website<\/a>.<\/p>\nUnder AB 626, a MEHKO is considered a small retail food facility, and it must comply with specific health and safety requirements, such as food handler certifications, local permitting and sanitation standards. The law also limits the scope of operations, including annual gross sales and the number of meals prepared.<\/p>\n
In June 2024, the City Council approved the Health and Human Services Department\u2019s recommendation to accept a California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health grant and conduct a feasibility study for MEHKO from June 30, 2024, to May 31, 2025.<\/p>\n
The city took community input on allowing MEHKOs in the city and community members were able to complete an online survey to share their input, considerations and concerns. The survey revealed that close to 74% of respondents indicated they would support MEHKO, and believe it would benefit the local community and contribute to economic growth, according to the staff presentation.<\/p>\n
In June, the health department presented the City Council with the results of the feasibility study and recommended that the city attorney draft a MEHKO ordinance, according to the staff report. In December, the Planning Commission recommended that the council approve a zoning code amendment and local coastal program amendment to allow MEHKOs and to support the proposed changes to the municipal code.<\/p>\n
The draft ordinance was brought to the council during its March 10 meeting.<\/p>\n
Some key elements of the proposed ordinance include aligning with California Health and Safety Code requirements, requiring inspections for compliance with specific food safety and sanitation requirements, making businesses obtain a health permit issued by the Long Beach Environmental Health Bureau, and then having a business license issued by the Business Services Bureau.<\/p>\n
An amendment to the municipal code is also necessary to allow for city public health and business license requirements, and also to provide operating conditions, health and safety inspection requirements, and enforcement procedures, said Judeth Luong, manager of the Environmental Health Bureau.<\/p>\n
MEHKO limitations and restrictions, according to the staff report, include one business per residence; food must be prepared, cooked and served on the same day only; businesses can make a maximum of 30 meals per day or 90 meals per week, and make at most $100,000 in gross annual sales; food delivery may only be conducted by the operator, employee, family or household members; and food may only be sold directly to consumers, among others.<\/p>\n
To ensure the ongoing safety and compliance of a MEHKO, operators will be required to complete an application with an initial inspection. The process will begin with an initial pre-permit inspection, which will be conducted to confirm that the kitchen meets all required health and safety standards before the operator receives a permit, Luong said. Once permitted, MEHKOs will be subject to routine annual inspections.<\/p>\n
While residents supported the ordinance, many asked the City Council to reconsider the proposed requirement for people trying to start a MEHKO needing to notify or get approval from their landlord or homeowners\u2019 association. During public comment, many said that this would create an unnecessary barrier for potential operators.<\/p>\n
\u201cMEHKO can help create real pathways for entrepreneurs, especially immigrants, women and low-income residents, to safely and legally start a business from their home kitchens,\u201d Jesica Coronado, economic justice coordinator at \u00d3rale, said during public comment. \u201cThese small businesses strengthen our local community and economy, expand access to culturally relevant food, and bring culture and community to our neighborhoods. Passing MEHKO without the landlord or HOA authorization requirement will help ensure that this is an opportunity that\u2019s truly accessible to the residents who really need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
City staffers said this requirement was included because it aligned with the regulatory requirements of the California Health and Safety Code to enforce state housing laws, such as being required to notify owners via writing or providing notices about what is happening on private property. The city would also be required to enforce violations and complaints against the property owners, said Angel Arrendondo, code enforcement bureau manager.<\/p>\n
Other counties in California that have MEHKO programs \u2013 such as Santa Clara, San Diego and Riverside \u2013 also require a letter of agreement from landlords or HOAs. Although it is not written in the ordinance, it is still a requirement before a health permit can be issued, Luong said.<\/p>\n
The council unanimously agreed to continue the discussion on the proposed ordinance, so that city staffers could look into other ways of requesting a landlord or HOA approval on the permit program element \u2014 and without putting the operator\u2019s housing at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrankly, not everybody has the same kind of relationship with their landlord, and so many people in our community are having a hard time remaining housed,\u201d said Councilmember Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, \u201cand a MEHKO license could be something that helps them remain housed, because they have the resources in order to cover their rent accordingly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everybody is as fluid or comfortable with engaging their landlord. I\u2019d like to see us identify a way, if at all possible, for a landlord to be noticed, potentially by the city,\u201d Thrash-Ntuk added, \u201cand then be able to opt out or opt in, as opposed to having the tenant necessarily be the only person who is interacting with the landlord.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thrash-Ntuk also suggested the city look into how it characterizes other home-based businesses within the city and whether a landlord has to be notified for businesses such as professional services, clothing businesses or a childcare facility at a home. Zendejas also suggested exploring an incentive program for landlords who support MEHKOs.<\/p>\n
City staffers will return to the council with a revised proposed ordinance at its April 14 meeting to discuss options for landlord authorization in the permit program elements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach has made progress in creating a local ordinance to allow people to prepare and sell meals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,1610,1071,23,131,133,132,137],"class_list":["post-224032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-city-council","tag-local-government","tag-local-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}