Street vendors in Sacramento County will have to follow new regulations. What are they?
Beginning in March, street vendors in Sacramento County will need a health and business permit to operate. Should they fail to obtain one, they could face a $250 fine.
The Sacramento Board of Supervisors approved the new regulations Tuesday morning in response to growing health and food safety concerns.
The forthcoming regulations will implement a penalty system for street-side vendors without required credentials. If a vendor operates without a permit, they could be subject to a $250 fine which increases per violation. Unpermitted vendors will be charged $500 if they operate without a license a second time.
If vendors conduct business after the second violation, they will pay $1,000 per violation, the ordinance states. If a business has multiple violations, their license can be revoked, said Chad Rinde, the county’s finance director.
Vendors will be required to apply for this one-year license prior to conducting business. This license can be purchased for $61 through Sacramento County. New regulations are only required for vendors operating on public sidewalks and not on private property, Rinde said.
The current regulations require vendors to meet the same standards as retail food businesses. If approved by the county, vendors would receive a placard or sticker after inspection.
The ordinance, which passed unanimously, will require vendors to comply with the following regulations:
▪ Maintain county-regulated sanitary conditions. If vendors with permits do not meet this health code, they will be fined up to $250 for each violation.
▪ Properly dispose of any waste and trash generated by a vending business.
▪ Business cannot be conducted near a construction zone or an area that is traffic-controlled.
▪ Comply with federal requirements aligned with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability standards.
▪ Must follow health requirements made by the Compact Mobile Food Operations. For example, these rules require businesses to have a hand washing station.
▪ Forbid the sale of products like alcohol, lottery tickets, cannabis, tobacco, weapons, electronic cigarettes and other items that are generally outlawed.
▪ Prohibit vending operations in “immediate area” of a farmer’s market, a permitted special event and a park with concession agreements.
▪ Vendors must be present with their stand or kiosk. Their stand or kiosk may not be locked, chained or secured to an object like a pole, sign or tree.
▪ These businesses must cut down hours of operations to match typical hours of other businesses in the area. Vendors will be excluded from operating in residential areas.
Since the passing of legislation, like Senate Bill 946, which decriminalized sidewalk vending, the county has seen an uptick in these businesses, the ordinance states. With this increase, there have been more complaints about vendor compliance. The Sacramento region issuing more crackdowns on sidewalk vendors. In October, the city of Elk Grove began to enforce stricter regulations and licenses.
Supervisor Patrick Hume, who represents District 5, criticized the state legislation, saying the laws “astound him” because of how much “interference” the state Legislature puts on local governments. He added the current regulations are “in place for a good reason.”
“I was driving along the other day and here’s how brazen these tents have become,” Hume said. “Literally, they were the al pastor taco spits with the big fire that has the meat cooking, like there’s nothing approved or sanitary about that situation.”
The California Restaurant Association expressed concerns about the ordinance. While in support of more regulation for street vendors, Marlon Lara, the organization’s legislative director, said the county should prioritize monitoring pop-up kitchens, which they say spread “foodborne illness and (pose) the greatest public safety risk.”
Other members of the board requested these regulations be distributed in both English, Spanish and other languages spoken by vendors. Considering cultural competency was also recommended by several supervisors.
“These are people trying to make an honest living, and that’s important,” said Patrick Kennedy, who represents District 2. “We have to encourage that, but they’re also something that makes it unique, that makes it different. And I never want to do anything that makes Sacramento County look so vanilla that we’re not taking that into account.”
