Pico Rivera : Ordinance Banning Street Vendors Passes 1st Reading

The Pico Rivera City Council has unanimously passed an ordinance banning street vendors from public roads and sidewalks in response to complaints from residents and businesses. The ordinance applies to everyone from hot dog salespeople with pushcarts to vendors pushing oranges and flowers in a traffic median to operators of ice cream or taco trucks.

The few exceptions include newspaper stands and vendors operating with a permit from private property.

The Sheriff’s Department will initially warn violators, but may later impound their merchandise, public information officer Bill Schlapper said. Officials wanted the ban in part because the city could not regulate the safety and quality of the products sold. There was also a safety concern over how the vendors operated in the streets, Schlapper said. In addition, the ban eliminates a source of competition for local merchants.

Before the ordinance takes effect, it must pass a second reading, scheduled for the Jan. 6 council meeting. The ordinance would then become law in 30 days.