ANAHEIM : Vendor Ordinance Changes Weighed

The City Council tonight will discuss the contradictory findings of a task force that was formed last November to consider revising the city’s 3-year-old ordinance regulating street vendors.

The seven-member task force has been unable to reach agreement on a number of issues in the current ordinance, particularly the length of time vendors are allowed to remain parked in one place and the use of amplified sound by the vendors’ trucks.

Vendors say they need to be allowed 60 minutes in one place, but city staff believes that the 30-minute limit is enough time for business. Allen B. Hughes, executive director of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and a task force member, supports the vendors’ request for 60 minutes in one spot.

The city ordinance now forbids vendors from using amplified sounds, a provision the vendors want to delete. However, both city staff and Hughes say the sound clause should remain in the ordinance.

The two sides are also at odds over insurance requirements and licensing regulations. The city currently requires vendors to pay about $200 in annual business licensing fees and to have insurance policies for about $500,000. Vendors say these amounts are too high.

The City Council will need to decide whether the ordinance should be revised in light of complaints by the vendors.

About 50 licensed vendors and about 150 unlicensed vendors operate in the city, selling food, clothing and housewares from the backs of trucks generally parked in residential neighborhoods, according to city reports.