Pasco City Council to consider funding boost for code enforcement targeting unpermitted street vendors

The Pasco City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on a proposal to authorize additional funding for code enforcement aimed at unpermitted street vendors, communications coordinator Alyssa Warner said.

Warner said the city’s community and economic development department is proposing hiring more code enforcement officers to focus enforcement on evenings and weekends. “The community and economic development department is proposing hiring more code enforcement to crack down on unpermitted vendors, especially in the evenings and on weekends,” she said.

City staff estimated the change would require a budget increase of between $30,000 and $90,000 to expand enforcement over the next six months. Warner said the city has observed an increase in vendors operating without permits and not following rules, and that this “hurts the business of legitimate vendors who are doing everything right.”

The proposal, as described in the meeting preview, would require a formal budget adjustment; no mover, second or vote tally was provided in the preview. The transcript does not record council debate, a motion text, or an outcome; those will be determined at the council meeting.

The meeting preview did not specify funding sources for the proposed increase, whether hires would be temporary or permanent, or who would be the official mover of any motion. Interested residents can view the full meeting agenda at pasco-wa.gov or watch the live meeting on the city’s Facebook and YouTube pages starting at 7 p.m. Monday.