Venice Boardwalk Sees Ban on Selling of Cheap Sunglasses, Other Trinkets
Those cheesy sunglasses sold on the Venice Boardwalk? No more. At least not on the actual walkway and adjacent green spaces. (At least not if the LAPD is on the case).
Lesley Choa
After years of seeing the famed boardwalk turn into a circus of trinket sales, the L.A. City Council today voted unanimously (as it always does) to approve a law banning the sales of clothing, jewelry, toys, sunglasses, oils, incense, perfume, crystals and anything else that doesn't have a free-speech or religious-rights element.
You can still sell ...
... "communicative" or "expressive" items including: newspapers, leaflets, pamphlets,
bumper stickers, buttons, art created by the sellers, books, audio, video, paintings, photographs and sculptures (PDF).
The ordinance comes more than a year after a U.S. District Court judge said the city was wrong to establish such a permit system to regulate who can and can't sell trinkets and sing songs on the iconic boardwalk. That system violated free speech, the court ruled.
And so Westside city Councilman Bill Rosendahl came up with this idea. (See video of him talking about it here). It will "provide a safe boardwalk for folks to be able to truly express themselves," he said.
The law goes to the mayor's office for his signature.
At least one guy isn't happy with it: City Council gadfly Zuma Dogg, who posts about his objections on his blog.
[With reporting from City News Service / @dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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