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CITY OF GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA
REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM
Report: Introduction of Ordinance Amending Glendale Municipal Code Chapter 5.20 Relating to the Sidewalk Vendor License; Report Regarding Increased Enforcement Thereof
1) Ordinance amending section 5.20.010, Definitions, and adding section 5.20.110, Impoundment, of Chapter 5.20 of the Glendale Municipal Code, to enable the impoundment of sidewalk vending items, as defined, in prescribed circumstances; and
2) Resolution of appropriation in the amount of $88,882 for off-hours enforcement.
COUNCIL ACTION
Item Type: Action Item
Approved for November 19, 2024 calendar
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Glendale Municipal Code, Chapter 5.20, provides that no person shall engage in sidewalk vending without first obtaining a sidewalk vendor license for each receptacle used by the vendor; sets forth time, place, and manner regulations directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns recited in Ordinance No. 5396; and imposes administrative fines for violation of its terms. Pursuant to state law, Chapter 5.20 is not criminally enforceable. At its study session on August 27, 2024, the City Council received testimony that the vast majority of sidewalk vending receptacles are being operated by vendors that have not obtained licenses for those receptacles, and that they cannot be compelled to produce valid identification to be issued administrative fines. Even if an unlicensed vendor produces valid identification, or a vendor is licensed, after being issued an administrative fine, objective health, safety, or welfare concerns directedly related to continued unlicensed vending or continued violations of time, place, or manner regulations remain. To address such concerns and provide a mechanism to enforce the licensing and operational requirements for sidewalk vending, the Council directed the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Chapter 5.20 to authorize the impoundment of sidewalk vending items.
Additionally, presented with operational challenges to enforcement of Chapter 5.20, namely, the limited availability of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health personnel to conduct directed enforcement, and the occurrence of violations outside of {{section.number}}{{item.number}}2
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operating hours, at its study session on August 27, 2024, the City Council passed a motion directing staff to prepare a report regarding increased enforcement of Chapter
5.20, including the associated costs or resources. On September 17, 2024, the Community Development Department, which is primarily responsible for enforcement of Chapter 5.20, presented a report in which it identified additional staff, or overtime for existing staff, as the best means to address after-hours sidewalk vending issues. Indeed, the Council authorized overtime for code enforcement professionals on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings to address after-hours enforcement issues, including unlawful sidewalk vending. While the Community Development Department can temporarily provide after-hours staffing and absorb the associated cost, the overtime model is unsustainable for months-long enforcement. In the short term, therefore, staff requests that the City Council appropriate funding for up to eight months of off-hours enforcement, which will be provided through overtime by existing staff. In the long term, the Community Development Department may request additional code enforcement staffing in its forthcoming Action Plan.
Finally, an opportunity to obtain dedicated personnel and enforcement services from the Department of Public Health may be available, as another city in Los Angeles County entered into a memorandum of understanding by which, among other things, it reimbursed the Department of Public Health the personnel rates of its inspectors to increase the frequency of enforcement within that city.
RECOMMENDATION
Introduce an ordinance amending section 5.20.010, Definitions, and adding section
5.20.110, Impoundment, of Chapter 5.20 of the Glendale Municipal Code, to enable impoundment of sidewalk vending items, as defined, in prescribed circumstances; Provide direction regarding increased enforcement of Chapter 5.20; and Adopt a resolution of appropriation to appropriate $88,882 for off-hours enforcement.
ANALYSIS
Ordinance Amending GMC Chapter 5.20 Relating to the Sidewalk Vendor License In 2018, the California State Legislature passed, and the Governor of California signed into law, Senate Bill 946, which codified California Government Code sections 51036 through 51039. Known as the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act (“Act”), the central purpose of this legislation is to prohibit the issuance of criminal penalties for violations of sidewalk vending ordinances and regulations.
In general terms, the Act authorizes a local authority to adopt a Sidewalk Vending Program that requires a vendor to obtain a license from the local authority to engage in vending and imposes additional requirements regulating the time, place, and manner of sidewalk vending if directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns. The Act authorizes a local authority to punish violations of its time, place, and manner regulations by administrative fines escalating from $100 to $500, then recission of a vendor’s sidewalk vending license, or by administrative fines escalating from $250 to {{section.number}}{{item.number}}3
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$1,000 for vending without a license. Fines are subject to reduction depending upon a vendor’s ability to pay.
