City may prohibit sales by street peddlers
By Kyle Jorrey kjorrey@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers DOG GONE- If a proposed city ordinance passes, vendors like Mike Monger will be hard-pressed to do business in Simi Valley.

The Simi Valley City Council is looking to give street vendors a permanent day off.

At Monday's meeting, council members called in unison for new regulations that would prohibit peddlers from selling products while standing or walking on city streets, medians or sidewalks, and would require those selling goods from motorized vehicles to move their vehicles at least 500 feet every 10 minutes or else face being cited and fined.

Essentially, the ordinance as written would prohibit all peddling that isn't done out of a legally parked vehicle or on private property, in which case permission from a property owner is required, with the appropriate Temporary Use Permit.

"It sends a message we don't want this here," said Mayor Pro Tem Steve Sojka.

A staff report on the proposal lists negative impacts from unregulated peddling, such as litter, increased risk of vehicle accidents and personal injury, and damage to lawns, as grounds for the new ordinance, which would be the first of its kind in Ventura County.

Council members Barbra Williamson and Sojka were quick to bring up another group negatively impacted by street vendors- Simi small businesses.

"They pose a problem to the small businessmen and women who put a lot of time and effort into worker's comp., taxes and all that good stuff," Williamson said.

Sojka, a small businessman himself, argued that street vendors, like the woman selling flowers out of a pull cart or the man peddling produce on the corner, give themselves an unfair advantage.

"To allow street vendors to pull up on city streets, first off, isn't a level playing field for our business community," Sojka said. "Second of all, it creates traffic problems. It creates all kinds of other problems that offset (its benefits)."

Councilmember Michelle Foster, also a small business owner, had her own reasons for supporting the ordinance.

"They're like squatters. This is property that belongs to the public. Why does someone have the right to be able to use it for private enterprise?" Foster said.

Showing up to oppose the ordinance was Simi Valley resident Steven Lane, a hot dog cart vendor who said he quit his day job delivering pizza for Topper's so he could relocate his wiener business from Ventura to Simi.

Planning to set up shop on Easy Street early next week, Lane said he was "shocked" upon discovering news of the new regulations.

"I read this in the paper today and I about fell over backwards," Lane told the council.

Displaying a stack of paperwork he had to obtain to become a legally licensed food vendor in the county of Ventura, Lane argued that the city's ordinance was targeting vendors like him who go about it the right way when the city should spend its energy targeting those who don't.

"The problem that you have here is illegal vendors, and you're going to put a regulation on a legal vendor? You put a responsibility on me when these guys aren't being enforced now?" Lane said, his frustration obvious.

Sojka was quick to counter Lane's plea, leading to the first suggestion that the council lower the originally proposed 90-minute time limit on motorized vendors.

"But Easy Street was not designed for a hot dog cart vendor. That's a traffic accident waiting to happen. I don't even know why we would allow 90 minutes. . . . I wouldn't want to see that in our community. That's what we're trying to get away from. That's a city street. That's not a place of business," Sojka said.

When asked if the city could ban sales from motorized vehicles on public streets all together, city attorney David Hirsch informed the council that the state vehicle code prohibits cities from putting an all-out ban on vending from vehicles as long as they're properly parked- a point he had to reiterate several times during the meeting.

Despite Lane's pleas, the city went ahead and chose the lowest time limit- 10 minutes- that Hirsch said he had found during his research on the matter. Thousand Oaks, in contrast, allows a time limit of four hours.

In setting the limit at 10 minutes, council members were clear that they meant to deter the practice of vending on public streets from vehicles all together. Lane himself said it would not be worth it for him to try and move his cart "the length of a football field" every 10 minutes.

"It would make it not worthwhile for anybody at that point," Williamson said.

Councilmember Foster did suggest to the city manager that the city look into its rules dealing with vendors setting up shop on private property, as they commonly do at the Home Depot on Cochran Street. Currently, a temporary use permit only allows a vendor to have a sale on private property four times a year.

Outside of the meeting, Lane was outspoken about his disapproval of the council's decision, which will not be finalized until they meet again this Monday to vote on the ordinance.

"When did we become Beverly Hills?'" exclaimed Lane, a sevenyear resident. "Easy Street is an industrial area with hard-working people that don't eat where (the council members) eat. They eat hot dogs. Those people (the council) don't eat where they eat.

"Go ask any mechanic on Easy Street whether he'd like to have a hot dog cart around or not," Lane continued. "Ask the guy with grease on his hands whether he would like to have a hot dog cart here or not like to have a hot dog cart here. I bet he'd say he wants one."