HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS-2924 (2) - Adopting New Food Vending Vehicle Ordinance in Chapter 36 of Santa Ana Municipal CodeORDINANCE NO. NS -2924
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA ANA ADOPTING THE NEW FOOD VENDING
VEHICLE ORDINANCE IN CHAPTER 36 OF THE SANTA
ANA MUNICIPAL CODE
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA HEREBY ORDAINS AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines
and declares as follows:
A. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana expressly finds that vending
vehicles pose traffic hazards and special danger to the safety and welfare of
children and residents of the City. The City's intent is to provide clear and
concise regulations to ensure safety and prevent traffic hazards, as well as
preserve the peace, safety and welfare of the community.
B. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana previously adopted Article XIV in
Chapter 36 "food Vending Vehicles" in December 1994 (Santa Ana Municipal
Code sections 36-700 through 36-720).
C. The City Council later adopted Division 3 of Article 1 in Chapter 36 "Vending
Vehicles" in 2004 and 2005 (Ordinances NS -2655 and NS -2701) codified as
Santa Ana Municipal Code sections 36-50 through 36-63.
D. The later ordinances were challenged in an action filed in Orange County
Superior Court (Vasquez v. City of Santa Ana - Case No. 05CC13450). The
Court ruled for the plaintiffs, finding that California Vehicle Code section 22455
preempted the City ordinances because the City regulations were not limited to
protecting public safety.
E. Following the Vasquez case, the City has not sought to enact or enforce
further regulation of food vending vehicles, even though Vehicle Code section
22455 allows a local authority to adopt additional requirements for mobile
vending which restricts the time, place and manner of vending in order to protect
the public safety.
F. On August 1, 2017, in an effort to update the Santa Ana Municipal Code
(SAMC), the City Council repealed Article XIV in Chapter 36 "Food Vending
Vehicles" (SAMC section 36-700 through 36-720) as well as Division 3 of Article
1 in Chapter 36 "Vending Vehicles" (SAMC section 36-50 through 36-63) by
Ordinance NS -2922.
Ordinance No. NS -2924
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G. The City Council hereby adopts a new Food Vending Vehicle ordinance
restricting the place and manner of vending in order to protect the public safety in
accord with Vehicle Code section 22455.
Section 2. In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, the
recommended action is categorically exempt from further review per section
15061(b)(3), in that it can be seen with certainty that the project will have no possible
significant impact on the environment. As a result, a Notice of Exemption will be filed
upon the adoption of this ordinance.
Section 3. The City hereby adopts the new "Food Vending Vehicles", Article
XIV to Chapter 8 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code to read as follows:
ARTICLE XIV. FOOD VENDING VEHICLES.
Sec. 36-700. Purpose and Intent.
The City Council expressly finds that vending vehicles pose traffic hazards and special
dangers to the safety and welfare of children and residents of the city. It is the purpose
and intent of the City Council, in enacting this article, to provide responsible companies
and persons who engage in the operation of vending from vehicles with clear and
concise regulations to ensure safety and prevent traffic hazards, as well as preserve the
peace, safety and welfare of the community.
Sec. 36-701. Definitions.
As used in this article:
A. "Crosswalk" shall be defined by the California Vehicle Code, as that term may
be amended from time to time.
B. "Business license" means a business license required by Chapter 21 of the
City of Santa Ana Municipal Code.
C. "Food vending vehicle" or "vending vehicle" means any vehicle or trailer, as
those terms are defined in the California Vehicle Code, which is equipped or used for
retail sales of produce and/or prepared, pre-packaged, or unprepared, unpackaged food
or foodstuffs of any kind on any public street, alley or highway or private street or alley
within the City. The inventory of these vehicles is not necessarily limited to edible items
and may include nonfood sundries. Food vending vehicle as used in this article does not
refer to, nor include, ice cream trucks as regulated in Article X of Chapter 36 of this
Code.
D. "Operator" as used in this article shall mean any entity and all person(s) that:
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(1) Owns, controls, manages, and/or leases a food vending vehicle; and/or
(2) Contracts with any person(s) to drive, operate, prepare food in, and/or
vend from, a food vending vehicle; and/or
(3) Drive, operate, vend and/or prepare food in or from a food vending
vehicle.
E. "Goods" or "merchandise" shall include items and products of every kind and
description, including all foods, produce, and beverage items.