In 2019, the Glendale City Council adopted Ordinance No. 5396, which codified the City’s Sidewalk Vending Program at Chapter 5.35 of the Glendale Municipal Code. (In 2021, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 5972, which recodified the Sidewalk Vending Program at Chapter 5.20). As the Act authorizes, Chapter 5.20 provides that no person shall engage in vending without first obtaining a sidewalk vendor’s license for each receptable used by the vendor; it sets forth time, place, and manner regulations directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns, which are recited in detail in Ordinance No. 5396; and it imposes administrative fines consistent with the Act for violation of its terms. Ordinance No. 5396 expressly states that the Glendale Municipal Code’s criminal penalties do not apply to the Sidewalk Vending Program.
On August 27, 2024, the City Council held a study session to discuss, among other things, the existing sidewalk vending regulations and enforcement efforts. The Council received testimony that, since 2012, the City has issued 61 sidewalk vendor licenses, known until the adoption of Ordinance No. 5396 as peddlers’ licenses, to 19 distinct vendors. As of July 23, 2024, however, only five (5) sidewalk vendor licenses remained active, despite sidewalk vending at 41 known locations in the City. The testimony reveals that, as of July 23, 2024, at least 88% of sidewalk vending receptacles were operated by vendors that had not first obtained a sidewalk vendor license for those receptacles.
Additionally, the City Council received testimony that enforcing the sidewalk vendor license requirement is particularly challenging, given that the City must positively identify the sidewalk vendor to issue an administrative fine; yet, the City cannot compel a sidewalk vendor to produce identification absent, at minimum, reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, which, as discussed above, a violation of Chapter 5.20 expressly does not and cannot constitute.
Whether the City can positively identify a sidewalk vendor—either because the vendor is licensed or unlicensed and produces valid identification—after being issued an administrative fine, the vendor may continue to engage in unlicensed vending, or violate any of the time, place, or manner regulations that Chapter 5.20 imposes, leaving the City without a mechanism by which to mitigate objective health, safety, or welfare concerns to which the sidewalk vendor license requirement and time, place, and manner regulations directly relate.
Having considered all of the above, the City Council passed a motion directing the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Chapter 5.20 to enable the impoundment of sidewalk vending items used in violation of the Sidewalk Vending Program. The ordinance before the Council for introduction is presented pursuant to that direction.
The ordinance presented for introduction includes three sets of substantive provisions.
The first set provides that a vendor’s sidewalk vending items—defined to mean the items offered for sale and the equipment used to sell them—are subject to impoundment if (1) {{section.number}}{{item.number}}4
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the vendor is unlicensed and fails to both (a) produce valid identification and (b) remove their sidewalk vending items until the vendor obtains a license; (2) is licensed, but violates any other sidewalk vending regulations and fails or refuses to remedy the violation or remove their sidewalk vending items until the violation can be remedied; (3) regardless of licensure, the sidewalk vending items pose an imminent threat to public health or safety, including an excessive sidewalk obstruction; and/or (4) the sidewalk vending items are abandoned on public property.
The second set of provisions sets forth procedures by which to notice vendors whose sidewalk vending items are impounded; provides that sidewalk vending items shall be stored for 90 days (unless they are perishable and cannot be safely stored), during which they may be retrieved upon proof of ownership and payment of a sum equal to the City’s enforcement, investigation, storage, and impound costs, to be determined; and authorizes the City Manager to promulgate additional, consistent regulations to facilitate the removal, storage, and retrieval of sidewalk vending items.
The third set of provisions sets forth procedures by which a vendor whose sidewalk vending items are impounded may administratively appeal the impoundment, provided that if also issued an administrative fine, the vendor will receive concurrent administrative appeal hearings; and also states that the City will not dispose of impounded sidewalk vending items during the pendency of an administrative appeal hearing, even if the 90- day storage period has elapsed.
