RICHMOND — Pop-up canopies, meat skewers and sizzling griddles have popped up on Richmond's sidewalks and parking lots, prompting each lines of hungry customers and warnings from officials to depart. Now the town is working to control the small businesses, but exactly when the brand new rules will take effect continues to be unclear.
The latest policy, which just went into effect, is designed to ascertain the dimensions and sort of space a food vendor can leave on Richmond's sidewalks, in addition to help protect public health and initiate a city permitting process.
Additionally, a Mobile Vendor Plaza program is being planned that will provide vendors with access to designated parking and other city-supported resources similar to tables, restrooms and lighting several times every week.
The proposal is meant to strike a balance between the needs of street vendors looking for to make a living and native merchants concerned about unregulated competition, Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez said at a recent council meeting.
Instead of telling vendors, “I'm sorry, you can't do business here, that's your problem,” Jimenez said the ordinance offers a “comprehensive solution that provides some enforcement” but additionally “gives street vendors the opportunity to operate their businesses.”
Merchants and shop owners support the brand new regulation. Luzdary Leon Oquendo, a merchant who emigrated from Colombia together with her husband and two children, said street vending is her only source of income and she or he is set to persist with it. Navigating and understanding the necessities to remain open has been a challenge, she said, but she hopes the town's initiative will improve that process.
“We want to work and get ahead and we don't want to be a burden on society. That's why we've worked really hard to create the means to support our family,” said Leon Oquendo, whose comments were translated from Spanish to English by Jimenez at a recent council meeting.
Oscar Garcia and Rigo Mendoza, each members of the twenty third Street Merchants Association, also welcomed the brand new rule. They said their organization has been lobbying the town on the problem for years due to concerns about street vendors blocking sidewalks, taking over parking spaces and leaving trash.
Brick-and-mortar retailers also felt they faced a double standard, Garcia said. While they were expected to acquire multiple permits, undergo inspection and pay various fees, taxes and overhead, seemingly rogue businesses opened up shop right outside the door with little to no oversight.
“They identify with the street vendors. The vendors are also immigrants who came to this country with nothing and have worked hard to build their businesses. They don't want to close the door to anyone trying to build their own business,” Garcia said. “At the same time, (street vendors) must not disrupt the other businesses, at least not in any significant way.”
The latest sidewalk regulation appeared to be the reply to their concerns. While it might give legitimacy to street vendors, it might also create standards and regulations that will ensure more equal opportunities.
Vendors, who once blocked sidewalks, could be restricted to areas where pedestrians are kept 4 feet apart. They would also should be a minimum of 5 feet away from the doorway of a brick-and-mortar business, although Garcia noted that other jurisdictions set that distance at about 20 feet. Tables and chairs for eating could be prohibited, reducing the quantity of space vendors need. Setting up in parking lots, often a significant need for business customers, would even be prohibited.
Licensed dealers who fail to comply with the ordinance face a wonderful of $100 for the primary violation, $200 for the second, and $500 for every subsequent violation. Unlicensed dealers face a wonderful of $250 for the primary violation, $500 for the second, and $1,000 for every subsequent violation.
The regulation and the associated fee schedule were adopted at the top of June and got here into force on August 2nd.
It looks like fines won't be issued immediately. The Richmond City Council, concerned that the policy could hit merchants with tight profits, asked city staff to attend to issue fines to merchants until staff developed a hardship program, a plan to contact merchants, and a process to trace merchants' data, violations, complaints, and locations.
“For a lot of people, this may be their primary source of income and I would hate to take that source away from people without giving them a fair chance to learn about the new rules and give them a way to comply with them,” Council Member Doria Robinson said during a July 2 meeting.
Confusion over when the enforcement measures shall be implemented has left members of the twenty third Street Merchant Association feeling misled by staff and city councilors. Mendoza said the association is preparing for protests if their concerns usually are not taken seriously.
“We are frustrated because they don't want to help us,” Mendoza said on August 2. “We wanted to help them, but they don't want our help.”
An August 3 email from Councilwoman Soheila Bana to the twenty third Street Merchants Association stated, “The City Manager has taken action” and enforcement should begin August 5.
City officials didn’t reply to several requests for comment.
Community Development Director Lina Velasco warned during a council meeting when the ordinance was passed that not all facets of the brand new program are expected to be implemented by August 2. Implementing the ordinance would require educating businesses and merchants in regards to the latest city law, developing informational materials and organizing a team of staff to oversee this system.
Velasco also noted that the town faces enforcement limitations under SB 946, a 2018 law that decriminalizes street vending. Jurisdictions are allowed to enact street vending regulations, but an outright ban would violate state law. The city's ordinance also doesn’t allow for confiscating equipment from vendors who violate city policies, but City Manager Shasa Curl noted that the Contra Costa County Health and Human Services Department could still accomplish that if public safety was in danger.
Joel Hernandez, a 24-year-old street vendor from Mexico City, fears the brand new regulations could hurt his business but hopes a permit would make it easier for him to do business in the town.
Hernandez sold traditional Mexican food in Los Angeles for the past six years before moving to Northern California with a gaggle of nine people about 4 months ago to try their business on the streets of Richmond. The experience has been mixed, he says.
At the 2 stands, one on Cutting Boulevard and the opposite further down twenty third Street, the food sold well. Both stands sold out of al pastor day by day and had a gentle stream of shoppers in line on weekends. But the twenty third Street stand had to maneuver several times after being attacked by police and threatened to confiscate its equipment, Hernandez said.
Preparing dishes from his home country has turn out to be Hernandez's passion and he desires to proceed offering his dishes in Richmond, he said.
“If we don't work, we don't get paid,” Hernandez said through an interpreter. “If everything works out, we'll stay. We came here to stay.”
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