Two years after unlicensed fruit vendors began appearing in Minneapolis, the city has finally come up with a solution — and it’s one that could expand opportunities for food cart vendors all over the city.
On Tuesday, a city committee passed an update to its sidewalk food cart ordinance that would expand the neighborhoods where food carts are allowed and the number of carts each vendor could operate.
In a separate action in December, the City Council tucked $150,000 into the city’s budget to launch a street vendor grant and compliance program, in part to help immigrant entrepreneurs legally set up their businesses.
“We know there’s still more work to be done but this is a really good start to help people come into compliance so they can vend in our city and it also creates a great economic opportunity to the local vendors that are here today,” Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Business, Housing and Zoning Committee.
She and Council Member Jason Chavez spearheaded the changes, which will get a full council vote on April 17.
The issue took on urgency after unlicensed vendors began selling fruit and fried foods at busy parks and highway medians at the tail end of the pandemic. Many were undocumented immigrants from Ecuador who didn’t have a permit to work legally in the U.S.
Some were also undercutting vendors who were paying for daily permits to operate in city parks. City health inspectors and police took a two-pronged approach, trying to educate vendors but also issuing 37 citations and $16,000 in fines over a two-year period ending on Dec. 31.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Amy Lingo, manager of licenses and consumer services for the city, said the revised ordinance would allow license holders to operate at up to three locations.
It would also expand the area vendors can set up across the city and amend buffer zones for cart locations while expanding operational hours to better resemble the existing rules for food trucks.
More than a dozen people testified in support of the updated rules; one Warehouse District business owner spoke out against them.
Vendors have at times sold food from folding tables, coolers or baskets, but the new ordinance reiterates that all street vendors need a cart that meets food storage and safety standards.
Minneapolis resident Petra Blas said she started selling candy at pop-up shops and farmers markets two decades ago. She said she’s also sold her products in the streets but the fear of fines and trouble with police led her to stop.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Blas said the ability to work on her own time is the biggest draw to street vending.
“It’s a flexible schedule for me to be able to take care of my kids while at the same time help out my partner with, maybe not a big help financially, covering a bill or buying groceries for the week,” Blas said.
Vendors at Tuesday’s meeting said they sold everything from fruit and flavored drinks to snacks and hot food. Most were Mexican or Ecuadorian immigrants.
Gloria Gonzalez has been in Minneapolis for about two years since she moved from Mexico. She made money selling tamales in front of gas stations in Minneapolis before having her operation shut down by city inspectors.
“I am a disabled person that nobody wants to hire, and with my heart I ask you [the City Council] to please help us work with the city. I don’t want to cause any harm,” Gonzalez said.
Chowdhury introduced an amendment to the ordinance to allow a person with a disability to operate a sidewalk cart propelled by electric motor.
The four committee members present, Andrea Jenkins, Michael Rainville, Katie Cashman and Chowdhury, all backed the changes. Committee members Jamal Osman and Jeremiah Ellison were absent.
Cashman addressed the group of vendors in Spanish after giving her nod of approval telling them she looked forward to seeing some of them operating on Nicollet Mall in the near future.
“Thank you for being part of the community in Minneapolis. You all are entrepreneurs and deserve the support of the city, and I’m excited to see your businesses grow in the city.” Cashman said.
After Tuesday’s meeting, Chowdhury said the city was still looking for support to provide street carts for vendors that meet the city’s specifications and an organization to allow the use of a commissary kitchen for vendors to prepare their foods.
“This is a glimmer of what is possible in our nation, we can support our immigrant community members, supporting them is a good thing that ends up helping every single person whether they’re an immigrant or not,” Chowdhury said.
Jovita Morales, founder of the Minnesota Immigrant Movement, began reaching out to food vendors one-on-one last summer. Her group held an emergency meeting with a group of 15 vendors in October, after one received an expensive citation. At that meeting, vendors said they felt intimidated by city staff.
The group has continued to meet regularly since then and has swelled to several dozen participants. The group’s survey of street vendors in Minneapolis found that the majority are women who made an average of $600 a month selling food.
The nonprofit found that many vendors rely on work permits that are “constantly changing depending on immigration policies,” making it hard to find stable employment options.
Vendors faced language and cultural barriers navigating the city’s permit process to sell food on the street, something that is common in many Latin American countries.
Morales said it’s an emotional moment for her and supporters seeing an ordinance near the finish line after less than a year of organizing. She was among the advocates who spent nearly two decades pushing for Minnesota’s Drivers Licenses For All legislation, which became law in 2023.
But while Morales and vendors rejoice at the opportunity to get a permit, they have heard some pushback, including from Lake Street businesses who say more street carts would provide competition at a time when they are struggling to draw business.
Vendor locations expanded
Downtown Minneapolis is currently the main location in the city where vendors with a sidewalk cart can sell food along with several of the city’s commercial corridors, including Lake Street and Washington, Nicollet, Hennepin, Glenwood, Franklin, Chicago, Cedar and Riverside avenues.
The list of approved foods that can be sold is short, including hotdogs, hand-dipped ice cream and packaged food.
Lingo also said the proposed ordinance seeks to expand vending locations to include the city’s goods and services corridors which include Penn Avenue North, Lyndale Avenue South and Central Avenue Northeast among other streets.
The vendor sites are not only restricted by corridors but vendor spots must also be 500 feet away from a school and 200 feet away from a public park — unless vendors get a separate permit from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
Currently vendors at city parks have to buy a daily permit to operate at city parks, and some parks only allow up to two permits. The daily permits are $35 on weekdays and $100 on the weekends.
Some of the vendors Morales has been organizing used to sell fruit and hot foods at Powderhorn Park before being given citations and asked to leave.
During Tuesday’s meeting Lingo said the Park Board would allow vendors to sell food in the buffer zone by the park’s property if the vendor received prior approval from the board.
Chowdhury said she was optimistic the updates had enough support to pass the full council vote next week, but had not spoken to Mayor Jacob Frey yet on whether he’d support the measure or veto it.
Aaron Rose, a spokesman for Frey, said in a statement that the mayor supports the updates to the ordinance for street vendors.
“By creating clear pathways for more vendors to operate legally, the City is not just supporting entrepreneurs — especially in immigrant communities—it’s also adding diverse food options to more neighborhoods and growing small businesses while keeping health and safety at the forefront,” Rose said in a statement.
This story has been updated to add a statement from Mayor Jacob Frey office.
