Chapter 4.16
SIDEWALK VENDORS AND PORTABLE VENDORS
Sections:
4.16.030 Business license and vendor license.
4.16.050 General regulations and standards.
4.16.070 Revocation or suspension of license.
4.16.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to allow sidewalk vendors and portable vendors to conduct business within the city to support entrepreneurship while setting standards, regulations, and licensing requirements for the sale of food and merchandise from nonmotorized conveyances, pushcarts, kiosks, and stands. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).
4.16.020 Definitions.
Unless the contrary is stated or clearly appears from the context, the following definitions will govern the construction of the words and phrases used in this chapter. Words and phrases undefined in this code have the same meaning as set forth in Chapter 4.04.
(a) “Curb return” is a curved section of a curb located at a corner of an intersection, connecting a curb on one street to another curb on the intersecting street. A curb return starts at the point where the curb begins to turn toward the direction of the intersecting street and ends at the point where it meets the curb on the intersecting street.
(b) “Operate” means to sell food, beverage, or merchandise, to solicit business as a sidewalk vendor or portable vendor, to stop a cart, or to display wares. “Operate” does not mean to pass through an area without stopping.
(c) “Pedestrian path” means a publicly owned footpath, not adjacent to a road, which is intended for use by pedestrians, wheelchairs and other mobility devices, strollers, baby carriages, bicycles, scooters, and other nonmotorized forms of transportation.
(d) “Portable vendor” means a person who sells food or merchandise from a vending vehicle or stand, or from one’s person, upon private property.
(e) “Roaming sidewalk vendor” means a sidewalk vendor who moves from place to place and stops only to complete a transaction.
(f) “Sidewalk vendor” means a person who sells food or merchandise from a vending vehicle or stand, or from one’s person, upon a public sidewalk or other pedestrian path.
(g) “Special event” means any parade, athletic event, block party, festival, farmers market, or public assembly that requires partial or complete street or sidewalk closure to vehicular or pedestrian traffic or use of the street, sidewalk, or park for the event, or any event for which a city-issued permit is required for the temporary use of, or encroachment on, the sidewalk, street, park, or other public area.
(h) “Stationary sidewalk vendor” or “stationary portable vendor” means a sidewalk vendor or portable vendor who vends from a fixed location.
(i) “Vending vehicle or stand” means a pushcart, kiosk, stand, display, pedal-driven cart, wagon, showcase, rack, or other nonmotorized conveyance used by a sidewalk vendor/portable vendor.
(j) “Vendor” means a sidewalk vendor or portable vendor.
(k) “Vendor license” means a license specific to the individual vendor, separate from the business license for the vending business. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).
4.16.030 Business license and vendor license.
(a) Every vendor is required to obtain a business license and pay the fees as set forth in Chapter 4.04.
(b) Each individual person vending is required to obtain a vendor license, in addition to the business license for the vending business. There is no additional fee for the vendor license.
(c) Any vending vehicle or stand from which a sidewalk vendor or portable vendor sells products shall prominently display a valid city business license for the business and the vendor license of the person vending. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).
4.16.040 Applications.
In addition to the information and fee required for all business licenses as set forth in Chapter 4.04, the following information is required as part of the application for a sidewalk vendor or portable vendor:
(a) A complete description of the food or merchandise offered for sale.
(b) Any applicant who intends to sell food must also provide proof of the required health permit from the Adams County health department, and certify that the proposed vending vehicle or stand has been approved by the health department for that particular type of food. By the signature of the applicant on the application, each applicant consents to periodic unannounced inspections at all reasonable business hours by Adams County health department representatives, and to the collection of evidence, samples, photographs, examination of invoices, and all other reasonable inspection procedures to determine compliance with all applicable laws enforced by the health department.
(c) A statement of whether the vendor will be stationary or roaming.
(d) The address of the location(s) or proposed route(s) where the vendor proposes to operate.
(e) Property owner permission:
(1) For stationary vendors on private property, signed proof of permission from the property owner for the vendor to locate on the property, including a diagram of the vendor’s location on the property.
