LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's been several months since sidewalk vendors were banned from operating in Clark County and the City of Las Vegas. It's due to Senate Bill 92, which was passed earlier this year and signed into law by Governor Joe Lombardo.
While county and city officials work on ordinances regarding where and how sidewalk vendors can operate, the Southern Nevada Health District is proposing health-related regulations. Last week, Nikki Burns-Savage spoke to the state task force that was assembled by the Nevada Secretary of State's office and outlined a few regulations being discussed.
According to Burns-Savage, the health district can permit the sidewalk vendors as open-air vendors.
Open-air vendors must:
- Be limited to 200 square feet
- Must provide an adequate number of hand-washing sinks
- Sink must have liquid hand soap, a pump dispenser, single-use paper towels and a garbage can
- Sink must be located within 10 feet of the open food-handling area
- Sink must have hot and cold running water without the use of a manual pump and must have a potable water supply tank that is at least five gallons
- Must provide overhead protection for food preparation, unless prohibited by fire code
- Must operate on a surface such as asphalt or concrete
- Must provide adequate "ground cover contamination" from excessive food debris and grease buildup on the ground
- Food equipment must meet sanitation standards set by an American national certification program like NSF, ETL Sanitation Listed, and UL Sanitation
- Provide documentation they have a place to use the restroom, if they stay at a certain location longer than an hour
For vendors to receive a permit, Burns-Savage said they would have to submit an application to the health district. Documentation would include equipment plans and specifications, the menu, a commissary agreement, and ownership information. Once paperwork and payments are processed, an inspector would then contact the vendor to inspect the unit.
According to Burns-Savage, the permit fee for an open-air vendor is $863.
"The annual health permit fee for the open-air vendor is $376. There is also a plan review fee, which is $368. However, the plan review fee is a one-time fee that the operator has to pay," Burns-Savage said. "Also, there is a unit fee that goes along with the plan review fee and that is $119.30. If you take all three of those together, that is the $863."
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Burns-Savage said vendors would be required to work with a commissary.
"Mobile vendors are all required to have commissaries and they would discard at their commissary. We would prefer that it be at a commissary because that is what all of our other permitted operators are required to do," Burns-Savage said. "Because fruits and vegetables are required to be washed before they are used, specifically before they're cut, that produce would need to be washed at the commissary prior to being used at the location."
Burns-Savage said they're also looking at local organizations, like churches and schools, that could potentially step in to act as a commissary for vendors.
"We would allow those types of facilities to serve as support kitchens but it must be something that's already existing and permitted," Burns-Savage said. "A lot of schools have school kitchens. I'm unsure if any of our community centers are permitted. That would be something I would have to double-check. As long as it's an existing permitted facility, we would allow that also."
However, she said no food served to the public can be prepared from home kitchens.
"The food must be either purchased the same day and prepared at the sidewalk vendor location or the food must be stored and prepared at a permitted commissary location," Burns-Savage said. "The vendors may not conduct complex food processes such as cooling and the vendors may not hold open TCS food for next day service."
One task force member questioned all of the regulations and said they were concerned the rules were too strict. However, Burns-Savage said all of the proposed rules are to protect public health.
"Our main purpose, as a health authority, is to prevent foodborne illness. We don't want to be overburdensome and I hear you when you say other places aren't as strict," Burns-Savage said. "But we've done our research and found other states are requiring the same things."
According to Burns-Savage, with the 2023 food regulations, sidewalk vendors can be permitted as open-air vendors. That means the health district wouldn't need to draft new regulations right now. However, she adds the health district must adopt regulations for sidewalk vending by the end of 2025 and they will adopt regulations the task force deems necessary.
