Los Angeles City Council moves to address serious gaps in street vending program

The Los Angeles City Council is calling for a report to examine current street vending permitting processes and ways to improve compliance with city and county regulations.

As of September 2024, the city’s Bureau of Street Services reported there were 687 vendors with active permits — 53 food sellers and 634 merchandise vendors — roughly 1.4% of the estimated 50,000 street vendors in the city.

In a unanimous vote on Wednesday, Feb. 5, council members instructed the Bureau of Street Services, Economic and Workforce Development Department, and Chief Legislative Analyst, to work with the county to produce the report.

The move comes after the city was forced to change its laws to eliminate so-called “no street vending zones.”

In 2022, street vendors Merlín Alvarado and Ruth Monroy, and three community organizations — Community Power Collective, East LA Community Corporation and Inclusive Action for the City — sued the city, challenging regulations in its street vending laws, which they claim violated SB 946, a 2018 state law that legalized sidewalk vending statewide.

The zones prohibited street vendors from selling goods at popular tourist sites such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood Bowl, Dodger Stadium, LA Live/Crypto.com Arena, Universal Studios/City Walk, El Pueblo De Los Angeles Historical Monument and Exposition Park.

Vendors and the city reached a settlement in 2024. The city also agreed to refund street vendors who had been given citations.

According to city officials, since the settlement, the city has been having issues with ensuring street vendors are properly permitted at the municipal and county levels.

The city council report will examine ways to bolster outreach and enforcement of the city’s Sidewalk Vending Program.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who called for the report, emphasized the city is having to do a lot of clean up because street vending became legal. She recognized that there were a lot of gaps in the city’s vending policies.

She said she hopes the city can work with the county to streamline or lower fees to make permits more accessible to street vendors.

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said, “We haven’t had very clear instructions on how to move forward and strike an important balance on managing our permitting and enforcement because there is no consequence for not having permits.”

According to a report from the Bureau of Street Services, in order for street vendors to receive a city permit, they must have a city business tax registration certificate, a California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Seller’s Permit, and pay the city’s fee of $27.51. Vendors must also obtain a Los Angeles County Public Health permit.

City permits are valid for one year.

In certain circumstances, the city has had to install barriers such as fencing to prevent vendors without proper permits from selling their goods.

Rodriguez emphasized the importance of striking a balance between implementing regulations that promote street vending with responsible enforcement.

Councilmember John Lee added that his office received complaints from business owners in his district. Business owners are having issues with street vendors taking up space in their parking lots or feeling frustrated with having to compete with such vendors.

“We have to make sure that in the city of Los Angeles that everyone plays by the same rules,” Lee said. “There cannot be different rules for certain businesses as opposed to others.”

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez agreed that the city has found itself in a situation where there’s a lot of “back and forth” as a result of many years of not “centering” the voices of street vendors.

“As a result of that the state has passed their own state policy and essentially said that street vending — we can’t enforce no street vending zones,” Soto-Martinez said. “It reminds me a little bit of the housing debate that we have, right? We couldn’t figure it out so the state is figuring it out for us.”

Following the settlement, some council members have piloted different initiatives in their respective districts to inform street vendors of the rules and their responsibilities.

In December, Hernandez announced the Fats, Oils and Grease pilot program, which she said would serve as a practical solution and ensure vendors comply with public health and environmental regulations.

As part of that program, three heavy-duty grease disposal containers were made available along the Salvadoran Corridor on Vermont Avenue.