CityofSantaBarbara
By the City of Santa Barbara
The City of Santa Barbara is committed to ensuring the health and safety of the community and overseeing and enforcing ordinances that facilitate that overarching goal.
In response to the growing concerns regarding public safety and the well-being of local businesses, the City is implementing a series of proactive measures to address fire code violations, health and safety concerns, and improve working conditions for sidewalk vendors. The City recognizes the importance of maintaining a safe and thriving community for all of its residents and visitors.
The City Administrator initiated a Sidewalk Vending Task Force in early May 2023. This Task Force includes representation from across City Departments and focuses primarily on education and outreach to facilitate permitted and lawful sidewalk vending. Prior to 2019, most sidewalk vending was prohibited in the City of Santa Barbara, but this changed because of State law, (Senate Bill 946) the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act.
As part of this Task Force, an Enforcement Team is addressing the more egregious and dangerous vendors that have been operating without a business license, proper health certifications, and seller’s permits. This Team includes County Public Health, City Fire, and Police (to ensure the safety of the team). County Public Health is enforcing food safety and handling violations.
Large outdoor restaurant-style vendors have been identified as a primary concern. Simply put, large open flames, propane tanks and grease create a dangerous situation that could escalate at a moment’s notice – requiring first responders to step in, resulting in severe injury or a fatality. The lack of adequate food handling, including hand washing stations, is another area of concern that compromises public health and safety.
Working with the City Attorney’s Office, City Fire is enforcing violations of the Fire Code for mobile food operations using open flames in a public right-of-way. The criminal investigations relating to the fire code violations are being led by the Fire Department. Two investigations have been initiated to date, and subsequently the City Attorney’s Office has filed two cases. This is the strongest enforcement tool that we have available to us to protect public health and safety.
The City Task Force continues to work with smaller, local vendors to educate them on how to become licensed, permitted, and compliant.
In light of these efforts, the City encourages both its residents and visitors to support licensed and permitted vendors. By doing so, they not only contribute to the welfare of the community, but also extend their support to local businesses and local families who rely on their patronage. Our local businesses are the backbone of Santa Barbara, and the City will continue to partner with them in creating a pathway for compliant and safe operations.
The next community meeting on Sidewalk Vending is scheduled for Monday, June 26 at Casa Azteca (1433 State Street) at 6 p.m. Hosted by the Greater Santa Barbara Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the City invites all stakeholders to attend and participate in the discussions that will shape the future of public safety and local business operations.
More information on the City of Santa Barbara Sidewalk Vending Program is available here: https://santabarbaraca.gov/business/business-licenses/sidewalk-vending.
So legit business downtown have to pay rent, workers comp, liability insurance, payroll, payroll taxes, electricity, gas and comply with city state rules to run a business…what do these sidewalk vendors have to pay…a permit fee, do they collect sales tax etc? Id be bummed if I had to compete with a street vendor selling their product for $2.50 and I’d have to charge lets say $5 or $6 just to cover my costs.
MP805 – yes, a brick and mortar store with employees that brings in thousands of dollars a day is different than a hot dog cart making a few bucks.
Maybe we should get rid of the government red tape and additional expenses instead of making more for other people.
Great idea @2:12 but that’s a pipe dream in CA. We want regulate everything from what you drive to what you wear, how you cook to how you raise your kids.
Only in Florida, Voice.
Yes, there is certainly less governmental red tape there, and not coincidentally, much more affordable cost of living as well.
haha, ok bro.
Chip – the comment did not start about cost of living but it got thrown in by Voice to try and back up his absurd claim that CA wants to regulate everything. I mentioned Florida, which… wants to regulate what books you read, what is taught, what is said, what is discussed, what medical treatments are given, etc. etc. THAT is regulation. Extreme regulation that California does not have. But we can discuss cost of living in another thread.
CHIP – so why are you still here letting your kids/grandkids see photos of Michelangelo’s David, learning about how racism played a role in our nation’s development, being able to chose for themselves what happens with their reproductive lives, and all that nonsense?
