Fresno’s City Council passed a new law that places strict restrictions on street vendors, barring them from selling in designated areas. The “Sidewalk Vending Ordinance” passed on a 5-2 vote in November 2023 with implementation expected earlier this year, however, implementation has been delayed and the ordinance is still being refined.
Changes are still being made, partially thanks to many local vendors and advocacy groups arguing against the negative impacts the ordinance could have on more vulnerable communities. On Nov. 21, the City Council discussed possible revisions to the ordinance. Amendments might include changes in the distance requirements between vendors and certain locations and operating hours. At the Dec. 5 meeting, the revised proposal will be voted on.
Over the past year, City officials initiated an “educational period” to help vendors understand and adapt to the new rules and avoid getting in trouble.
What are the rules?
The law does not include food trucks.
Under this ordinance, street vendors are prohibited from operating near schools, parks and major intersections, effectively sidelining many entrepreneurs. This supposedly addresses overcrowded sidewalks and traffic congestion.
The Sidewalk Vending Ordinance also restricts vendors from operating within specific distances of key locations unless they have written permission or meet certain exceptions. Vendors cannot set up within 200 feet of freeway ramps, certified farmers markets or permitted events unless they are associated with those activities.
They must stay 100 feet from residences (except for those selling fresh fruit, corn or snow cones) and 50 feet from brick-and-mortar restaurants unless granted permission. They are also prohibited from selling within 10 feet of another vendor unless mutually waived in writing, and within three feet of buildings for vendors cooking food on-site.
Vendors will receive a written warning for the first violation, followed by fines of up to $100 for a second, $200 for a third and $500 for four or more violations.
The City Council promises this is not with the intent of targeting marginalized communities, but rather to better Fresno as a whole. However, this isn’t the first promise the City Council has made to the city’s street vendors.
The Unkept Promise
In March 2021, a street vendor named Lorenzo Perez was killed. Perez was shot during a robbery. His death mobilized Fresnans to call for increased protections for street vendors, who are often left vulnerable to violence. The City Council promised to take action.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, along with members of the City Council, promised to enhance safety measures, including increasing patrols in high-vendor areas and implementing educational campaigns on reporting crimes.
The City also expressed a commitment to easing the process for street vendors to obtain proper permits, ensuring their operations were both legal and visible to law enforcement. Although there were calls from the public for City-backed resources such as security training, the installation of surveillance cameras in vending hotspots and an emergency fund for vendors impacted by crime, progress has been slow and uneven. Some cameras were purchased, but not much else has changed.
City Council members also pledged $5 million to build a “community kitchen” to support street vendors after what happened to Perez. This would greatly benefit food vendors by making it more affordable to prepare food and easier to get a permit. However, the $5 million was reduced to $2 million and later cut to $1.1 million.
The original pledge of $5 million was to develop a commercial kitchen for street vendors, providing a centralized facility for food preparation (making it easier and more affordable to comply with health regulations). This commitment was based on the estimated cost of a specific property on H Street near Chukchansi Park.
City officials changed the pledge amount to $2 million soon after with plans to remodel an old building into the community kitchen. However, when that property was used for a housing development instead the City reduced its financial commitment again, this time to $1.1 million
Of the $1.1 million now committed, $700,000 is a grant for the future community kitchen and the balance was previously allocated for security measures and technical assistance for street vendors. The cameras were placed in areas where the City believes street vendors frequent. The $700,000 has been officially granted to Cultiva La Salud, which has long wanted to create a community kitchen.
Violence against Street Vendors Continues
Street vendors across the state continue to face rising levels of violence.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, there has been a significant rise in violence against street vendors in recent years. In Los Angeles, from January 1 to July 31, 2022, there were 156 reported incidents involving street vendors as victims, a 52.9% increase from the 102 incidents during the same period in 2021 and a 48.6% rise compared with the first half of 2019.
A year after Perez’s death, on Feb. 14, 2022, 77-year-old street vendor Juan Hernandez was assaulted during a robbery along with his two daughters and granddaughter in Fresno. Hernandez was stabbed in the hand during the altercation.
Last year, a video of Hanford street vendor Jose Hernandez being verbally attacked and threatened by a man swinging a golf club went viral. The vendor was able to leave safely and report the assault.
In October, outside of Mount Whitney High School in Visalia, Juan Diego Loreto was assaulted while selling corn and chips to kids. A neighbor, Jashua Martino, began yelling at Loreto telling him to leave and “go sell corn in Mexico.” Martino escalated the situation by damaging the products and the cart. Things got physical, and Loreto had to defend himself and try to protect the kids near the cart.
Loreto expressed shock at the situation. “My biggest concerns beforehand had been the extreme heat or the cold.” For now, Loreto is focused on saving up money to get his cart fixed so he can get his permit and go back to work.
After hearing about the community kitchen that Cultiva La Salud plans to establish in Fresno, Loreto responded that “something like that could be really good—cut down the cost, make permits easier. It would change lives.” And that is Cultiva La Salud’s hope.
Cultiva La Salud is a Fresno-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting health equity. The organization has officially secured a property on Fresno Street, just south of Highway 180, with the intention of transforming it into both a functional kitchen and a resource center for street food vendors.
This facility would provide vendors with a compliant space to prepare food, helping them meet health regulations and making it easier to acquire the needed permits. It would also offer assistance and education on the permitting process and business development.
Cultiva La Salud estimates the project will cost $3 million, with half of the funding already gathered through savings, donations and public funding (including the $700,000 grant from the City of Fresno). Because of the large cost, the timeline for the kitchen’s opening is projected to be more than a year from now.
As incidents of hate and violence continue across the state, efforts like Cultiva La Salud’s community kitchen project offer support and hope to street vendors. For vendors like Loreto, such initiatives represent more than policy—they are a lifeline for their safety and livelihood.
