HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 16 - Resolution Affirming the Local Enforcement to Enact Local Sidewalk Regulations Planning and Building Agency
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Item # 16
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
March 7, 2023
TOPIC: Resolution Affirming the Local Enforcement of Regulations Pertaining to the
Use and Maintenance of Public Sidewalks and Urging the State Legislature of the State
of California to Amend State Law and Allow Local Jurisdictions the Right of Self-
Determination to Enact Local Sidewalk Regulations
AGENDA TITLE:
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Ana Affirming its Dedication and its
Priority to Protect the Health, Safety and Welfare of Its Residents, Visitors, and
Business Owners in the Enforcement of State Sidewalk Vendor Regulations, the
Federal Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and Other Disability Access Standards,
and All Local Regulations Pertaining to the Use and Maintenance of Public Sidewalks
and Other Pedestrian Pathways, and Urging the State Legislature of the State of
California to Amend State Law and Allow Local Jurisdictions the Right of Self-
Determination to Enact Local Sidewalk Regulations
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt resolution.
DISCUSSION
In response to community concerns and demands for the City to address the
proliferation of stationary sidewalk food vendors within the City as result of SB 946
(Lara, Statutes of 2019) and SB 972 (Gonzalez, Statutes of 2022) and the negative
impacts they have on the public’s health, safety and welfare, the City Council at its
regular meeting on February 7, 2023 directed staff to draft a resolution affirming the
following local priorities:
1. Protect the health, safety and welfare of the community and to enforce
applicable federal, state, and local sidewalk accessibility, use, and maintenance
laws and regulations; and
2. Call upon the State Legislature of the State Of California to amend state law and
allow local jurisdictions the right of self-determination to enact local sidewalk
regulations.
The resolution is included as Exhibit 1 to this report and affirms the City’s commitment
to a diverse and inclusive community that equitably permits and regulates business
Resolution Affirming Local Enforcement and Urging the California State Legislature to
Amend Sidewalk Regulations
March 7, 2023
Page 2
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activities in Santa Ana to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the City’s residents,
visitors, and business owners.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the adoption of
this Resolution is not considered a “project” as defined in Section 15378 of the CEQA
Guideline and therefore is exempt from further review.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Resolution
Submitted By: Minh Thai, Executive Director, Planning and Building Agency
Approved By: Kristine Ridge, City Manager
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 1 of 8
RESOLUTION NO. 2023-XXX
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
ANA, COUNTY OF ORANGE, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AFFIRMING
ITS DEDICATION AND ITS PRIORITY TO PROTECT THE HEALTH,
SAFETY AND WELFARE OF ITS RESIDENTS, VISITORS, AND
BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF STATE
SIDEWALK VENDOR REGULATIONS, THE FEDERAL AMERICANS
WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 AND OTHER DISABILITY ACCESS
STANDARDS, AND ALL LOCAL REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO
THE USE AND MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC SIDEWALKS AND
OTHER PEDESTRIAN PATHWAYS, AND URGING THE STATE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO AMEND STATE
LAW AND ALLOW LOCAL JURISDICTIONS THE RIGHT OF SELF-
DETERMINATION TO ENACT LOCAL SIDEWALK REGULATIONS
WHEREAS, the City Council of SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA is committed to
supporting an inclusive, thriving, vibrant, and healthy community, regardless of race,
ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression,
disability, economic status and other diverse backgrounds; and
WHEREAS, the government of SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA is a chartered city as
defined under California Government Code Section 51036(d); and
WHEREAS, the City of SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA has experienced an
exponential increase in the number of unpermitted stationary sidewalk food vendors
within its jurisdiction since Senate Bill 946 was enacted; and
WHEREAS, the global Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused
by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) resulted in
fundamental shifts in the ways in which consumers purchase household groceries and
food through deliveries, pickup, mobile vending, food delivery, and to-go ordering; and
WHEREAS, in response to this fundamental shift, the State and local jurisdictions
enacted temporary and permanent regulatory changes surrounding the food industry,
enabling, among others, sidewalk vending; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill (SB) 946 was signed into law on September 17, 2018, and
became effective January 1, 2019; and
WHEREAS, SB 946 severely limits the authority of cities and counties to regulate
sidewalk vendors, except in accordance with Government Code Sections 51038 and
51039; and
WHEREAS, SB 972 was signed into law September 23, 2022, and became
effective January 1, 2023; and
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 2 of 8
WHEREAS, SB 972 built upon the policy framework included in SB 946 and further
restricted local jurisdictions’ abilities to implement key food vendor regulations, including
basic food safety and accessibility requirements; and
WHEREAS, SB 946 and SB 972 (the “Bills”) provide for regulations by the State
Department of Public Health of retail food facilities, including sidewalk vending, and
require local health agencies to enforce these provisions; and
WHEREAS, following the passage of SB 946, Santa Ana City Code Enforcement
Officers and Orange County Health Officials have encountered a rise in negligent
stationary sidewalk food vending operations, including the sale of food deemed unfit for
human consumption, the presence of unventilated smoke and open flame and other
devices emitting flame, fire or potential heat to sensitive groups, the obstruction of
