DATE: March 26, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Development Services Department
TITLE: INTRODUCTION OF AN ORDINANCE REGULATING SIDEWALK VENDING
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council introduce an ordinance amending Sections 15.63 and 15.68, and adding Section 15.69 of the Oceanside City Code to modify existing Sidewalk Vending regulations.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
On September 17, 2018, California Governor Edmund Gerald Brown signed California Senate Bill 946 ("SB 946"), also known as the "Safe Sidewalk Vending Act," into law. SB 946 legalizes sidewalk vending and establishes limits to local regulations. The bill was introduced to provide, in part, important entrepreneurship and economic development opportunities to low-income and immigrant communities. The law became effective January 1, 2019. The legislation allows a local agency to adopt regulations in accordance with SB 946; however, cities cannot prohibit sidewalk vending. Prior to the adoption of SB 946, the City only allowed sidewalk vending and other commercial activities on public sidewalks and pedestrian pathways subject to a City Council-issued a permit.
Following the adoption of SB 946, City staff met and discussed how to regulate such activity while meeting the intent of State law (i.e., supporting economic development opportunities for low-income and immigrant communities) by establishing procedures to process sidewalk vending business license applications. Staff's early discussions were aimed at balancing the needs of vendors while ensuring compliance with the American Disabilities Act by ensuring vendors do not unduly interfere with sidewalk access, preventing an undue concentration of commercial activities in certain locations and preserving the public's use and enjoyment of natural resources and recreational opportunities, while at the same time promoting economic development opportunities by allowing vending to occur in several l...
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