More Vending in Motown

The city council of Detroit, Michigan recently loosened restrictions on sidewalk vending in the Motor City. Previously vending was limited to certain areas-- downtown and the Wayne State University area-- and vendors were limited to vending only hot dogs, balloons, flowers, fruit, hand-drawn portraits or caricatures, and snack foods. Now vendors will be allowed to apply for licenses to sell anywhere in the city, and the list of approved items has been expanded to include handbags, sunglasses and wallets, crafts, coffee, clothing, and fragrances and incense.

The new law drew protest from a number of merchants. They shouldn't worry. Vending in Detroit remains highly regulated. A vendor may not sell within 100 feet of a competing business, and is required to provide a trash receptacle for customers and pick up all trash (whatever the source) within 15 feet of her vending spot. Vendors are prohibited from interfering with the movement of pedestrians or blocking storefront display windows.

Detroit vendors have been regulated since 1920, when the city required push cart vendors to apply for licenses that ran $10 a year. Immigration seems to have been an important public issue then, too. A prospective vendor was eligible for a license only if he was citizen or had "declared his intention of becoming a citizen." Hughes v. Detroit, 217 Mich. 567, 570 (1922) (quoting the ordinance). Bare bones regulation of vendors became more elaborate as Detroit grew during the first half of the twentieth century.

Today the city's population is half of what it was in 1950, having seen many residents move to the suburbs. The city has since struggled to find a way to turn around its fortunes and return to its former glory. Detroit remains an important business center. 80,000 people work in its downtown. Sometimes big things start with small steps. With the easing of restrictions on vending, the city council has now given those workers one more reason to shop in the city. Vending may help to bring the city back.