April–October Pilot Outreach Program Follows Adoption of New Ordinance
Santa Barbara County will launch a focused sidewalk food vending enforcement effort from April through October 2026 following the Board of Supervisors’ adoption of a Sidewalk Vending Ordinance and approval of a six-month Pilot Outreach Program.
The outreach program responds to a measurable increase in unlawful roadside and sidewalk food vending following passage of State laws, including SB 946 (2018) and SB 972 (2022), which limited local enforcement authority and expanded sidewalk vending activity.
While intended to promote entrepreneurship, these laws reduced local regulatory tools and contributed to growing public health and safety challenges.
Documented Public Health and Safety Risks
Since May 2023, County Environmental Health Services (EHS) has issued 223 Notices of Violation to vendors operating without required health permits. Inspections have identified serious hazards, including:
- Food stored or transported without refrigeration
- Improper cooking and holding temperatures
- No handwashing facilities
- Cross-contamination and unsanitary food handling
- Cockroach and pest infestations
- Open-flame cooking in high fire hazard areas
- Roadside vending along Highways 154 and 246 creating traffic hazards
- Illegal dumping of grease and food waste
In 2025 alone, EHS staff logged more than 400 hours of overtime conducting after-hours and weekend inspections. Between September 2025 and January 2026, nine compliance operations resulted in 14 Notices of Violation and the voluntary disposal of approximately 575 pounds of contaminated meat.
“Protecting the public’s health and safety is our highest responsibility as Supervisors,” said Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann. “State law has narrowed local enforcement tools for stopping unsafe food vending, but we are adapting to ensure food is prepared and sold safely in our communities.”
Chair of the Board of Supervisors, Bob Nelson emphasized the importance of strong enforcement to protect permitted businesses. “Lawful restaurants and vendors invest in permits, inspections, and compliance with food safety standards,” said Chair Nelson. “We have a responsibility to ensure a level playing field and protect both consumers and business owners who follow the rules.”
What the Ordinance Requires
The ordinance establishes clear requirements for vendors operating in the unincorporated area. Vendors must obtain a seller’s permit, business license, and, if selling food or beverages, a County health permit. Vending is limited to paved sidewalks and pedestrian paths intended for pedestrian travel.
Approved sidewalk food vendors may sell low-risk, preapproved food items from small carts or stands on public sidewalks, provided they maintain all required permits. This includes: paleteros, fruteros, fruit cart vendors, and other compact mobile food operators.
Large “pop-up” restaurant-style setups, open-flame grills, operations involving raw meat or high-risk foods, and vending in streets, roadways, medians, or bike lanes are not permitted due to increased public health and safety risks.
Pilot Outreach Program
The April–October Pilot Program establishes a coordinated outreach and enforcement team consisting of Environmental Health Services, Public Works, and the Sheriff’s Office. Up to 15 compliance events will be conducted in areas where violations have been concentrated.
Outreach team members will clearly identify themselves as County staff and will not collect or share vendors’ citizenship status during health permitting or inspections.
Violators will receive a notice of violation and may be fined or have their equipment and food impounded.
Residents may report concerns about unpermitted food vendors to Environmental Health Services at 805-681-4900 (Santa Barbara) or 805-346-8460 (Santa Maria), or through the County’s online reporting form http://bit.ly/3W9cQhS
For more information about Environmental Health Services, visit the County’s website at www.countyofsb.org
The ordinance and materials presented to the Board may be found here: County of Santa Barbara – File #: 26-00135
Safe Sidewalk Vending Information and Guide: Safe Sidewalk Vending Information | Santa Barbara County, CA – Official Website
Also Read
- Santa Barbara Unified Launches “Designing the Armory Together” Campaign; Seeks Community Input on New CTE Center
- County Board of Supervisors Budget Workshops This Week
- County Reopens Maria Ygnacio Bike Path Temporary Bridge Constructed Over Undermined Path Section
- Vandenberg Space Force Base Takes ‘Mission Update’ to Carpinteria
- City of Goleta Hosts 4th Annual Senior Expo on April 23
This is rich – NIMBY STATE.
