HB3509 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 12976 CPF 18319 b

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.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Food Truck Freedom Act.

Section 5. Definitions.

"Event permit" means a permit that a unit of local government issues to the organizer of a public food truck event located on public property.

"Food cart" means a cart that:

(1) is not motorized; and

(2) a vendor, standing outside the frame of the cart, uses to prepare, sell, or serve food or beverages for immediate human consumption.

"Food service establishment" means an operation that:

(1) stores, prepares, packages, serves, or vends food directly to the consumer or otherwise provides food for human consumption;

(2) is a satellite or catered feeding location; and

(3) relinquishes possession of food to a consumer directly or indirectly through a delivery service such as home delivery of a grocery order or takeout order or a delivery service that is provided by common carriers.

"Food truck" means a fully encased food service establishment:

(1) on a motor vehicle or on a trailer that a motor vehicle pulls to transport; and

(2) from which a food truck vendor, standing within the frame of the vehicle, prepares, cooks, sells, or serves food or beverages for immediate human consumption.

"Food truck" does not include a food cart or an ice cream truck.

"Food truck business" means a business that operates one or more food trucks.

"Food truck event" means an event where an individual has ordered or commissioned the operation of a food truck at a private or public gathering.

"Food truck operator" means a person who owns, manages, or controls, or who has the duty to manage or control, a food truck business.

"Food truck vendor" means a person who sells, cooks, or serves food or beverages from a food truck.

"Health department food truck permit" means a document that a local health department issues to authorize a person to operate a food truck within the jurisdiction of the local health department.

"Ice cream truck" means a fully encased food service establishment:

(1) on a motor vehicle or on a trailer that a motor vehicle pulls to transport;

(2) from which a vendor, from within the frame of the vehicle, serves ice cream;

(3) that attracts patrons by traveling through a residential area and signaling the truck's presence in the area, including by playing music; and

(4) that may stop to serve ice cream at the signal of a patron.

"Restaurant" means a place of business where a variety of food is prepared and cooked and complete meals are served to the general public for consumption on the premises primarily in indoor dining accommodations. "Restaurant" includes a food service establishment.

"Temporary mass gathering" means:

(1) an actual or reasonably anticipated assembly of 500 or more people that continues, or reasonably can be expected to continue, for 2 or more hours per day; or

(2) an event that requires a more extensive review to protect public health and safety because the event's nature or conditions have the potential of generating environmental or health risks.

"Temporary mass gathering" does not include an assembly of people at a location with permanent facilities designed for that specific assembly.

Section 10. Licensing; reciprocity; fees.

(a) A unit of local government may not:

(1) require a separate license, permit, or fee, beyond the initial or reciprocal business license described in subsection (b) or the fee described in subsection (e,) for a food truck business, regardless of whether a food truck operates in more than one location or on more than one day within the unit of local government in the same calendar year;

(2) require a fee for each employee the food truck business employs; or

(3) require, as a business license qualification, a food truck business to do any of the following regarding a food truck operator or food truck vendor:

(A) submit to or offer proof of a criminal background check; or

(B) demonstrate how the operation of the food truck business will comply with a land use or zoning ordinance at the time the business applies for the business license.

(b) A unit of local government shall grant a business license to operate a food truck within the unit of local government to a food truck business that has obtained a business license to operate a food truck in another unit of local government within the State if the food truck business presents to the unit of local government:

(1) a current business license from the other unit of local government within the State; and

(2) for each food truck that the food truck business operates:

(A) a current health department food truck permit from a local health department within the State; and

(B) a current approval by a unit of local government within the State showing that the food truck passed a fire safety inspection that the other unit of local government conducted in accordance with relevant State and local requirements.

(c) If a food truck business presents the documents described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b), the unit of local government may not:

(1) impose additional license qualification requirements on the food truck business before issuing a license to operate within the unit of local government, except for charging a fee in accordance with subsection (e); or

(2) issue a license that expires on a date earlier or later than the day on which the license described in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) expires.

(d) Nothing in subsections (b) or (c) prevents a unit of local government from enforcing the unit of local government's land use regulations, zoning, or other ordinances in relation to the operation of a food truck to the extent that the regulations and ordinances do not conflict with this Act.

(e) For an initial business license to a food truck business, a unit of local government may only charge a licensing fee to the food truck business in an amount that reimburses the unit of local government for the actual cost of processing the business license.

For a reciprocal business license that a unit of local government issues in accordance with subsections (b) or (c), the unit of local government shall reduce the amount of the business licensing fee to an amount that accounts for the actual administrative burden on the unit of local government for processing the reciprocal license.

