102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB3509

 

Introduced 2/22/2021, by Rep. Lamont J. Robinson, Jr.

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Food Truck Freedom Act. Provides that a unit of local government may not require a separate license, permit, or fee beyond an initial or reciprocal business license for a food truck business. Contains provisions regarding reciprocal business licenses issued to food truck businesses by different units of local government or local health departments. Contains prohibitions against units of local governments or local health departments from imposing additional license qualification requirements on a food truck business before issuing licenses. Provides that, for an initial business license, a unit of local government or local health department may only charge a licensing fee to a food truck business in an amount that reimburses the unit of local government for the actual cost of processing the business license. Requires food truck businesses to obtain, for each food truck that the food truck business operates, an annual health department food truck permit from the local health department with jurisdiction over the area in which the majority of the food truck's operations takes place. Provides that, subject specified exceptions, a unit of local government may not require a food truck business to pay any fee or obtain from the unit of local government any permit to operate a food truck at a food truck event that takes place on private property within the unit of local government, regardless of whether the event is open or closed to the public. Contains other provisions.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning health.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Food
5Truck Freedom Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions.
7    "Event permit" means a permit that a unit of local
8government issues to the organizer of a public food truck
9event located on public property.
10    "Food cart" means a cart that:
11        (1) is not motorized; and
12        (2) a vendor, standing outside the frame of the cart,
13    uses to prepare, sell, or serve food or beverages for
14    immediate human consumption.
15    "Food service establishment" means an operation that:
16        (1) stores, prepares, packages, serves, or vends food
17    directly to the consumer or otherwise provides food for
18    human consumption;
19        (2) is a satellite or catered feeding location; and
20        (3) relinquishes possession of food to a consumer
21    directly or indirectly through a delivery service such as
22    home delivery of a grocery order or takeout order or a
23    delivery service that is provided by common carriers.

 

 

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1    "Food truck" means a fully encased food service
2establishment:
3        (1) on a motor vehicle or on a trailer that a motor
4    vehicle pulls to transport; and
5        (2) from which a food truck vendor, standing within
6    the frame of the vehicle, prepares, cooks, sells, or
7    serves food or beverages for immediate human consumption.
8    "Food truck" does not include a food cart or an ice cream
9truck.
10    "Food truck business" means a business that operates one
11or more food trucks.
12    "Food truck event" means an event where an individual has
13ordered or commissioned the operation of a food truck at a
14private or public gathering.
15    "Food truck operator" means a person who owns, manages, or
16controls, or who has the duty to manage or control, a food
17truck business.
18    "Food truck vendor" means a person who sells, cooks, or
19serves food or beverages from a food truck.
20    "Health department food truck permit" means a document
21that a local health department issues to authorize a person to
22operate a food truck within the jurisdiction of the local
23health department.
24    "Ice cream truck" means a fully encased food service
25establishment:
26        (1) on a motor vehicle or on a trailer that a motor

 

 

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1    vehicle pulls to transport;
2        (2) from which a vendor, from within the frame of the
3    vehicle, serves ice cream;
4        (3) that attracts patrons by traveling through a
5    residential area and signaling the truck's presence in the
6    area, including by playing music; and
7        (4) that may stop to serve ice cream at the signal of a
8    patron.
9    "Restaurant" means a place of business where a variety of
10food is prepared and cooked and complete meals are served to
11the general public for consumption on the premises primarily
12in indoor dining accommodations. "Restaurant" includes a food
13service establishment.
14    "Temporary mass gathering" means:
15        (1) an actual or reasonably anticipated assembly of
16    500 or more people that continues, or reasonably can be
17    expected to continue, for 2 or more hours per day; or
18        (2) an event that requires a more extensive review to
19    protect public health and safety because the event's
20    nature or conditions have the potential of generating
21    environmental or health risks.
22    "Temporary mass gathering" does not include an assembly of
23people at a location with permanent facilities designed for
24that specific assembly.
 
