Street Vending Ordinance and Subsidy Program Approved By LA County Board

On the same day, the Los Angeles City Council voted to roll back fees for vendors. Several ordinances regulating sidewalk food vendors were finalized on Tuesday, Feb. 6, and a subsidy program was approved to help offset permit costs. Last week, the county board gave preliminary approval to the ordinances. Supervisor Hilda Solis said there are approximately 10,000 sidewalk vendors, mostly Latinos.

Solis said sidewalk food vending is vital to our county's civic and cultural fabric. However, the financial barriers to entry must be lowered if we are to foster and celebrate this entrepreneurial spirit. By waiving the DEO's associated fee, vendors can comply with today's ordinances and follow the same health and safety guidelines as brick-and-mortar restaurants. My applause goes out to everyone who participated in this process, including advocates and residents."

The board approved its first ordinance defining health permit requirements for "compact mobile food operations," or smaller food trucks without motors. All vendors in the county will be subject to the ordinance except those in Pasadena, Long Beach, and Vernon. The city of Long Beach recently approved a sidewalk vending ordinance.

An operator wishing to obtain a health permit must pay an initial fee ranging from $508 for a low-risk operation, such as a taco stand, to $1,186 for a high-risk operation. The cost ranges from $226 to $1,000 for vendors, depending on their vending type.

In the same meeting, the Los Angeles City Council approved lowering vendor costs and relieving them from the $541 annual permit fee. City Council members unanimously requested the city attorney draft an ordinance establishing a $27.51 permit fee per year for the city's Sidewalk and Park Vending Program.

In a statement before the vote, Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez expressed her excitement about the street vendors movement. Local commerce relies heavily on street vendors, she said.

 Subsidy Program Approved By LA County Board

Vendors were allowed to sell products in parks and sidewalks in 2018 after a $291 annual fee was set. The city had planned to increase the fee from $291 to $541 after six months, but the process was stalled.

According to the City council, the cost for 2022-23 will be $541, including expenses related to enforcement. Last year, the council maintained the $291 number after Nithya Raman and Curren Price moved to support pandemic victims.

A county subsidy program approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors will cover most health permit costs. According to a motion by Solis and Supervisor Holly Mitchell, vendors who meet specific criteria, such as having a revenue under $50,000, can apply for a subsidy that covers 75% of the health permit costs.

Vendors receiving the county's subsidy must attend workshops sponsored by the Department of Economic Opportunity for educational and technical assistance. Approximately $500,000 has been set aside by the county. About $300,000 will come from Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds from the American Rescue Plan. Another $200,000 would come from the ARP Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Funds.

According to the second county ordinance approved Tuesday, vendors in unincorporated areas must adhere to rules on operating times, locations, and distances between their locations. Furthermore, vendors could not connect to any public utilities, such as water and electricity.

Under that ordinance, vendors must register with the county and pay a registration fee of $604. That fee, however, will be largely subsidized by the county Department of Economic Opportunity, which will cover the total cost of the permit in the first year and then reduce it to $100 in subsequent years.

“The 10,000-plus sidewalk vendors in L.A. County are part of our cultural fabric and our local economy,” Kelly LoBianco, director of the Department of Economic Opportunity, said in a statement. “This new Sidewalk Vending Program is critical for unincorporated communities. It opens the door to growth and economic opportunity for those mom-and-pop businesses formerly left behind and also sets forth a clear way of operating that optimizes total community well-being — for our vendors, our legacy businesses, and our customers and our residents.”