Local pop-up small business program

The law lets businesses test storefronts for up to 120 days without meeting every requirement for permanent occupancy, while retaining temporary health, fire, and accessibility protections.

What the law does ​

• Requires cities and counties, including charter cities, to allow temporary commercial activation authorizations for eligible pop-up businesses.
• Limits each authorization to 120 days, while allowing local renewal or extension and permitting a permanent-occupancy application requirement after more than 12 cumulative months in a 24-month period.
• Requires local governments to consider suspending, deferring, or modifying specified permanent-occupancy requirements, including long-term parking, public improvements, certain building-upgrade triggers, and some discretionary land-use reviews.
• Bars structural alterations, changes to fire-resistant elements, and higher-risk occupancy changes under the temporary authorization.
• Requires compliance with applicable temporary-use fire, health, safety, and accessibility rules, and requires local governments to provide written accessibility guidance.
• Treats approved pop-up businesses conducting limited food preparation as food facilities, subject to local field evaluation and applicable food-safety rules.
• Allows local governments to set cost-based fees, operating limits, enforcement measures, and penalties, and to revoke approvals for violations.

Who it affects ​

• Small businesses seeking short-term space in existing commercial or mixed-use buildings.
• Owners and tenants of eligible vacant or underused commercial spaces.
• Cities, counties, and city and county governments that issue local permits and enforce temporary-use requirements.
• Food pop-ups seeking approval for limited food preparation.

Breakdown ​

Temporary Pop-Up Business Permits ​

The bill requires cities and counties to let qualifying pop-up small businesses operate temporarily in eligible commercial spaces for up to 120 days. Local governments cannot require these businesses to meet all rules for permanent occupancy, but they must still apply temporary-use health and safety rules. Local governments must give applicants written accessibility guidance and may charge only enough fees to cover program administration costs.

Key takeaways

• Cities, charter cities, counties, and city-and-county governments must offer temporary commercial activation authorization for qualifying pop-up small businesses.
• Authorized pop-up businesses may operate in eligible commercial spaces for no more than 120 days.
• Local governments must allow these temporary businesses without requiring full compliance with standards that apply to permanent occupancy.
• Local governments must consider temporarily suspending, delaying, or modifying certain standards and discretionary requirements.
• Pop-up businesses must still comply with applicable health and safety standards for temporary uses and temporary structures.
• Local governments must provide written accessibility compliance guidance, may recover reasonable administrative costs through fees, and may establish enforcement mechanisms and penalties.

Food Safety Rules for Pop-Up Businesses ​

The bill adds approved pop-up small businesses that do limited food preparation to the definition of a food facility under California’s retail food safety law. This makes them subject to the law’s health and sanitation standards and local health agency enforcement.

Key takeaways

• An approved pop-up small business that performs limited food preparation is treated as a food facility under the California Retail Food Code.
• The change applies only to pop-up small businesses approved for limited food preparation.
• These businesses become subject to the retail food safety and sanitation requirements that apply to food facilities.
• Local health agencies will have enforcement responsibilities for these covered pop-up businesses.
• Violations can carry the same potential misdemeanor consequences that generally apply under the Retail Food Code.
• The bill creates a state-mandated local program because it expands local health agencies’ enforcement duties.

Statewide Application and Costs ​

The bill declares that its changes address a statewide concern, so they apply to every city in California, including charter cities. It also states that the state does not have to reimburse local agencies or school districts for costs associated with the act for the reasons specified in the bill.

Key takeaways

• The bill’s changes apply statewide, including in charter cities.
• The bill states that these changes concern statewide issues rather than matters left solely to individual cities.
• The bill says the state is not required to reimburse local agencies or school districts for certain costs created by the act.