Lehua Night Market in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和) might be closed after the Supreme Administrative Court yesterday ruled that the business permit for vendors — issued by the local government three years ago — must be withdrawn because the procedure used to issue it was flawed.
The court yesterday rejected an appeal by an association of street vendors at the night market against a ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court in July that the procedure of the issuance of the Vending Stand Zone Business Permit by the New Taipei City Economic Development Department (EDD) to the association was flawed.
The High Administrative Court found that the issuance failed to meet the New Taipei City Street Vendor Management Regulations, under which the applicant must have the agreement of more than 60 percent of the owners of buildings along the streets where the vending stands are to be situated, along with relevant data from the warden of the borough concerned.
The EDD should have asked the applicant to present the required documentation before it decided to issue the permit, but the department failed to do so, the court said. As a result, it ruled that the permit must be withdrawn, at the request of a group of local residents.
The group filed a complaint in 2012, saying that the community’s tranquility and safety is compromised by the presence of vendors.
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