Title
HEARING - Consider recommendations regarding the formation of a Task Force to address unlawful roadside and sidewalk vending, as follows: (EST. TIME: 1 HR. 30 MIN.)
a) Direct County staff to select members and convene a regional Task Force, comprised of but not limited to: representatives from relevant County departments (Environmental Health, Public Works, Sheriff, County Fire, and District Attorney); local city representatives, including the City of Santa Barbara, City of Santa Maria; and key stakeholders, including California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, Fish and Wildlife, and County of Ventura, with the goal to collaborate, strategize, and share resources and best practices to address unlawful roadside and sidewalk vending;
b) Direct County staff to conduct a comprehensive review of the County Code for the Board’s consideration including but not limited to adopting additional time, place, and manner restrictions on sidewalk vendors that are directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns, including:
i) Limiting hours of operation that are not unduly restrictive and provided that, in nonresidential areas, any limitations are not more restrictive than limitations on hours of operation for other business in that area;
ii) Requirement to maintain sanitary conditions;
iii) Requirement to ensure compliance with the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 and any other disability access standards;
iv) Requirement to obtain a local permit or business license;
v) Requirement to possess any additional required state or local agency licenses or permits, such as a valid California Department of Tax and Fee Administration seller’s permit;
vi) Requirement to comply with any other generally applicable laws; and
vii) Requiring the vendor to submit to the County information about their operations in accordance with Government Code Section 51038(c)(8);
c) Report back to the Board with findings, proposed ordinances or resolutions, and implementation plans, including potential resource needs for enforcement and education efforts including a strategy for hazardous food and equipment impoundment;
d) Recommend that County Fire utilize its current authority to regulate sidewalk vendors, as may be applicable, by enforcing County Code Chapter 15 Fire Prevention that adopted the 2022 California Fire Code. This enforcement may include Open Flame restrictions (Section 308), Outdoor Assembly Event limitations (Section 3106), or Tents, Temporary Special Event Structures and Other Membrane Structure operations (Section 3107);
e) Direct County staff to develop and disseminate public messages to discourage the public from patronizing unpermitted food operations and to inform the public of health risks of consuming food from unverified sources;
f) Direct the County Legislative Committee and state lobbyists to monitor, report, and share relevant information as pertains to other jurisdictions’ handling of this issue and to write a letter to our state legislative delegation informing them of the many unintended local consequences of SB 946 and SB 972; and
g) Determine the proposed actions do not constitute a “Project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to Section 15378(b)(5) of the CEQA Guidelines, because it consists of organizational or administrative activities of government which will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.