Street vendors can help LA chart the way forward after historic legal settlement — here's how
by Senior Director, Policy & Legal Strategy Doug Smith
It’s a new day for L.A.’s street vendors. The City has repealed its discriminatory no-vending zones and inked a settlement that will begin to repair some of the harms that vendors have endured by canceling citations and issuing refunds. What comes next is a different kind of Hollywood story that will determine whether L.A. is finally ready to get serious about supporting and nurturing its iconic street vending economy.
Now that the lawsuit is resolved and the City has acknowledged that arbitrary bans are illegal and untenable, policymakers should embrace a better way of making street vending policy – by listening and learning from vendors themselves.
If this new approach is possible, then a coalition of street vendors and community organizations – including our organization, Inclusive Action for the City – is ready to get to work. And there is no better place to start than Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame, the site of one of the most controversial no vending zones.
Senior Director, Policy & Legal Strategy Doug Smith at the No-Vending Zone Press Conference on Hollywood Blvd, CA.
Banning street vending on the Walk of Fame was a disaster – hurting vendors, failing to address sidewalk accessibility issues, and alienating Angelenos who have lived and worked in the community for many years. We should celebrate the end of a discriminatory policy and welcome a new era of inclusion.
At the same time, there is no denying that the Walk of Fame needs special attention to harmonize overlapping uses of public space. Vendors, performers, brick and mortar businesses, and others all seek space on a sidewalk that is itself a major tourist destination. Plans to redevelop the corridor promise better accessibility, but also disruptive construction.
It is a challenging puzzle that vendors have been asking to help solve for years. A group of organized Hollywood vendors even proposed a “special vending district” with unique rules for the Boulevard years before filing the lawsuit. Fortunately, street vendors now have an ally in office.
Last year, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents the Hollywood Walk of Fame, committed to working with vendors and stakeholders to create a pilot “special vending zone” for the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl. This will be a test case for participatory policymaking.
To be successful, a Hollywood Special Vending Zone needs to balance accessibility and safety with economic inclusion and reparative justice. The Zone must not function as just another no-vending zone by a different name – it must include meaningful opportunities for safe sidewalk vending.
The first step is committing to a planning process that gives vendors a formal role in program design alongside other stakeholders. There should be significant outreach to the Hollywood vendor community to bring vendors into the planning process. The meetings should be structured to maximize meaningful participation by providing interpretation, translated written materials, childcare, and meeting times and locations that work for street vendors.
The process should result in more than just restrictions on vending locations – although any such restrictions must be consistent with state law. The City should also invest in new infrastructure that supports safe vending on the Walk of Fame, like small kiosks, community sinks, public bathrooms, and safe food preparation facilities. The program should also establish opportunities for vendor self-governance to address on-the-ground issues before escalating to City enforcement.
Hollywood vendors are ready – and they have already gotten to work. They hosted the Councilmember on a walking tour, shared their goals, organized working groups, and have begun to craft self-governance agreements.
If done right, this model can be replicated throughout the city and set an example other jurisdictions in California can look to. Creating a public policy framework that enables safe and equitable access to busy and dynamic streetscapes won’t be easy, but it will be impossible if vendors aren’t at the table.