Anaheim : Proposal to Regulate Vendors Put Off Again

A vote on the city’s proposal to regulate street vendors was postponed--once again--at the request of the Chamber of Commerce, whose president said Tuesday that the chamber only recently became aware of the controversial issue.

Chamber President Floyd L. Farano said the business group had not yet taken a position on the proposed law and would like time to review it because of “what it would mean to the business community.”

The ordinance to regulate street vendors first came before the council more than four months ago, in response to longstanding complaints that vendors cause litter and traffic congestion.

At first, only vendors who cater to predominantly Latino neighborhoods such as Chevy Chase addressed the issue. But when it became apparent that the Latino vendors lost what they were seeking--basically, to sell their fresh fruits, vegetables and ice cream in apartment areas--they ceased coming to the City Council meetings.

Then, an Anaheim catering firm, Orange County Food Service, protested the ordinance during a July 2 meeting. An attorney for the firm said the law’s provision barring all food trucks from public rights of way would cut off at least 144 of the 960 businesses and industrial sites that the firm’s trucks visit daily. A week later, an ice cream vendor criticized another aspect of the law: a requirement for $1 million in liability insurance.

Amin David, president of Los Amigos of Orange County, earlier this month criticized the council’s attention to the interest of the non-Latino vendors as “a double standard” and said the city paid “absolutely no mind at all” to the Latino vendors who addressed them earlier in the year.

The proposed vending law will return before the council Aug. 26.