Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration unveiled plans for a new public street vending program Tuesday as a court battle over the previous program continues.
The proposed public vending ordinance outlines everything from items vendors would be allowed to sell, to the design of carts and kiosks they can operate, to where their businesses can be located. Pending approval by the Atlanta City Council as early as next week, the new program will be overseen by the Atlanta Police Department’s License and Permits Unit.
In its first phase, the program would allow for 31 vendors to operate on public streets in downtown Atlanta. The second phase, city officials say, would begin early next year and add more than 50 locations for carts across the city, including on the Atlanta Beltline.
City officials said vendors will not be allowed to return to Five Points, a once-popular downtown location for vendors that prompted complaints of disorderliness. And the proposal leaves out options near Turner Field, though city officials note vendors can sell there on nearby private property.
“The city is acting to create a best-in-class program that prevents our public spaces from being turned into ‘swap meets’ such as the kind that existed prior to my administration’s decision to remove them,” Reed said in a statement Tuesday.
Hans Utz, chief deputy operating officer, said city officials studied vending programs across the country to develop the proposal.
Several vendors, who have been unable to sell their wares on public property since earlier this year, urged the council’s public safety committee to pass the legislation. It could possibly allow them to operate as soon as next week, pending full council approval.
Still, some vendors had concerns about the parameters.
Michael Gray, a downtown vendor who sells convenience store-styled items, asked the committee to phase in the proposed required fees: a $75 permit application fee for all locations, and a $2,500 annual maintenance fee.
“No one is against the $2,500. We just need a few months to get our feet back on the ground,” he said.
Larry Miller, head of the Atlanta Vendors Association who has been embroiled in a lawsuit against the city over public vending, was concerned about operating out of a cart required in the proposal.
The proposed program would require vendors to purchase carts from any number of sources, provided the carts meet specific design guidelines.
“You want to come in and condense what I’ve been doing for 20 years to a cart,” said Miller, a long-time vendor near Turner Field. “(That’s) nearly impossible.”
Public street vendors haven’t been able to sell their goods this year after a long legal battle with city officials over the right to operate on public streets.
The legal conflict began when former Mayor Shirley Franklin, in an effort to clean up the haphazard look of street vending, turned over the program to a private company.
Miller and fellow vendor Stanley Hambrick challenged that move and won last December when Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn LaGrua struck down the agreement with Chicago-based General Growth Properties.
City officials say that decision effectively tossed out the entire public street vending program, though attorneys for the vendors say the ruling means the city must revert to its former law.
The judge has since issued orders clarifying her ruling. City officials are appealing LaGrua’s decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Robert Frommer, an attorney with the Virginia-based Institute for Justice representing the vendors in the suit, questioned whether the proposed program had been properly vetted.
He said the council “should assert its authority as Atlanta’s law-making body by demanding that Mayor Reed let the vendors return to work before it will consider his proposal.”
The legislation could soon bring relief to the vendors, who say they’ve lost significant wages during the past several months. (Vendors have been able to sell on private property with permits.)
The legislation received a green light from the committee and now heads to the full council for approval.
About the Author
