Davis now expects its vending rules in 2027, after more outreach

Davis's proposed rules for food trucks, carts and other mobile vendors on private property won't reach the Planning Commission until 2027, Principal Planner Dara Dungworth told commissioners on Oct. 28. She said the city had published the public hearing notice required for the ordinance amendment, but then decided to take more time for public outreach and for more analysis of the draft sidewalk vending ordinance, because the city wants a fair and transparent program for both kinds of vending. The city manager directed staff to continue that work, she said. When the mobile vending ordinance comes back will depend on how that outreach and the sidewalk vending analysis go; staff want to hear from sidewalk vendors, mobile vendors and the wider business community. She did not give a date for the sidewalk vending ordinance, which goes directly to the City Council.

The commission's calendar, published for the Oct. 28 meeting, lists the private-property mobile vending ordinance among pending items with no set date. The commission has no regular meeting in November, when its usual dates fall on Veterans Day and the day before Thanksgiving, though the calendar says a special meeting could be called if needed. Its Dec. 9 slot goes to a General Plan Committee meeting, and its next regular meeting is Jan. 13, 2027.

The timeline has slipped before. The sidewalk vending ordinance was postponed earlier this year so it could be packaged with the private-property rules, staff told the commission in June, when they expected the two to reach the council in August or September. In July, the city manager told the council the vending ordinance would probably be the first of several pending items to come forward over the following six months. On July 22 the commission held a workshop on a preliminary draft; the staff report said a hearing would be scheduled once a final draft was ready, and that the two ordinances would go to the council as a single program with a streamlined permit process.

Until new rules are adopted, Davis has no permit program for either kind of vending, staff said in July; the package would add business license and permit requirements. The July draft for private property would create an annual mobile vending permit and restrict vending within 500 feet of schools, among other limits. Many health standards for food vendors fall under Yolo County's environmental health department, staff said.