F. "Park" shall be defined by Chapter 31 of this Code, as it may be amended
from time to time.
G. "School" shall mean any institution of learning for minors, whether public or
private, offering instruction in those courses of study required by the California
Education Code and maintained pursuant to standards set by the state board of
education. This definition includes a nursery school, kindergarten, elementary school,
middle or junior high school, senior high school, or any special institution of education,
but it does not include either a vocational institution or a professional institution of higher
educations, including a community orjunior college, college, or university.
H. "Street' shall be defined by the California Vehicle Code, as that term may be
amended from time to time.
I. "Vend" or "vending" as used in this article means soliciting, displaying,
offering for sale for monetary or other consideration, or sale, of any goods or
merchandise to the public from a vehicle; offering produce, prepared food, prepackaged
food or nonfood sundries of any kind for sale from a food vending vehicle on a public or
private street, alley, highway or public place within the City of Santa Ana and includes
the movement or standing of a food vending vehicle for the purpose of searching for,
obtaining or soliciting retail sales of produce, prepared food, prepackaged food or
nonfood sundries.
J. "Restocking" means the transfer of food, goods or merchandise to a food
vending vehicle from any other person or vehicle and includes, but is not limited to,
loading and delivery of food, goods and merchandise.
Sec. 36-702. Operational Requirements.
A. No person shall own, control, operate, manage, lease, or contract with any
other person for the operation of a food vending vehicle in the City without a valid
business license issued, in addition to any other license or permit required under any
other chapter of this code, for each and every food vending vehicle.
B. All operators shall comply with the following regulations:
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I . Each operator vending any produce or other food item shall comply
with all County of Orange Health Care Agency requirements for mobile food
facilities, as well as all required food handling permits. Each operator shall
possess and at all times display such permits in conspicuous view upon each
vending vehicle.
2. Each operator shall possess and at all times display in conspicuous
view upon each such vehicle a City business license.
3. Every food vending vehicle shall have the name, address, and
telephone number of the holder of the business license permanently affixed on
both the left and right sides of the vehicle. Such information shall be in letters and
numerals not less than four inches in height and shall be in contrast to the color
of the background upon which the letters are placed.
4. No additional lighting other than that required by the California
Vehicle Code may be installed or operated on a food vending vehicle. Any
signage or display for a food vending vehicle must comply with the generally
applicable sign regulations contained in Chapter 41 of the Code.
5. No operator of a food vending vehicle shall operate any sound
amplification systems or other sound making devices or music systems to
advertise, draw attention to, or announce the presence of any such vehicle
while such vehicle is moving, stopped, standing, or parked upon any public or
private street.
6. No owner or operator of a vending vehicle shall permit vending
within two hundred and fifty (250) feet from a school, park, community center or
public playground facility.
7. No owner or operator shall permit the vending vehicle to vend
within fifty (50) feet of a marked or unmarked crosswalk in an intersection.
8. No food vending vehicle shall be parked, stopped, or left standing
in any manner which blocks or impedes vehicular access to any driveway or
restricts the free movement of other vehicles upon any public or private street.
Vending shall only be permitted where the food vending vehicle has been
brought to a complete stop and parked adjacent to the curb in a lawful manner
9. Vending from a food vending vehicle while the vehicle is parked,
stopped, or standing on any public or private street, alley, or highway is permitted
only when that part of the food vending vehicle open to prospective customers is
on the side of the vehicle immediately next to the right side of the public or
private street, alley, or highway. Under no circumstances may vending occur
from the left side of a food vending vehicle. Notwithstanding the above
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provisions, no person shall vend to any customer whose location creates a traffic
hazard.
10. All food vending vehicles shall maintain and make refuse
containers available large enough to contain all trash and refuse generated by
the operation of such vehicle. The operator of the food vending vehicle shall pick
up all trash and refuse generated by the operator's vending during the time the
vehicle is stopped, that is within not less than a fifty (50) -foot radius of the
vehicle, before such vehicle is moved.
11. Restocking of a food vending vehicle shall only occur where the
vehicle is lawfully parked and such restocking does not restrict vehicle or
pedestrian traffic or otherwise create a traffic hazard.
12. No food vending vehicle shall attach to or receive any electrical
power or other utilities from any public or private property while the vehicle is
located on any private or public street or alley without a permit issued by the City
of Santa Ana.
