Latino Vendors Fight Anaheim Limits on Sales

Latino street vendors have formed a group to fight an Anaheim city ordinance that they say is running them out of business.

The vendors said Thursday that they plan to petition the City Council to modify the ordinance, which prevents them from selling at apartment complexes, where they market vegetables, fruits, ice cream and candy. They usually play music to alert customers.

Spokesmen for the group, called Union de Commerciantes Latinos, said at a press conference in Santa Ana that they want to police themselves.

Anaheim officials began an enforcement crackdown following complaints that vendors were leaving trash on streets, causing traffic congestion and playing loud music until late hours, Mayor Don Roth said.

The vendors plan to present a list of compromises to the council on March 18 that would allow them to work between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., play music only during the day, park so as to allow traffic to pass and leave no later than five minutes after the last customer. They also would ask customers to help clean up.

The city ordinance prohibits vendors from parking to sell their wares on residential streets, including those with apartment complexes. The ordinance does allow them to sell in business districts if they don’t park on streets, Richard LaRouchelle, senior code enforcement officer, said. About 25 citations, each carrying a maximum $500 fine and six months in jail, have been issued since last May, when the ordinance was revised, he said.

The vendors’ group also plans to monitor the actions of other Orange County cities that may affect Latino-owned businesses, spokesmen said at the press conference.

In Santa Ana, an ordinance passed in 1984 prohibits vendors from selling in residential areas and requires them to have business licenses. The law was passed after two children were killed, one by a vendor’s truck and another by an oncoming van as the child was trying to flag down a vendor.

Garden Grove Takes Steps

Recently, Garden Grove began a crackdown on fruit and vegetable vendors in the Buena Clinton area, said Lupe Garcia, Who works for the city in a neighborhood office.

Garcia said problems stemmed from vendors parking their trucks for hours at a time, causing crowds to form and blocking traffic. But the city attorney’s office said the city has no ordinance prohibiting vendors from selling.

At the press conference, Anaheim vendor Carmen Cervantes said he did not understand why he was given a ticket until he appeared in Municipal Court. “They never told us what we were doing wrong,” he said. “We are being treated like criminals.”

Pedro Vasquez, who has sold on the streets of Anaheim for 16 years, said the ordinance was motivated by prejudice, a charge that Mayor Roth denied.

Most vendors throughout the county are Latino and sell to low-income Latinos, Vasquez said. “We are bringing benefits to the people, not harm,” he said.

Another vendor, Mario Reyes, said, “We hope to get a positive result from the city. On this depends the future of our families.”