Florida vs California. The cost of gas averages about $3.50 in florida. The cost to register a car for a year in florida is $20. The typical house in florida costs about $400,000. Utilities like water and electricity cost a fraction of what we pay in California. On top of all that, florida has no state income tax!
So no FL negatives at all, CHerrIes Picked of SB?
Street vendors like food trucks are convenient. They go where the people are.
SB however has a restaurant on almost every corner.
Like the man & woman selling tomales & burritos across the street from shoreline cafe.
No permit, not paying any taxes, all cash business. Taking business away from a brick & mortar business.
What’s the right answer? Permits, health & safety checks, collect taxes.
After all this is America, everyone has to pay their fare share & make sure they are selling safe foods.
The other point of permits is to make sure a steer vendor is not taking business away from a brick & mortar establishment. It’s unfair competition.
Yes restaurant sells more volume, but their overhead is extremely higher making the net profits between the two closer than you think.
Most steer vendors do business outdoors.
“Are you saying street vendors should have to increase prices so they compete with restaurants? ” —that isn’t “competition”. I’ve been saying you should take basic finance and econ classes at SBCC for years, this is why.
SBLETS – “The other point of permits is to make sure a steer vendor is not taking business away from a brick & mortar establishment. It’s unfair competition.” Really? Are you saying street vendors should have to increase prices so they compete with restaurants? They’re 2 very, very separate things. Are you going to force all businesses to adjust prices and pay fees just so they’re all equal? Sounds really socialist-y and not the good kind……
VOICE – let SBLETS answer the question. You don’t always have to answer for others, especially with the constant condescension.
Further, SBLETS brought up “unfair competition,” not me.
I was pointing out your question makes no sense as you seem to have lost a grasp on what competition, particularly between businesses, entails. And as usual, you go off on a tangent, deviating from what SBLet’s actually said, solely in an effort to argue with others.
Nope, not at all. I ASKED (as in question – look up the term) for clarity about what SBLETS was saying regarding competition. I made no statement other than my opinion that forcing businesses to expend more money simply because other businesses have to is a bit socialist sounding….. point being you cons love the free market and hate regulation, so why are you demanding it now?
Big issues are no restroom, no hot soapy water to wash hands, food not kept at proper temperatures.
Lower prices? When rent costs $12,000-$20,000 a month?
Well, SB has a reputation for ignoring …a lot. It’s a wing & a prayer here, but, just maybe, not for long. They refuse to respond Oscar Gutteriez & purport they’re working for a boss from L.A. , which may be true. Still, they’re defying rules & regulations….daring to he city to enforce. They adore PC . Some “gardeners tell us L.A. leaf blowers/gardeners come here on weekends & make for even more competition among the local “gardeners”.They park their old trucks on Arrellaga & other near-by streets, yet they get no tickets for defying the 72 hour ordinance. Defying is their modus operandi.
So the confetti egg vendors at fiesta that create a big environmental hazard are exempt ?
As well as the bums living in and polluting our streams and oceans. They are exempt from basic health standards and building codes.
LCP – you shouldn’t be eating the confetti eggs
Why not provide an area for food vendors downtown so it’s easier to monitor any real safety issues (eg, propane leaks, etc). Other than that, and for vendors with no cooking elements, leave them alone. Why does the government constantly need their hands in every little thing? You don’t want to risk food poisoning, don’t eat and walk on by. Restaurants complaining they’re stealing business? Open up later and lower your prices. Don’t kick hard workers out for working hard.
Mmmmmm meat cone……
If I am one of the “cons” you are referring to, look again. I simply do not think we, as a society that demands high taxes, should encourage a class of freeriders.
Here is a quick description:
“In the social sciences, the free-rider problem is a type of market failure that occurs when those who benefit from resources, public goods and common pool resources do not pay for them, or under-pay. Examples of such goods are public roads or public libraries or services or other goods of a communal nature. Free riders are a problem for common pool resources because they may overuse it by not paying for the good (either directly through fees or tolls or indirectly through taxes). Consequently, the common pool resource may be under-produced overused or degraded. Additionally, it has been shown that despite evidence that people tend to be cooperative by nature (a prosocial behavior), the presence of free-riders causes cooperation to deteriorate, perpetuating the free-rider problem.”
