The Beacon Center of Tennessee released a statement on Tuesday celebrating the Mt. Juliet Board of Commissioners for passing an ordinance setting a uniform rate for both in-city and out-of-city food trucks to operate within city limits.
“We are absolutely thrilled that our lawsuit prompted the City of Mt. Juliet to repeal its unconstitutional $100/day permitting fee for food truck operators located outside of Mt. Juliet,” Beacon Director of Legal Affairs Wen Fa said in a statement. “That exorbitant fee essentially shut out our clients— food truck owners who have served many satisfied Mt. Juliet residents in the past— from Mt. Juliet. We’re delighted for both our clients and for the residents of Mt. Juliet that the food trucks are now able to return.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Mt. Juliet permitted food trucks to operate only if they received permits to host a temporary event, which could occur no more than six times a year.
In 2020, the city then suspended its food truck restrictions in order for food trucks to help residents in the wake of a tornado and to provide residents with a safe way to order food when many restaurants were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, later that year, the city reimposed its food truck restrictions, arguing that out-of-city food trucks were taking business away from local brick-and-mortar businesses.
Last year, the city approved a pilot program that would allow food trucks to return to residential and industrial neighborhoods at a rate of $100 per year for in-city food trucks and $100 per day for out-of-city food trucks.
The Beacon Center filed a lawsuit against the City of Mt. Juliet on November 17, arguing the city’s “differential treatment of in-city and out-of-city food trucks violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights under the federal and Tennessee constitutions.”
The Nashville-based think tank represented three entrepreneurs from Middle Tennessee and their food truck businesses in the lawsuit.
The board of commissioners voted during a meeting on Monday to approve Ordinance 0431, which sets the fee for both in-city and out-of-city food trucks to operate in residential and industrial districts within city limits at $100 per year.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