“Residents may report concerns about unpermitted food vendors to Environmental Health Services at 805-681-xxxx (Santa Barbara) or 805-346-xxxx (Santa Maria),
There a many things that society agrees should not be done in anyone’s backyard. We stop people from dumping their sewage in their backyard; no one can raise pigs there in most parts of a municipality; fences have height limits to protect neighbors use of their property; people can’t have a high decibel party to three a.m. in their backyard; one can’t shoot firearms into targets in residential backyards (I hope) in most places. fireworks can’t be sent soaring overhead, etc. But these exploitative businesses are not in backyards but on public sidewalks. These spaces were set aside for public safety and mobility. Blocking them is in itself an anti-social act. Anyway, objections to this practice are not appropriately trivialized by name calling them NIMBYs or Karens or racists. Let’s speak to the impact and deal with what rights the public has to protect public spaces for public purposes.
Cry me a river RHS – it’s the same people who call the ICE hotline to report brown people working in a restaurant they feel ‘might” be undocumented. That IS going on. Spend a couple million on stopping the fentanyl in our streets or feeding the poor or solving real problems – Use the money for something more pressing than regulating taco and fruit stand regulations. Your examples are of no value – an adult chooses to go to a taco stand .
And SAC is right – when your kids have a bake sale that contain eggs or dairy – the cops need to roll up, take all of their equipment, product and money, and write the parents hefty violations. But nope, only going to attack taco stands and street corn vendors.
Santa Barbara is not South Central L.A., where the authorities routinely ignore quality of life issues because of how they prioritize felony-level offenses. The presence of illegal pop-up restaurants and other vending in our communities is a serious nuisance that must be properly dealt with by the authorities. No one is above the law. If we tolerate lawlessness from illegal street vendors, then that will cause more lawlessness.
Kids are normally in school. They can only be seen on the streets on a school night from the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Kids are not operating illegal pop-up restaurants on the sidwalk where they engage in open-flame cooking in high fire hazard areas.
On illegal migration, it is a serious issue that hurts communities. The American people made it clear that we need more robust enforcement of our immigration laws.
I’m a registered Democrat.
> I’m a registered Democrat
Who repeats false right wing talking points about people without documentation of citizenship.
> The American people made it clear that
they want to see the unredacted Epstein files, want the illegal war against Iran to end, and disapprove of Trump’s immigration policies, especially the behavior of ICE.
Who cares what party you’re in? Karens/Kens transcend politics. Plenty of snobby, entitled old liberals who whine about everything. You know, like seeing other people eating tacos from a distance….
I own a Lamborghini.
RHS – being on the sidewalk doesn’t always mean “blocking” it. I’ve never seen these operations preventing people from using the sidewalk and I eat at them often, especially downtown. Next, how are they “exploitative?”
These do not affect you or anyone else who doesn’t eat at them in any way. I am so tired of the constant crying about what others do.
– “They’re unfair to brick and mortars” – no they’re not. They serve an entirely different clientele and are open when others are not.
– “They make people sick” – Never have I ever gotten sick, nor has anyone I have ever known, nor has anyone who constantly cries about these places. You’d think if people were getting sick left and right, someone in all these THOUSANDS of comments and posts here, Nextdoor and everywhere would have said “My friend go sick blah blah blah”
– “They’re coming from LA” – who cares?
Look, if they’re dumping grease, then yes, STOP THAT. Have people check on them. Heck, even require some INexpensive certification on basic health measures so they operate in safer manner, BUT ENOUGH ALREADY with the CONSTANT drive by photos (WHEN YOUR EYES SHOULD BE ON THE ROAD) of food stands and trucks with taco meat in them. Having a “hotline” now will only encourage our local racists to call in everytime they see a certain color person trying to sell food or anything, BUT NEVER for kids selling cookies and lemonade on the corner.
FFS, give it a rest people!
The illegal sidewalk vendors impede access to the sidewalk for pedestrians, which should result in criminal citations. These operations are exploitative, because the workers who operate them earn less than the minimum wage and do not express compliance with a myriad of labor and public health regulations.