25    Section 10. Licensing; reciprocity; fees.

 

 

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1    (a) A unit of local government may not:
2        (1) require a separate license, permit, or fee, beyond
3    the initial or reciprocal business license described in
4    subsection (b) or the fee described in subsection (e,) for
5    a food truck business, regardless of whether a food truck
6    operates in more than one location or on more than one day
7    within the unit of local government in the same calendar
8    year;
9        (2) require a fee for each employee the food truck
10    business employs; or
11        (3) require, as a business license qualification, a
12    food truck business to do any of the following regarding a
13    food truck operator or food truck vendor:
14            (A) submit to or offer proof of a criminal
15        background check; or
16            (B) demonstrate how the operation of the food
17        truck business will comply with a land use or zoning
18        ordinance at the time the business applies for the
19        business license.
20    (b) A unit of local government shall grant a business
21license to operate a food truck within the unit of local
22government to a food truck business that has obtained a
23business license to operate a food truck in another unit of
24local government within the State if the food truck business
25presents to the unit of local government:
26        (1) a current business license from the other unit of

 

 

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1    local government within the State; and
2        (2) for each food truck that the food truck business
3    operates:
4            (A) a current health department food truck permit
5        from a local health department within the State; and
6            (B) a current approval by a unit of local
7        government within the State showing that the food
8        truck passed a fire safety inspection that the other
9        unit of local government conducted in accordance with
10        relevant State and local requirements.
11    (c) If a food truck business presents the documents
12described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b), the
13unit of local government may not:
14        (1) impose additional license qualification
15    requirements on the food truck business before issuing a
16    license to operate within the unit of local government,
17    except for charging a fee in accordance with subsection
18    (e); or
19        (2) issue a license that expires on a date earlier or
20    later than the day on which the license described in
21    paragraph (1) of subsection (b) expires.
22    (d) Nothing in subsections (b) or (c) prevents a unit of
23local government from enforcing the unit of local government's
24land use regulations, zoning, or other ordinances in relation
25to the operation of a food truck to the extent that the
26regulations and ordinances do not conflict with this Act.

 

 

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1    (e) For an initial business license to a food truck
2business, a unit of local government may only charge a
3licensing fee to the food truck business in an amount that
4reimburses the unit of local government for the actual cost of
5processing the business license.
6    For a reciprocal business license that a unit of local
7government issues in accordance with subsections (b) or (c),
8the unit of local government shall reduce the amount of the
9business licensing fee to an amount that accounts for the
10actual administrative burden on the unit of local government
11for processing the reciprocal license.
12    (f) Nothing in this Section prevents a unit of local
13government from:
14        (1) requiring a food truck business to comply with
15    local zoning and land use regulations, to the extent that
16    the regulations do not conflict with this Act;
17        (2) adopting local ordinances or rules consistent with
18    this Act that address how and where a food truck may
19    operate within the unit of local government;
20        (3) requiring a food truck business to obtain an event
21    permit, in accordance with Section 20; or
22        (4) revoking a license that the unit of local
23    government has issued if the operation of the related food
24    truck within the unit of local government violates the
25    terms of the license.
 

 

 

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1    Section 15. Safety and health inspections; permits.
2    (a) A food truck business shall obtain, for each food
3truck that the food truck business operates, an annual health
4department food truck permit from the local health department
5with jurisdiction over the area in which the majority of the
6food truck's operations takes place.
7    (b) A local health department shall grant a health
8department food truck permit to operate a food truck within
9the jurisdiction of the local health department to a food
10truck business that has obtained the health department food
11truck permit described in subsection (a) from another local
12health department within the State if the food truck business
13presents to the local health department the current health
14department food truck permit from the other local health
15department.
16    If a food truck business presents the health department
17food truck permit described in subsection (a) from another
18local health department within the State, the local health
19department may not:
20        (1) impose additional permit qualification
21    requirements on the food truck business before issuing a
22    health department food truck permit to operate within the
23    jurisdiction of the local health department, except for
24    charging a fee in accordance with subsection (c); or
25        (2) issue a health department food truck permit that
26    expires on a date earlier or later than the day on which

 

 

