At the Brentwood Community Council meeting on Jan. 3, Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin’s representative Sharon Shapiro discussed the ongoing issue of food trucks in Brentwood that are causing public safety hazards.
Shapiro urged residents to attend the Jan. 11 Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) meeting, where Bonin was introducing a motion, calling on the City to look at incremental ticketing of food trucks.
Some of the most egregious violations are happening on Bundy Drive and Kenter Avenue between Sunset and San Vicente Blvds., where food trucks continue to park all day – sometimes six day per week – despite clearly designated signs stating that doing so is illegal.
However, because the trucks have minimal overhead costs, they are prepared to absorb the current fine of $73 as part of their operating costs. Currently, the law only allows the trucks to receive one citation per day, but it does also allow for a graduated fine schedule and multiple citations that can be issued within a 12-month period. The first violation is still $73, the second, $123 and third and subsequent violations $173.
However, Bonin is pushing for greater fines. At the Jan. 11 LADOT hearing in Downtown Los Angeles, Bonin told the transportation committee, “We’ve been having chronic problems with the City’s inability to enforce oversize vehicles, particularly food trucks.”
He noted that there have already been two car crashes near Bundy and Shetland because of repeat offender food trucks. “One crash involved a woman who was eight and a half months pregnant,” Bonin said. “She was T-boned because she was unable to see around the large food trucks illegally parked there. It’s become a real public safety issue.”
Several Brentwood residents came to speak at the hearing including Brentwood Community Council Chair Emerita Nancy Freedman who read out a list of officials and residents who had tried, in vain, to have two trucks removed from Brentwood.
Brentwood Homeowners Association Vice President Donald Keller said, “Not only are these food truck operators scofflaws but [ignoring the posted signage] makes them guilty of intent to violate the law as passed by the L.A. City Council. This is the reason that we ask the City to examine this existing law and make this intent to violate the law more serious with additional fines and penalties.”
The motion calls on the City Attorney amend the current violation laws to allow the issuance of multiple citations for the same violation if the vehicle remains at the same location after 30 minutes of receiving a citation and every subsequent 30 minutes if they fail to move. These citations would follow the incremental fee schedule of $73, $123 and $173.
LADOT also requested that language printed on the citations would advise that there would be the possibility of multiple citations for noncompliance.
The Transportation Committee agreed that the City Attorney’s office should draft a revised ordinance, working in conjunction with LADOT.
