The push to legalize sidewalk vending in the City of Angels moved closer to its goal.  Last week the Los Angeles City Council adopted a motion approving in concept legalization and regulation of street vending.  The motion directs the City Attorney to draft an ordinance to decriminalize vending and authorizing the board of public works to issue permits for stationary sidewalk vending in commercial and industrial zones, with a maximum of two vendors per block face, and limited mobile vending in residential zones.

The approach is not perfect.  The two vendor per block face limit seems arbitrary.  It is doubtful that the City would consider limiting storefront retail businesses to two per block face in commercial zones.  Concerns about sidewalk congestion can and should be addressed with less ham-handed approaches.

Despite blemishes, this is an important step.  It has been more than 20 years since the City Council last took action toward legalizing sidewalk vending.  That last effort resulted in an ordinance that made possible the creation of legal vending districts.  The process to do so was so complex and choked with red-tape, though, that only one district was ever created.  It could never accommodate all the vendors (and their many customers) who wanted to participate, and fizzled out after a few years of operation.

By starting with the premise that the entire City should be open to sidewalk vending, the City Council’s action holds the promise of success.

Earlier this week the Public Works Committee of the Los Angeles City Council approved a framework for legalizing sidewalk vending.  This is an important and welcome step.   The details of how vending would be regulated remain to be worked out.   At the committee hearing some proposed limiting vendors to 2 per block face and requiring a vendor to get permission from the neighboring property owner.  Such requirements would risk make vendors second class business owners.

If I bought a storefront and proposed to open a retail store, the City would not say, “Sorry, we already have 2 retail stores on that block– we don’t want anymore.”  Nor would the City require me to get the permission of neighboring businesses before opening.   So why should the City require this of a would-be sidewalk vendor?  The City needs more business activity, not less.  Sidewalk vendors are already unfairly stigmatized.  Giving storefront business owners a veto over the right of someone else to set up a business– competing or not– is not good policy.  They may be tempted to veto vending for any number of reasons, or no reason at all.

This conversation will continue, as the Committee’s framework makes its way to the City Council and a draft ordinance is prepared.  One hopes that the City, having finally said “yes” to vending, will not abdicate its authority and allow someone else to say “no.”

Los Angeles gets closer to legalizing sidewalk vending.

You might not know it, but it is illegal to sell things on the sidewalk in Los Angeles.  A decades-old city ordinance makes selling from the sidewalk a misdemeanor.  Yet consumers crave sidewalk goods, whether it’s some sliced fruit to enjoy while waiting for the bus, or a hat embroidered by the vendor herself .  Vendors who serve this demand risk arrest.  Confiscation of property, fines, and jail time are bad enough.  But with a new administration arriving in Washington, DC, and the fact that many vendors are undocumented, vendors will soon also risk deportation.

That is, unless the city takes action to legalize sidewalk vending.  After several years of action by vendor activists and vendors themselves, the city is taking a step toward legalization.  On Monday, December 12, 2016, the city council’s Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee will consider a  framework for legalization of street vending in Los Angeles.  The proposed framework is not perfect, but it is a step in the right direction.  The time has come to take action.

A media advisory is attached.  lasvc-media-advisory-12-12-16