The Institute for Justice (IJ) has filed a lawsuit against the city of Jacksonville, North Carolina. The city recently passed an ordinance that prohibits food trucks from any property that is within 250 feet of a restaurant or a residence. That means that 96 percent of the city is off-limits to food trucks. The law also prohibits food trucks from operating within 250 feet of one another. IJ is correctly claiming that the prohibitions violate property rights.
The right to property means the freedom to produce, use, and trade material values. This includes the freedom to sell food from a truck, as well as the freedom to lease one’s property to a food truck operator. One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit owns a general store in Jacksonville, and she would welcome food trucks in her parking lot. However, the ordinance prevents her from offering additional value to her customers. And it essentially prevents food truck operators from earning a living in the city.
These regulations and restrictions on food trucks are nothing more than cronyism. They protect incumbents from competition by erecting nearly insurmountable obstacles to newcomers. The same occurs with taxi licensing, occupational licensing, and many other schemes. In each instance, arbitrary barriers to entry are erected.
Incumbent businesses often seek government protection from competition. When Uber (and similar companies) entered a new market, taxi drivers and their political allies sought ways to impose more costs and restrictions on ride-sharing companies. When AirBnB (and similar companies) entered a market, hotel owners and their political allies sought ways to impose more costs and restrictions of short-term rentals.
No matter what justifications are used for these restrictions, consumers always lose. The regulations imposed on ride-sharing companies and short-term rentals add to the cost of these services. And those costs are ultimately passed on to the consumer. The same is true of food trucks.
Property rights protect our freedom to offer new and innovative products and services to consumers. This is true of ride-sharing companies, short-term rentals, and food trucks.