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1    the permit from the another local health department
2    expires.
3    (c) A local health department may only charge a health
4department food truck permit fee to a food truck business in an
5amount that reimburses the local health department for the
6cost of regulating the food truck.
7    For a health department food truck permit that a local
8health department issues in accordance with subsection (b),
9the local health department shall reduce the amount of the
10health department food truck permit fee to an amount that
11accounts for the lower administrative burden on the local
12health department.
13    (d) A unit of local government inspecting a food truck for
14fire safety shall conduct the inspection based on the all
15relevant State and local requirements.
16    (e) A unit of local government shall consider valid within
17the unit of local government's jurisdiction an approval from
18another unit of local government within the State that shows
19that the food truck passed a fire safety inspection that the
20other unit of local government conducted.
21    (f) A unit of local government may not require that a food
22truck pass a fire safety inspection in a given calendar year if
23the food truck business presents to the unit of local
24government an approval described in subsection (e) that is
25issued during the same calendar year.
26    (g) Nothing in this Section prevents a local health

 

 

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1department from:
2        (1) requiring a food truck business to obtain an event
3    permit; or
4        (2) revoking a health department food truck permit
5    that the local health department has issued, if the
6    operation of the related food truck within the
7    jurisdiction of the local health department violates the
8    terms of the permit.
9    Nothing in this Section prevents a unit of local
10government from revoking the unit of local government's
11approval under subsection (e) if the operation of the related
12food truck within the unit of local government fails to meet
13the requirements found during an investigation under
14subsection (d).
 
15    Section 20. Food truck events.
16    (a) Subject to subsection (d), a unit of local government
17may not require a food truck business to pay any fee or obtain
18from the unit of local government any permit to operate a food
19truck at a food truck event that takes place on private
20property within the unit of local government, regardless of
21whether the event is open or closed to the public.
22    (b) If a food truck business has a business license from
23any unit of local government within the State, a unit of local
24government may not require a food truck business to pay any fee
25or obtain from the unit of local government an additional

 

 

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1business license or permit to operate a food truck at a food
2truck event that:
3        (1) takes place on private property within the unit of
4    local government; and
5        (2) is not open to the public.
6    (c) If a unit of local government requires an event permit
7for a food truck event, the organizer of the food truck event
8may obtain the event permit on behalf of the food trucks that
9service the event.
10    (d) Nothing in this Section prohibits a local health
11department from requiring a permit for a temporary mass
12gathering.
13    A food truck operating at a temporary mass gathering that
14occurs over multiple days may operate in a stationary manner
15for the duration of the temporary mass gathering, not to
16exceed 5 consecutive days, without moving or changing its
17location, if the food truck maintains sanitary conditions and
18operates in compliance with the permitting requirements and
19regulations imposed on other food vendors at the temporary
20mass gathering.
21    A local health department may not impose a requirement on
22a food truck under this subsection that the local health
23department does not impose on other food vendors operating at
24the temporary mass gathering.
 
25    Section 25. Food truck operation.     A unit of local

 

 

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1government may not:
2        (1) entirely or constructively prohibit food trucks in
3    a zone in which a food service establishment is a
4    permitted or conditional use;
5        (2) prohibit the operation of a food truck within a
6    given distance of a restaurant;
7        (3) restrict the total number of days a food truck
8    business may operate a food truck within the unit of local
9    government during a calendar year;
10        (4) require a food truck business to:
11            (A) provide to the unit of local government:
12                (i) a site plan for each location in which a
13            food truck operates in the public right of way, if
14            the unit of local government permits food truck
15            operation in the public right of way; or
16                (ii) the date, time, or duration that a food
17            truck will operate within the unit of local
18            government; or
19            (B) obtain and pay for a land use permit for each
20        location and time during which a food truck operates;
21        or
22        (5) if a food truck business has the consent of a
23    private property owner to operate a food truck on the
24    private property:
25            (A) limit the number of days the food truck may
26        operate on the private property;

 

 

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1            (B) require that the food truck operator provide
2        to the unit of local government or keep on file in the
3        food truck the private property owner's written
4        consent; or
5            (C) require a site plan for the operation of the
6        food truck on the private property where the food
7        truck operates in the same location for less than 10
8        hours per week.