Jacksonville city councilman asking mayor not to sign food truck ban ordinance

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The controversy surrounding a new ordinance approved by Jacksonville City Council continues.

Council members passed a ban on food trucks at gas stations Tuesday night. Some members of the food truck community believe this bill will hurt them financially, and now Mayor Donna Deegan is being asked not to sign it.

Glenda Rivera Chung has been operating The Lumpia Lady food truck since 2021. She got her start by cooking for people in her neighborhood.

“They encouraged me to get a food truck and I was doing video, and cooking Facebook Live, and that’s how it started,” Chung said.

Chung said she parks her food truck at a gas station once a week. She is now concerned about losing that revenue with the ban in place. “Now it’s like, ok, so what do I do now? At least in my situation, how am I going to keep this business afloat because this is 30% of my business.” 

The ordinance prohibits mobile food trucks from preparing and selling food using an open flame on any property which sells gasoline or other flammable petroleum products within 300 feet of a pump mechanism. Councilman Joe Carlucci introduced the bill after receiving complaints from people living in his district. They were worried about potential fires or explosions with food trucks operating so close to a flammable substance.

“It’s just one of those things where we got to kind of put safety first. And by no means do we wanna shut anyone down, we just want them to relocate to a safer location,” Carlucci told First Coast News in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

The ordinance was met with both support and opposition during Tuesday’s meeting. Those who supported the bill, including Carlucci, believed it was the right thing to do for public safety. Councilman Rahman Johnson was one of the people who voted against the ordinance.

“I was more pro-business and there was no there, there. It was looking like we were trying to find a solution for a problem that didn’t exist,” Johnson said.

Johnson believes this ordinance disproportionately affects people living in undeserved communities and minority business owners. He also did not believe there was enough data to support the bill. Johnson sent a letter to Deegan Wednesday morning urging her not to sign it.

“I composed a letter and sent it over to the mayor asking her not to sign this because I just think it sends the wrong message to our community, to the business community, to our city. We want business to flourish, and to move forward here,” Johnson said.

First Coast News reached out Carlucci for a comment on his colleague’s letter. Carlucci called the bill “common sense,” writing, “the Planning Department approved this, the Planning Commission approved this, the Rules Committee approved this, the LUZ Committee approved this, City Council approved this, and yes, even the Fire Chief supports this change.”

Carlucci added his office received “zero” calls, emails, or public comment from food truck owners who opposed the bill. 

Food truck owners will have 90 days to comply with this new ordinance. After 90 days, owners could face a $250 fine per day. Johnson said they will have to determine which agency will be in charge of enforcing this law.

Chung said she is not against making food trucks safer, but she wants to see more research before banning food trucks from gas stations. She hopes the city will work more closely with the food truck community to come up with a compromise and prevent people from losing business.

“Give us a chance to hear our input and let’s come up with a solution to this, how we can strengthen the safety side of the operations while we are in the gasoline station. I think both sides need to work together,” Chung said.

A spokesperson for Deegan’s office said the mayor is taking all of this community discussion into consideration as she reviews the bill.