ARTICLE 5.9:
PERMIT REGULATIONS FOR VENDORS

Sec. 5.9-1.	General Background and Findings.
Sec. 5.9-2.	Definitions.
Sec. 5.9-3.	Permit Required; Mandatory Display; Proof of Purchase.
Sec. 5.9-4.	Vendor Permit Type.
Sec. 5.9-5.	Permit Application; Fee.
Sec. 5.9-6.	Vending Restrictions and Requirements.
Sec. 5.9-7.	Exemptions.
Sec. 5.9-8.	Delegation of Authority for Rulemaking.
Sec. 5.9-9.	Good Neighbor Policies.
Sec. 5.9-10.	Outreach and Education.
Sec. 5.9-11.	Enforcement.
Sec. 5.9-12.	Reporting Required.
Sec. 5.9-13.	Undertaking for the General Welfare.
Sec. 5.9-14.	Severability.

 

SEC. 5.9-1. GENERAL BACKGROUND AND FINDINGS.

   (a)   The City and County of San Francisco (“City”) is committed to supporting the growth of City jobs and providing space for new and expanding businesses, while maintaining public health, safety, and welfare.

   (b)   United Nations Plaza (“UN Plaza”) is a 1.66-acre public square that is a key entrance point to the City’s busy Civic Center. UN Plaza has longstanding public safety, health, and welfare challenges due in part to unregulated vending and criminal activity in the area. Unregulated vending contributes to congestion at UN Plaza resulting in the obstruction of pedestrian and chair-user access to the public right-of-way, obstruction of first responders’ lines of sight, and concealment of unlawful activity. Unregulated vending at UN Plaza fuels unlawful activity that leads to a high volume of 9-1-1 calls, incident reports, and arrests in and around UN Plaza’s immediate vicinity, including 4,046 calls for service, 168 incident reports, and 62 arrests at UN Plaza, in 2021 alone.

   (c)   UN Plaza is home to the Heart of the City Farmers’ Market (“Market”), a nonprofit, independent, farmer-operated food justice organization, that has served San Francisco’s low-income Tenderloin neighborhood since 1981. The Market is the largest farmers’ market Electronic Benefits Transfer (“EBT”) program in California, allowing CalFresh, CalWorks, and other cash benefit recipients to access food and cash benefits. Over 20,000 customers rely on the Market for groceries in large part because there are no supermarkets in the Tenderloin neighborhood. Recently, public safety concerns due to unregulated vending and criminal activity have caused the Market to lose five vendors. The unregulated vending and accompanying criminal activity at UN Plaza impact the ability of the City to provide a safe and accessible Market for the public, including families, children, and seniors, as well as the farmers who sell their goods.

   (d)   UN Plaza is heavily patronized year-round. Pre-pandemic, about 25,000 daily weekday San Francisco Municipal Railway (“MUNI”) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (“BART”) public transit riders would access the Civic Center station near UN Plaza, and about 3,500 City, state, and federal employees would make their way to work by passing through UN Plaza. Ridership on BART and Muni have continued to rebound since the depths of the pandemic, particularly in 2021, as much of the economy has reopened and many members of the community have received the COVID-19 vaccine. Further, congestion at UN Plaza is heightened on days that the Market is in operation.

   (e)   Vending, because it has a relatively low barrier to entry, encourages entrepreneurship, represents a significant sector of San Francisco’s local economy, and provides economic opportunity for people to support themselves and their families, which is a City priority.

   (f)   A well-designed vending program is beneficial because it: (1) provides minimum standards for vending, including vendors’ equipment; (2) safeguards pedestrian and chair-user movement on sidewalks, streets, and other public spaces; (3) prevents unsanitary conditions and ensures that trash and debris are removed by vendors; and (4) prevents or minimizes public health, safety, or welfare hazards caused or exacerbated by unregulated vending.

   (g)   In 2018, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 946 (“SB 946”), which decriminalized street vending across California and constrained local regulatory authority. SB 946 seeks to create entrepreneurial and economic development opportunities for immigrant and low-income communities, increase consumers’ access to desired goods, contribute to a safe and dynamic public space, and promote the safety and welfare of the public by encouraging local authorities to support and properly regulate vending.

