The Long Beach Post reports that Long Beach's emerging street-level taco culture and the laws around them were the central subject of last night's city council meeting.
Specifically, the council focused on preliminarily approving how much permits will cost for street food vendors within Long Beach city limits. These new sets of permit and inspection fees come two years after California senator and former council member Lena Gonzalez wrote the framework for street vending legalization across California.
According to the article, a frutero's (fruit vendors) health fees will cost $1,175. In contrast, a curbside taquería will be required to pay $730 annually for a health permit and a one-time inspection fee of $1,165, according to figures presented to the council Tuesday. These fees include the required liability insurance that street vendors will have.
Street vending advocates voiced their concerns with the new fees and called for them to be reduced. The city council opted to offer vendors a subsidy of up to $1,500 to help cover the costs for the first year of the new law.
The rules come a week after a confrontation on Atlantic Avenue and Artesia Boulevard between a street taco stand vendor and a brick-and-mortar taquería ended in a physical assault.