Rae-Ann Birney and Sonia Champlin packed up everything they owned and moved to Nampa in 2019 to pursue their dream of opening a coffee shop. The close friends poured everything they had into the business, hoping to provide their families with a better life after leaving Las Vegas.
The pair bought a food truck on eBay in New Mexico, and a year later opened a mobile coffee truck called The Perking Spot in a large empty parking lot at the corner of Caldwell Boulevard and Karcher Road, behind Shari’s.
For a while, trade was slow.
“We were there every day from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., driving the truck in and out, running the diesel, just for four customers to come by,” Birney said. But by 2022, when restrictions eased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company had built a regular customer base. ‘They are on their way. They go to work. They are commuters. They are mothers rushing to school in their cars. Consistency is so important to that business model.”
But the regulations imposed by the city of Nampa threaten that business model, she said. In October, they received a letter from city officials informing them that the city planned to enforce local food truck laws and was considering further changes to the status quo.
Vendors on private property who are affected by the city’s laws
Although The Perking Spot is located on private property and has a lease agreement with the property owner to be there, the coffee truck is at odds with the city, which has proposed new regulations that would ban food trucks from parking overnight or connect to electricity poles. The coffee cart is powered by its own light pole, which Birney has received a permit to install.
Birney, Champlin and at least two dozen other food truck owners and supporters waited for hours Monday evening for the Nampa City Council to review various agenda items and head to a public hearing where they could testify about the impact the regulations would have on their businesses. The city planned to vote next on whether to create a new mobile food vendor permit. Food trucks currently fall under a subsection of the city’s ordinances titled “hawkers and advocates.”
Before the hearing, which the city attorney reminded the council several times did not need to take place, Nampa City Manager Char Tim gave a presentation in which she said food trucks operating out of one location, rather than moving from location to location, would be in be contrary to the law. the laws of the city.
“What we are dealing with now are semi-permanent structures operating under a mobile food license,” Tim said. “They are not permanent structures, so they do not have to adhere to the same regulations as brick and mortar. But they are also not mobile because they don’t move, and therefore they do not comply with mobile food regulations.”
She said the proposed regulations are nearly identical to what is already in the city’s laws regulating food trucks — laws that the city only recently began enforcing.
“Everyone is going to go bankrupt,” Champlin said during the hearing.
Champlin and Birney took out an $80,000 small business loan to build a larger 27-foot trailer in early 2022 as business was good, Birney told the Idaho Statesman on Monday. The trailer is still located at 1813 Caldwell Boulevard and the truck is now used for events. But the city told The Perking Spot in March to halt the drive-thru portion of its operations, something it had done for the past three years. Birney, a single mother of three boys, estimates the move will cost them at least half their revenue.
“It was one hurdle after another,” Birney said by phone.
Institute for Justice: the restrictions are unconstitutional
The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that fights what it calls government overreach, has tried to intervene. The company has sent a letter to city officials urging them to “cease all enforcement of current and future regulations against mobile food vendors. conduct business on private property and comply with all safety measures established by city code,” a company news release said Thursday.
Erica Smith Ewing, an attorney with the firm, told the Statesman on Monday that it would be unconstitutional for the city to restrict mobile food vendors on private property.
“In fact, we have sued several other cities for imposing restrictions on food trucks on private property,” Ewing said by phone.
Ewing said the company has seen some evidence that the city is making progress on regulations to protect restaurants from nearby competition. Cities can act to protect health and safety, she said, but they can’t be favorites.
“It is not the government’s job to pick winners and losers in the market,” she said.
During Monday night’s hearing, Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling intervened to clarify that the rules were not brought forward because of complaints from brick-and-mortar restaurants.
“That’s really not the basis,” she said.
But during Tim’s presentation, the city manager told the council that it appears that owning a food truck has unfair business advantages over a brick-and-mortar restaurant, citing the low cost of a mobile food permit. She said the city’s goal “is to be fair to everyone.” She added that it was unclear where local food carts were disposing of their grease and gray water, which City Councilman Randy Haverfield continually asked every vendor who testified.
Haverfield asked Ryan Chesler, who owns Fly Food Truck with his wife Jordan, what type of hood vent their food truck has, what they do about pre-treatment so oil “doesn’t go back into the sewer” and what kind of holding tank they use for the use fat.
Chesler said he changes the food truck’s oil every 40 hours.
“I have the fryers and they are under control,” he said. “We have food-grade metal, sealed containers that can be locked to hold and tie down while I drive to my next location. I have a commercial space that I rent from Karcher and I have a bulk container there that Eco of Idaho comes by twice a year that pumps oil and recycles it.
“Are you bringing the taco truck?”
Tim Cook, the owner of Big Box Outlet Store, a discount store in Nampa, testified in favor of the local food trucks. He said they are often offered late into the evening, filling the void when restaurants close at night.
He lets food trucks do business from the parking lot of his store, and they pay him rent.
“As my business grew and I had to move to a newer location, most of our customers, many, many, many said, ‘Are you bringing the taco truck?’” Cook said. “There’s a reason for that.”
Chad Hartley, the owner of Stella’s Ice Cream, which has a mobile truck in addition to several locations in the Treasure Valley, spoke at the hearing. So did Kevin Mcintosh, who runs Kilted Kod, a popular food truck that sells fish and chips in the Boise area. Daisy Mendez spoke on behalf of her parents who own Taco El Tesorito at 1707 Garrity Boulevard in Nampa. Several testimonials from the small business owners were followed by cheers from the audience, until Kling reminded those in attendance that “we normally do not allow applause during a meeting.”
After the lengthy public comment period, council members decided to table a decision on mobile food vendor regulations for a later date and encouraged more community feedback.
“We want to work with you,” Nampa City Council Member Natalie Jangula said. “We want to hear from you and I think we can work together and make good decisions. We are not here to crush you in any way. We love our small businesses. We will figure it out, we just need your help.”
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