After months of backlash from local restaurant owners, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday moved to establish a multi-agency task force to stop the spread of illegal street vendors.

The board heard the proposal during a meeting held at the County Administration Building in Santa Barbara, and it voted to approve the item in a 4-0 vote.

Supervisor Roy Lee abstained from the discussion because he owns a Carpinteria restaurant.

The task force will include Environmental Health Services, Public Works, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office.

Also included will be representatives from the cities of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. The task force will work with the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the County of Ventura.

The board approved a six-month timeline for the task force and decided it would be operated out of the County Executive Office.

The hope is that by coordinating among multiple agencies, they will be better able to enforce county health codes.

Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann brought the task force proposal to the board after speaking out about the increase of illegal street vendors since last year.

Gina Fischer, Hartmann’s chief of staff, presented the plan to the board and explained why residents are asking for the county to step in.

She said the concern around street vendors is primarily a public health issue, and that the county has had 137 notices of violations since January.

Fischer shared photos of unrefrigerated rice, beans and raw meat. She said unrefrigerated food can grow bacteria if it is left at room temperature for long enough.

She also showed dirty vans and said that if the health department had found a restaurant that looked like that, it would have been shut down.

“Folks may patronize these stands because they think they’re being altruistic or that they’re helping a neighbor out or that the hours of these operations are convenient, and the food might even taste pretty good, but really people are taking a huge gamble with their health by consuming this unverified food,” Fischer said.

She concluded by noting that residents also may be contributing to operations that take advantage of employees who make the food. Those operators also undermine local restaurants, she said.

During public comment, multiple residents spoke out in support of forming the task force.

Mark Philibosian, who lives on the Eastside of Santa Barbara, said that a year ago there was a single cart but now stands can be found up and down Milpas Street.

He added that some vendors will save a corner by hiding tents and other equipment near their usual spot.

“I’m not in the restaurant business, but my heart goes out to the local owners. It’s an extremely hard business, and I think we’re turning our back on them,” Philibosian said.

It’s not the first time the county has been asked to crack down on street vendors. In October, restaurant owners and members of the public appeared at a meeting of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments to share their experiences and urge government officials to take a tougher approach on street vendors.

The popularity of street vendors exploded in 2018 after the signing of Senate Bill 946, which legalized street vending on a state level and outlined protections for street vendors across California.

Many of those protections were meant to protect immigrants, who make up a significant number of street vendors and could have been unfairly targeted, according to Fischer.

However, she said, the law has had unintended consequences.

Despite the legalization of streetside food, county officials say many vendors do not obtain proper food licenses or follow health codes. According to the county’s Environmental Health Services, many street vendors do not use appropriate sanitation methods, properly refrigerate perishable food, or provide breaks or bathrooms for employees.

Another issue is the illegal dumping of grease in storm drains or gutters, which officials say can cause them to clog.

The supervisors expressed interest in the task force during questioning but seemed cautious about approving it. One of the issues brought up by Supervisor Laura Capps was the lack of an end date for the task force and the cost of funding the project.

“I just want to put some boundaries on creating a new entity that could, as government tends to do, create like a life of its own, and more bureaucracy, more funding and more work for people,” Capps said.

She added that she was concerned about the cost of running the task force. Ventura County was running a pilot program for a similar task force that had cost $2 million, staff said.

Hartmann expressed support for the project and said the task force could be cost effective.  

“The different agencies have authorities, and if they’re coordinated, I think we can get a lot of bang for our existing buck, but we haven’t had that coordination and we need somebody to lead that. And again, I think we need the board to say that this is a priority for our community,” Hartmann said.

In the end, the board decided to approve the report and order the task force to report back in six months.