4.1 Sidewalk Vending.Pdf

/3-/L./Q3 1.;F~9N9~ICDEVElOPME~r , UBlk., ~/VURK~& \;A'~G REDUCTIC NOV 0 6 2013 ~ {JF~.13-0qeD MOTION . 1J8. Ot:?/ /- <f-3 Street vending on the City right-of-way and sidewalk is illegal. In the average year, there are hundreds of tickets written to vendors, and several hundred arrests. Yet thousands of vendors continue to operate in an underground marketplace, selling a wide variety of food and merchandise on the sidewalks of Los Angeles. Street vending largely falls within two categories, food street vending and merchandise (non-food) street vending, each with their own complexities. Street vending is permitted in various forms by most other large cities. New York, San Francisco, Houston, Portland and Chicago are among the cities that have established a regulatory system for selling merchandise and/or food on city sidewalks. In Los Angeles, a more comprehensive legal framework is required to effectively address sidewalk vending. An effective regulatory system has the potential to protect health and increase public safety and economic activity. Such a policy should also consider the rights and investments of brick-and-mortar businesses, including opportunities to expand and promote their businesses through street vending and with the overall goal of enhancing economic growth and the viability of neighborhoods. I THEREFORE MOVE, that the CLA, along with Bureau of Street Services and in consultation with other Departments as needed, the City Attorney and the County of Los Angeles, be instructed to prepare and present a report within 90 days with recommendations on possible regulation that could effectively permit and regulate food street vending on City sidewalks and parkways. This report should include the following: the history and status of the Special Sidewalk Vending District program administered by the former Community Development Department; a review of pollclesln other jurisdictions; recommendations to improve public safety; and ways to ensure street food vendors provide safe and healthy food options. I FURTHER MOVE, that the CLA, along with Economic and Workforce Development Department, City Attorney and Bureau of Street Services, and in consultation with other Departments as needed, be instructed to prepare and present a report within 90 days with recommendations on possible regulation of merchandise and non-food street vending in the City of Los Angeles. This report should include the following: information on the number of citations that have been issued over the past year and where the citations were issued; the current regulations on street vending and how the regulations are enforced; potential legal constraints for regulating street vending; and a review of policies in other '. ju risdictions. / PRESENTED BY: ,~ ~L~/ JO..£'E HUIZAR . RREN D. PRICE, JR. ..8'Ouncilmember, District 14 Councilmember, District 9 t / SECONDED BY: ~~. 'i 2010 6/17/2014 Council Move to Legalize Street Vending Sparks Opposition in Downtown - Los Angeles Downtown News - For Everything Downtown L.A.!: News Council Move to Legalize Street Vending Sparks Opposition in Downtown By Eddie Kim | Posted: Monday, June 16, 2014 5:00 am DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Street vending is illegal in Los Angeles. Yet as every Downtown worker or resident knows, it flourishes in the Central City, with hot dog sellers, clothing hawkers and more often popping up on sidewalks. BE THE FIRST TO READ THE LATEST DOWNTOWN NEWS, FOOD AND CULTURE STORIES. CLICK HERE AND SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HEADLINES NEWSLETTER. Now, a pair of City Council members has embarked on Council Move to Legalize Street an effort to legalize and regulate the practice, arguing Vending Sparks Opposition in that doing so would bring vendors out of the shadows Downtown and allow them to contribute to the local economy. That, however, has sparked an outcry from some local The city is examining ways to permit and business and community leaders, who worry that the regulate street venders. Though illegal, the move would hamper Downtown’s revitalization and practice, whether in the form of mobile hot harm brick-and-mortar businesses. They also believe dog carts or clothing sellers, is ubiquitous the city simply can’t regulate a swell of newly across Downtown. empowered vendors. “Downtown is a unique community, and sidewalk vending can get in the way of growing a neighborhood,” said Kent Smith, executive director of the Fashion District Business Improvement District. “If the city implements a new framework for street vending, that’s one thing. But where is it getting the resources to maintain it? I like the happy world of regulation, but I don’t think it’s the reality.” The implications of street vending have been discussed for years, and in November 14th District City Councilman José Huizar and Ninth District rep Curren Price authored a motion to look at legalizing the practice. In May, the Chief Legislative Analyst’s office issued a seven-page preliminary report recommending Los Angeles adopt a citywide street vending program. Although details are still being worked out, the early plan involves creating a regulatory structure with a slew of rules regarding where vendors can work, how many can operate on a block, how far they must be from storefront businesses, what fees they need to pay and more. No timeline for http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/council-move-to-legalize-street-vending-sparks-opposition-in-downtown/article_6c8acce4-f347-11e3-935e-001a4bcf887a.