Public Works Committee directs interagency follow-up on sidewalk vending outreach and enforcement

The Los Angeles City Public Works Committee voted to approve a report from the Bureau of Street Services and added instructions directing BSS to work with city and county partners on sidewalk vending permitting, outreach and enforcement and to return with a report in 90 days.

The committee added the direction after a presentation by BSS staff that summarized permitting, outreach and enforcement activities for the city’s sidewalk vending program. “Before you is a report that provides a high level overview of our administration of the sidewalk vending program, including permitting, outreach, and enforcement of the rules and regulations,” David Rivera, assistant division manager, Investigation and Enforcement Division, Bureau of Street Services, told the committee. “We are recommending that this report be noted and filed as it is informational purposes only.”

The instruction to BSS changes that result: committee members asked staff to instead begin interagency conversations and return with actionable updates. Councilmember Hernandez said she wanted more than a note-and-file. “I would like to add an instruction, so that instead of noting and filing this, we do some work, to get some updates. And so I want to direct BSS to work with EWDD and DPH, and come back in a few weeks, after having a conversation with them to talk about the 2 permitting processes and report back to us on how that conversation goes,” Hernandez said. After discussion the committee set a 90-day report-back and added County departments and city offices to the list of partners to be consulted.

BSS told the committee the bureau issues sidewalk vending permits by appointment at downtown and Van Nuys offices; since the start of the fiscal year BSS said it had issued 463 permits total — 31 for food and 432 for merchandise. The bureau reported it received and addressed more than 50,000 public right-of-way complaints in fiscal year 2023–24, including 10,077 noncompliant vending complaints via MyLA311. For the current fiscal year to date, BSS said it has received 2,333 noncompliant vending complaints and has issued 189 warnings and nine citations.

BSS staff described the city’s current enforcement posture as limited. Rivera said the bureau generally begins with education and verbal warnings, next issues written warnings without fines, and only after repeated violations issues administrative citations; the city attorney’s office determines citation fines. Staff also said the bureau is prioritizing ADA accessibility complaints (noting the 36-inch clear-space rule and an 81-inch vertical clearance) and safety-related circumstances while otherwise limiting proactive enforcement because of staffing and permitting barriers.

On outreach, BSS said contractors are being engaged to produce updated materials in multiple languages; staff said an outreach contract for the fiscal year was funded at $40,000 and that consultants will update materials in 13 languages and begin work on draft materials within weeks. Committee members expressed concern that $40,000 will not support extensive, culturally tailored outreach and urged use of community-based organizations and expansion of the consultant bench to include organizations with deep ties to vendor communities.

The committee instructed BSS to coordinate with the city’s Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD), the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH), the County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, the county Department of Economic and Workforce Development (or Economic & Opportunity office as noted), the City Administrative Office/CLA, and the City Attorney’s office and to return in 90 days with findings and next steps. Committee members also requested that outreach task-orders include reporting on lessons learned and recommended policy changes.

The committee discussion included concerns about barriers to obtaining county health permits for food vendors, the need for culturally competent outreach, and requests for comparative data so the committee can assess complaint volumes against other BSS service areas. Rivera and other BSS representatives said they would work with council offices and convene stakeholders to pursue the requested interagency conversations.

The committee approved the item as amended on a roll-call vote with Councilmember Hernandez, Councilmember Padilla and Councilmember Hutt voting yes.

Looking ahead, the committee set a 90-day deadline for BSS to report back on the interagency discussions, outreach plans, permit coordination and any recommended changes to enforcement practice.