant, I am going to look like an interloping dickhead.

You have a different perspective.

I'm really getting into food minivans now. In my opinion they are much better than food trucks.

I'm really getting into food minivans now. In my opinion they are much better than food trucks.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Have you ever tried a pack of combos in an Uber? To die for!

Big beefy tattooed dude serving up artisan Diet Sprite Can That Rolled Under The Middle Seat Two Weeks Ago and curated Gushers That All Melted Into One Big One.

There is not a damned thing wrong with people who are bull shitters.

Bully Hendry would have signed Harper for 2.5 Billion over 30 years

I don't like white rappers.