A big win for Jacksonville food trucks this week, as heavy restrictions have now been lifted due to a lawsuit brought on by local business owners.
For Anthony Proctor, owner of The Spot, a Florida-style seafood restaurant, it has been 3.5 years, so that food trucks could be treated like any other local restaurant. But he says that this isn’t just about winning or losing.
It’s just about having the freedom to be able to operate, to earn a living in this city in which we pay taxes, a city that I love– I love this city, so I’m just excited!
Anthony Proctor owns The Spot, a Florida-style seafood restaurant and food truck.
This has been a huge huge huge thing for all the trucks that are out there.
He, alongside Nicole Gonzalez, owner of Northwoods Urban Farm, and Octavious Raymond, owner of The Cheesesteak Hustle, were involved in a lawsuit to change the restrictive and unconstitutional rules, including the inability to make a living.
In North Carolina in particular, the state Constitution guarantees us a fundamental right to earn a living and what that means is the government needs a good reason if they’re going to say you can’t earn a living in an ordinary manner.
The judge awarded the businesses involved nominal damages and ordered the city to pay court costs.
But Proctor says he is just glad they can move forward.
We have the opportunity to really impact by providing just more options to our citizens, so I’m excited.
Not only are they now able to provide those options, but also to work together.
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We can share customers with each other, provide one place where people can come and shop from us both and we can support each other– I think it will be wonderful for the community, for small businesses, for everyone.