Challenging the City of Fontana’s Unlawful Street Vending Rules

Despite strong California laws protecting the rights of street vendors, the City of Fontana has implemented local ordinances clearly designed to drive vendors out of the city. These anti-vending regulations impose burdensome and unlawful requirements, including expensive multi-million dollar insurance policies not required of brick-and-mortar businesses selling similar goods, and annual background checks.

Fontana has further escalated the situation by partnering with a third-party contractor to aggressively enforce these ordinances. This enforcement often involves harassment, confiscation of vendors’ carts and equipment, and the destruction of their food and supplies. Moreover, Fontana criminalizes any perceived interference with enforcement, subjecting vendors to penalties of up to six months imprisonment, and imposes a mandatory 30-day hold on confiscated property. These punitive measures directly violate state laws that decriminalize and legalize street vending statewide.

The City’s actions have resulted in hundreds of confiscations of food and goods, and more than 80 instances of impounded equipment, causing financial and emotional harm to dozens of street vendors. Additionally, very few vendors have been able to obtain vending licenses in the city due to its onerous and unlawful permitting requirements.