The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday instructed the Bureau of Street Services and Los Angeles Police Department to reestablish a moratorium on issuing citations to street vendors without a valid license or permit for the rest of the COVID-19 State of Emergency and six months after.
StreetsLA was also instructed to conduct education and outreach campaigns to the street vendors about the permit process.
The city established an enforcement moratorium against unpermitted street vendors after it legalized street vending in 2018. The moratorium was designed to allow vendors to obtain permits before being cited, but the moratorium was lifted by the City Council at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the moratorium was lifted, less than 1% of vendors — 90 out of 10,000 in Los Angeles County — had obtained a permit, according to the motion, which was introduced by Councilwoman Nithya Raman and Councilman Curren Price.
“COVID-19 has been an incredible blow to our city’s small businesses and entrepreneurs — L.A.’s street food vendors are no exception,” Raman said.
“Enforcing permits for street vendors without allowing for implementation of a just and streamlined permitting process puts livelihoods in peril.”
In the motion, Price and Raman noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor street vending is by nature safer for consumers than indoor or outdoor seated dining.
Additionally, because many street vendors in the area are in the U.S. without authorization, they are not eligible for relief funds by the federal government and rely on income brought in by street vending to feed their family and stay housed.
The motion also instructed StreetsLA to provide an update on their discussions with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health regarding permit requirements and how the city and county can collaborate to create a program that would allow for vendor participation.