PARKSLEY, Va. — Town leaders in Parksley have passed an ordinance banning permanent food trucks. The motion came after a food truck opened up in town earlier this year. 

Back in June, the Eben Ezer Haitian-owned store opened up a food truck on its property. The owners said they got permission from the Accomack County Health Department and paid the town of Parksley $30 for a yearlong permit. 

But then, earlier this month, the Parksley Town Council passed an ordinance banning permanent food trucks. Food trucks are allowed in town on a temporary basis in the towns park or main parking lot and must pay a $30 permit fee each time. 

The owners of Eben Ezer, Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien told WBOC through a translator, it feels like they never had a fair chance at succeeding. 

“She did feel insulted because she say, um, since after she opened they started giving her all kinds of problems, cutting her pipe,” said Betty Bastien, who translated for Theslet and Clemene. 

Bastien is referring to a pipe that was connected to the food truck. Parksley’s mayor, Frank Russell, said the owners first got into hot water by running that pipe into the towns sewage line to dispose of dirty grease. 

“We found out that the food truck had run a permanent line, a grease line all the way down the side of the building to our sewage tank and cute a hole in the lid of the sewage tank and was pumping grease into our sewage system,” said Russell. 

Theslet and Clemene, however, feel a large part of all of this is because of their ethnicity. 

“He said yes that’s true, that’s the way we feel,” said Bastien. 

Something Russell denies. 

“That’s absolutely ridiculous, we have two other Haitian owned businesses in town, we have three Mexican owned businesses in town, so if we’re discriminating we’re not doing a very good job of it,” said Russell. 

Not everyone in Parksley agrees with this recent move by town leaders. 

“I think it’s a mistake, I think it’s a black eye on the town of Parksley actually because food trucks are popular all up and down the shore,” said Jim Kaczmarek.  

Kaczmarek said it doesn’t sit right with him that the food truck was issued a permit by the town before the ordinance and will not be grandfathered in. 

“They’ve got a big investment in this thing, financially, emotionally, personally and now the town wants to change the rules midstream and I just don’t feel it’s right,” said Kaczmarek. 

Russell said the town could shut down the food truck immediately, but plans on letting it stay open for the remainder of their one year contract.