New Food Truck Law Not Yet Ready for Vote; Vegan Lunch Truck May Leave Town

While the new food truck policy in Hoboken hasn't been completed yet, and still has to go through two votes by the city council, the Vegan Lunch Truck has already announced it may leave Hoboken in 2012.

Adam Sobel, owner of and its primary chef, said on Twitter that "We will not renew our license for 2012" if the new policy passes.

He also asked his Twitter followers in which New York City neighborhoods he should park his truck, indicating that he will park the mobile vegan restaurant in the city instead of Hoboken. Sobel also works from Red Bank, his hometown.

The first proposed draft of the new policy would have put the annual cost for permits to operate a food truck at roughly $5,000. While the measure was passed on first reading by the city council, a council subcommittee has returned to the drawing board since.

and allowing trucks to park for four hours at a metered spot.

Currently the trucks pay $500 for an annual permit. The higher cost, said Councilwoman Jennifer Giattino, who introduced the new law, are needed so that the city can pay for enforcment of the policy. It's not a source of extra revenue, Director of Transportation and Parking Ian Sacs has said.

Initially Giattino said she hoped to introduce the new policy during Wednesday's meeting, to complete the voting before the new year. The ordinance, however, is not yet ready to be voted on.

If the new ordinance gets introduced during the second meeting in December, the measure is likely to go into effect in January.