Hot dog carts, portrait artists, novelty souvenir sellers and costumed characters clamoring for the attention of eager tourists all add to the crowded chaos of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But to make sidewalks more passable, the city of Los Angeles has begun clearing street vendors along Hollywood Boulevard, using an ordinance typically used to clear homeless encampments.

“For several years, the Hollywood community, which includes residents, stakeholders and visitors, have experienced challenges navigating the sidewalk due to large bulky items in the passageway,” said Tony Arranaga, communications director for Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District. “The result is creating a public safety hazard for the high volume of pedestrians on the boulevard. Because of these obstructions, the city is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act for safe accessible passage.”

On Monday, July 23, the Los Angeles Police Department, Bureau of Street Services and Bureau of Sanitation, under O’Farrell’s direction, began applying municipal code 56.11, which makes “bulky items” stored on city property illegal, to street vendors, focusing on Hollywood Boulevard between McCadden Place and Orange Drive. According to the city’s public notice, a bulky item is defined as “any item possessing size and/or shape which will not allow the item to fit into a 60-gallon receptacle with the lid closed.”

As a result, all items in the public right of way that don’t fit into the container, such as vending carts and tables, will be immediately confiscated by the city unless they are moved, and then put into storage for 90 days, during which owners can retrieve their items from the Bureau of Street Services. No one will be cited or arrested for the bulky items, Arranaga noted.

The ordinance typically applies to items such as mattresses, appliances, furniture and shed structures in homeless encampments, but on April 18, the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion establishing “Special Enforcement Zones” where vending carts are prohibited on the public right of way. The three blocks of the Walk of Fame between Orange Drive and McCadden Place, which includes the El Capitan Theatre, the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Wax Museum, is one such zone now subject to the bulky items ordinance.

Signs alerting vendors about the new enforcement of the bulky items ordinance were posted along Hollywood Boulevard approximately two weeks ago. Arranga cited safety concerns, and not hurting vendors, as the councilman’s priority with the new enforcement.

“For years I have observed people walking in the street alongside vehicular traffic to avoid obstructions in the narrow, 12-foot-wide sidewalk along this stretch. This includes people on crutches and even people in wheelchairs,” O’Farrell said in a statement. “Only three of the 15 blocks on Hollywood Boulevard along the Walk of Fame will have this type of enforcement because this is where the problem is concentrated. We need to do everything we can to make sure pedestrians in Los Angeles have safe, free and clear passage wherever they walk.”

Kerry Morrison, executive director of the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance, which manages the Hollywood Business Improvement District, is grateful for the new enforcement of the bulky items ordinance along the Walk of Fame. She said the sidewalks were “virtually impassable” and recounted witnessing people walking in the roadbed to get around items in the right of way – which she noted weren’t just vendors but also homeless people with furniture and boxes.

She also said she saw bulky items often placed in front of bus stops, blocking riders from exiting safely.

“What worries me the most is someone stepping off the curb and getting hit by a car,” Morrison said. “I’m just holding my breath. Too often in L.A. we wait for a crisis to happen before we do anything.”

On Tuesday, just one day after the enforcement began, Morrison said she saw fewer items blocking sidewalks.

“I think it’s working,” she said.

The street vendors, however, aren’t as pleased with the new enforcement. On Monday, a group of vendors and community organizers led a protest and march against the ordinance on the Walk of Fame, attracting approximately 150 supporters, according to Carla DePaz, director of community organizing at the East Los Angeles Community Corporation, the organization that leads the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign.

“We’re definitely a little disappointed with Councilmember O’Farrell,” DePaz said. “[The city] needs to consider the vendors. They work and provide for their families … The items are not abandoned, they’re not trash. [Having them confiscated] can cause a lot of economic hardships.”

She noted that the vendors aren’t the only reason for congestion along the sidewalks, pointing out the crowds of tourists and the costumed characters parading along the walkways. Penalizing the street vendors, DePaz said, was picking “low-hanging fruit” because the sellers are “easy targets.”

The vendors aren’t opposed to regulations either, according to the ELACC community organizer. Many vendors along the Walk of Fame have come together to discuss solutions to sidewalk blockage and attend workshops on ADA accessibility. However, the vendors have yet to be included in any conversations with O’Farrell or the Hollywood Business Improvement District.

“The vendors are not OK with being treated this way,” DePaz said. “They deserve to also be in the conversation.”