Vallejo City Council passes new regulations for street food vendors

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VALLEJO — The Vallejo City Council passed an ordinance to regulate unpermitted street food vendors on Tuesday, after a months-long campaign from restaurant owners who said that Vallejo’s growing street food scene was hurting their businesses. 

The council passed the new ordinance unanimously. It was proposed by Vice Mayor Mina Loera-Diaz after restaurant owners complained for months that they were facing unfair competition from unpermitted street food vendors. 

The ordinance states that if vending includes food, vendors need a mobile food permit issued by the Solano County Department of Public Health, and it will be mandatory to use hairnets and gloves, to carry a disposable container for trash, and to display their permit on the street-side portion of their cart or table, as well as on a city-issued badge on their clothing. Vendors will not be allowed to have an open flame, which will affect the trompos or vertical rotisseries that many street vendors use.

Ambulatory vendors will only be allowed in residential districts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and stationary vendors will be prohibited in residential districts. A schedule is not detailed for commercial districts.

Street food vendors will not be allowed to operate in public parks or within 500 feet of a farmers market or special event, which have food vendors that have acquired a special permit for the day. They also need to be 250 feet away from a school and cannot operate one hour before school starts and one hour after school ends.

Permits will be valid for a year. Violators who sell food without permits will be fined. The first violation will incur a $250 fine, the second, a $500 fine, and the third, a $1,000 fine.

The ordinance will take effect 120 days after the date of adoption, to allow time for outreach to street vendors and for an educational program about the permitting process as well as support to apply for permits and bring their cart or table to code.

During the public comment period, one occasional food vendor said that she wants to bring her business into compliance. Juliana Preciado explained that she manages a nonprofit that teaches kids Mexican folklore and traditions without charging them a cent. 

“I sell food to help the children with the ballet,” she said, explaining that she helps the kids buy outfits and accessories. She also asked “to be informed of future workshops so you can help us.”

Tina Fowler, who has been representing restaurant owners as an independent consultant, said she agreed that an ordinance was needed but found the 120 days grace period excessive and the fines too low. City staff, she said, “are giving four months for something that we have been talking about for almost a year.” 

She requested a more aggressive ordinance, with only a 30 day grace period and fines of $500, $1,000 and $5,000 for first, second and third violation. “We want them to be higher to prohibit abuse,” she stated.

Fowler also emphasized that the ordinance only talks about vendors in public right of way but many street vendors set their stands on private property, such as in parking lots. She requested tougher enforcement of land use codes and business licenses in order to tackle unpermitted street vendors in private properties.

Two speakers, one a convenience store owner and another a restaurant owner, demonstrated the importance of this point when they offered use of their parking lots to any street food vendor who desires it. One suggested publishing a list of safe places where street vendors can set up. 

Loera-Diaz read a letter from the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association in support of the ordinance, which stated that convenience store owners are open to allowing vendors in their parking lots, since it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.

She also asserted that the 120 days grace period was crucial to establish an educational program. She said that she will partner with nonprofit The Time is Ya to provide it. “We are willing to do this for free. That’s how much we believe in this,” she said. And she added that she has raised so far $2,500 in grant money to help vendors with permit fees. 

Some councilmembers supported additional restrictions. Councilmember Diosdado “JR” Matulac suggested adding vendors who sell pets out of the trunk of their car. Councilmember Charles Palmares supported Fowler’s idea of a more aggressive ordinance with higher fines and a shorter grace period.

But City Attorney Veronica Nebb explained that the fines cannot be changed, since they are set in state law. The ordinance is based on SB 946, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018. That law decriminalized sidewalk vendors and limited local regulations to those related to health, safety, and welfare concerns. 

Nebb said that 30 days would not be enough time for the city staff to create the documentation needed, and City Manager Andrew Murray agreed, stating that the vendors needed to do quite a lot and the city as well, including “developing the application form, processing all those applications, taking payment, and putting together the permit themselves.”

Councilmember Peter Bregenzer asked for more clarification regarding vendors who set up in parking lots. 

“They might not even be allowed to be on the private property, depending on what it’s zoned for,” Nebb said, and she added that vendors who set up in a private parking lot won’t need this permit, but they will need to adhere to the zoning regulations. It would fall on the city’s Zoning and Health Departments to monitor if those vendors are up to code.

She also clarified that permitted street vendors would need to pay taxes and that if the fines are not paid, the vendors would be cited to go to court. 

An amendment forbidding street vendors from selling live animals was added to the ordinance before it was approved.