Santa Monica Embraces Safe Sidewalk Vending
February 7, 2022 9:22 AM
by Sue Himmelrich
Sidewalk vending has been in the spotlight recently and, with
livelihoods at the forefront, it’s understandable why. For more than 30 years,
Santa Monica has supported vending and has had vending programs in place to
create viable pathways for small business owners to thrive through food trucks,
licensed carts on the Pier and Third Street Promenade, and stalls at our famous
farmers markets.
In 2019, the State of California decriminalized sidewalk vending
through SB 946 and we quickly went to work building a program that incentivized
sidewalk vending through a low-cost program that eliminated some of the common
barriers to permitting, including an insurance waiver. We engaged with vending
advocates and sidewalk vendors, soliciting their feedback to help shape the
program and develop bilingual outreach aimed at supporting sidewalk vendors through
our permitting process.
It has been nearly three years since we launched that program and
we have more than 100 permitted sidewalk vendors operating in our city–a number
on par with the much larger City of Los Angeles. Since the program’s inception,
our code enforcement officers have shared thousands of bilingual fliers, always
leading with education and outreach, contributing to an accessible and inclusive
program that has been acknowledged as such by both advocates and permitted sidewalk
vendors.
Santa Monica continues to expand economic opportunity for all. We
are a community that has prioritized equitable economic recovery from the
pandemic. We invest in programs that ensure that historically marginalized
communities have real pathways to entrepreneurship. In addition to our licensed
cart vending, sidewalk vending, and food truck programs, we are building out a community
kitchen at Virginia Avenue Park in 2022, a shared commercial kitchen space designed
to help residents break into the costly food industry.
Yet, we cannot overlook the real risks
playing out in our community every day, particularly when it comes to the
safety of the public. This is the fundamental challenge we face at the Santa
Monica Pier. Our historic Pier is a wooden structure that is flammable. On any
given day, unpermitted vendors flock to the bustling location, creating an unsafe
environment for themselves and the public by cooking with open flames and
unpermitted combustible fuels. The Pier also has limited emergency access and
capacity limits, particularly on warm days when the beach is full. For these
reasons, it is not legal to vend on or within 100 feet of the Pier. Despite
this, many vendors have been unwilling to work with us on moving to ample and
safe alternative locations.
Though our staff continues to lead with educating vendors about
our permit program and seeking voluntary compliance with our local health and
safety laws, when necessary, enforcement remains an important tool given the real
dangers to public safety and health. Our enforcement efforts are an effective
collaboration between our Fire Department, Code Enforcement, Police Department and
the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the lead agency on proper
food handling and permitting. Advisals far exceed enforcement actions.
Beyond safety, there are other challenges that add complexity and
create confusion for sidewalk vendors and the public. The State Retail Food
Code has cumbersome requirements that present barriers to entry, particularly
for food vendors. We strongly support modernizing these rules and identifying
opportunities to streamline access to safe, permitted food vending, and look
forward to partnering with vendor advocates in this effort over the coming
months.
We welcome the interest in Santa Monica’s approach to sidewalk vending
and are eager to channel the energy and activism toward our shared goal of
getting more vendors into our program in support of their success as small
business owners. By working with vendors to become permitted, encouraging safe
locations off the Pier, and advocating for changes to State law that will make
permitting easier, we are confident we are moving in the right direction toward
a shared goal of accessible and inclusive entrepreneurship in our public spaces.
Authored By
Sue Himmelrich
Mayor