Long Beach has seized food or equipment from unpermitted street vendors more than a dozen times since late March, marking a shift in its strategy that, until early this year, focused on helping vendors comply with the city’s new licensing process.
Seizures began in January and have continued at an increasing pace. In total, enforcement staff have discarded vendors’ food and impounded equipment 21 times this year, according to a 50-page report Deputy City Manager Grace Yoon presented at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The city did not provide data on where the seizures took place.
Enforcement is prioritized based on complaints about unlicensed street vending, hundreds of which have been submitted via email, phone call or the Go Long Beach app, according to Yoon…