Fountain Valley studies regulation of street vendors, solicitors

The operations of street vendors and solicitors drew the focus of the Fountain Valley City Council Tuesday during a study session held prior to the panel’s regular meeting.

Under current practices, Fountain Valley street vendors must fill out an application and pay a fee of $144, according to Daniel Lopez, a finance staffer for the city who presented the information to the council. They also are required to pay for a business license, disclose the type of product they will be selling and provide the location from which they will be operating.

Street peddlers are subject to inspection by code enforcement officials, as well as fire and police department personnel. Sidewalk vending is prohibited in residential areas, and such businesses cannot operate between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Lopez said there are four active permits for street vendors in the city: three fruit vendors and one tamale vendor.

Mayor Pro Tem Glenn Grandis asked what regulations are in place regarding street vendors setting up near a city event. Lopez noted the vendors have to keep a certain distance from such events to ensure that they do not cut into the business of those brought in for the occasion.

“Depending on what it is, we definitely want to police it,” Lopez said. “They’re around the area, but they have to keep a certain distance from the event. We have the snack bar over at the softball fields. They can’t be anywhere near that area, so the code does actually prohibit where they can be.”

Police Chief Matt Sheppard said the Orange County Health Care Agency has taken the lead in enforcement against unlawful street vendors. He suggested the city could team up with health officials to that effect.

“We know that Santa Ana and Tustin are working with the health care agency,” Sheppard said. “They formed a task force amongst their cities and the health care agency. They’re going out on regular-scheduled time periods, and they’re targeting the unlawful street vendors, and they’re shutting them down.

“They did warn us that, ‘because we’re doing activity in our cities, they may pop up in your cities,’ so that’s one of the things that we can do. In the future, we could do some scheduled, routine operations with the health care agency. … We’ll bring our code enforcement officer out, pair them up with a police officer, and put them together with the health care agency and go around and hit some of the locations in the city. It won’t impact regular services.”

The city requires solicitors to fill out an application and pay a nonrefundable fee of $315. Applicants must submit to fingerprinting and provide proof of identification and a business license. Solicitors must also receive police chief approval.

Persons who have been convicted of a felony would be disqualified from obtaining a permit. Approved solicitors engage in related interactions between the hours of 9 a.m. and one hour before sunset.

There are currently no permitted solicitors in the city, Lopez added.