adequate sidewalk space for accessibility and safety purposes, and the spillage of food
and grease impacting the surface texture of the sidewalk; and
WHEREAS, cooking and heating of food through the use of outdoor fires and open
flame heating equipment on public sidewalks without proper venting, fire control systems,
and proper food heating and handling equipment constitute a danger to the public’s
health, safety, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the consequences of these Bills have allowed, all too often, largescale
stationary food vendors to take over entire sidewalk spaces, thus prohibiting reasonable
access for individuals with disabilities, or pushing individuals into the roads with
dangerous traffic conditions in order to navigate the lack of available safe sidewalk space;
and
WHEREAS, reducing the width and destabilizing the surface texture of public
sidewalks designed strictly to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
constitutes a danger to the public’s health, safety, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the increased number of stationary sidewalk food vendors has
resulted in significant time and resources from City Code Enforcement Officers, County
Health Officials, and local law enforcement to deal with the aforementioned issues. The
focus on stationary sidewalk food vendors means that these public resources are not
available to respond to other needs throughout the City; and
WHEREAS, with the provisions of SB 972 recently taking effect, the City has
experienced a proliferation in the number of stationary sidewalk food vendors and has
been further restricted in its abilities for regulating sidewalk activities; and
WHEREAS, with the provisions of SB 972 recently taking effect, the City is further
restricted in its ability to ensure that that the food being offered is safe for consumption;
and
WHEREAS, with the provisions of SB 972 recently taking effect, the City is further
restricted in its ability to ensure that residents and visitors have adequate access to public
sidewalks; and
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 3 of 8
WHEREAS, since the passage of the Bills, the City has found it increasingly
difficult to mitigate the public health impacts from stationary sidewalk food vendor
operations and their threat to the public’s health and safety. Specifically, measures to
reduce local health permit regulations for street food vendors, consequently undermine
the collective authority of City and County agencies to implement standardized
inspections and assign accountability; and
WHEREAS, the Bills have eliminated key food health and safety requirements
intended to keep food safe for public consumption, such as water requirements and
handwashing stations, and prohibit the regulation of where food vendors can be located;
and
WHEREAS, the County Health Care Agency’s Environmental Health Division
(EHD) observed that a disproportionately large number of stationary food vendors are
corporatized with sophisticated, stationary equipment that encompasses large amounts
of sidewalk space, and threatens the livelihoods of local, small-business, brick-and-mortar
“mom and pop” vendors that adhere to municipal and state codes; and
WHEREAS, the California Health and Safety Code (CH&SC) Section 114381(a)
establishes a food facility shall not be open for business without a valid permit; and
WHEREAS, stationary sidewalk food vendors continue to operate without first
obtaining a valid permit from the local county health authority as provided by section
114381(a) of the California Health and Safety Code; and
WHEREAS, the stationary sidewalk food vendors operating within the jurisdiction
of SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA regularly endanger the health, safety, and welfare of
Santa Ana residents, visitors, and business owners in that they:
a. Engage in unsanitary practices in violation of the California Health and Safety
Code, including but not limited to transporting uncooked meat in an unsanitary
manner and handling uncooked meat and raw food products without
necessary and proper handwashing stations on-site; and
b. Prepare hot food utilizing open flame without necessary and proper fire
mitigation measures in place; and
c. Dismantle their operation temporarily when approached by City Code
Enforcement officers, Santa Ana Police officers, County of Orange Health
Inspectors, or combination thereof; and
d. Abandon their equipment and flee the scene when approached by City Code
Enforcement officers, Santa Ana Police Officers, County of Orange Health
Inspectors, or combination thereof. The abandoned equipment obstructs the
public-right-of-way and constitutes a nuisance that must be mitigated at the
public’s expense; and
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 4 of 8
e. Create a nuisance and public health hazard by allowing debris to accumulate
in and around their site and deliberately failing to collect and dispose of same
upon dismantling their operation; and
f. Create a nuisance and public health hazard by disposing of used grease on
adjacent City of Santa Ana-owned and/or privately-owned grass or green
areas, sidewalks and adjacent storm drains; and
g. Serve food which is or has been deemed by County of Orange Health
Inspectors under CH&SC Section 111030 to be unfit for human consumption
leaving consumers with no redress for any ill effects of consuming same; and
h. Trespass and set up their operations on private property without permission of
the owner or lessee in control of said private property; and
WHEREAS, in a six-week period in late 2022, the City’s Code Enforcement
Division in partnership with the Orange County Health Care Agency’s Environmental
Health Division (EHD) inspected over 100 stationary sidewalk food vending operations
that were found to be selling food unfit for human consumption and operating without the
proper health permit under CH&SC Section 111030; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana is a champion of diversity and inclusivity through
its policies and programs in the arenas of demographics, housing, and economic
activities, with a progressive and community-benefits oriented General Plan and Housing
Element, both comprehensively updated and adopted in 2022, that promote and celebrate
the diversity of all groups in the community, specifically:
a. The Land Use Element, which promotes a balance of land uses and
business activities in the City by promoting new investment in key areas and
preservation of existing communities in others; and