(2) For stationary vendors in right-of-way, signed proof of permission from the abutting property owner for the vendor to locate adjacent to the property, including a diagram of vendor’s location adjacent to the property.
(f) A plan for trash disposal for the site. The vendor shall leave the property on which they conduct business clean each day, including picking up any trash or litter generated by the vendor’s customers.
(g) A complete description of any ancillary items that the applicant intends to use in conjunction with sales including, without limitation, small display tables, trash receptacles, chairs, or other similar items.
(h) A certification by the applicant that to their knowledge and belief the information contained in the application is true.
(i) A certificate of insurance evidencing that the sidewalk vendor or portable vendor has current general liability insurance in the amount of one million dollars with coverage related to all activities associated with sidewalk vending/portable vending activities, with the city named as an additional insured.
(j) A list of all persons who will be vending as part of the business. Each individual needs a vendor license. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).
4.16.050 General regulations and standards.
(a) Vendor business licenses and vendor licenses are valid for twelve months after being issued, unless revoked or suspended.
(b) A business license is issued to the business, which may include multiple carts. A vendor license is issued to an individual person, not to the vending vehicle or stand. Each person vending needs a vendor license. Business licenses for vending are nontransferable.
(c) All vendors shall comply with the terms and conditions of the business license and shall not sell any food or merchandise that was not listed in the vendor business license application.
(d) Sidewalk vendors must maintain a clearance of not less than four feet upon every sidewalk or pedestrian path in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The four-foot clearance also applies to customer queues.
(e) No vending vehicle or stand, or ancillary vending items, equipment, umbrellas, or similar may be left unattended or chained or fastened to any pole, sign, tree, fence, or other object in the public right-of-way. Any vending vehicle, stand, items, equipment, umbrellas, or similar in violation of this subsection may be confiscated by the city.
(f) Portable vendors on private property may not cause the parking spaces for the other businesses on the site to be reduced below the minimum required for those uses.
(g) Vendors may not offer services or any illegal or counterfeit merchandise, animals, items that will exceed the surface area of vending equipment, alcohol, drugs, medicine, chemicals, lottery tickets, weapons, fireworks, cannabis or cannabis products, adult-oriented material, tobacco, tobacco-related products, any product used to smoke/vape, or any other items that at the discretion of the community development director or police chief are deemed unsafe.
(h) Any vendor who stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food shall comply with all laws, rules, and regulations regarding food handling as established by the Adams County and State Health Departments.
(i) No vendor shall set up any equipment or object that exceeds nine feet in height, and all temporary structures or objects must be firmly affixed to a cart or objects with sufficient weight so that they are structurally sound and not subject to toppling over or falling due to weather conditions.
(j) For vendors on public property, including parks and right-of-way, the following are required:
(1) The maximum space of all equipment and structures, including cart or stand and any ancillary equipment such as shade structures and small display tables, shall not exceed eight feet by four feet.
(2) Any shade structure that extends beyond the edge of the cart/table shall have a minimum clearance height of eighty inches and a maximum height of nine feet and shall extend no closer to the edge of the curb than eighteen inches.
(3) All equipment, and structures, including shade structures, shall not impede the flow of pedestrian traffic by reducing the clear space to less than four feet, and shall not impede egress from, access to, or the use of abutting properties.
(k) Trash.
(1) All vendors shall provide a trash receptacle for customers and must ensure proper disposal of customer trash. The trash receptacle must be large enough to accommodate customer trash without resorting to existing trash receptacles located for use by the general public.
(2) A vendor may not dispose of customer trash in existing trash receptacles on sidewalks, parks, or city facilities.
(3) In order to preserve sanitary conditions, all vendors shall maintain a clean and trash-free area around the vendor’s cart during hours of operation and shall ensure that such area is clean and trash-free before relocating or closing.
(l) In order to preserve the safety of vehicular travelers, no vendor may solicit business from or conduct business with persons in motor vehicles in such a manner that causes motorists to disrupt or stop the normal movement of traffic or endanger public safety.
