Linking of 2 Vending Measures Rejected : Legislation: One before the L. A. council would legalize street selling in some areas; the other would clamp down on illegal sales elsewhere.

The Los Angeles City Council declined Tuesday to link a plan to legalize street vending in special zones with a new proposal to enforce anti-vending laws in other parts of the city.

On a 7-5 vote, the council failed to adopt language tying the two measures together, much to the displeasure of business leaders who want the city to clamp down on illegal street sales.

“We believe the enforcement issue is so important that the two issues should be intertwined,” said Carol Schatz, lobbyist for the Central City Assn. The legalization plan “would not be meaningful unless there’s strong enforcement outside the vending districts” against illegal vendors.

Schatz declined to comment on how Tuesday’s vote would affect her group’s support for legalization. The move to kill the linkage was led by freshman San Fernando Valley Councilman Richard Alarcon.

On Sept. 29, Schatz’s group, which represents major downtown business interests, reached a breakthrough compromise with the Latino street vendors on a plan to legalize vending in eight special zones in the city.

The proposed legalization measure is expected to be ready for a final council vote in three weeks, but its success may hinge on a continuation of the truce between the vendors and established businesses.

Yet that cease-fire was shaken after the council failed to enact a motion by Councilwoman Rita Walters to require that the legalization ordinance be considered simultaneously with a plan for enforcing the laws against vending in other areas of the city.

Walters told her colleagues that the city must control the most egregious vending violations--such as selling in residential areas and vending in front of businesses carrying the same wares.

But Alarcon, in an angry voice, warned his colleagues that Walters’ motion would create friction and confusion, and stall the measure to legalize street vending.

“I’m trying to get something done,” he said. “If you vote for this, you will be acquiescing to the status quo. Let’s move forward.”

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, another strong supporter of legalization, contended that linkage “will end up delaying this thing for another five years.”

Although they opposed linking the two proposals, Alarcon and Goldberg say a comprehensive strategy must eventually be developed to enforce anti-vending laws in those portions of the city not covered by the legalization measure.