Legislature May Soon Regulate Sidewalk Vendors
The Nevada legislature is considering a bill to regulate sidewalk vendors of food and other merchandise.
According to an article by Michael Bell on Fox5Vegas.com, Nevada Senator Fabian Doñate is conducting the first hearings on bill SB92 today. The bill would set rules for street and sidewalk vendors of food and merchandise. At this time, the bill would only affect vendors in counties or cities with populations of 100,000 or more. In Nevada, that involves Washoe and Clark counties.
I grew up in New York City where sidewalk vendors of street food are prevalent. Hot dog carts, bagel and coffee carts, roasted chestnut carts during the holiday season, pretzel carts, ethnic food carts; the list goes on and on. Here in Las Vegas, there really has not been a large number of sidewalk vendors due to the fact that food and beverages have been historically inexpensive in order to draw tourists and visitors into the hotels and casinos. However, now that food and beverage prices have skyrocketed, grabbing a quick hot dog outside of places like Allegiant Stadium doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.
But, the Southern Nevada Heath District warns: “Buyer beware!” Kim Passoth wrote an article back in January on Fox5Vegas.com, which warns us to make sure any sidewalk vendor has a legitimate permit for operating the business. They must follow the same rules and regulations as restaurants. If you purchase food from a vendor who does not have a permit, you may make yourself and your family sick. You may also be enabling human trafficking, as many of these unpermitted vendors have been sold into slavery and brought here illegally.
Per Michael Bell’s article: “The Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus said in a statement the bill is looking to make it accessible for vendors to obtain a vendor license and stop the criminalization of street vendors. Also, it will reduce the risk of vendor exploitation, or working under a person, due to their legal status or license documentation requirements.”
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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.