Watch Out, Incense & Sunglasses: L.A. City Council Approves Venice Boardwalk Ordinance
A new ordinance favored by L.A. City Council on Tuesday may force many Venice Beach boardwalk vendors to move their goods elsewhere. Council unanimously approved a measure prohibiting commercial vending along the west side of Ocean Front Walk in a 12-0 vote.
The first version of Ocean Front Walk legislation was introduced in 2004 and has since been revised numerous times. Venice Patch details the terms of the new ordinance.
The new ordinance revises and defines the exact items that will be prohibited and allowed to be sold on 205 spaces on the western side of the boardwalk. The ordinance would ban the sale of common items with a so-called "non-expressive purpose," such as clothes, sunglasses, incense, candy, crystals, oils, jewelry and toys. It also would prohibit massages and skin ink.Vendors will still be able to sell books, paintings, recordings, sculptures or other works they have created.
Spaces also will be reserved for traditional speech activities and petitioning, including the distribution of newspapers, fliers, pamphlets, bumper stickers and patches. The ordinance also would set aside two spaces on the Venice Beach boardwalk for food distribution
The Venice Boardwalk is famous for its vendors, entertainers, medical marijuana dispensaries, outdoor events and free speech encouragement and is L.A.'s top tourist attraction. Ordinance opponents during Tuesday's meeting expressed concern that the restriction on jewelry violates free speech. Others feel that the regulations favor merchants on the east side of the boardwalk, where people pay taxes.
Venice Patch reports that, per the ordinance, the lack of regulation on the boardwalk has spurred violence over vending spaces and a "flea market" atmosphere. Capt. Jon Peters, the commanding officer for LAPD's Pacific Division, said there has been a recent rise in youth transients on the boardwalk thanks to their ability to make money and hold vending spaces overnight.
L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl said, "We finally have in place an ordinance we all feel we can defend. It supports the local community's interest in wanting to go forward. Over the years the commercial vendors had taken over the west side [of Ocean Front Walk] and it's not fair to vendors on the east side, where people pay taxes."
Ordinance violations are as follows:
The first violation specified in the ordinance is actually a $100 fine. The second violation and all subsequent violations can be punishable with a fine of $250 or prosecution as a misdemeanor punishable with a fine of up to $1,000 or up to six months in the county jail or by both fine and imprisonment.
The first-come, first-serve system for vending spaces will remain effective under the new ordinance, but vendors will no longer be allowed to unofficially reserve a space between sunset and 9am.
The fate of the ordinance lies with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's pen. He has 10 days to sign the ordinance. It will be enforced 31 days after publication, and signs will be posted.
