Restrictions

Members of the Brawley City Council have moved forward with the hot dog stand issue that has sparked controversy within the community. At issue is whether mobile vendors should be able to set up shop in local parks.

At the suggestion of counsel William Smerdon, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance that prevents the sale of food or other goods in seven of the 13 public parks within the city.

The proposed ordinance aims to preserve the recreational and scenic opportunities at local parks while complying with state law under SB 946. The new regulation prohibits operation of all vendors, particularly those who sell food, on park sidewalks regardless of the type of merchandise they offer.

One of the most restricted sites is Cattle Call Park, due to the agreements between the local government and the committee that organizes this annual event. According to Smerdon, the Cattle Call Rodeo Committee and the Chamber of Commerce have the right to choose the vendors who are authorized to operate in these events regardless of whether they take place within the park.

The ordinance indicates that reasonable regulations applicable to sidewalk vendors are necessary to avoid a concentration of commercial activity that interferes with the natural scenery of the city’s parks.

The new regulations limit vendor activities to the following parks:

Abe González, Alyce Gereaux, Hinojosa, Jeff Thornton, Meserve and Pat Williams. The rest will be restricted due to their size, since none has the minimum capacity to house a single vendor.

The council ruled that the new regulations would not apply to vendors who have stands and who operate at farmer’s markets, craft shows, street festivals, vehicle shows, sports tournaments or arts shows held by the city on city premises.

The ordinance also imposes typical rules such as requiring permits, following instructions established in state law, disposing of garbage, keeping the place of operation clean, avoid using loud music, etc.

But if that weren’t enough, local authorities have gone a bit further, to the extent that vendors are prohibited from attaching their posts to any public facility, including poles and monuments, nor can they operate within 100 feet of any building, bathroom, children’s game, statue or artistic structure.

In addition, the new provisions establish that only one seller may operate for each acre of the park.

The exception to the rule is Park Plaza, where there may be a vendor in the north and another in the south. In the event that more than one vendor submits an application to use any part of this park, the final decision on the permit will rest with the city manager, who has the option of granting a rotating permit.

Vendors may have up to two tables with a maximum capacity of eight people per table.

The city manager will work of the Parks and Finance departments to create of fee structure for the permits. That rate schedule will be subject to final approval by the City Council. The rates can be modified in the future if necessary.

The ordinance indicates that vendors who violate city provisions potentially face a temporary or permanent revocation of their permits at the discretion of the city manager, whose decision will be considered final.

In this way, the authorities, apparently, seek to prevent any operation of this type, instead of allowing their constituents (and voters) to prosper.