SYLMAR : Street Peddlers Anger Merchants

You might call it a flower fracas or a watermelon war.

Whatever the name, Sylmar merchants are convinced their suburban enclave is being invaded by peddlers hawking everything from flowers to produce.

Mostly it’s flowers that are getting florists’ dander up, even though they admit that lately the petal-bearing offenders have been lying low.

In fact, police say there is no cause for alarm. “This is not a new concern,” said Capt. James T. McBride of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, who has worked on the problem for about five years. “This is an old concern and I don’t believe it’s worse than in the last few years.”

But four Sylmar florists cornered Councilman Hal Bernson on Thursday for 90 minutes, pressing him to crack down on vendors they are sure will be back for the next flower-oriented holiday.

The unlicensed peddlers set up their ambulatory shops at freeway off-ramps and busy corners, sometimes in front of licensed florist shops, the merchants said.

“They’re obnoxious, they’re rude and they won’t move,” said florist Bonnie Bernard-Jones, owner of Flowers 4-U on Hubbard Street.

Bernson said the best way to battle the problem might be to enact and strictly enforce city regulations limiting vendors to specific zones. A vendor ordinance is in the works, but Bernson has not yet decided whether to support it.

“It’s all over. It’s not limited to this part of the city,” Bernson said. “I would imagine on our streets every day there are literally thousands of vendors.”

Sylmar Chamber of Commerce President Frank Jacobs blames tough enforcement in the city of San Fernando for driving vendors into Sylmar.