On March 1, the San Diego City Council voted 8-1 in favor of an ordinance to regulate sidewalk vending and establish penalties for non-compliance.
Councilmember Vivian Moreno cast the dissenting vote.
“Many street vendors are mom-and-pop businesses with lots of immigrants, new Americans, and people of color,” said Moreno of District 8. “Unfortunately, the ordinance is overly broad and not specific enough. It goes beyond what is required by SB 946. I’m also concerned about there being uneven enforcement, where vendors would be heavily enforced in some areas, while in some areas they would not be.”
Authored by District 2 Councilmember Dr. Jennifer Campbell’s office, the new ordinance will take effect 30 days after final passage by the City Council. All sidewalk vendors will have until June 1 to either cease vending activity or comply with the ordinance’s provisions.
“We have an ordinance that brings the City into compliance with SB 946 that went into effect in 2019 and brings vendors into the formal economy,” said Campbell. “This ordinance sets requirements and provides legal clarity for vendors who want to abide by the rules and have successful businesses while protecting public health, safety, and public spaces.”
“SB 946 decriminalized sidewalk vending and established requirements for local regions to regulate them,” Campbell chief-of-staff Venus Molina told the council. “The ordinance applies to special events, swap meets, farmers markets, and shoreline parks. These regulations must be directly related to public health, safety, or welfare. There are distance requirements between vendors and a prohibition of vending in high-traffic pedestrian areas. Vendors must obtain a vending permit. No insurance is required and the permit would be renewed annually.”
The new ordinance requires vendors to be 15 feet apart from one another, 50-feet from major transit stops, and 100 feet from sidewalks or street enclosures.
Enforcement of the new sidewalk vending ordinance calls for warnings and referrals on the first offense, $200 fines for vendors without permits and $500 for those with permits for a second offense, $500 fines for vendors without permits, and $1,000 for those with permits for a third offense and $500 fines and/or impoundment of vending equipment for subsequent violations for those without vending permits and $1,000 fines and/or equipment impoundment for vendors with permits.
“Today’s action is an important step in establishing sensible rules and regulations and allows us to comply with SB 946 and help those who want to become entrepreneurs,” concluded Campbell before moving passage of the sidewalk vending ordinance.
Testifying on March 1, Denny Knox, executive director for Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, said: “We support this long-awaited vending ordinance. SB 946 has had a huge impact on our community and the health, safety, and welfare of everyone around. We have been sounding the alarm for the need for a vending ordinance for over three years. Enforcement is a huge thing for us. We hope you will make sure this ordinance gets enforced.”
“We feel street vending takes up park space leaving less space for San Diegans,” testified Andrea Schlageter, chair of Ocean Beach Planning Board. “Vendors get to use that space for free. Don’t put private enterprise over public access and public space.”
“This is mainly a coastal-access issue,” agreed Ocean Beach Planning Board vice chair Kevin Hastings. “Our park spaces are a year-round draw for residents and visitors for these areas. Any commercial operation in these parks really needs to be very limited, and only in very specific, designated locations. Enforcement should be taken seriously. Code enforcement and park rangers are completely unequipped to handle this.”
“This ordinance affects our neighborhoods for micro-businesses and our brick and mortars and this is a challenging thing to negotiate while allowing microbusinesses to safely flourish,” said District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava. “We’re achieving multiple goals in decriminalizing sidewalk vending while lowering barriers to small businesses operating and taking ownership and laying the groundwork for successful growth. Resolving this issue has been a priority for my district.”
LaCava asked for and was granted, an amendment to the new vending ordinance to include sections of Coast Boulevard above Children’s Pool and the boardwalk in Scripps Park in La Jolla as shoreline park areas deserving of inclusion as high-traffic pedestrian areas where sidewalk vending is prohibited. He was unsuccessful however by a 5-4 vote in having the summer moratorium prohibiting sidewalk vending extended from Labor Day to Oct. 1 to accommodate later-summer beach crowds.
Council President Pro-tem Monica Montgomery Steppe of District 4 was successful in amending the vending ordinance to allow impoundment of vendor equipment only in cases of extreme violations of the new ordinance. She expressed worry that vendors could be deprived of their ability to do business for minor offenses.
STREET VENDORS LIMITED
The new ordinance establishes both permitting and law enforcement processes for street vending, while limiting vendors from operating in these parts of the City:
– Sports Arena Boulevard between Hancock Street and East Drive during events and game days.
– Within 500 feet of special events, swap meets and farmer’s markets
– In Balboa Park, Mission Bay Park, Presidio Park, Belmont Park, and Shoreline Parks in the communities of Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla during the City’s annual summer construction moratorium.
– 4th, 5th and 6th streets between Broadway Avenue and Harbor Drive in downtown.
– India Street between Ash Street and West Kalmia Street in Little Italy.
– San Diego Avenue between Twiggs Street and Conde Street in Old Town.
– Several blocks in East Village.
– Streets near the Convention Center during a convention or event.
– 6th Avenue through 14th Street between Market Street, Harbor Drive and Commercial Street during events and game days.
