Street Vendors Can Now Operate in Monrovia

You’ve probably seen street vendors selling corn and other goodies. – Courtesy photo / katiebordner (CC BY 2.0)

This past week, Monrovia city staff began assessing a necessary update to the city’s municipal code regarding vending in public spaces. Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 946 (dubbed the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act) into law, which forbids cities the ability to outlaw sidewalk vendors. While the new state regulation does provide cities with limited opportunities to permit street vending operations, the new law specifically mandates that municipalities cannot limit where, when, or how street vendors operate.

In particular, the new law identifies that cities cannot ban vending in parks, cannot determine where vendors can operate, and are not required to ask permission from adjacent businesses in order to operate. According to Eater Los Angeles, cities cannot prohibit or regulate vendors without an existing licensing system thus vendors can function fairly free until a licensing system is in place. The law encourages local governments to determine what works best. Therefore, city staff anticipates brining proposed regulations forward for formal review within the next few months.

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