Lawmaker Proposes Bill That Would Legalize Street Vending Statewide

Los Angeles lawmakers have wrestled for years with how to legalize and regulate the vendors who sell food and goods on the city’s sidewalks.

A street vendor sell fruits and in the Fashion District in Los Angeles in an undated photo. (Credit: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Now a state legislator is championing a bill that could take some of those decisions out of the city’s hands. Under a proposal from Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), California cities would not be able to regulate or ban vendors unless they have a licensing system that meets several requirements.

Cities could not bar vending in parks. They could not limit where vendors can do business or cap their numbers unless the rules were tied to “objective health, safety or welfare concerns.”

And they could not require vendors to get permission from the brick-and-mortar shops next door — an idea that L.A. lawmakers have been weighing as they try to hammer out city regulations.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

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