DENVER—The Denver Police Department has decided to partially repeal a recently implemented ban on food trucks on Lower Downtown streets, following a letter from the Institute for Justice (IJ) calling for a full repeal of the ban. The plan is to allow six food trucks to return to some of LoDo’s busiest streets starting next weekend, but even those six must stop selling by midnight. 

“This is certainly a step in the right direction, but it leaves a lot to be desired,” said IJ Senior Attorney Justin Pearson, who authored the letter to city officials. “It makes no sense to allow certain food trucks to come back, but not others. And it also makes zero sense to force the food trucks to leave at midnight instead of staying open until the bars let out. The city should fully repeal this ban that never served any legitimate purpose in the first place.” 

Denver originally put the ban in place in late July with the stated goal of combatting crime, following a police shooting in LoDo that injured six.  

“None of the bystanders injured in the LoDo shooting were hit by flying spatulas,” Pearson added. “It’s simply not true that food trucks lead to an increase in crime. As a matter of fact, having these law-abiding businesses on the streets helps lead to less crime.” 

IJ, which has filed several lawsuits challenging anti-competitive regulations on food trucks throughout the country, continues to call for a full repeal of the LoDo food truck ban.