TITLE
Recommendation to direct City Attorney to draft resolution to have the City’s legislative advocates in Sacramento, in collaboration with the City Manager and all relevant City departments, to support legislation to enact changes to the California Retail Food Code that will make it more sensitive to the context of sidewalk food vending while ensuring food safety.
DISCUSSION
Recommended changes to the California Retail Food Code that can include, among other changes, the following:
1. Streamlining approvals for code-compliant carts, including by giving more discretion to local health authorities to approve innovative design and encouraging the pre-approval of cart design blueprints to catalyze manufacturing of affordable sidewalk carts at a scale that meets the need;
2. Revising regulations around the slicing of fruits and vegetables and the hot-holding of prepared foods to establish clear and easy-to-follow safety protocols that account for the types of foods commonly sold by sidewalk vendors;
3. Simplifying onerous sink, power, water, fire safety and other equipment requirements;
4. Creating a process for addressing non-compliance without criminal penalties.
Direct the Health and Human Services Department (Health Department), in collaboration with other relevant departments, to report back in 120 days with strategies the Department can implement to improve sidewalk vendors’ access to health permits allowing the sale of food, including but not limited to:
1. Creating new materials summarizing application requirements that are specific to sidewalk vending, using popular education and accessible language;
2. In consultation with the City Attorney and with the identification of additional revenues by the City Manager, assess the legality and cost implications for waiving or reducing permit fees for low-income applicants;
3. Streamlining the permit application process;
4. In consultation with other relevant departments, develop a plan for (i) identifying exi...
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