Santa Monica Police Officers from the Unpermitted Vendors Task force arrest two unpermitted hot dog vendors for violating ordinance 3.36.290 (Prohibition on use of combustible fuels in and around pier) at the Santa Monica Pier on Monday, March 21, 2022. Food and carts were also confiscated.
The multi-department task force consists of Santa Monica Police Officers, Santa Monica Code Enforcement Officers, Santa Monica Fire Department personnel, Santa Monica Harbor Patrol Officers, Public Works, and private security guards.
The newly formed task force has been instrumental in helping to educate and enforce the City’s safety laws and ensuring safe sidewalk vending practices across the City.
A new emergency ordinance 3.36.290 Prohibition on use of combustible fuels in and around pier passed on August 24, 2021.
The Santa Monica Pier has a worldwide identity. The City wants to preserve our decades old wooden Pier so it can be enjoyed for years to come. Unpermitted butane/propane cook-cart is a potential fire hazard for the Pier, the City’s Code Enforcement, the County Health Department, and the City’s Police Department periodically conduct educational and enforcement campaigns to help keep the Pier safe. This safety focus calls to eliminate all unpermitted carts, while addressing improper hot grease and trash disposal, and unsanitary food service conditions on and immediately adjacent to the Pier.
According to information from the City of Santa Monica website https://www.santamonica.gov/topic-explainers/vending-in-santa-monica ; Santa Monica was one of the first cities in the state to develop a permitted vending program. The City's comprehensive program that has allowed permitted or licensed vendors to operate for over 30 years includes permitting processes and parameters for safe vending, and today over 150 vendors are legally permitted to vend in the city. In 2018, the state law changed with the “Safe Sidewalk Vending Act” (SB 946) to provide important entrepreneurship and economic opportunities to low-income and immigrant communities.
State and local laws guide safe vending practices and standards in Santa Monica. All vendors need a City of Santa Monica business license and if applicable, a vending permit to sell any items in the City, and vendors selling food must also obtain and display a Los Angeles County Department of Public Health permit. The permit requirements reflect Santa Monica’s commitment to balancing public health and safety with expanding opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs.
Vendors are encouraged and welcome in many sidewalk locations throughout the City. In particular, sidewalk vendors are encouraged to vend on the sidewalk along Colorado Avenue between the Expo Light Rail Line (4th Street) and Ocean Avenue (top of the Santa Monica Pier). Street vending is restricted areas including Third Street Promenade, Palisades Park, Santa Monica Pier and the beach.
Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica, and the Santa Monica Corsair.
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