b. The Economic Prosperity Element, which seeks new endeavors to diversify
the City’s economic base while ensuring all demographic groups in Santa
Ana benefit from healthy and balanced economic development; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana routinely promotes and has permitted micro
(“ghost”) kitchens in its industrial zones, allowing businesses to utilize shared kitchens to
prepare foods in a sanitary setting designed and constructed for such activities, most
recently at 2509 South Broadway and 3200 South Susan Street, to supply a surging
demand for incubator spaces for food-related manufacturing, production, and mobile food
vending; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana has consistently demonstrated leadership in
access to alternative means of acquiring household groceries and food through deliveries,
pickup, mobile vending, food delivery, and to-go ordering by enacting legislation that
permits and regulates these activities, specifically:
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 5 of 8
a. Ordinance No. NS-1654 (1982), as amended and updated from time to time,
allowing and regulating home occupations through the home occupation
permit process, with continued compliance with Assembly Bill (AB) 1616,
the California Homemade Food Act of 2012, commonly referred to as the
“Cottage Food Law”; and
b. Ordinance No. NS-2133 (1991), as amended and updated from time to time,
allowing and regulating pushcarts to vend food on sidewalks in a safe and
responsible manor, the first of its kind in Orange County; and
c. Executive Order 5-2020 and City Council Resolution No. 2022-055, which
authorized outdoor dining in accordance with the “City of Santa Ana: Guide
for Outdoor Business Operations” and that allowed for mobile food vending
in certain city-owned parking lots; and
d. Ordinance No. NS-3033 (2022), allowing and regulating outdoor dining on
permanently private property, following the sunset of temporary COVID-19
regulations allowing the same; and
e. Ordinance No. NS-3034 (2022), allowing and regulating mobile food trucks
on private property subject to certain standards for time, place, and manner;
and
WHEREAS, the progressive nature of these policies and programs have cultivated
a dynamic, local entrepreneurial climate and promote economic opportunities in the Santa
Ana community; and
WHEREAS, the presence of multiple disadvantaged, at-risk, and vulnerable
communities in Santa Ana, as identified by the General Plan Update of 2022, necessitates
the City’s obligation to ensure that food products, including freshly-prepared foods, is
safely produced and sold in a manner that does not exacerbate community health
concerns; and
WHEREAS, the Santa Ana community’s reduced access to healthcare and health
services through traditional policy coverage, access to medical clinics, medical
professionals, and treatment necessitates the City’s obligation to ensure that food
products, including freshly-prepared foods, is safely produced and sold; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA ANA AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The Recitals set forth above are true and correct.
Section 2. In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA),
the adoption of this Resolution is not considered a “project” as defined in Section 15378
of the CEQA Guidelines and therefore is exempt from further review.
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 6 of 8
Section 3. The City of Santa Ana affirms its dedication and its priority to protect
the health, safety and welfare of its residents, visitors, and business owners in the
enforcement of State sidewalk vendor regulations, the federal Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) and other disability access standards, and all local
regulations pertaining to the use and maintenance of public sidewalks and other
pedestrian pathways.
Section 4. The City of Santa Ana urges the State Legislature of the State of
California to introduce and adopt legislation to amend SB 946 and SB 972 to specifically
allow local jurisdictions the right of self-determination to enact local regulations that:
a. Protect and preserve the health, safety, and welfare of Santa Ana residents,
visitors, and business owners; and
b. Maintain an equitable, diverse, and inclusive business environment in Santa
Ana wherein all types of economic activity are subject to equitable regulations
that protect the health of employees and consumers; and
c. Uphold the goals and policies of the Land Use Element and the Economic
Prosperity Element of the Santa Ana General Plan; and
d. Amend Government Code Sections 51036-51039:
i. Section 51037(d) is added to Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the
Government Code, to read: Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
affect the applicability of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (Public Law 101-336) and other disability access standards.
ii. Section 51037(e) is added to Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the
Government Code, to read: Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
affect the ability of a local authority, by ordinance or resolution, to adopt
requirements to maintain sanitary conditions upon a public sidewalk or
other pedestrian path.
Section 5. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the
City Council, and the Clerk of the Council shall attest to and certify the vote adopting this
Resolution.
ADOPTED this ____ day of ________, 2023.
_______________________
Valerie Amezcua
Mayor
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 7 of 8
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho
City Attorney
By:________________________
John M. Funk
Chief Assistant City Attorney
AYES: Councilmembers ___________________________________
NOES: Councilmembers ___________________________________
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers ___________________________________
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers ___________________________________
Resolution No. 2023-XXX
Page 8 of 8
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, Jennifer L. Hall, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify the attached
Resolution No. 2023 -______ to be the original resolution adopted by the City Council of
the City of Santa Ana on _______________, 2023.
Date: ____________ ________________________________
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana