City Goes After Wayward Cheeseburger Stand

SAN ANGELO, TX-- One San Angelo restaurant owner feels his way of life is being attacked by the city after getting a notice to prove the mobility of his food trailer.

On July 10, Tim Condon, owner and executive chef of Angry Cactus and Lonestar Cheeseburger Company, received a letter from Tom Green County Health Services Director Sandra Villarreal saying he had 10 days to prove Lonestar Cheeseburger, his mobile food unit, or “MFU”, is, in fact, readily mobile and up to code with Texas Food Establishment Rules (TFER) or he would lose his health license.

“I’ve had multiple conversations with city management and everyone involved. They decided I could sit there (at South Abe and West Beauregard) and that was okay,” Condon said before going on to claim, “they threatened me and said they’d put me out of business if I didn’t move” during a meeting on December 13, 2017.

According to Villarreal, that is not the case.

“We’re not making him shut down,” Villarreal said over the phone on Wednesday. “We want him to become mobile. He has to demonstrate mobility, even if that is one time per year.”

Condon echoed Villarreal by saying he didn’t think the city would shut him down.

In 2015, Lonestar Cheeseburger burned down and when Condon rebuilt, he made sure with the health inspector his trailer was up to code and readily mobile. That means, if asked, they could easily pack up and move.

Since 2013, Condon has not demonstrated mobility, according to Villarreal.

“The City of San Angelo embraces entrepreneurship in all its many forms, including food trucks. At the same time, we take seriously our duty to consistently enforce state laws regarding mobile food vendors,” said City Manager Daniel Valenzuela. “With one exception, all of the food trucks in San Angelo have adhered to those rules, which are enforced in the same manner here as they are in Austin – which enjoys a thriving food truck industry. We’ve given San Angelo’s lone holdout ample and multiple opportunities to comply, and he has declined. If he wants to be a mobile vendor, he must demonstrate mobility. If he’d rather become a permanent brick-and-mortar restaurant, we’re happy to work with him on that. Be we can’t allow any restaurateur to operate by his own set of rules, particularly if that endangers the health, safety and welfare of the public.”

Condon claims Austin does not require its food trucks to prove mobility like he is being asked to. Villarreal said she had spoken to the City of Austin and they make each food truck “drive downtown” when it is time to renew their permit.

According to TFER, a city can ask MFU owners to prove mobility at the city’s discretion. That means an MFU could have to move a couple of feet or they could be asked to drive around the block.

Condon’s establishment had been asked to do the latter and the City has said it appears his food trailer is “attached to a fixed awning.”

“I asked ‘why’,” Condon said. “They’re citing that article in the TFER that we need to prove that we are readily movable. It talks about what is readily movable. We have a (trailer) hitch. We have tires that are inflated and work. Nothing is connected to a structure. I’ve gone over this with the health department many times and they agree that all of this makes it readily movable.

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Above: A wider view of the Lonestar Cheeseburger location. The Eskimo Hut is considered to be the food trailer's "commissary." (LIVE! Photo;/Joe Hyde)

“So I’m trying to figure out why the Health Department says it’s readily movable, yet they send me this letter that says I have 10 days to move or they’re not going to let me continue operating in the City of San Angelo.”

The letter from the City says that Condon must now drive his trailer to City Hall to prove mobility. Condon would go on the claim no specific distance is listed in TFER.

“It doesn’t say I have to move or what distance,” Condon emphasized. “It just says I have to be readily movable. (The City) is making this up because, I feel whole-heartedly, they want to get me out of there and take over. They want that property.”

The City’s Water Utilities Department moved to the old bank building behind Lonestar in Oct. 2017 and Condon says he never had any problems until the move.

The letter given to Condon says he was notified of the requirements in Dec. 2015 before being reminded in 2016 of the requirements.

Condon said he will fight this request with the City and asked his fellow MFUs to join him.

“Our Mayor ran on the platform that she would cut the red tape. This letter doesn’t look like that,” Condon said, pointing to the certified letter he received today demanding he prove his food trailer is truly  mobile.

Condon has 10 days to comply, according to the City's demand letter. The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 7. Unless Condon can get a special meeting, that would be well past the 10-day limit he has been given. Villarreal said the next step for the City is to begin enforcement procedures in coordination with the city attorney.