Ordinance Would Require Permits, Limit Numbers : Council Curbs Downtown Newsstands

For more than 35 years, Morton Bowman has operated his jewelry business on South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, selling diamond watches, gold rings and other pricey merchandise.

Outside Bowman’s store at the busy corner of 5th and Broadway, Dolores Ramirez runs her tiny newsstand where she has sold newspapers, magazines and other periodicals for the last seven years. Lately, she has added to her wares 75-cent hairbrushes, inexpensive makeup kits and small toys to entice passers-by.

In recent months, selling that extra merchandise--coupled with the proliferation of other newsstands much like Dolores Ramirez’s--has placed her at odds with Bowman, other downtown merchants and city officials.

And the result Tuesday was a political victory for the established businesses along Broadway and an uncertain future for Ramirez and other newsstand vendors.

Spurred by irate merchants, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted an ordinance that would curb the number of newsstands, require special permits and limit what vendors may sell on downtown sidewalks.

“It was getting horrendous with all the newsstands. It had become a blight to the area . . . and unfair to local businesses,” said Bowman, who is president of Los Angeles Diamond Co. and heads the Broadway Improvement Assn.

“Broadway is a beautiful street,” said Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, who represents the affected area. “We just want to regulate those newsstands and clean it up a little.”

Councilman Richard Alatorre added that the newsstand ordinance--which amends the current law--will help “rejuvenate” the downtown business district.

Under a current citywide newsstand ordinance, such sales of nonperiodicals are already banned, but merchants complain that vendors have ignored the law. They said a limit was also needed on the number of newsstands, especially in the heavily congested area known as the Central Traffic District, extending from Sunset Boulevard on the north, Pico Boulevard on the south, Figueroa Boulevard on the west and Los Angeles Street on the east.

Within that area, a maximum of four newsstands would be allowed per block--two on each side of the street. On the crowded sidewalks of Broadway, that would mean only 28 vendors would be allowed permits in an area where 106 now operate, city officials said.

Many in Violation

A report by the Bureau of Street Maintenance indicated that one-third of newsstands now operating there were violating city regulations, many of them accused of selling unapproved items such as toys, clothing and audio cassettes with no pretense of peddling publications.

If approved by Mayor Tom Bradley, the new law would force vendors to compete for a $25 annual permit and to obtain liability insurance.

Dolores Ramirez and her 18-year-old son, Rudy Duran, said they will apply for the new permits but added that they began selling other merchandise only to compete with other newsstands that cropped up in their area.

“There used to be only two newsstands. Now there are a lot here,” Duran said. He added that he hopes the new law will aid the longtime vendors.

His mother nodded. “I only make $25 a day, and I work 12 hours a day,” she said. “But if this will help us, I am for it.”