The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to approve measures to reduce regulations of street vendors, a long-sought overhaul by one of the city’s most visible industries.
Backers say the Street Vendor Advancement Act of 2023 will greatly expand the types of foods that vendors can prepare at home before selling, limit law enforcement action on vendors and decrease the cost of permits.
The council, which already passed the bill but had to approve it again before sending it to Mayor Muriel Bowser, approved the measure in a unanimous vote.
Under the current law, only certain baked goods and dried goods are allowed to be made at home and then sold on the street. The new law would give street vendors the option to prepare and sell fully cooked meat products and washed fruits and vegetables from their stands.
The measure drew a rebuke from the city’s D.C. Health agency. Regulators said that food prepared at home, or “cottage food,” would increase the risk of foodborne illness in the District.
“Permitting cottage food businesses to service and store food vending carts at home instead of an approved location will lead to contamination and poor food handling practices.” the agency wrote in a statement.
Council members said they had amended the legislation to address health concerns by requiring vendors to take food handling and safety certification classes, and submit to home kitchen inspections. D.C. Health will also be able to issue citations to offending vendors and revoke licenses if the vendor is found to be the cause of food-borne illnesses.
The bill also decreases the overall cost of being a vendor. If signed and allowed to become law by Congress, the price of an annual vending site permit would drop from $600 to $75, and the cost of a license will drop from $1,000 to $99.
Additionally, the bill effectively decriminalizes street vending without a license. Under the new bill, officers can no longer physically detain vendors when handing out citations.
If signed, the law would make the District the third major city to adopt a major overhaul of its street vending regulations, following New York City and Los Angeles.
A provision to decriminalize street vending without a license was included in the council’s proposed overhaul of the District’s overall criminal code, but that bill died last month when President Biden declined to veto a congressional resolution blocking its implementation.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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