13. Vending is prohibited from a food vending vehicle that is parked,
stopped, or standing on any public street, alley, or highway where the posted
speed limit on the public street, alley, or highway is thirty-five (35) miles per
hour or greater.
14. No owner or operator of a vending vehicle shall permit objects,
including but not limited to tables, chairs, or other furniture, trash receptacles,
generators or equipment, to be placed into that portion of the street, alley or
highway which is open to vehicular traffic, nor shall any object, including but
not limited to tables, chairs, other furniture, trash receptacles, generators or
equipment, be placed within or upon the parkway or sidewalk.
15. In conformance with the California Retail Food Code and County
of Orange Health Care Agency/Environmental Health, food vending vehicles
shall be stored at or within an approved commissary in order to have protection
from unsanitary conditions. Food vending vehicles shall not be stored
overnight outside of an approved commissary.
Sec. 36-703. Exemptions.
This article shall not apply to any City -sponsored event where the operator of the
food vending vehicle is operating pursuant to a valid contract with the City.
Sec. 36-704. Land Use Certificate Required for Vending on Private Property.
A. Vending on Private Property - Zones. Food vending vehicles shall be
allowed on private property in conjunction with a Land Use Certificate and/or special
Ordinance No. NS -2924
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event permit for activities on property in commercial, manufacturing, or planned
development zones designated for commercial or manufacturing uses. Food vending
vehicles operating on private property must obtain the consent of the person who is in
legal control of the property and subject to the provisions of Chapter 41 of the City of
Santa Ana Municipal Code.
B. Vending on Private Property - Activities. Food vending vehicles shall be
allowed on private property in conjunction with a Land Use Certificate and/or special
event permit for activities such as filming for movies, a party, fair, or carnival. Food
vending vehicles operating on private property must obtain the consent of the person
who is in legal control of the property and subject to the provisions of Chapter 41 of the
City of Santa Ana Municipal Code.
C. Pursuant to this section, the following restrictions apply to vending on
private property:
1. A food vending vehicle may only vend and remain parked on
private property for the period of time noted in the Land Use
Certificate and/or special event permit.
2. All food vending vehicles are required to have a City of Santa Ana
business license conspicuously displayed when vending.
3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to excuse food vending
vehicles from complying with all other provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 36-705. Penalty for Violation.
Every violation of the provisions of this article shall be addressed through the use of an
administrative citation as set forth in sections 1-21.1 through 1-21.9 of this Code. Each
day any violation of any said provision of this article shall continue shall constitute a
separate offense. Use of an administrative citation shall not prevent or preclude the City
from seeking additional criminal, civil or other legal remedy established by law.
Section 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase or portion of
this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of
any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby
declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection,
sentence, clause or phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or
more section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase or portions be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
Ordinance No. NS -2924
Page 6 of 7
ADOPTED this 19th day of September, 201
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia Carvalho, City Attorney
By: e' �c
Lisa Storck
Assistant City Attorney
AYES: Councilmembers
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
NOT PRESENT:
Councilmembers
Councilmembers
Councilmembers
Benavides, Martinez, Sarmiento, Solorio,
Tinaiero, Villegas (6)
None (0)
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, MARIA D. HUIZAR, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify that the
attached Ordinance No. NS -2924 to be the original ordinance adopted by the City
Council of the City of Santa Ana on September 19, 2017 and that said ordinance was
published in accordance with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana.
Dateqlc
r
'2--1- �"
Maria D. Huizar
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana
Ordinance No. NS -2924
Page 7 of 7
[Exhibit 2 to RFCA]
Findings in Support of the Proposed SAMC Mobile Vending Regulations
Distance restrictions from schools, parks, community centers, and public playgrounds
A majority of school children in Santa Ana walk to and from school, and the City continuously
works to improve the safety of walking routes to school and other community destinations for
the City's youth. In the opinion of Engineering staff, the presence of vending trucks in the
vicinity of schools, parks, and community centers creates a hazardous condition by providing an
attraction for children to cross streets at midblock locations. The concern is greatest at schools
where those streets have driving lanes queued with cars carrying parents arriving to pickup or
drop off their students. Traffic Engineering staff has observed occurrences of students crossing
streets midblock to reach vending trucks.