   (h)   The City seeks to prioritize health and safety while expanding economic opportunities for those who aspire to vend lawfully in a manner consistent with SB 946. The City recognizes that regulation of vending benefits the City as a whole, as it leads to orderly commerce and safeguards public health. The City seeks to provide vendors with the ability to operate in a safe and professional manner that enhances the public’s experience while providing increased economic opportunities. To achieve these goals, the City needs to restrict and limit vending in certain areas and under certain circumstances to prevent or minimize public health, safety, and welfare concerns, while ensuring that the permit application process is accessible to all vendors, including vendors with limited business experience and limited English proficiency.

   (i)   In 2021, the Port of San Francisco initiated a vending program pursuant to Ordinance No. 118-21 to accommodate vending, including vendors’ equipment, while safeguarding pedestrian and chair-user movement on sidewalks, streets, and other public spaces; to prevent unsanitary conditions and ensure trash and debris are removed by vendors; and to protect the scenic and natural character of the Port of San Francisco’s parks and waterfront, and the recreational opportunities the areas provide, to ensure the Port’s streetscape can remain a vibrant and dynamic marketplace, with unparalleled historic, scenic, and recreational value that can be safely enjoyed by all, which program shall be discontinued and merged with the vending program authorized for the City in this ordinance.

   (j)   This ordinance creates a vending program that provides for permitting and regulation of street vendors on City property that is both meaningfully enforceable and consistent with SB 946.

(Added by Ord. 44-22, File No. 211292, App. 3/22/2022, Eff. 4/22/2022)

SEC. 5.9-2. DEFINITIONS.

   For the purpose of this Article 5.9, the following words and phrases have the following meanings:

   Administrative Citation. An administrative fine for a violation of this Article 5.9, as described in Section 5.9-11.

   Certified Farmers’ Market. A farmers’ market operated in accordance with California Health Code Section 440(d) and Chapter 10.5 (commencing with section 47000) of Division 17 of the California Food and Agricultural Code, as each may be amended, and any implementing regulations.

   City. The City and County of San Francisco.

   Department. The Department of Public Works.

   Director. The Director of the Department of Public Works or the Director’s designee.

   Enforcement Official. Officers, employees, and contractors of the Department, and of such other departments and agencies of the City that the Director authorizes to assist in carrying out enforcement functions in a Memorandum of Understanding or otherwise.

   Food. Any pre-packaged food, foodstuffs, confectionary, condiment, or beverage for human consumption that a Vendor is reselling in its original packaging.

   Hallidie Plaza. The area defined by Section 2.01(b) of the Park Code.

   Merchandise. Any item that is neither Food, nor unpackaged food, nor food that is cooked or prepared onsite, and that is not an art or craft regulated under Article 24 (Regulating Street Artists) of the Police Code.

   Notice of Violation. A Notice of Violation for a violation of this Article 5.9, as described in Section 5.9-11.

   Roaming Vendor. A Vendor that moves from place to place and stops intermittently to complete a Vending transaction.

   Rules and Regulations. The Rules and Regulations of Vendors as described in Section 5.9-8 of this Article.

   Sidewalk Vendor. Sidewalk Vendor has the meaning set forth in California Government Code Section 51036, as it may be amended.

   Stationary Vendor. A Vendor that Vends from one or more fixed locations.

   Swap Meet. A swap meet operated in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with section 21660) of Chapter 9 of Division 8 of the California Business and Professions Code, as it may be amended, and any regulations adopted in accordance with that chapter, as they may be amended.

   Vend (and variations such as Vends, Vending). To sell, offer for sale, expose or display for sale, solicit offers to purchase or lease, or barter Food or Merchandise. Vending includes offering free samples of Food or Merchandise that are also for sale, negotiating fees for Food or Merchandise, or soliciting customers to enter into commercial agreements.

   Vendor. A person or entity that Vends Food or Merchandise from a pushcart, pedal-driven cart, wagon, or other nonmotorized conveyance, or from one’s person or a stand, display, showcase, table, rack, or other movable structure. The term Vendor includes but is not limited to Roaming Vendor, Sidewalk Vendor, and Stationary Vendor. In addition, if a Vendor Vends as an employee or agent of another person or entity, that person or entity is also a Vendor. The term Vendor does not include a person or entity that Vends from a Mobile Food Facility as defined by Public Works Code Section 184.80.

   United Nations Plaza. The area defined by Section 2.01(b) of the Park Code.

(Added by Ord. 44-22, File No. 211292, App. 3/22/2022, Eff. 4/22/2022; amended by Ord. 90-24, File No. 240056, App. 5/10/2024, Eff. 6/10/2024; Ord. 171-24, File No. 240439, App. 7/12/2024, Eff. 8/12/2024)