You underestimate the extent to which activity can affect everyone in a community. One reason why marijuana dispensaries are not allowed to operate in many jurisdictions is because people believe that the presence of them negatively impacts the quality of life. We have also heard many complaints about excessive noise from night clubs. Likewise, citizens have routinely expressed concern about the threats to health and safety caused by illegal sidewalk vending. The hard-working people of Santa Barbara County have expressed through this Pilot Outreach Program that they want clean, peaceful, and safe sidewalks, because unimpeded access to the sidewalk is a God-given right.
> unimpeded access to the sidewalk is a God-given right
Congratulations on completely destroying your credibility.
Zeus has no opinion on sidewalk access.
” unimpeded access to the sidewalk is a God-given right.” Absolute far-right Christian nationalist nonsense.
Daniel Paulsen, Please apply the same laws to bake sales, Jan 6 at the capital, and ALL of the criminals in the Epstein files that your President is hiding, and smoke and smells from oil refineries.
Public health regulations on vending of food in the streets vary based on what kind of food is involved. There are stricter regulations for food involving the preparation of raw of meat than candy bars.
The global economy depends on oil. If every single sidewalk vendor around here vanished tomorrow, we would be better off.
The global economy subsidizes oil by ignoring it’s damaging effects, leaving it to the public to shoulder that burden.
I am not sure that the world wants to be judged by your limited experience. Maybe you never got typhoid so we should not worry about that either?
RHS – if you’re worrying about typhoid, then there’s not much I can do to help you. I bet a drama class might help if you’re interested. You’ve sure go the talent!
I think he mistyped, he meant Hep A.
BASIC – who has contracted Hep A from a taco stand? Ah nevermind, you’re just going to lie.
The pilot will cost 10 million dollars.
” a coordinated outreach and enforcement team consisting of Environmental Health Services, Public Works, and the Sheriff’s Office. Up to 15 compliance events will be conducted in areas where violations have been concentrated.”
Much overdue. Thanks to County Board of Supervisors for acting. Q: Do these rules apply in city limits as they deal health and sanitation?
I agree. Long overdue.
HAMMONDS – how has your life been affected by this?
Unpermitted sidewalk vending on has impacted public health, safety, and welfare because of lack of proper food handling and storage; obstruction of public right of ways; unsafe pedestrian congestion on sidewalks; accumulation of trash and debris on sidewalks and storm drains; grease and residue on sidewalks resulting in potential slip and fall incidents; disposal of oils and grease in storm drains; and aggressive behavior and resistance to enforcement by the vendors.
DANIEL – “pedestrian congestion?” You mean people eating food on the sidewalk? Oh no!
That’s a lot of drama there. If you don’t want to eat it, keep walking. There’s plenty room to walk by.
Look, I get it, they should be required to have a basic certification at a reasonable cost and if they’re littering, they should be required to clean it up. But can we please stop with the hysterics about “public safety” and all this?
Grown adults can make decisions on whether to risk eating delicious meats. No one else is harmed. This is not something we need to hear about every damn day on every local news site.
Seriously.
I’d rather they use the money to keep fentanyl off our streets. Tacos I can live with.
Someone seriously disagreed with using this money to stop fentanyl?
You taco-haters are so blind in your rage against people doing things that do not affect you in any way.
I guess I should explain something you seem confused about. Food poisoning is not contagious. This isn’t covid. If you don’t eat the meat, you are at ZERO RISK. Stop the crying.
I’m in Calabasas. We don’t have fentanyl on our streets.
But right across the border, within L.A. city limits, these illegal street food operations are widespread. It affects me because I’m a stakeholder of neighboring communities. I’m worried about illegal street food in Santa Barbara, because it has become a statewide issue at this point.
Weird thing to be concerned about. It sounds like you lose a lot of sleep.
DANIEL – that is an outright lie.
