Avalon to come up with a selection process for issuing six permits
The City Council discussed the permitting process for sidewalk (or street) vendors in Avalon. The council was scheduled to have a “first reading” or introduction of the ordinance, but did not vote on Tuesday, April 2. Staff will come back to the council with changes to the proposed ordinance and with a system for selecting which applicants will receive a limited number of permits.
However, local business people expressed concern about competition from street vendors who don’t have the same expenses as visitors and the potential impact on visitors to the island.
Last year, the California legislature passed SB 946, which requires all cities to set up a permitting process for street vendors. The new state-government mandate provides cities with limited authority to regulate sidewalk vendors and limited power to enforce the rules.
Proposed changes to the Avalon ordinance included the minimum number of days and hours a permit holder would have to operate.
Community Services Director Dan Huneke, who presented the staff report to the council, said the proposed ordinance would limit Avalon to six permits.
“By definition, a Sidewalk Vendor means a person who sells food or merchandise from a pushcart, stand, display, pedal-driven cart, wagon, showcase, rack, or non-motorized conveyance, or from one’s person, upon a public sidewalk or other pedestrian path. SB 946 also takes into consideration a Roaming Sidewalk Vendor which means a sidewalk vendor who moves from place to place and stops only to complete a transaction,” Huneke wrote in his report to the council.
City Attorney Scott Campbell said there would be a limit of one permit per person or entity.
He also explained that because there was a limit on the number of permits, the city had to have a selection process, which he described as a lottery. “Can we do the lottery and say 50% is food and 50% is merchandise?” asked Mayor Anni Marshall.
Campbell said maybe you could allow 50% of the permits for food vending but the city would “get into trouble if you say only food vendors here and merchandise here. I wouldn’t recommend that.”
The ordinance brought to the council would have the city grant permits for a year. Marshall asked that if she got a $20,000 ice cream cart, she could only get the permit for a year? Campbell confirmed that.
“You’ve just killed somebody’s business,” Marshall said.
A member of the public who described himself as one of the applicants for a permit called a lottery system “inherently unfair.” He said in Los Angeles County it takes five to six months and $25,000 to get a permit for a food cart.
Later on, Cinde MacGugan-Cassidy suggested giving applicants six months to meet the county’s requirements for a street vendor permit. Cassidy said three months would not be enough time for a vendor to get a permit from Los Angeles county.
A business woman said she feels that long-standing businesses in town pay really high taxes. She said she didn’t think street vendors would have those expenses.She said she gets irritated with art show vendors blocking her business.
A Catalina Island Company spokesman said the company embraces the intent of the ordinance. However, he said the number of visitors to the island is starting to “plane” or decline. He said street vendors could potentially impede business.
“We want to do it smart; we want to do it strategically,” he said.
City Attorney Campbell said the state law says cities can’t ban street vendors because of their impact on local businesses.
A man named Carl pointed out that what sets Avalon apartment from everyone else is that cruise ship visitors to the city are not “bombarded” by vendors.
The first member of the public to speak returned to the podium to suggest a no-solicitation clause be added to the street vendor ordinance.
Cassidy wanted the ordinance to include a minimum number of days of operation. She also wanted a definition of a “day.”
Marshall suggested two days. Cassidy said she would agree to four days.
The council discussed the matter among themselves and appeared to reach a consensus on four days with a minimum of four hours a day of operation for street vendors.
Campbell will come back to the next council meeting with the parameters of the “lottery” system. The permit system will be separate from the ordinance regulating street vendors.
Campbell said the vendor regulation ordinance would include a requirement that vendors are responsible for cleaning up their trash.