The ordinance before the Council for introduction would take effect 30 days after its adoption. Staff recommends that, if the Council introduces and ultimately adopts the ordinance, its enforcement begin once the City Manager has promulgated regulations to facilitate the removal, storage, and retrieval of sidewalk vending items, including identification of facilities to store any impounded equipment.
Increased Enforcement of GMC Chapter 5.20
At its study session on August 27, 2024, the City Council received testimony that, in addition to the Act’s limitations, operational challenges limit the City’s enforcement of Chapter 5.20. Specifically, the Community Development Department, Neighborhood Services Division, is the primary enforcement authority, in collaboration with the Police Department and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Yet, the City Council received testimony from the Police Department that the Department of Public Health is able to commit resources for directed enforcement only once per month.
Additionally, the Neighborhood Services Division operates between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The City Council received testimony that violations of Chapter 5.20 often arise outside of operating hours, in which case complaints are referred to the Police Department, which responds in support of the Neighborhood Services Division subject to higher priority calls for service. Given these limitations, the City Council also passed a motion on August 27, 2024, directing staff to prepare a report regarding increased enforcement of Chapter 5.20, including the associated costs or resources. {{section.number}}{{item.number}}5
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On September 17, 2024, the Community Development Department presented a report seeking direction from the City Council regarding a prioritization schedule for addressing violations, education, enforcement, and escalation of such enforcement, and the scope of resources which may be needed to meet that direction.
In its September 17 report, the Community Development Department identified sidewalk vending as an “Urgent – Life & Safety” issue. The September 17 report reiterates that specific quality of life issues, including sidewalk vending, present themselves on evenings and weekends, when code enforcement professionals are not regularly on duty.
Complaints regarding these issues then fall to the Police Department, which must prioritize criminal, rather than administrative, violations.
Thus, the September 17 report concludes that the best means to address after-hours qualify of life issues, including sidewalk vending, is to add staff to the Neighborhood Services Division, or authorize and fund overtime hours. On September 17, the City Council authorized overtime for code compliance professionals on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Specifically, one (1) Customer Service Representative, one (1) Associate Code Compliance Inspector, and one (1) Code Compliance Inspector work Thursdays and Fridays from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. The extended annual cost of overtime for these positions is $133,322.
During its off-hours operations thus far, code enforcement professionals have taken the following approach. First, they educate vendors regarding Chapter 5.20. If a vendor continues to engage in unlawful vending, or removes their receptable only to resume vending after staff departs, code enforcement professionals issue administrative citations.
The following table summarizes enforcement conducted by code enforcement professional since beginning off-hours operations in September:
OT Shift Day of Week Vendors Contacted Vendors Cited
10/12/2024 Saturday 8 2
10/17/2024 Thursday 6 2
10/18/2024 Friday 4 2
10/19/2024 Saturday 3 1
10/24/2024 Thursday 5 1
10/25/2024 Friday 2 0
10/26/2024 Saturday 2 0
10/31/2024 Thursday 1 2
11/1/2024 Friday 2 0
11/2/2024 Saturday 0 0
11/7/2024 Thursday 3 2
11/8/2024 Friday 2 0
11/9/2024 Saturday 2 1
Since code compliance professionals began working off hours on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, the Neighborhood Services Division has observed a decline in {{section.number}}{{item.number}}6
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vendors unlawfully operating during these timeframes. If the Neighborhood Services Division continues to observe unlawful vending decline, the off hours that code compliance professionals work in the coming months may decrease.
While the Community Development Department can temporarily provide staffing after- hours and absorb the associated cost, the overtime model is unsustainable for months- long enforcement, both due to the unallocated cost and insufficient staff to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings indefinitely.
In the short term, therefore, the staff requests that the City Council adopt a resolution of appropriation in the amount of $88,882, which will provide off-hours funding for code compliance professionals, during the timeframes identified above, for up to eight months.
If the Neighborhood Services Division continues to observe unlawful vending decline in the coming months, warranting a reduction in off-hours enforcement of Chapter 5.20, the Neighborhood Services Division would utilize appropriated funds to address other matters that the City Council deems pressing, to the extent necessary.
In the long term, the Community Development Department may request in its forthcoming Action Plan one (1) new hire in each of the classifications identified above in an hourly capacity.
Collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health At its study session on August 27, 2024, Councilmember Kassakhian raised the prospect of a Department of Public Health official dedicated to enforcement in the City. The Police Department has identified a precedent for such collaboration. Specifically, in 2023, the City of Torrance entered into a Pilot Partnership Project with the Department of Public Health for Increased Unpermitted Sidewalk Vending Enforcement Services.
Pursuant to a memorandum of understanding, the City of Torrance “obtain[ed] dedicated personnel and enforcement services from County Public Health’s Environmental Health Division to partner directly with the City of Torrance Task Force to increase the frequency of enforcement of the [California Retail Food Code] and other State and municipal laws regarding unpermitted sidewalk food vending within the City of Torrance.” The term of the Pilot Partnership Project was four (4) months, in which the City of Torrance reimbursed the Department of Public Health its personnel rates, including overtime; mileage between city and county facilities; and associated administrative costs in an amount not to exceed $95,000 per fiscal year. The City of Torrance also agreed to commit its own personnel to inspection and enforcement activities; undertake several administrative responsibilities; and indemnify the county.
STAKEHOLDERS/OUTREACH
The City Council held a special public meeting on August 27, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. to discuss, among other things, existing sidewalk vending regulations and enforcement efforts. The Council received testimony from the Office of the City Attorney, Community {{section.number}}{{item.number}}7
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Development Department, and Police Department, as well as members of the public.
Additionally, feedback regarding the ordinance before the Council for introduction was solicited from the Community Development Department and Police Department.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Community Development Department is primarily responsible for enforcement of Chapter 5.20 through its Neighborhood Services Division in collaboration with the Police Department and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
In the short term, staff requests that the City Council appropriate $88,882 to fund up to eight months of off-hours enforcement, per the table below. In the long term, the Community Development Develop may request additional code enforcement staffing in its forthcoming Action Plan.
Requesting Appropriation
Amount From Account String To Account String Funding Source $88,882 GL: 25300-1010-000 GL: 41200-1010-
CDD-2508-P0000
General Fund -
Fund Balance
Additionally, if the Council introduces and ultimately adopts an ordinance adding impoundment provisions to Chapter 5.20, additional costs will be incurred to effectuate the impoundment provisions, namely, enforcement, investigation, storage, and impound costs. Once a study is conducted to determine such costs, and the Council establishes them by resolution, vendors will be required to pay them to retrieve impounded sidewalk vending items, offsetting the City’s costs relating to impoundment.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW (CEQA/NEPA)
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15378(b)(2) and (b)(5), as it constitutes continuing administrative or maintenance activity, namely, general policy and procedural making, and an organizational or administrative activity of the government that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. Even if it is a “project,” it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment; thus, it is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3).
CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE
This item is exempt from campaign disclosure requirements.
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Ordinance Amending GMC Chapter 5.20
Alternative No. 1: Provide direction to amend Chapter 5.20 in a manner not reflected in {{section.number}}{{item.number}}8
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the ordinance presented for introduction.
Alternative No. 2: Do not introduce an ordinance amending Chapter 5.20, in which case impoundment will not be a tool available to achieve compliance with the sidewalk vendor license requirement and other time, place, and manner regulations in Chapter 5.20.
Alternative No. 3: The City Council may consider any other alternative not identified by staff.
Increased Enforcement of GMC Chapter 5.20
Alternative No. 1: Provide direction regarding increased enforcement of Chapter 5.20 in a manner not identified by staff.
Alternative No. 2: Do not provide direction regarding increased enforcement of Chapter
5.20, in which case enforcement of Chapter 5.20 will remain as is.
Alternative No. 3: The City Council may consider any other alternative not identified by staff.
Resolution of Appropriation for Off-Hours Enforcement
Alternative No. 1: Adopt a resolution of appropriation in an amount other than the amount identified by staff.
Alternative No. 2: Do not adopt a resolution of appropriation, in which case the Community Development Department will be unable to sustain months-long, off-hours enforcement.
Alternative No. 3: The City Council may consider any other alternative not identified by staff.
ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION
Submitted by:
Michael J. Garcia, City Attorney
Prepared by:
Aaron M. Israel, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Approved by:
Roubik R. Golanian, P.E., City Manager
EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS
None.