The Los Gatos Town Council voted unanimously to approve restrictions on sidewalk vending in town at its Nov. 19 meeting.
The council was set to adopt a revised ordinance on Dec. 3, after which sidewalk vendors will have 30 days to obtain permits. Under the new restrictions, vendors must operate with limited hours and will be prohibited from blocking business entrances.
The revisions are the result of a study session the council hosted in August. The new restrictions also bar sidewalk vending in areas zoned as exclusively residential and limits the number of vendors in town parks at any given time to ensure that the “character and use of parks are not affected.”
Los Gatos town staff cautioned that officials would also need to come up with a new sidewalk vending permit fee and a formalized application form before the new policies go into effect.
Other cities in the Bay Area have recently taken up the matter of sidewalk vending, like the East Bay city of Richmond, which saw controversy this year over when the new policies would go into effect.
The study session on sidewalk vending in Los Gatos was the result of Senate Bill 946, legislation that passed the state senate in 2018 that decriminalized sidewalk vending and put limits on the restrictions that cities and towns in California could implement for sidewalk vendors.
“I think this is a really thoughtful way to address the unique challenges we had in Los Gatos,” council member Rob Moore said of the new policies.
