Fountain Valley is joining a growing number of cities in Orange County that require street vendors to obtain special permits before selling food or drink in public spaces or face fines and ultimately get their equipment impounded by local code enforcement officers.
But there could be limitations on how tight city enforcement can be.
Fountain Valley City Attorney Colin Burns cautioned that state law contains enforcement restraints on municipalities.
“There are limitations in what we can do with our food vending ordinance citations,” Burns said at the April 15 meeting. “Last time I checked, I believe we can only do an admin cite (citation).”
An administrative citation is “basically like a parking ticket,” Burns said in a follow-up phone interview, adding it’s a non-criminal, non-civil enforcement method that doesn’t go through the court system unless appealed.
“It doesn’t carry a criminal record, it doesn’t imply a crime has been committed — it’s simply a fine issued by the city,” he said.
The Fountain Valley City Council approved a new ordinance requiring vendors to obtain and display a valid Orange County Health Care Agency permit — in addition to an existing city permit — before doing business.
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The city council discussed the amendment during its April 15 meeting, citing concerns that current regulations do not adequately ensure that food sold by street vendors meets health standards.
The council approved the proposed changes unanimously during that meeting and finalized the changes on May 6.
The new rules require vendors to show proof of an active county health permit when applying for a city vending license and visibly display both permits while operating.
“In 2024, Fountain Valley formed the Street Vendor Task Force made up of Code Enforcement, Police Department, Public Works Department and the Orange County Health Department,” Principal Planner Steve Ayers said during the April 15 meeting. “What they’ve found is the common issue is that street vendors don’t have approval from Orange County Health.”
City code enforcement officers can also impound equipment if vendors are caught operating without proper permits or creating public safety risks.
Joshua Aronsen, lead code enforcement officer for the city, wrote in an email that seized items are red-tagged by the Orange County Health Department and held by the city for up to 30 days.
If no one requests a hearing to claim the items within that time, the equipment is dismantled and recycled.
The city already required street vendors to apply for a city-based permit, a rule that came into effect following the 2019 passage of California Senate Bill 946.
However, according to Ayers, the city’s municipal code did not initially require vendors to show proof of a county health department permit during the application process. He said the new change aims to close that loophole.
“These changes ensure that food vendors comply with county health standards, helping to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare,” Ayers said.
Despite enforcement restrictions, city officials emphasized the importance of tightening regulations to maintain community standards.
Councilmembers broadly supported the new requirement and emphasized that displaying the permits prominently at vending sites should also be mandated.
“When I go by the vendors that have cut-up fruit, they don’t have any paperwork displayed,” Councilmember Kim Constantine said during the meeting.
“We need to ensure that we’re being complete and very thoughtful about this,” she said. “Why would they not be able to [display a permit]? We’re talking tables and chairs, we’re talking a cart. There’s no way that it would be that they cannot display.”
Councilmember Patrick Harper echoed those concerns during the April 15 meeting, amending the proposal to require that any applicable permits be visible to the public.
“I think this is a good amendment to the ordinance … having them show the permit during the application process, I think it’ll prevent a lot of trouble on the back end,” Harper said. “Both permits – the city permit and the health department permit – need to be shown.”
The new policy will give the city the authority to penalize vendors operating without the required documentation. Violations could lead to administrative citations, permit suspensions or the seizure of vending equipment.
“I just want to make sure we get this right,” Mayor Ted Bui said at the April 15 meeting.
As Fountain Valley continues to grow its local economy and street food scene, city officials say the new rules are a necessary step to ensure that all residents and visitors can enjoy safe, high-quality food.
The city joins a host of Orange County cities working to tighten enforcement on unpermitted street vending.
Anaheim and Rancho Santa Margarita introduced similar measures last year.
Anaheim officials passed a new ordinance allowing code enforcement to impound equipment if vendors violate city rules.
In Rancho Santa Margarita, the council created time and place restrictions on sidewalk vendors, prohibiting vendors from selling food in residential areas. All vendors are also required to obtain a permit from the city and a health permit from the county.
[Read: Two More Orange County Cities Crack Down on Street Vendors]
Buena Park also allows code enforcement officers to impound equipment and goods from vendors operating without permits.
In 2023, Placentia began requiring that taco vendors, paleteros and food truck operators obtain permits under new regulations targeting sidewalk vending.
The change in Fountain Valley comes after a year of increased enforcement, with the Street Vendor Task Force conducting 16 evening inspections between March 2024 and March 2025.