L.A. City Council to Consider Venice Beach Boardwalk Ordinance

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday will consider an ordinance regulating vending on the Venice Beach boardwalk that largely restricts the sale of commercial goods and services.

The draft ordinance regulating vending on Ocean Front Walk would prohibit commercial vending and designate certain areas for artists and performers to set up and perform.

The ordinance (see attached) would designate 205 spaces on the boardwalk for use on a first-come, first-served system and would prohibit anyone from setting up or reserving a space between sunset and 9 a.m.

It would set aside five, double-sized spaces for performers who must relinquish the space on the hour, if someone else is waiting to perform.

The ordinance would ban the sale of clothes, sunglasses, incense, candy, jewelry, toys. It also would prohibit massages and skin ink.

Vendors will still be able to sell books, paintings, recordings, sculptures or other works they have created.

Spaces will be open for traditional speech activities, including the distribution of newspapers, fliers, pamphlets, bumper stickers and patches.

The ordinance also would set aside two spaces on the Venice Beach boardwalk for food distribution

The boardwalk hosts about 16 million visitors annually and the uregulated vending and performances have created a "flea market" atmosphere on the boardwalk. The current system also has caused numerous disputes over spaces that have sometimes become violent and required police intervention, the draft ordinance said.