We can go ahead and dismiss the rest of your “concerns” about the meats WE chose to eat.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/calabasas-man-arraigned-indictment-alleging-he-ran-same-day-drug-delivery-service-car?bm-verify=AAQAAAAN_____8l9xNAcoWKHZeHlYNx7bcmd2f_8OTQNPyon_d6D3VoXO6l09NTsN_1BiIWKKsFEjLe27l8nnt_cNj3jZIkwabeekxa8n1ZyHM52zFEa71amual3B8vI4dkzZW1bWlxQSFius5B2HljuE_80zEo9NJbhE5hTwsuO3D9ubOAsn6H9oqZRg9TpXvlFo2ObaFGBBL62mkr1x-BVITKL9XEyn5Zu0uXXOq98yBfUSBpPwfnF9fBmhNxPpXrPcEzKvHSgmdUbIcIvvfEZAJRnEbJgyzV8FO3nMf51YUfoypWTP5h1g8OAb3cVWs-kkalS4xnNIVT-iErjAbgrb0d03rd-dXDy-WPCyCnIGLhySC9XsPRCNlHYL8FvLlXFViEldJUbDzKh2N_uXH268FLIs9A
And by the way, you absolutely have fentanyl all around you.
> I’m in Calabasas
who is trolling here. Dismissed.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/calabasas-man-arraigned-indictment-alleging-he-ran-same-day-drug-delivery-service-car
Ah, sac beat me to it (by a lot).
The truly remarkable thing is how Daniel’s claim undermines his whole shtick about how “It affects me because I’m a stakeholder of neighboring communities. I’m worried about illegal street food in Santa Barbara, because it has become a statewide issue at this point.”
But if the smug white guy has no issues in his affluent bedroom community then he has no reason to be trolling here.
It’s about time. Take a look at those photos – nasty conditions to eat your food from, and a disgusting way for a vendor to handle food. Third world stuff. I agree that this may become very costly to taxpayers, and if it starts to cost too much then the Sup’s can and should just ban them altogether. Problem solved. The main idea with this is, as Supervisor Nelson said, is fairness to those law-abiding businesses that follow the rules on health and safety, pay for permits, and comply with inspections.
Maybe there should be no bake sales. If eggs and dairy are used to bake something – then anyone doing a fundraiser should use a commercial kitchen. Oh wait, you can’t do that – It would affect white people….
False equivalence. Bake sales don’t involve the operation of what are effectively open-air restaurants on the public right-of-way on which there are unrefrigerated raw meats in broken containers without temperature control. The taco tents are required to have handwashing, temperature control of food, potable water, efficient electricity, but the operators of these businesses have shown no interest in complying with our regulations.
They contain dairy and eggs. There is no controls in the kitchen they were made. Technically a bake sale is illegal. As is a lemonade stand – especially since they block sidewalks.
There are different standards for raw meat and fruits. If there were kids on the sidewalk operating a grill involving unrefrigerated raw meat in broken containers, then the authorities suppress that as well.
Nope – what if the eggs were left to be warm for several days, or if there is fecal matter in the kitchen the items were made. Also, lemonade stands block sidewalks and compete with stores and restaurants that are permitted to do business and sell beverages.
Silly stuff as always.
School fundraising doesn’t compete with tax-paying legal brick and mortar businesses. But hey, you can keep hitting McDonalds and other giant chains if that’s your thing. Small businesses don’t have it easy, do the right thing, and should be supported. We can tell you never owned one.
Basic, As usual, you moved the target. First you cried about public safety. Food coming from a home kitchen may not be safe (especially if it includes eggs and dairy). So, why shouldn’t the law be applied equally? Others cried about blocking sidewalks = When Lemonade stands do the same thing. But now you are concerned about $2 competing with brick and mortar businesses (kind of sad if someone blames their crummy restaurant losses on $2 tacos, I wouldn’t want to eat there). I don’t have to defend my business acumen . You are not a business owner and likely never has been, so I am not sure how you think you can tell I have never owned a business. I’ve sold several of my businesses for very handsome and life changing profits. Don’t be mad at successful business people while hating the 9 to 5 slog at the cubicle. We get it Basic – white people victimhood, division politics, and culture wars.
Trump crashed the job market. Starting to see more mid week garage sales. There is a critical mass to how many Uber drivers there can be.
And now he’s tanking the market. Cost me 30k in the last ten days. Irritating.
Oh no! That NEVER happens. What a shame. Maybe change up your investment portfolio asap?
It’s not that big a thing, I was up 19 percent on the year before I liquidated these positions to move them into something else. You can’t always cash out at the top. You’re not a little irritated that Trump is costing you money?