… 1/4 6/17/2014 Council Move to Legalize Street Vending Sparks Opposition in Downtown - Los Angeles Downtown News - For Everything Downtown L.A.!: News implementation has been revealed. Huizar said government involvement is required because the status quo is unsustainable and hurts both storefront shops and vendors alike. “The system we have right now, no matter where you stand on the debate, it’s broken and everyone needs a regulatory system,” Huizar said. “We need to allow vendors to sell their wares while putting mechanisms in place to protect brick-and-mortar businesses.” Although street vending is ubiquitous in Downtown, it is most pronounced in the Fashion District, where dozens of mobile food carts and clothing and accessory vendors can set up shop on weekends. The Historic Core also sees numerous vendors, and South Park sidewalks swell when large events take place at Staples Center or L.A. Live. While she says she understands the argument that vendors are just trying to earn a living, Blair Besten, executive director of the Historic Downtown Los Angeles Business Improvement District, said that they can create problems in a neighborhood. Sidewalk blockages caused by vendors can force pedestrians to walk in a street filled with cars, Besten said. She added that people have been burned by hot griddles on mobile food carts. Unscrupulous vendors also leave behind piles of trash, she said. She recalled an incident in which a vendor dumped his hot dog water into an alley by the Flower Street Lofts, attracting a clan of hungry rats. “We had to call our team to go clean that mess up,” Besten said. “It’s not fair for the businesses who are paying us for clean-and-safe crews to have to deal with these street vendors.” Past Failure This isn’t the first time the matter has come up. In 1994, the city adopted the Special Sidewalk Vending District Ordinance. That allowed the formation of vending districts in eight areas, including East Los Angeles and the Central City. It was largely a failure, however, as only one was ever established, at MacArthur Park, and it no longer exists. The CLA report suggested that the ordinance failed because of an overly complicated district establishment process. Today, numerous difficulties remain, with vendors complaining that enforcement from the police department is confusing and arbitrary, with some vendors receiving warnings and others being arrested. The CLA report was discussed at a packed May 13 hearing before the Council’s Economic Development Committee, on which Huizar sits. During several hours of testimony, those in favor of regulation charged that arrests have led to the deportation of undocumented immigrants. An LAPD representative pointed to other negative impacts, saying that the threat of punitive action makes some vendors wary of reporting robberies and attempts at extortion from local gangs, who will charge a http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/council-move-to-legalize-street-vending-sparks-opposition-in-downtown/article_6c8acce4-f347-11e3-935e-001a4bcf887a.… 2/4 6/17/2014 Council Move to Legalize Street Vending Sparks Opposition in Downtown - Los Angeles Downtown News - For Everything Downtown L.A.!: News “tax” when the mobile sellers set up in certain districts. Confusion also arises because vendors can obtain city business tax registration and permits to serve food from the county Department of Public Health, said Isella Gracian, vice president of operations for the East Los Angeles Community Corporation, which is working with Huizar and Price on the topic. “People go in to do the paperwork and pay for what seems to be all the right permits, and so you can imagine how shocked they are when LAPD comes and arrests them,” Gracian said. Micro-Business View Several people at the May 13 committee meeting said they turned to street vending after losing their job or as a way to get out of homelessness. “With jobs, I’m discriminated against not for the color of my skin or my features, but my age,” testified Felice McGuinness, a vendor in Leimert Park. “But joining the ranks of homeless African Americans is not an option for me. I want to earn my way, and street vending has allowed me to stay afloat.” Advocates for street vendors say they contribute to the economy and could do so on a greater scale with a proper system of registration and taxation. The view is shared by Price.

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