Calabasas Overturns Law Restricting Street-Side Solicitors

A law that barred day laborers from asking for work and other solicitors from Calabasas roadways and street corners was overturned Wednesday by the Calabasas City Council.

In a 5-0 vote, the council voted to overturn the law because of a recent court case, with Councilwoman Lucy Martin voting through a teleconference from Pittsburgh.

The now-defunct ordinance stated:

Solicitation of persons traveling in vehicles on public right-of-way prohibited.

It is unlawful for any person, while standing in any portion of the public right-of-way, including but not limited to public streets, highways, sidewalks and driveways, to solicit, or attempt to solicit, employment, business, or contributions of money or other property, from any person traveling in a vehicle along a public right-of-way, including, but not limited to, public streets, highways or driveways.

The city received a letter on March 20, along with a number of other cities, from the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund asking for the repeal of street side solicitation regulations, according to a city staff report prepared by Calabasas City Attorney Scott Howard. 

A recent court case on a similar Redondo Beach ordinance was ruled an unconstitutional restriction on day laborers' and other persons’ First Amendment rights.

"The court noted the city had failed to provide sufficient evidence of problems caused by day laborers or other street side solicitors to justify either a city-wide ban," Howard wrote in the report.

According to Howard, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which contracts with Calabasas for its policing services, reported "there is no significant problem associated with street side solicitors in the city."

Calabasas City Manager Tony Coroalles said the law was originally adopted in 1995 and most likely mirrored a section of the Los Angeles County code.