Street Vending Do's and Don't
Some interesting information that was provided to the C-PAB at the last meeting on Oct 21. The guest speaker was Jesus Gudino - Investigator for StreetsLA.
First of all, Street Vending in Los Angeles is LEGAL as of now. Thanks to former Gov. Jerry Brown, Senate Bill 946 was passed in 2018 and took effect in 2019. At the same time, in order to comply with the SB946 passing, the Los Angeles City Council followed suit in Nov of 2018 with a 14-0 vote in favor of allowing street vending to take hold in our City and it doesn't look like it'll be revised or repealed anytime soon. Read the full article from Eater Los Angeles HERE.
HOWEVER - that doesn't mean a Street Vendor can do what ever they want.
The two most significant items discussed at C-PAB on the 21st were that Street Vendors CANNOT set up a TENT! So why so many tents on Melrose? Because StreetsLA only has FIVE investigators for the entire city. Their job is limited to writing tickets for violations and informing the Street Vendors of their legal responsibilities. Other than that, well, you can see how closely followed the rules are on Melrose.
Second - Licensing and Permitting requirements. All Street Vendors are required to have a Business License, Sales Tax Registration and if selling food, they must also secure a permit from the LA County Department of Public Health (DPH). But as of today, FEW HAVE LEGAL PERMITS! Check out this article to learn more. However, the idea that few have legal permits is disputed by advocates for street vendors. But how do they prove this when vendors move from place to place and new ones show up while others move to different areas? I suppose the street vendors that do return to the same spot every day are very easy to help...others...not so much.
So where are we today? It appears that many street vendors have left Melrose and moved back to Fairfax in a game with the LAPD to avoid the heavy enforcement that has recently taken place on Melrose. But is this a long term solution? Doubtful.
Currently, there are multiple board members on the Mid-City West Neighborhood Council who are advocating to PROTECT the RIGHTS of street vending on Melrose. These board members contributed their time and resources to the fight against the No-Go Zone that the Melrose BID and the neighborhood wanted to see instituted. But there is no talk about this advocacy extending to help make the Street Vendors abide by the rules, laws and permitting requirements that are already on the books.
So, why don't we ask these Mid-City West Neighborhood Council member advocates to help US too! If we have to live with street vending, wouldn't we like to see legally permitted vendors that do not have tents blocking the entire sidewalk? Lets advocate and ask MCWNC to propose expanding the budget for legal enforcement of codes and licensing policies! The City already has a department set up to help street vendors comply legally with permit requirements. But if there is NO enforcement on Melrose to get these vendors to do the right thing and obtain the proper permits, nothing is going to change. As a matter of fact, it'll probably just get worse as this condition spreads to the sidewalks of Bevelry Blvd, 3rd Street and beyond.
Illegal Vending - Puppy & other Live Animal Sales
There seems to be a growing problem with puppy sales on the streets and sidewalks near or on Melrose. This is seen most often at the corner of Curson and Melrose. THIS ACTIVITY IS FLAT OUT ILLEGAL! Live animal sales are not allowed on the streets or sidewalks anywhere in Los Angeles. See info below from an article found on the internet:
"LCA joined forces with the LAPD to combat the illegal sale of animals from Santee Alley Fashion District
In November of 2009, Last Chance for Animal’s (LCA) Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began working on a joint task force with the LAPD and Voice for the Animals (VFTA), investigating the illegal sale of animals in the Santee Alley fashion district of downtown Los Angeles. This investigation led to an ordinance, signed in September of 2011, to prohibit "the purchase, offer to purchase, barter, or receive without cost, live animals on any street, sidewalk or other public places in the City of Los Angeles." In addition, SB 917, a California law, prohibits "any person to willfully sell, display, or offer for sale or give away as part of a commercial transaction a live animal on any street, highway, public right-of-way parking lot, carnival, or boardwalk." Penalties for both offenses include fines of up to $1000 and up to 6 months of jail time.
What You Can Do:
You can help by reporting potential violations and letting the authorities know that this issue is important to you!
- If you are in L.A. call: Los Angeles Animal Services at 888-452-7381 or Los Angeles Police Department at 877-275-5273"
So here's the disconnect - When Kim Sudhalter from the Melrose BID spoke with our LAPD, she was told "LAPD does not have jurisdiction when it comes to animal sales." But animal control can't arrest people.
According to this article I found, Police and several other officials only have the authority to write tickets for the infraction or misdemeanor offense. You may have read that there is some debate over the semantics of police “jurisdiction” in the matter of vending intervention. We want to focus on the obvious point that police have purview of any illegal activity.
