Revised Street-Vending Ordinance Adopted by L.A. Council Committee : Regulations: The measure awaiting final approval permits 8 districts and calls for enforcement strategy.

A controversial ordinance designed to regulate street vending by creating special zones where the vendors could operate legally was approved Friday by a Los Angeles City Council committee.

The long-awaited measure contains several new features, including a name change, an increase in the number of vending districts to be created and instructions to city officials to develop a strategy for enforcing the ordinance.

The proposal for the two-year pilot program was approved 2 to 1 by Public Works Committee members Richard Alarcon and Jackie Goldberg and opposed by Rita Walters.

“It may not be a perfect solution, but it’s our best effort to a problem that is contentious in our community and is really causing a heightened level of animosity,” said Alarcon, chairman of the committee. “I’m hoping that if council approves this, we will have a lesser level of animosity.”

There are an estimated 5,000 sidewalk vendors operating illegally--or without business licenses and health code permits--in Los Angeles. An estimated 10% to 20% of those would be granted permits and allowed to operate in the vending zones.

Although the committee approved several changes Friday, one of the most obvious was the name, from the “street vending ordinance” to the “sidewalk vending ordinance.” The change was recommended to clear up any misconceptions about the vendors, who would sell their goods from a fixed site on the sidewalk.

Many of the changes came from a compromise settlement between the Central City Assn., a business advocacy organization, and the Street Vendors Assn., which represents about 500 vendors.

Among these changes was an increase in vending zones from four to eight. Vendors could legally operate in those zones if they used specially designed carts and followed local health and safety regulations for food sales.

Community influence on the creation and management of these districts would be expanded under the amended proposal.

The committee recommended the creation of community advisory committees to advise the Board of Public Works, which would be charged with creating the vending zones. The committees would include business owners and be selected by City Council members.

Creating vending districts would become more difficult than under an earlier proposal that would have allowed a zone to be established if at least 10% of the property owners within it gave their consent. Under the version approved by the committee, 20% of the property owners would have to give their consent.

Alarcon introduced a separate motion instructing the Los Angeles Police Department, the Department of Public Works, the city attorney’s office and representatives of business and street vendors to draw up a policy for enforcing the measure.

“We feel that in the business community, we have to have effective enforcement in the pilot program,” said Carol E. Shatz, vice president of the Central City Assn.

Both Shatz and Angelica Garza, an organizer for the Street Vendor Assn., said they were pleased with the committee’s changes and the proposal that now goes to the full City Council for approval.