Receive a presentation on the “Road to Licensure” Pilot Program for Unlicensed Food Vendors in the City of Woodland, and provide feedback and recommendations to staff on the Conceptual Options List as a pilot program as a potential budget augmentation request in the Adopted Budget. (No general fund impact) (Pinedo/Espitia/Perez) (Est. Time: 20 min)

In recent years, the County has seen an increase in unlicensed street food vendors, particularly in the City of Woodland. There are a variety of reasons for this increase. People operating locally make an essential source of income, create employment opportunities, and are afforded the flexibility to take care of their families. The main issue is that food prepared by pop-up street food vendors is typically prepared from a private home or unpermitted restaurant or facility, compromising the health and safety of consumers. In addition, unlicensed street food vending has an impacted brick-and-mortar businesses’ ability to compete because, as registered businesses, they are required to pay taxes and fees to operate lawfully that in effect raise their food prices. Street food tents often sell on sites which may be dangerous to health and safety for the employees and patrons, as they have been observed selling food in gas station parking lots with flammable appliances, near dumpsters, and heavily trafficked streets. Finally, street food tents also lack the proper food storage facilities, hand washing stations, and food-safe temperature control mechanisms. These scenarios increase the risk of accidents or food-borne illnesses which compromise public safety. The street food vendors may lack the awareness for safe food-handling and legal licensure, as well as lack the necessary channels and education for standards compliance. For this reason, County of Yolo staff propose a pilot program to collaborate with the City of Woodland to address this multi-layered issue.  

The Yolo County Administrator’s Office conducted a survey to gather specific data about unlicensed food vending activity in the City of Woodland. County staff drove within a designated perimeter encapsulating the City of Woodland to capture all main roads and residential areas. Collected data include location descriptions, food menu descriptions, equipment descriptions, food-borne illness risk level, menu prices, number of customers, number of staff, and payment transaction methods. Each observation represents every single instance a vendor was seen engaged in street food vending by staff.

Research Methodology and Key Considerations:
1- Four observation periods per day, Monday-Sunday: 8am, 12pm, 6pm, 9pm.

2- 112 Observations were recorded from 8 days of driving: July 21^st, July 30^th, August 1^st - August 6^th = 32 total drives.

3- The 112 Observations were consolidated by mapping each location and removing known duplicate operations with matching descriptions. Through this process, 27 estimated unique street food vendors were counted.

4- Risk level (Exempt/Minimal/High) uses Environmental Health labels.

c. High-Risk = Cooking raw meat, serving meat products, cooked dishes, full meals requiring multiple temperature-controlled items, and safe food storage. (i.e. Beef, Pork, Lamb, Seafood, Chicken, Sauces/salsas, etc.)

 

Operation Category	Risk Level	Permitted (P) Unpermitted (UNP)	Unique Vendor Estimated Count	Percent (%) Estimated Count
Pop-ups	Low	UNP	5	19%
Pop-ups	High	UNP	7	26%
Pushcart	Low	UNP	9	33%
Large Scale Pop-ups	High	UNP	3	11%
Packaged Fruit	Prepackaged	No Permit Required	3	11%
Total Unique Vendor Estimated Count			27

All duplicate addresses and descriptions were consolidated and mapped. The total count of unique street food vendors is estimated to be 27 independent operations.

Pop-ups and Pushcarts-
The majority of Pop-ups in the City of Woodland present a High-Risk of foodborne illness transmission for the public and are considered unlicensed since state regulations do not qualify makeshift tents or stoves for licensure. The complex temperature control measures necessary to handle meats, sauces, pre-cooked sides, and a lengthy food menu would require a high level of investment into specialized equipment capable of supporting their existing operations in a licensed capacity.

Pop-ups that are Low-Risk sell cut fruit, tejuino beverages, shaved ice, and prepared chip snacks sold out of personal coolers, ice boxes, and vehicles, unlike the pushcart model of operations. These present a Low-Risk of foodborne illness transmission because of temperature control measure issues, lack of hand-washing capabilities, preparation outside of a certified kitchen facility, and minimal handling of food products. The non-complex temperature control measures and simple menu offerings provide flexibility to acquire less complex specialized equipment to support their existing operations in a licensed capacity.

All pushcarts are selling Low-Risk food product categories such as cut fruit, shaved ice, or prepared snack products. If each pushcart found at nine locations across Woodland are unique businesses, then there are an estimated nine pushcarts operating in Woodland.

Staff considers the small Pop-ups and Pushcart operations the most likely to benefit from a formalized pathway to licensure program. As such, this group of 21 vendors are the intended population for the potential pilot program described later in the staff report.

Large Scale Pop-ups-
These named businesses have the means to compete with local brick-and-mortar restaurants in the City of Woodland. Their local renown and high cost of initial investment into their operations give them the potential capacity to undergo an existing pathway to licensure and acquire either a Food Truck or brick-and-mortar establishment of their own.

Large Scale Operations are identified by the following qualities that are adjacent to a brick-and-mortar level of food vending operations.
Food Trucks-
Food Trucks are vehicular, motorized operations. The City of Woodland allows 13 licensed Food Truck Operations at one time. The majority of the Food Trucks have the ability to be permitted or renew their licenses. These business operations are aware of the business licensing system and have the existing means to re-acquire up-to-date licensure.

