Los Angeles taco trucks can stay put again

Taco trucks are back.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge today overturned an ordinance passed in April by county supervisors that made it a misdemeanor to park a taco truck in one spot for more than an hour.

The language of the ordinance, Judge Dennis A. Aichroth said, was “vague” and therefore “unconstitutional” because “men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning.”

The attorney who won the case on behalf of Margarita Garcia, a cited taco vendor, said he expected that the county would try to rewrite the law. In the meantime, snack vans are once again free to roam across unincorporated L.A. County, a space that includes their heartland: East L.A.

County supervisors had unanimously approved the ordinance after business owners complained that taco trucks were keeping brick-and-mortar restaurants from flourishing by drawing away customers.

Restaurant owners contended that the trucks had an unfair advantage because their operating costs were minimal compared with the numerous bills that stationary businesses must pay.

 garrett.therolf@latimes.com