Ledyard — The Town Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve revisions to an ordinance regulating street vendors.

Mayoral Assistant Mark Bancroft said the original 1972 ordinance regulating peddlers, hawkers and solicitors had not been updated since, and consisted of just one toothless paragraph.

The revision builds out the ordinance to 14 pages, subjecting vendors to a number of restrictions, including inspection by Ledge Light Health District and the requirement of proof of insurance.

Bancroft said the ordinance was written along the lines of similar ones in neighboring towns. Nonprofit organizations, local farmers and gardeners, garage sales and your average street-corner lemonade stand are among the exemptions to the ordinance. All vending permits will come through the mayor’s office.

The license fee was increased from $10 to $100, which Bancroft said is less expensive than the fee in surrounding towns.

The only major change made to the ordinance following a public hearing Wednesday night was to prevent vendors from setting up shop in neighborhoods zoned for residences, unless otherwise permitted by the mayor.

The ordinance revisions were driven by incidents last year, which the town lacked the power at the time to address, including one vendor who was selling magazine subscriptions door to door.

a.isaacs@theday.com