Chapter 10 SIDEWALK VENDING

CHAPTER 10
SIDEWALK VENDING

Sections:

§ 31002 Sidewalk Vending Operational Requirements.

31000 Purpose.

The purpose of this Chapter is to provide for a regulatory program applicable to sidewalk vendors within the City that is consistent with State law and that protects and promotes the public health, safety and welfare. (Ord. 18-1828, § 5)

31001 Definitions.

As used in this Chapter:

(a) “Operate,” when used in reference to a sidewalk vendor, means to vend.

(b) “Sidewalk vendor” means a person who vends from a pushcart, stand, display, pedal-driven cart, wagon, showcase, rack, or other nonmotorized conveyance, or from one’s person (including from a pack or basket carried by the person), upon a public sidewalk, pedestrian path or walkway, or any other public area in the City.

(c) “Stand” means any pushcart, stand, display, pedal-driven cart, wagon, showcase, rack, or other nonmotorized conveyance used by a sidewalk vendor for purposes of vending.

(d) “Roaming sidewalk vendor” means a sidewalk vendor who moves from place to place and stops only to complete a transaction.

(e) “Stationary sidewalk vendor” means a sidewalk vendor who vends from a fixed location.

(f) “Temporary special permit” means any permit issued by the City for the temporary use of, or encroachment on, the sidewalk or other public area, including, but not limited to, an encroachment permit, special event permit, or temporary event permit, for purposes including, but not limited to, filming, parades, or outdoor concerts.

(g) “Vend” means to sell, offer for sale, display, barter, exchange, or offer for barter or exchange food, beverages or merchandise. (Ord. 18-1828, § 5)

31002 Sidewalk Vending Operational Requirements.

(a) No sidewalk vendor shall operate without first obtaining and maintaining a valid City business license and a sidewalk vendor’s permit issued pursuant to Chapter 3 of Article VI. Application for the business license shall be made by submitting the information required pursuant to CMC 6336. Application for the sidewalk vendor’s permit shall be made by submitting the information required pursuant to CMC 63143(b).

(b) Each sidewalk vendor shall display the required sidewalk vendor’s permit in a conspicuous location on the sidewalk vendor’s person or stand at all times while the sidewalk vendor is operating.

(1) Operate outside the hours authorized in the required sidewalk vendor’s permit, which hours shall not exceed: (a) in residential zones, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; and (b) in nonresidential zones, the hours established pursuant to any City-imposed operating hours limitation applicable to all other businesses or uses on the street on which the sidewalk vendor is operating;

(2) Operate as a stationary sidewalk vendor at any time in any residential zone;

(3) Leave unattended any stand at any time while operating, or store, park or leave unattended any stand at any time outside of operating hours on any public sidewalk, pedestrian walkway, or other public place;

(4) Sell food without first obtaining and thereafter maintaining the required permit issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health or any other permit or license required pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 113700) of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code;

(5) Sell food for immediate consumption unless there is a litter receptacle available for patrons’ use;

(6) Leave any location without first disposing of all trash or refuse generated by operating in such location;

(7) Allow any items used in connection with the operation to be placed or stored anywhere other than in, on, or under the stand, or on the person of the sidewalk vendor;

(8) Operate from a stand other than the stand authorized pursuant to the sidewalk vendor’s permit;

(9) Set up, maintain, or permit the use of any additional table, crate, carton, rack, or any other device to increase the selling or displaying capacity of a stand without having obtained express authorization to do so pursuant to the required sidewalk vendor’s permit;

(10) Solicit or conduct business with any person in a motorized vehicle;

(11) Sell anything other than the specific food, beverages or merchandise authorized to be sold as part of the operation pursuant to the required sidewalk vendor’s permit;

(12) Create any unnecessary noise in violation of CMC 4101, including but not limited to CMC 4101(g), except that such conduct, when engaged in by a sidewalk vendor while operating, shall be punishable only by the administrative fines established pursuant to this chapter;

(13) Operate within: (a) fifty (50) feet of any fire hydrant; (b) twenty-five (25) feet of any transit stop; (c) twenty-five (25) feet of any building entrance; (d) fifteen (15) feet of the outer edge of any driveway or vehicular entrance to public or private property; or (e) within five (5) feet of any other sidewalk vendor on any public sidewalk, pedestrian path or walkway or other area intended for ingress or egress;

(14) Operate on any public sidewalk or pedestrian path or walkway in a manner that does not maintain four (4) feet in width of clear space on the sidewalk, path or walkway;

(15) Operate in any public street (i.e., in the street itself and not on the sidewalk), or on any median;

(16) Operate as a stationary sidewalk vendor in any park owned or operated by the City, where the City or other park operator has an agreement in place with a concessionaire that exclusively permits the sale of food or merchandise by the concessionaire, during the hours the concessionaire is open in the park;

(17) Operate as a stationary sidewalk vendor within any area of a City park that is within fifty (50) feet of an abutting residential dwelling;

(18) Operate within a parking lot, except as expressly authorized pursuant to the required sidewalk vendor’s permit based on a finding that such operation will not obstruct vehicular ingress, egress, or parking, or adversely affect public health or safety;

(19) Operate within five hundred (500) feet of a certified farmers’ market or a permitted swap meet during the operating hours of that certified farmers’ market or swap meet;

(20) Operate within five hundred (500) feet of an area designated for a temporary special permit issued by the City during the duration of the permit; provided, that any notice, business interruption mitigation, or other rights provided to affected businesses or property owners under the temporary special permit are also provided to the sidewalk vendor, if such vendor is specifically permitted to operate in the area pursuant to a sidewalk vendor’s permit;

(21) Operate in any area or manner that would obstruct or interfere with disability access standards or accessibility to any facility or area that is provided pursuant to requirements of or in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;

(22) Operate without general liability insurance meeting the minimum policy limits and other criteria established by the City Manager or designee;

(23) Operate in violation of any applicable law or regulation. (Ord. 18-1828, § 5)

31003 Violation – Penalties.

(a) Any violation of this Chapter or any term of a sidewalk vendor’s permit, except a violation for operating without a required sidewalk vendor’s permit, is punishable only as follows:

(1) An administrative fine not exceeding $100.00 for a first violation.

(2) An administrative fine not exceeding $200.00 for a second violation within one (1) year of the first violation.

(3) An administrative fine not exceeding $500.00 for each additional violation within one (1) year of the first violation.

(4) Rescission of the sidewalk vendor’s permit for the remaining term of that permit upon the fourth violation or subsequent violations within one (1) year of the first violation.

(b) A violation for operating without a required sidewalk vendor’s permit is punishable only as follows:

(1) An administrative fine not exceeding $250.00 for a first violation.

(2) An administrative fine not exceeding $500.00 for a second violation within one (1) year of the first violation.

(3) An administrative fine not exceeding $1,000 for each additional violation within one (1) year of the first violation.

(c) Upon proof that a sidewalk vendor possesses the required sidewalk vendor’s permit, any administrative fine imposed pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section for operating without a required sidewalk vendor’s permit shall be reduced to the applicable fine amount set forth in subsection (a) of this Section.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, all fines imposed pursuant to this Section shall be subject to an ability-to-pay determination as described in Government Code Section 51039(f) and as amended. Concurrent with issuance of any citation for administrative fines pursuant to this Section, the citing officer shall provide the sidewalk vendor with notice of his or her right to request an ability-to-pay determination, and shall make available to the sidewalk vendor instructions or other materials for requesting the ability-to-pay determination.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, no violation of this Chapter shall be punished as a criminal offense. (Ord. 18-1828, § 5)