BURBANK : Exception Proposed for Street Peddler

Burbank City Councilman David Golonski has proposed an exception to an ordinance banning street peddlers to allow a longtime ice cream vendor to continue business in the city.

The peddler, Carlos Meier, had been licensed to sell ice cream out of pushcarts until the new ordinance went into effect March 20, Golonski said.

The ordinance was designed to eliminate entrepreneurs selling out of parked cars and trucks. An exception in the law allowed moving vehicles, such as an ice cream truck, but those selling out of a pushcart on a sidewalk were still banned.

Burbank had accounted for 20% of the Sun Valley man’s business, said Vice Mayor Bill Wiggins. In Tuesday’s council meeting, Wiggins and Councilwoman Susan Spanos supported Golonski’s effort to let Meier back into Burbank.

“I’m certain it was not anybody’s intention to put someone out of business, but you either have to open it up for everyone or keep it closed,” Mayor George Battey Jr. said.

“It creates an image problem,” Councilman Bob Bowne said about the street peddlers.

“I’d like to have staff come back with some options,” Golonski said. The council approved the request 4 to 1 with Bowne dissenting.

The pushcarts also had presented a problem for police, Police Chief David Newsham said. The pushcart operators, often warned that they could be cited for blocking the sidewalks, would move to the streets where they also did not belong, Newsham said.