Petr Placek and his brother were able to finally realize their dream and open a gourmet food truck after two years of thoughtful planning.
Three days later, they were shut down.
Last December, Placek opened “Birdwich,” a fried chicken concept he ran out of a trailer in the parking lot of a Walmart superstore in Miami Gardens. They negotiated a lease with Walmart over a period of several months, and December was their grand opening.
Before they were able to really take off, however, a City of Miami Gardens code enforcement officer came to their food truck, told them they couldn’t be there, and fined the property owner $500 a day.
“ The officer just came in pretty hot and started being fairly aggressive with our employee who was at the window, and saying: ‘You can't be here. Walmart has no authority to allow you to be here,’” Placek told WLRN.
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The officer cited Miami Gardens city code that bans commercial uses on private property that the city has not expressly authorized — in this case, the use of food trucks.
But the code on Miami Gardens’ books seems to contradict Florida law — at least, according to Placek’s lawyers at the nonprofit Institute for Justice.
“ Florida law does not allow what Miami Gardens is doing, and the code enforcement people didn't care,” said Justin Pearson, IJ’s Florida office managing attorney. “Unfortunately, every time a food truck owner tries to operate in Miami Gardens, they're being told to leave and it's outrageous.”
In a letter addressed to the Miami Gardens Mayor and city council, the lawyers assert that the city’s code goes against Florida Statute 509.102, which preempts local governments from banning food trucks. Pearson said he hopes the city will respond to their letter and stop enforcing their code before they take any further legal action.
Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris and Assistant City Manager Tamara Wadley Packer did not respond to WLRN’s request for comment for this story.
Placeck said he’s been unable to operate his "Birdwich" truck since his December brush with code enforcement.
“ We're losing thousands of dollars a month right now while we're trying to deal with this. It's devastating,” he said.
Because Placek signed a lease with Walmart, his company must continue to pay lease payments, even while the city bans them from operating.
