Consider your Danger Dog endangered. Changes could come to Los Angeles parks and beaches as an ordinance starts today technically banning unlicensed commerce ranging from street vendors to workout classes, according to a report from KPCC.
While we still don't know what changes the ordinance will actually cause, the city officials say the purpose of the crackdowns are mostly to regulate unlicensed fitness trainers. Under the new rules they have to apply for a license and pay up. But for street vendors, those permits aren't available.
Later this year the Los Angeles City Council is expected to consider a proposal that will allow street vendors to operate legally across the city. But according to a recent report from the Los Angeles Daily News, the proposal is making storefront restaurants nervous—especially considering the recent hikes in state minimum wage, which is expected to rise to $15 per hour by 2020. On January 1, 2016 the statewide minimum wage will be set at $10 per hour.
Restaurant owners argue that they will be hit the hardest by the minimum wage increase since they employ a large number of minimum wage workers. The hike, and competition could lead to cutting hours and even positions. Carol Schatz heads a coalition made up of 1,000 stores, restaurants and business groups called Central City Association. She told Daily News that storefronts face far more hurdles than their street vendor competitors, such as paying rent and taxes.
Right now Daily News repots about 50,000 people work from carts and stands in neighborhoods across the city, including Van Nuys, Pico-Union and Boyle Heights. If the proposal passes in City Council, it would mean regulation and protection for the vendors as well as a boost to the local economy, thanks to the $43 million in state and local tax revenue that the motion would pull in each year, Daily News reports. Members of the council such as Gil Cedillo are supporting the motion. He told the Los Angeles Daily News in a statement that the proposal is meant to make sure the workers are treated with the "respect they deserve," and will also benefit the economy.