Prepackaged Fruit-
This category of vendors does not require a health permit. These fruit vendors appear to be organized by a separate entity given that they sell the same products, already packaged. Their uniform hats and same equipment indicate a planned effort and it is likely that the vendors are not the owners of the operation. These fruit vendors are separate from the rest of the vendors based on the following five criteria:
Compact Mobile Food Operation (CMFO) Equipment-

Compact Mobile Food Operations (CMFOs) are food operations that operate a non-motorized vehicle in which food is prepared on the CMFO or in a permitted kitchen or restaurant. To be in compliance with the Yolo County Environmental Health Division, food handlers must be educated on how to reduce risks of foodborne illness, obtain food from a safe source, store food at proper temperatures, and have ready access to handwashing facilities on their designated CMFO equipment.

The CMFO Equipment Estimated Cost Summary Table, shows what the associated costs for upgrading to CMFO equipment would look like for three prominent groups of vendors:
Unpermitted vendors from these three operation categories would receive the most benefit from equipment upgrades since this is the gap in capital necessary for vendors to be able to qualify for licensure. The numbers are calculated to show the estimated individual costs per vendor, as well as the combined cost if the County allocated funding to the total number of 21 vendors in the three operation categories.

The City of Woodland does not currently have a food vendor license for CMFOs, which presents major barriers for existing food vendors to comply and operate. A CMFO license policy would need to be introduced and approved by the Woodland City Council to create new access to proper licensure. 
 

CMFO Equipment Estimated Cost Summary Table (Full Participation/Median Equipment Cost)
 

Operation Category	Estimated number of total vendors (21 Total)	CMFO Median Equipment Cost per vendor	Total CMFO Equipment Cost Median Estimate Full Participation	Median Permitting and Licensing Fees One-time waived per vendor	Average Estimated Annual Insurance Fees Upfront per vendor cost
Pushcart Pathway	9	$8,650	$77,850	$2,565	$1,886
Pop-up, Low-Risk	5	$8,650	$43,250	$2,565	$1,886
Pop-up, High-Risk	7	$29,000	$203,000	$2,910	$1,886
Total Combined Median Equipment Cost for= $324,100

The other three groups of vendors, are:
These three groups do not benefit from a CMFO equipment upgrade. Large Scale Pop-ups have the capacity and local support to consider upgrading their operation to a Food Truck or brick-and-mortar establishment. Food Truck vendors have current or expired licensure. This group already knows how to acquire licensure and have the assets needed to qualify for renewal. The Prepackaged Fruit vendors sell whole, uncut food products. Prepackaged Fruit vendors do not need CMFO equipment or other equipment upgrades to safely sell their food products. In fact, they are not required to hold a health permit. Additionally, this is presumably an existing, large-scale business that the observed vendors do not own.

For these reasons, Large Scale Pop-ups, Food Trucks, and Prepackaged Fruit vendors are excluded from all estimated costs.

Pilot Program Operation, Estimated Cost Summary Table (Limited Participation Cap)

Number of Participants	Operator Estimated Hourly Rate (All-Inclusive)	Operator Estimated Weekly Rate (5 hours a day) (6 days a week)	Operator Estimated Monthly Rate	CMFO or Other Capital Cost Per qualifying vendor (5-21 CMFOs)	Estimated County staff time, OT, Insurance, etc.   (Soft costs)
5*	$240	$7,200	$31,200	$77,850 - 324,100	$250,000
Total Estimated Annual Operator Cost = $347,400
*This figure represents maximum participant capacity from one non-profit operator.

The Pilot Program Operator estimated costs were received from Meals on Wheels, who is a prospective partner to facilitate food-handling safety trainings as well as provide a certified kitchen and food preparation space that will allow vendors to qualify for health permit requirements. The number of participants is limited to 5 vendors given that the space has limited capacity. A second non-profit operator may be needed to accommodate a larger number of participants.

It is anticipated that the City of Woodland would participate in a 50/50 cost share with the County for any associated program and equipment costs. Additionally, participation in the pilot would be subject to residency requirements pending further review on behalf of County Counsel. Staff recommends the pilot program be contingent upon such cost sharing and a Memorandum of Understanding with City. County Staff understands City staff will be making a similar presentation to the Woodland City Council at a future City Council meeting.

Staff is also aware that the City has sent courtesy violation notices to property owners on whose property unlicensed food vending is occurring. The County’s Environmental Health Division has not taken any enforcement action and does not anticipate doing so until there is direction from the Board regarding this potential pilot. Enforcement activities conducted by Environmental Health would initially focus on education and opportunities afforded by a pilot program to provide a pathway to licensure and compliance.

Conceptual Options List for Consideration:
 

#	Conceptual Options	Amount
1	Fee waiver subsidy for all licensing costs for qualified food vendors (one-time). *	$56,280
2	Subsidizing CMFO equipment to qualify 5 - 21 unlicensed vendors for licensure. *^	$77,850 - 324,100
3	Nonprofit/Commissary Operator Annual Estimated Cost (Meals on Wheels) *^	$374,400
4	Receive an update from staff on opting-in and regulating home-based micro kitchens in Yolo County as an additional potential pathway.	_
5	Direct CAO and Environmental Health staff to review potential legislative concepts toreduce the barrier of entry for prepared food vending without compromising public health.	_
* These amounts would be cost-shared with City of Woodland ^ Potential Soft-costs may include up to $250k to fund staff hours, OT, utilities, etc.

Pending Board feedback, staff contemplates including selected options as potential budget augmentation requests as part of the Adopted Budget. Any augmentation request would be cumulative of the programming, soft cost, and other related infrastructure or capital costs associated with the program. Depending on the location of a pilot there could be additional site-specific infrastructure costs which would be accounted for and reported to the Board. The Board can then make a funding decision regarding the pilot program as part of the overall budget hearing on September 24.

Unlicesed Food Vendor Subcomittee, Supervisoral District 3, Supervisoral District 5City of Woodland, County Administrator's Office, Community Services - Environmental Health Department, and Meals on Wheels.