In addition, the gathering of customers waiting in line for vending trucks create the potential to
block paths along sidewalks, thereby forcing children and other pedestrians to dangerously
detour around the blocked sidewalk and out into the street in the travel path of vehicles. The size
of vending trucks obstructs visibility to both vehicle drivers and pedestrians, resulting in
potentially unsafe conditions under certain circumstances.
Therefore, similar to specific locations whereby engineering staff use red curb markings to
maintain visibility and reduce line of sight obstructions, it is the opinion of Traffic Engineering
staff, that vending trucks should not stop to operate/conduct business at any location within 500'
from a school, park, community center or public playground.
Distance restrictions from a crosswalks and intersections
Right of way for vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic at roadway intersections and crosswalk is
controlled by a variety of devices, such as traffic signals, signage, and flashing beacon, which are
typically placed behind the curb to the right of the vehicle path. For the traffic control devices to
be effective, the signage must be visible a sufficient distance in advance of the intersection or
crosswalk to allow vehicles to stop.
The City recently approved Safe Mobility Santa Ana, which analyzed causes and correlation of
traffic collisions for a ten year period. The analysis determined that over 50% of all pedestrian
vs. motor vehicle collisions occurred at intersections. Often, these types of collisions are due to
the motor vehicle driver not seeing, or otherwise not being aware of the pedestrian. Vending
trucks, with their high profile, boxy shape, and lack of windows create an obstruction to visibility
particularly near intersections and crosswalks where there is significant concentrations of vehicle
and pedestrians.
Therefore, similar to specific locations whereby engineering staff use red curb markings to
maintain visibility and reduce line of sight obstructions, it is the opinion of Traffic Engineering
75C-13
staff, that to maintain visibility of traffic and traffic control devices, vending trucks (stop to
operate/conduct business at any location) are prohibited within 100' of intersections and marked
or unmarked crosswalks.
Vending prohibited on streets where posted speed is 35 mph or greater.
The City recently approved Safe Mobility Santa Ana, which analyzed causes and correlation of
traffic collisions for a ten year period. The study determined that, while arterial streets constitute
only 21 % of the roadway network in the City, over 60% of collisions involving severely injured
or killed pedestrians and bicyclists occur on arterial streets where speeds are typically 35 mph or
higher.
In the opinion of Engineering staff, the presence of vending trucks on streets with speed limits
greater than 35 mph creates a hazardous condition by obstructing visibility to view pedestrians,
bicyclists, and traffic control devices, providing an attraction for patrons to cross streets at
midblock locations, and creates the potential for customers to block sidewalk requiring
pedestrians to enter the motor vehicle path.
Additional Mobile Vending Health and Safety Issues Encountered by Santa Ana Police
Department
The Santa Ana Police Department has reported that during recent years, mobile vending trucks
have attracted individuals engaged in the sales of narcotics. At times it has been employees of
the mobile vending trucks and more frequently individuals who use the vending trucks as a way
to blend in with the environment to give their illegal activity a perception of legitimacy. The
illegal activity has included narcotics sales and illegal sale of cigarettes. It is also known that
many gang members use the mobile vending trucks as a way to conceal narcotics and firearms in
order to prevent being in possession of the items when contacted by the police. It is not unusual
for truck operators to be intimidated by gang members and feel obligated to pay a "tax" to the
local gang(s). Mobile vending truck operators have also been victims of crimes from robbery to
homicide. A high concentration of vending trucks are found in the most challenging gang areas
of the city and exacerbate the quality of life/crime related issues in those areas.
Many of the vending trucks sell replica/toy firearms. As such often times guns purchased from
the vending trucks have been used to perpetrate crimes. Those firearms have also been used by
vending truck operators as a feint form of protection. The toy/replica firearms being sold in
areas with a high concentration of vending trucks may lead to disastrous results to the prevalence
of real firearms and violent crime in some of those areas.
Vending trucks post both pedestrian and traffic related problems. Many of the vendors set out
chairs and tables along the curb/sidewalk areas which can obstruct the use of the public walkway
by those not patronizing the vending truck. Due to the size of mobile vending trucks and their
common presence in some of the most densely populated areas of Santa Ana the risk for
2
75C-14
pedestrian fatalities is a major concern. Many of the areas with the high concentration of
vending trucks have a large amount of children who live and go to school in the area.
75C-15