(f) Nothing in this Section prevents a unit of local government from:

(1) requiring a food truck business to comply with local zoning and land use regulations, to the extent that the regulations do not conflict with this Act;

(2) adopting local ordinances or rules consistent with this Act that address how and where a food truck may operate within the unit of local government;

(3) requiring a food truck business to obtain an event permit, in accordance with Section 20; or

(4) revoking a license that the unit of local government has issued if the operation of the related food truck within the unit of local government violates the terms of the license.

Section 15. Safety and health inspections; permits.

(a) A food truck business shall 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.

(b) A local health department shall grant a health department food truck permit to operate a food truck within the jurisdiction of the local health department to a food truck business that has obtained the health department food truck permit described in subsection (a) from another local health department within the State if the food truck business presents to the local health department the current health department food truck permit from the other local health department.

If a food truck business presents the health department food truck permit described in subsection (a) from another local health department within the State, the local health department may not:

(1) impose additional permit qualification requirements on the food truck business before issuing a health department food truck permit to operate within the jurisdiction of the local health department, except for charging a fee in accordance with subsection (c); or

(2) issue a health department food truck permit that expires on a date earlier or later than the day on which the permit from the another local health department expires.

(c) A local health department may only charge a health department food truck permit fee to a food truck business in an amount that reimburses the local health department for the cost of regulating the food truck.

For a health department food truck permit that a local health department issues in accordance with subsection (b), the local health department shall reduce the amount of the health department food truck permit fee to an amount that accounts for the lower administrative burden on the local health department.

(d) A unit of local government inspecting a food truck for fire safety shall conduct the inspection based on the all relevant State and local requirements.

(e) A unit of local government shall consider valid within the unit of local government's jurisdiction an approval from another unit of local government within the State that shows that the food truck passed a fire safety inspection that the other unit of local government conducted.

(f) A unit of local government may not require that a food truck pass a fire safety inspection in a given calendar year if the food truck business presents to the unit of local government an approval described in subsection (e) that is issued during the same calendar year.

(g) Nothing in this Section prevents a local health department from:

(1) requiring a food truck business to obtain an event permit; or

(2) revoking a health department food truck permit that the local health department has issued, if the operation of the related food truck within the jurisdiction of the local health department violates the terms of the permit.

Nothing in this Section prevents a unit of local government from revoking the unit of local government's approval under subsection (e) if the operation of the related food truck within the unit of local government fails to meet the requirements found during an investigation under subsection (d).

Section 20. Food truck events.

(a) Subject to subsection (d), 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.

(b) If a food truck business has a business license from any unit of local government within the State, a unit of local government may not require a food truck business to pay any fee or obtain from the unit of local government an additional business license or permit to operate a food truck at a food truck event that:

(1) takes place on private property within the unit of local government; and

(2) is not open to the public.

(c) If a unit of local government requires an event permit for a food truck event, the organizer of the food truck event may obtain the event permit on behalf of the food trucks that service the event.

(d) Nothing in this Section prohibits a local health department from requiring a permit for a temporary mass gathering.

A food truck operating at a temporary mass gathering that occurs over multiple days may operate in a stationary manner for the duration of the temporary mass gathering, not to exceed 5 consecutive days, without moving or changing its location, if the food truck maintains sanitary conditions and operates in compliance with the permitting requirements and regulations imposed on other food vendors at the temporary mass gathering.

A local health department may not impose a requirement on a food truck under this subsection that the local health department does not impose on other food vendors operating at the temporary mass gathering.

Section 25. Food truck operation. A unit of local government may not:

(1) entirely or constructively prohibit food trucks in a zone in which a food service establishment is a permitted or conditional use;

(2) prohibit the operation of a food truck within a given distance of a restaurant;

(3) restrict the total number of days a food truck business may operate a food truck within the unit of local government during a calendar year;

(4) require a food truck business to:

(A) provide to the unit of local government:

(i) a site plan for each location in which a food truck operates in the public right of way, if the unit of local government permits food truck operation in the public right of way; or

(ii) the date, time, or duration that a food truck will operate within the unit of local government; or

(B) obtain and pay for a land use permit for each location and time during which a food truck operates; or

(5) if a food truck business has the consent of a private property owner to operate a food truck on the private property:

(A) limit the number of days the food truck may operate on the private property;

(B) require that the food truck operator provide to the unit of local government or keep on file in the food truck the private property owner's written consent; or

(C) require a site plan for the operation of the food truck on the private property where the food truck operates in the same location for less than 10 hours per week.