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Food truck owners sue City of Tarpon Springs over downtown restrictions

Tarpon Springs passed local regulations earlier this year restricting where food trucks could operate throughout the city.
Credit: Institute for Justice

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — Elijah and Ashley Durham opened their food truck SOL Burger when Elijah lost his job as a chef during the pandemic. 

Just when they were getting ready to serve hungry customers in their home of Tarpon Springs, they say they ran into some issues with the city.

Earlier this year, Florida lawmakers prohibited cities from banning the operation of food trucks. However, Tarpon Springs passed local regulations restricting where food trucks could operate throughout the city.

For the Durhams, this meant being kept away from customers downtown in order to protect restaurant owners. The restrictions allow local restaurants to operate food trucks on their own property but keeps other food trucks from serving people in the same space, according to a press release from the Institute for Justice(IJ).

Now, the SOL Burger owners are teaming up with IJ to sue Tarpon Springs over the ordinance claiming it violates the constitution by favoring one economic group at the expense of others.

The Institute for Justice says they have successfully challenged what they call similar "anti-competitive laws" in several cities across the US.

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