Anaheim : Proposed Vendors’ Law Up for Review Tuesday

When Anaheim officials earlier this year turned down a request by Latino street vendors to open some of the city’s most lucrative selling spots to their carts and trucks, they also decided it was time to strengthen the current law by adding further restrictions and fees.

On Tuesday the council is scheduled to review the proposed ordinance, which vendors using trucks to sell ice cream and produce said will hurt their business.

The proposed law would prohibit vendors from using amplified sound, music or horns to advertise or draw attention to their vehicles. Among other changes, vendors would be subject to an annual operating fee of $150 and a $25 vendor’s fee. The proposal also would do away with paleteros-- or pushcarts--commonly seen being used to peddle ice cream during the summer.

The vendors have been at odds with the city since late last year, when officers enforcing city codes began cracking down on violators of a 60-year-old ordinance that prevents vendors from operating in “business districts”--which Anaheim officials, pointing to the California Vehicle Code, said includes apartment neighborhoods.

Of more than 100 vendors operating in the city, 27 formed a coalition, drew up a series of compromises and petitioned the city to accept their recommendations in exchange for being allowed back into the apartment neighborhoods, their best selling spots. The city accepted the vendors’ compromises but refused to change local law to allow them into the apartment neighborhoods.