The Arts Centre is proposing to host a maximum of 33 food trucks operating for up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
But Christchurch City Council wants it to limit the number of food trucks to 25.
No final agreement has been reached on the number.
The Arts Centre currently has a small number of food trucks operating as part of a trial.
Annabel Turley, chairperson of the Central City Business Association, presented a petition to city councillors calling for a stop on all long-term funding to The Arts Centre Trust if the food truck market plan goes ahead.
The petition was signed by almost 70 businesses and organisations.
“This is a permanent encroachment on the livelihoods of businesses that have invested their blood, sweat, and dollars into this city," Turley told councillors.
"Why pour your heart into a permanent business when you can just pop up a caravan and cash in?”
Another sticking point for association members is the rates they already pay towards subsidising The Arts Centre, with the city council committed to giving the centre $5.5 million over the next decade.
“It’s like asking a boxer to fight with one hand tied behind their back. And then, for good measure, slapping them in the face by rolling in a fleet of food trucks that don’t have to deal with the same financial commitments."
The Arts Centre director Philip Aldridge does not believe food trucks will threaten the inner city's hospitality businesses. He told Stuff the city will need more food options as it grows.
