Hot Dog! Food Vendor Cleanup : City Council attacks street food safety issue with relish

In this eat-on-the-run society, people don’t think twice about grabbing a bite from a street food vendor. But increasing health and safety concerns associated with curbside purveyors have prompted city officials not only to take a hard look at these mushrooming small enterprises but to take action.

Last week the City Council unanimously approved regulations cracking down on ice cream and catering trucks that operate without required permits or safety features. After Mayor Tom Bradley vetoed the legislation, the council on Wednesday amended the rules to exempt movie-industry catering trucks, which the mayor feared would be hurt. The amended ordinances will be taken up next week.

Although the regulations may have required improvement, they are indeed needed. If Bradley continues to oppose the measure, the council should override him.

The ordinances follow a report by the Los Angeles Health Department that 40% of the catering trucks didn’t have city health permits last year. The legislation would substantially increase fines for drivers operating in the city without county health and safety permits or who park closer than 500 feet from a school or 200 feet from specified city parks.

The council would also require backing-up alarms on trucks in an effort to prevent the kind of accidents that killed three Los Angeles children last year.

Whether such regulations work will depend largely on proper supervision and an effort to minimize bureaucratic blunders. Legitimate vendors worry that sloppy enforcement could give illegal operators an economic advantage. If the ordinances are eventually adopted, the council should review them after a year to ensure that implementation has been equitable.

Los Angeles’ increasingly ubiquitous “restaurants on wheels” provide a valuable service by bringing food to areas where it isn’t readily available, like construction sites and parks. They also provide entrepreneurial opportunities for many people, including new entrants in the local economy. The council and Bradley must allay public concerns without hurting legitimate business.