LA Council members seek to provide streamlined street vendor permits

Several City Council members are seeking to provide street vendors awaiting approval to operate under Senate Bill 972 with temporary permits.

SB 972, authored by state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, streamlines the process for vendors to apply for health permit and was signed into law in September. But it will take "significant time" for the county to update its permitting process, according to the motion filed on Tuesday by Council members Hugo-Soto Martinez, Curren Price and Eunisses Hernandez and seconded by Nithya Raman.

The council members requested a report on potentially creating a Provisional Sidewalk Vending Permit for street vendors awaiting to apply for their permit due to SB 972.

Los Angeles has 10,000 food vendors, but only 204 of them have been legally allowed to operate as of earlier this year, according to the motion.

"It's going to take months, if not years, for the county to fully update their processes," Hernandez said in a video posted to Twitter. "Our vendors shouldn't be facing penalties just because bureaucracy can't keep up."

Soto-Martinez, whose parents were street vendors, said in a video posted to Twitter that the motion seeks to "allow street vendors to work and provide for their families without the fear of vending without a permit."

The motion is set to be heard in the council's Public Works Committee.