Food truck operating out of back lane shut down

A food truck that operated in a Tyndall Park neighbourhood back lane has been shut down for breaking multiple city bylaws.

Jaspi’s Recipes food truck had its health permit pulled and the vehicle was ordered to be towed from Dexter Street for contravening residential weight restrictions and not having the proper permits to operate a home-based business.

City spokesperson Pam McKenzie confirmed Thursday bylaw officers visited the property and ordered the truck removed from the alley on Tuesday.

Area resident Christine Mallari told the Free Press earlier this week the owner had been serving food out of the truck for months and, with it, came countless cars driving down the alley and litter pilling up against the adjacent fences.

“I feel liberated,” she said Thursday. “I’m glad that it’s taken away the risk of any freak accidents happening in the lane.”

The truck’s owner, Amrit Aulakh, said she was told by the city the truck couldn’t be parked there because it exceeded the 10,000-pound limit for vehicles on private property.

Aulakh had the vehicle towed and put in storage, but she’s not sure if she will keep it to use as a food truck. She served Indian food, such as Manchurian noodles and butter chicken, as well as veggie burgers.

On Thursday, passenger vehicles were on a parking pad in the back lane where the food truck once was. Posters advertising the business on windows and doors of the home where the truck was parked were also gone. An online search for Jaspi’s Recipes now shows it is “permanently closed.”

The city said last week the food truck had not been issued a mobile vendor permit, which allows the business to operate in the winter and in residential areas. Operating a food truck in a back lane is not permitted under Winnipeg zoning bylaws.

Additionally, operating a home-based business requires a development permit and, depending on the type of business, a building permit. Neither had been issued to Jaspi’s Recipes, the city said.

A provincial spokesperson previously said the food truck had the necessary health permits to operate but a complaint had been registered. The permit was cancelled and no fines were issued, the spokesperson said Thursday.

The city spokesperson said an investigation is ongoing and it was too early to determine whether the business will be fined.

Since the truck was removed, Mallari said the lane has been quiet.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca