It seems as though there is an unnatural force cracking down on food trucks operating in Fairfax county. Earlier this month, some Fairfax trucks began tweeting that they were receiving tickets at a Tysons Corner hot spot, Greensboro & Solutions. The Tysons Corner blog summed up that situation very nicely in this post, which came down to which section of Solutions drive was out of the jurisdiction of Fairfax County (really!?).
The shocking amplification of the food truck crack down came to me today as I have learned that Fairfax County is no longer issuing food vendors’ licenses to food trucks! Details get a little sketchy from there.. Apparently, officials from the Department of Planning and Zoning think that food trucks aren’t allowed to serve at all in the county, regardless of whether they are parking on public or private property. Something about a fast food establishment not being allowed to be mobile? It seems so crazy that it could be a true county regulation. :-/
More details to follow..
UPDATE (2/27): I heard from another source that this is, indeed, happening. Fairfax County has a new Food Vendor permit and food trucks will NOT be granted this permit, just based on the fact that they are a food truck! That’s pretty outrageous considering that this is not an old permit that hasn’t been updated to modern times. It is a new permit that is specifically excluding food trucks. 🙁
@foodtruckfiesta Thanks for the shout out guys
What can we do about this?
I’m working on it! It seems like there are 2 issues that need to be resolved: permitting and zoning
Keep us posted!
How would this affect George Mason University’s plan to provide food trucks to its students on campus as an alternative to traditional dining options?
It is unknown at this point. The new Food Vendor permit is so new that apparently the rest of the Fairfax Gov doesn’t know about it yet.
Tysons needs MORE food trucks, not fewer. @foodtruckfiesta: An update to Fairfax County’s tacit ban on food trucks: http://t.co/uyajbyYQtR
Well everyone, looks like there will be even fewer food trucks on the road than normal. Thanks, Fairfax County: http://t.co/Y27Hwlw3y5
@FairfaxCounty = Anti-Food Trucks, catch up to the times @FairfaxCounty! post via Food Truck Fiesta http://t.co/uDWJNKr0WB #Virginia #Food
I’m sure someone did not wake up one day in fairfax and say, “gee there are too many trucks.” This leaves me to ponder two things.
1. I’ve never seen a government at any level that would pass on the opportunity to gather more revenue whether by taxes and fees or by consumer spending.
2. Here is always someone who is in someone else’s pocket at all levels of government.
Point two seems more likely than not, since point one would be an overall greater benefit to a local government. Which begs to ask, whose pocket is fairfax county in at the moment?