SANTA CRUZ >> At its meeting Tuesday, the Santa Cruz City Council will consider the final vote on an ordinance amending the regulation of sidewalk vending in the city and authorizing the release of funds to facilitate the relocation of the Santa Cruz Farmers Market in the coming months.

During the meeting’s closed session, the sale of the last Skypark parcel to the city of Scotts Valley will be discussed before the transaction is finalized during the public portion of the meeting by the City Council. The meeting begins Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. with oral communications, or the portion devoted to hearing the public’s concerns about items not on the agenda.

The governing body will then consider the consent agenda, which includes 15 items that will be voted on in one motion unless an item is pulled for further discussion by a community or council member.

The meeting’s consent agenda includes the item to finalize the Skypark sale to Scotts Valley, another to accept the city’s housing element annual report and submit it to the state and one action item to establish a mutual aid agreement between the city of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District.

Following the passage of the consent agenda, the City Council will consider the second and final reading of an ordinance that would amend the city code regarding sidewalk vending.

The ordinance would amend the existing city code in numerous ways, such as updating the definition of an “enforcement official,” to include any person who the city has designated the power to issue citations.

The ordinance would add an amendment where a sidewalk vendor can have their permit revoked if they receive four or more citations in a two-year period. The agenda report from the council’s meeting in early March points out that the ordinance did not include a timeframe, which allowed for differing interpretations of the permit repeal provision.

The ordinance would further amend the existing city code by restricting times and locations where vendors can operate in the city. The report states that the additional restrictions address safety concerns associated with sidewalk congestion where pedestrians may have to walk into the street or a bike lane to get around a vendor.

The report states that, “This change enables the enforcement of the ordinance against stationary vendors who do not reserve one of the five city-demarcated vending and display zones on Beach Street between the Municipal Wharf and Third Street, during the off season (November 1 through March 31).”

Under the proposed ordinance, sidewalk vendors would not be allowed to operate within 500 feet of a permitted and certified farmers market, swap meet or event with a temporary special permit. Currently, roaming vendors are allowed to operate in these areas. Vendors who want to operate on the beach or in city parks will need to attain an additional permit if the second reading is approved by the City Council.

The new ordinance also amends the city code so that enforcement officers can impound a vendor’s equipment and inventory under certain conditions, including if the equipment appears to be abandoned on public property, if the vendor refuses to remove their vending operation after being instructed to do so by a city enforcement official or if a vendor has been issued three or more citations in a two-year period, among other scenarios.

After the public hearing, the City Council will vote whether to move $250,000 from the city’s economic development trust fund to be used for the relocation of the downtown Santa Cruz farmers market from its current location to the parking lot next to the library known as Lot 16. The funds would be used for site infrastructure and furnishings, according to the agenda report.

The City Council will also provide direction regarding the future use of the existing downtown library site. According to the agenda report, the council will be given three options including the construction of a mixed-use building with a small civic plaza that would become the farmers market’s permanent home. The second option includes the construction of a larger civic plaza with smaller housing and parking and the third option would be to repurpose the existing library building where it stands along with a larger plaza.

To view the agenda, visit cityofsantacruz.com.