Thousand Oaks to Weigh Street Vendor Controls - Commerce: A proposed law would restrict the hours and locations of the merchants. Some are unhappy.

Thousand Oaks has announced a plan to tighten regulations on street vendors who hawk everything from hot dogs to strawberries to flowers on the city’s streets.

City officials say the growing number of street vendors has triggered about a dozen complaints from residents and competing merchants.

“They create disruptions in traffic flow,” City Atty. Mark G. Sellers said. “Your customers coming to get a hot dog could trip in the street.”

To address such hazards, Seller’s office has drafted an ordinance that would require vendors to purchase insurance and have permits to sell food on public streets.

If passed, it would limit the hours that vendors could operate to daytime and restrict them from parking next to busy intersections. Illegal street vending would be punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to a year in jail.

The proposed ordinance is expected to be presented to the City Council in June, he said.

“We’re not cracking down,” Sellers said. “We’re just trying to regulate them.”

On the suburban streets of Thousand Oaks, vendors are a relatively new phenomenon.

About five years ago, hot dog vendors began catering to assembly line and office workers in Westlake and Newbury Park.

In recent years, central Thousand Oaks has welcomed a new wave of entrepreneurs, particularly along Avenida de los Arboles, where vendors--some without city permits--peddle roses and strawberries.

Student John Birkler, 20, of Westlake Village buys six flats of strawberries from a farmer in Oxnard, then sells them on a residential street corner near Calle Bouganvilla.

Birkler said he has been selling strawberries there for two years.

“I’m a full-time student at Moorpark College. This is getting me through college right now,” Birkler said as he conducted business from the back of his pickup truck.

Recently, after a city official threatened to shut him down for selling without a license, he obtained business, health and public works permits for about $300.

However, he said he has been unable to afford insurance because his profit margin is slim. He said he sometimes gives strawberries that he doesn’t sell to his neighbors.

“If insurance is over $100, I wouldn’t be able to do this,” he said.

He is also worried about proposed restrictions that would keep him away from busy intersections.

“Intersections like this are where we get our business,” said Birkler, an engineering student who is contemplating a career in business. “You need an even flow of traffic and a sellable product.”

During a 10-minute period, five motorists pulled up to inspect his strawberries. He sold three flats.

Across town, John Smiley sells hot dogs at an industrial park in Westlake. He brought his pushcart there five years ago after selling hot dogs in Newbury Park and in his hometown of Simi Valley.

The encroachment permit that he had to secure from the city public works department allows him to operate on Townsgate Road, next to several bustling office complexes. He said he has no complaints about the proposed requirement that vendors purchase insurance.

“I like the rules,” Smiley said as he dished up sauerkraut over a hot dog for a customer.

But newcomers to the hot dog scene disagree. One is Gene Curts, who runs U.S.A. Hot Dogs on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, across the street from where the city is building its new civic arts center.

He started the business eight months ago when he was unable to find masonry work during the recession. He said he is lucky if he clears $250 a week.

Curts said he has health and business permits but doesn’t have insurance primarily because of high operating costs. He said he spends about half of what he makes on supplies.

Buying insurance would be tough, he said, but not impossible.

“This is a nickel-and-dime business,” Curts said. “I think they just don’t want the vendors here. They don’t want us here.”