Pomona’s city council approved a set of laws Monday aimed at unpermitted street vending and sidewalk safety in the city’s busiest traffic corridors. The "urgent ordinances" took effect immediately after the council’s vote.
City officials explained that the regulations aim to balance opportunities for street vendors with ensuring pedestrian safety and holding accountable those who refuse to get permits or pay fines.
“I fully support independent vendors,” said Councilmember Nora Garcia. “But it cannot be underscored enough that we have a responsibility to keep our walkways clean and accessible.”
The sidewalk ordinance prohibits vendors from obstructing pedestrian pathways with equipment like chairs, tables, and grills. Code enforcement officers, police and city employees can issue warnings to vendors to remove such items. If they fail to comply after 30 minutes, officials can issue tickets and impound the equipment.
Officials cited a 2022 incident where a driver made an unsafe turn, jumped the curb and killed one person and injured 12 others, as evidence of the dangers posed by blocked sidewalks. They said growing use of public spaces by vendors on streets like Holt and Towne Avenues and Indian Hill Boulevard has created safety risks.
The council also amended its existing street vending law, imposing stricter rules on where and when vendors can operate. Selling is now prohibited near farmers' markets, bars, downtown nightclubs, Fairplex fairgrounds, public parks and within 500 feet of schools.
Unpermitted vendors who violate these laws could face fines up to $1,000 if cited more than twice within a year of their first offense. Officials noted that of 150 identified street vendors, only 24 currently hold proper permits.
Critics expressed concerns during public comments that the new laws could unfairly target vendors struggling to obtain permits or pay fines.
“This is pulling out the whip. There was no compassion in this,” said Yesenia Miranda Meza, a community organizer with Pomona United for Stable Housing, in a phone interview with KVCR. “There was no innovation or strategic way of handling this.”
Meza added that the crackdown could worsen hardships for vendors trying to make ends meet. “It’s a band-aid that’s going to have unintended consequences... big time, big time.”
Councilmember John Nolte raised concerns about the ordinance's broad language and questioned the urgency of its implementation, suggesting that better enforcement of existing sidewalk accessibility and disability compliance laws might be more effective.
“It doesn't really matter who it's aimed at,” Nolte said. “When a police officer is out there making a decision about whether to enforce a law, he can look at what the law says. And I mean, it says, if you don't have a permit, you can't place any of the following on a pedestrian path…any chair or anything that could be thought of as a chair. That's extremely broad.”
In response, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho stressed that the new ordinance provides a clearer enforcement mechanism for existing laws.
Pomona officials plan to educate vendors on the changes and will hold a sidewalk vending workshop next month.