(m) Signs.
(1) Signs prohibited by Section 14.58.030 for stationary businesses are also prohibited for sidewalk vendors and portable vendors.
(2) All signage related to the vending operation shall be affixed to the cart or stand, unless authorized by a permit issued under Section 14.58.030.
(n) Strobe lights, spotlights, fog horns, blow horns, and similar apparatus are prohibited. Music, bells, horns, or similar are also prohibited for stationary vendors.
(o) Vendors shall not operate in a city park or any residential zone earlier than eight a.m. or later than thirty minutes after sunset, except as authorized for a special event.
(p) Each vendor cooking or having a heat device shall have a fire extinguisher. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).
4.16.060 Location.
(a) A vendor may locate in any nonresidential zone, subject to the other requirements of this chapter. In a residential zone, stationary vendors may only locate where a similar commercial use would be allowed. Roaming sidewalk vendors are allowed in residential zones but may not solicit door-to-door without a solicitor’s license per Chapter 4.08.
(b) An undeveloped lot shall be limited to one vendor.
(c) Other than for authorized special events, vendors shall not operate on city-owned property, except for sidewalks in public right-of-way and pedestrian paths in city parks, and only to the extent permitted and regulated by this chapter.
(d) Vendors shall not operate in any of the following locations within a city park:
(1) Within any city park with an operative agreement between the city and a concessionaire for the exclusive sale of food or merchandise by the concessionaire, except for preapproved vendors at city-authorized events.
(2) On any vegetation, except that locating on turf grass directly abutting a pedestrian path is allowed.
(3) Within fifteen feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, or other emergency facility.
(4) Within twenty-five feet of an entrance or exit of a building.
(5) Within fifty feet of children’s playground areas, tennis courts, basketball courts, and marked athletic fields, when such areas, courts or fields are in use.
(6) Within fifty feet of city programs, games, and recreational programs including any activities permitted by athletic field use license agreements, during the program or activity.
(7) Within one hundred feet of another vendor or a concessionaire.
(8) Within one hundred feet of a picnic shelter which has been reserved by an individual or group.
(9) Within five hundred feet of a special event, except as specifically allowed by the event.
(e) Vendors shall not operate within five hundred feet of a city-authorized special event, such as festivals, parades, concerts, and tournaments, unless the vendor has received permission to vend as part of the event.
(1) For moving events such as parades, vending shall be prohibited within five hundred feet of the approved event route.
(2) For stationary events, vending shall be prohibited within five hundred feet of the parcel boundary for the location of the event.
(f) Vendors shall not locate:
(1) Within three hundred feet of any public or private school grounds from thirty minutes before until thirty minutes after regular school session, classes, or school-related events, unless authorized by the school.
(2) Within one hundred feet of the entrance to a business which sells similar goods as a main item, unless authorized by the business.
(3) Within one hundred feet of the entrance to a restaurant, unless authorized by the restaurant. This provision applies only to vendors who sell food or drinks.
(g) Sidewalk vendors may not operate on public rights-of-way in any of the following locations:
(1) Within fifteen feet of a curb return.
(2) Within fifteen feet of the outer edge of a driveway or driveway apron.
(3) Within fifteen feet of the outer edge of any alleyway.
(4) Adjacent to any marked loading zone.
(5) Within fifteen feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box or other emergency facility.
(6) Within eighteen inches from the edge of the curb.
(7) Where placement impedes the flow of pedestrian traffic by reducing the clear space to less than four feet, or impedes egress from, access to or the use of abutting property.
(8) Within streets, except to cross legally at intersections or crosswalks without stopping. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).
4.16.070 Revocation or suspension of license.
A business license may be revoked as specified in Section 4.04.120. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).
4.16.080 Violation—Penalty.
Any person who violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to have committed a civil infraction and shall be subject to payment of a C-12 penalty together with all penalties and assessments for each violation. Each separate day of noncompliance is deemed a separate violation. This penalty is in addition to any other remedies available to the city. (Ord. 1616 § 1, 2024).