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City staff proposes ordinance update and education-first program to regulate sidewalk vending
Summary
Staff recommended updating East Palo Altoordinances to align with SB 946, create a vending outreach team, hold permit workshops and use phased education-to-enforcement; council asked for options (menu vs. draft ordinance), zones for vending and greater county coordination.
City staff recommended revising the local vending ordinance to bring it into alignment with the stateSafe Sidewalk Vending Act (SB 946) and to combine regulatory changes with an education-first program.
Denise Garcia, assistant to the city manager, told the council that staff found recurring problems with stationary food vendors: trash generation, blocked sidewalks and accessibility problems, the use of open flames and grills, lack of county health permits, and limited enforcement tools under the citycode. "SB 9 4 6, which is the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act, decriminalized sidewalk vending throughout the state of California and was effective 01/01/2019," she said, framing the legal limits and options for local rules.
Staff recommended six components: (1) policy direction to decide which regulatory requirements to explore (zoning restrictions, permit types, hours), (2) early collaboration with county environmental health (EHS), (3) a vending outreach team to conduct evening inspections and relationship-building, (4) a phased education-to-enforcement approach, (5) quarterly workshops and permit clinics, and (6) a Spanish-language outreach strategy. Garcia noted several peer-city models (Hayward, Santa Cruz, Long Beach) and said the city currently lacks a clear permit pathway and tracking mechanisms for vendor locations.
Public commenters and councilmembers widely supported an education-first approach but asked staff to produce a menu of regulatory options and to identify specific vending zones and proposed enforcement tools. Councilmembers also asked staff to clarify how the city would coordinate with county health permitting, what a moratorium or rapid enforcement window might look like, and potential budget impacts. Staff agreed to return with a more detailed ordinance draft or a set of options and budget implications for council review.
