COSTA MESA : Pushcart Vendor Ordinance Proposed

Pushcart and sidewalk vendors in the city would be required to carry permits, register with the police chief and wear uniforms under a 22-page proposed ordinance.

The ordinance would also ban the selling of food, beverages or any product from a box, stand or bag. But some council members said they feared that portion of the ordinance would mean that vendors like those who sell Fuller brushes would not be permitted to work in the city.

“I think we may have overdone it a little on the paper trail,” said Councilwoman Sandra L. Genis.

Still, Genis said, the ordinance could discourage people who peddle unhealthful food in the city.

The ordinance was presented to the City Council on Monday; a vote is expected at its next meeting Oct. 15.

The issue was first raised last month when Councilman Orville Amburgey proposed an outright ban on pushcarts in the city. Although the majority didn’t support that measure, the city attorney was asked to look into restrictions on the vendors.

Council members cited residents’ complaints about traffic hazards and questions about the food being sold.

The vendors, mostly Latino men who walk the streets pushing carts full of ice cream and snow cones, would be required to display city permits on their carts. The ordinance would also require them to wear a logo or insignia to identify their business.

The ordinance is modeled after a similar measure in Santa Ana. The cities of Anaheim, Newport Beach and Brea also restrict the vendors.

But Rebecca Jurado, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, questioned the council’s action in view of similar requirements that already exist: The vendors must obtain a city business permit and a county health permit before operating in the city.