It is well known economic fact that black market economies thrive in environments of high regulation and high taxes. Black market economies also propagate and spread corruption.
Society degrades when the some people are allowed not to follow the rules. “Why pay taxes and follow the rules, when it is stupid to because others don’t have to and face no repercussions?”
This is why it was important to make the President’s son pay for having evaded taxes. If people feel there is a two or three tiered system, they will find ways to work around it or to opt out altogether.
The reason there are $20 burgers is because of taxation, regulation, and high rent. Take those away and your $20 burger is $10. They used to teach this in high school economics back in the early 70’s but people complained and said the class was too hard.
“The underlying incentive which generates the free-rider problem can be explained[weasel words] via the application of the Prisoner’s dilemma. Suppose two people were to split a contribution to a public service (such as for a police station) with society benefiting from their contribution. According to the Prisoner’s dilemma, certain conclusions can be drawn from the results of this scenario. If both parties donate, they are out of pocket and society benefits. If one party doesn’t pay (in the hopes that someone else will) they become a free-rider, and the other will have to cover the cost. If the other party also decides to become a free-rider and neither pay, then society receives no benefit. This demonstrates that the free-rider problem is generated by individuals’ willingness to let others pay when they themselves can receive the benefit at zero cost. This is reinforced by the economic theory of rational choice, stating that humans make choices which provide them with the greatest benefit. Therefore, if a service or resource is offered for free, then a consumer will not pay for it.”
Be honest, if you want to buy on the black market, pay under the table, then you want to free ride on the rich but there are not enough of them, what do you do?
Either everyone is taxed and regulated, criminally liable if these are evaded, or eventually no one is.
This has been gamed out over and over and over. If a favored group is given no taxes, no regulation, no penalties, everyone will either join the favored group or adjust their actions according to that new standard. You see it all the time in sports. If the ref isn’t calling, lets say travelling, then everyone in the game eventually adjusts accordingly
For the sake of discussion, lets say food costs for street vendor and the cafe with a building are the same.
(This exercise can also be done street vendor vs. farmers market stall. some things are different of course, but street vendor has still has substantial advantages)
After food costs, the businesses are very different:
Cafe, local taxes, regulation, fees
Street: None
Cafe matches 6.2% of employees Social Security withholdings, plus pays the employer portion of state taxes, disability, workers compensation, liability insurance.
Street: None
Cafe: Subject to minimum wage
Street: Pays cash, no one knows how much
Cafe owner: Pays federal and State income tax
Street: no taxes paid
Cafe: Pays rent, owner of building uses some of that rent to pay for property taxes which go to schools, fire, police
Street: None
Always entertained by how the people who support high taxes turn into intellectual and economic contortionists when it comes to buying illegal weed because (cheaper), or paying their gardener and housekeeper under the table (cheaper), arguing for street vendors (cheaper).
I’m not arguing against street vendors here either. I won’t use the word hypocrisy directed at anyone personally so lets settle on “incongruent”
The article photo shows that the street vendor has set up shop in the recently installed bike lane improvements on the corner of Mission and San Pascual. I don’t think this was the intended use the City was striving for when Mission Street was reconfigured. Also, it looks like the public walkway is pretty much obstructed. Could be an ADA issue.
First food trucks get killed off, now street vendors. The goal seems to be making $20 hamburgers the cheapest food available in SB.
ORVGULL – exactly. What’s sadder is watching the cons here clamoring for more regulation and permits and fees because it’s unfair that brick and mortar restaurants have to pay more.
Upscale downtown restaurant vs. mango guy or hot dog man.
Street vendor stores do not pay taxes for the very locations they try to occupy. They have no econimic overhead other than food cost. No taxes to pay, no water to wash hands, no sanitation standards at all. Where do the go to the bathroom? Where is the refrigeration? Where is the cash going? Where do they come from? Who are they? Illegal street vendors need to go away.