City bans popular northeast food trucks after sudden spike in complaints

Two food trucks selling Indian and Pakistani food by a popular northeast parkfor the last three years have suddenly been told by the City of Calgary that their trucks are now banned from the area.

The city says thetruck owners didn't break any bylaws orrules, but that officialshad to act over a recent spike incomplaints related to traffic, parking, noise and litter in the areaaround80th AvenueN.E. and Taradale DriveN.E.

But the truck owners say the complaints to the city only surfacedin recent weeks after UCP MLA Devinder Toor got involved in pushing a petition to have themmoved, which they say was driven bya small number of residentswho live near the park in the community of Taralakethat didn't like them being there.

• Late night food trucks stir up fight in northeast Calgary

The Lahori BBQ Hut and Indian Bistro trucks parked upmost nights until 11 p.m.without incident,servingPakistani and Indian mealsto people using the busy green space and lake, which aresurrounded by apartments and family homes backing onto the park.

But some residents saythe trucks were responsible forattractinggangs of rowdy youths in loud cars who stay late into the night, increasingtraffic volume in the area and bringing otherproblems like jaywalkingandnoise pollution from the trucks themselves.

The truck owners allege thatonMay 30they were visited byCalgary-FalconridgeMLA Devinder Toor along with a group of men, whom they describe as a mob.

Theysaid the group threatened them with closure,spoke to them aggressively and demanded theymove away from the area for good. The owners bothsay it was aconfrontation thatfelt more like a threat than a conversation.

"DevinderToorshowed up with a group, about 15 of them, and demandedmy wife move the truck. I told them I have a right to be here, butToortold usheis an MLA and he canmake new rules so we can't park here anymore," saidTalatEjaz, owner of theLahoriBBQHut truck,speaking toCBCearlier this month.

In an interview at the time, Toorgavea different accountof approachingthe truck owners and denied threatening to have them removed or using his position to changeparking regulations.

A few weeks later,the truck owners say Toor and local residents got exactly what they had promisedwith the city declaring the area a prohibited zone for food trucks.

There isno option for the trucks to appeal the decision.

"It's heartbreaking news," said Ejaz, shortly after receiving a letter from the city.

He said it couldn't have come at a worse time as small businesses like his struggle to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We were operating according to the law," he said. "Bylaw officers measured the noise and told us we are good to go. Wewere happy we were doing everything according to the law.

"I requested they give us two more weeks sowe can findanother spot and educate our customers where to find us, but they refused."

Ejazsaid the trucksare victims of what he calls "northeast politics."

"We left back home where there was no law, no justice and coming here, this is very sad news," Ejaz said.

"There was not a single complaint and now suddenlythere are 50 complaints? The city checked everything, we have not broken any promise or any law."

Ejazsaid Toor was "a powerful politician. And politics talk."

"They went door-to-door to get signatures for thispetition,"Ejaz said.

He saidcalls to 311 came out of nowhere after years of the trucks operating with no complaints.

"It's a surprise for me," said Danial Punni, owner of the Indian Bistro truck.

"It's final, that's it, what can we do? It's going to be difficult for me.This is our summer season."

The City of Calgary said the trucks were creating problems, bringing too much traffic and noise to the area, impacting"safety" and "quality of life" for local residents.

The city received 43 complaints to 311 betweenJune 9 to23 aboutthe trucks,in addition to some letters and the petition.

"There has been increased tension between the business owners and the residents," saidAbdul Rafih, the city's acting manager of compliance services.

Rafih said the city had to declare that the area would no longer be available for food truck operations, calling it a "data-based decision."

"Concerns were raised to a numberof political leaders at the municipal and provincial level," saidRafih, who addedthe food truck operators werecooperative in meeting all of the standards laid outin the city's business standards bylaw.

There are 18 locations in Calgary where trucks are prohibited from operating, with 80th Avenue now added to that list.

"It's a very tough decision," said Ward 5 councillor George Chahal. "The trucks offer really good food and that's why they are popular and I'd encourage people to visit them as they move around because we need to support small local businesses.

"But business licensing and bylaw decided in the best interests of the community that they didn't want to allow this to continue to occur there."

Chahal said there are other places the trucks can go in the area and around the city.

He saidthe city needed to take everything into consideration to keep local residentshappy.

The truck owners said they need to get back out and operating againas soon as possible as they try to keep their businessesafloat.

Food truck dispute serves up controversy in northeast Calgary

4 years ago

Duration 2:04

Food truck owners who've been set up on 80th Avenue in the northeast for several years say they're now being bullied and pressured to move by locals, and even their MLA.