By Mia Finley
After being restricted to hefty fees or private curbside property, Virginia food trucks now have more parking options.
This past Monday Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed HB 2042 with sponsorship from Fairfax’s Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn and several local food truck owners. At a popular stop for food trucks on Greensboro Drive in Tysons Corner, McAuliffe officially signed a bill that will lift the ban restricting food trucks from state roads and will give more freedom to where these culinary pods can reach customers.
Che Ruddell-Tabisola, president of the District Maryland Virginia Food Truck Association, summed up the potential impact of the bill on a local level. “What’s interesting is that our elected officials get it,” he says. “They get that food trucks are small-business incubators, stepping stones that provide new entrepreneurs a very real path towards small business ownership. Food trucks are job multipliers, demonstrate retail restaurant viability and spur growth.”
With the major barrier to be lifted July 1, Ruddell-Tabisola says we are only a third of the way there: Each county still needs to specify what locations can host food trucks. As he waits for details from local governments, Ruddell-Tabisola is still proud of the progress. “This is the first time in more than a generation that a state governor has taken action to lift barriers on food truck small businesses,” he says.
