Category: Granada Hills North

https://www.ghnnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GHNNC-Street-Vending-10-2017.pdf

WHEREAS, on January 06, 2015, Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council recommended that the City of Los Angeles should prohibit all street vending within the City limits;

WHEREAS, on March 01, 2016, Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council reaffirmed its opposition to street vending, and further resolved that if the City of Los Angeles chose to support street vending then Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council would, in principal, support Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition’s conditions on such street vending;

WHEREAS, on February 15, 2017, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to decriminalize the act of vending food and products along the streets of the City of Los Angeles;

WHEREAS, Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council now seeks to provide a more definite statement on the conditions under which the community would support a street vending ordinance for the City of Los Angeles;

WHEREAS, the City of Los Angeles is one of the most diverse and populous cities in the world, and is comprised of neighborhoods with such substantially different characters and needs that those neighborhoods will desire significantly different types and amounts of street vending;

WHEREAS, each of the ninety-seven Neighborhood Councils recognized by the City of Los Angeles is in the best place to determine what types, amounts, and locations of street vending their own community will be willing to support, able to maintain, cause the least detrimental effects associated with street vending, and be to the most benefit to the community;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council supports the following conditions and requirements on the permitting of street vending, and urges the Los Angeles City Council to integrate these suggestions into any ordinance in the City of Los Angeles that establishes a legal framework for permitted street vending:

1. Prior to the City issuing a permit, any applicant seeking a permit should be required to submit to a review and obtain an opinion from the Neighborhood Council(s) wherein they seek to engage in vending activities;
2. There should be a process for the local Neighborhood Council(s) to be able to recommend to the permitting agency: (a) conditions on the hours of operation, (b) conditions on the location(s) in which the applicant may conduct business within the neighborhood, and (c) conditions on the types of products they may vend;
3. Prior to a permit-holder being issued a renewal for an existing permit, the permit-holder should be required to return to the local Neighborhood Council(s) and obtain another opinion under the same conditions as for new applications;
4. There should be different lengths of time that a permit can be valid prior to requiring a renewal depending on whether food it being sold at the location: (a) permits for the sale of non-food (products-only) should be able to be approved for a period of either one-year, two-years, or three-years; and (b) permits for the sale of food and non-food products, or only food, should be renewed every year;
5. There should be different categories of permit for street vendors that will primarily sell their food and/or products: (a) at a stationary location, or (b) in a manner that is non-stationary (i.e. using handcarts, at multiple temporary locations, using trucks, et cetera);
6. An applicant seeking a permit for a stationary location should be required to submit a plan that describes: (a) the proposed location of their merchandise, (b) their plan for any deliveries or drop-offs, (c) the proposed locations of any signs, and (d) how their proposed location will permit the free flow of (i) foot traffic, and (ii) automobile traffic;
7. Any permits issued for a non-stationary street vendor should specifically delineate the boundaries within which they are permitted to vend;
8. No permit for a stationary street vending location should be issued within 100 feet of a single-family residence or a school;
9. Non-stationary street vendors should be barred from selling anything (food or products) within 100 feet of a school;
10. After obtaining an opinion by the local Neighborhood Council(s), and prior to the issuance of any permit, the agency in charge of the permitting process should review the application for compliance with all relevant laws and deny the applicant if the applicant is not in full compliance;
11. The agency in charge of the permitting process should take the opinion of the local Neighborhood Council(s) into consideration when determining whether to grant or deny a permit;
12. The City should not set minimums on the number of permits the agency in charge of the permitting process should be required to approve;
13. If an applicant seeks a permit with a component that includes the on-site preparation of food, the Department of Health & Safety and the agency in charge of the permitting process should review the application for compliance with all relevant food-handling laws and deny the applicant if the applicant is not in full compliance;
14. Depending on the types of food or products that an applicant seeks to vend, the applicant should be required to demonstrate compliance with any of the following on an as-needed basis: a Food Handling Certificate, FTB Resale License, Los Angeles County Health permit, and compliance with relevant federal, state, or local statutes, ordinances, or regulations;
15. Upon receipt of a permit, the permitted street vendor should be required to openly and visibly post their permit during all hours they are engaged in vending, including setting up and tearing down a stationary location;
16. The permit should clearly and visibly list: (a) hours of operation, (b) the location(s) in which they may engage in business, and (c) the types of products they may vend;
17. Failure to adhere to the permitting, display, or operational limitations and requirements should lead to incrementally more severe punishments, including but not limited to: (a) impounding of any products on offer by a noncompliant vendor, (b) a fine that can incrementally increase, and (c) up to 6 months in jail for egregious violations or repeated violations by the same person(s).