(Photo: Institute of Justice)

8/12/2020

Cameron County District Court Judge Arturo Cisneros Nelson declared South Padre Island's food truck permit cap and need of a restaurant's permission unconstitutional.

Senior Director of Communications at the Institute of Justice, Justin Wilson, wrote in his press release, "The district court ruled that the city violated the Texas Constitution when it forced food truck owners to get permission from local restaurant owners before being eligible for a food truck permit, and by making it illegal for more than twelve food trucks to open for business on the island."

In this case, Erica Lerma De Macauley and brothers Anubis and Adonai Avalos were unable to operate their food truck businesses under South Padre Island's cap on what the IJ refers to as a "permitting scheme."

Arif Panju, Managing Attorney of IJ's office in Texas, commented, "The government cannot pass laws to protect politically connected insiders from competition— operating a small business in the current climate is challenging enough without the government picking winners and losers."

According to the Institute of Justice, "Evidence showed that local restaurant owners lobbied the city council to cap the number of available food truck permits—and also require applicants to first obtain a signature from their brick-and-mortar competitors to qualify for a permit. The district court rejected this economic protectionism as a violation of the Texas Constitution.