In an attempt to bring more food trucks into Montgomery County, the County Council Tuesday unanimously approved legislation that extends the hours mobile food vendors are allowed to operate.
The new law allows the trucks to operate from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., rather than the previous permitted hours of 9 a.m. until sunset.
The change was promoted by students at the Wheaton High School Innovation Lab, who in the spring first proposed increasing the operating hours as a way to help food trucks expand sales during breakfast and dinner hours.
What seemed at first like a fairly innocuous proposal quickly turned controversial when the Restaurant Association of Maryland and the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce opposed the idea out of concern that more food trucks operating in the county could harm brick-and-mortar businesses.
Council members dismissed that concern Tuesday, largely saying the increased competition will improve the local restaurant industry.
Council member Hans Riemer also noted that few food trucks currently operate in the county.
“We do not have many food trucks in our urban district largely because permitting rules have driven them out,” Riemer said. “This bill fixes one significant issue, which is that food trucks have been banned after dark.”
Riemer added that the council plans to work with the county executive’s office to alter regulatory policy to make sure food trucks can park and operate legally in urban districts. Riemer has previously said that county officials have asked food trucks to move if they aren’t actively serving customers, which can hurt their ability to attract customers over time.
