The Mission Beach Town Council will hold a community rally and press conference calling on the City of San Diego to begin enforcement of San Diego Municipal Code 63.50 dated July 28, 1987, and city ordinance No. 21459 effective no later than June 22.

The rally will take place on the grass at Belmont Park on the south ocean side at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 14.

SDMC 63.50 restricts the use of Mission Beach Park to: Public park and recreation uses such as grass, picnic areas, public open space, public parking, public recreation, and meeting facilities. Expressly excluded are retail and commercial uses except within a historically rehabilitated Plunge Building which would serve the park and beach visitors, such as restaurants, fitness centers, and the like.

MBTC believes that the City of San Diego has violated the California Coastal Act and the municipal code for the last several years by allowing street vending, which is an obvious retail use to take over Mission Beach Park.

Over the last several years MBTC has seen this park change from a place where families from all over the city would gather and enjoy one of the most popular beaches in the city to a place that is overrun by street vendors who block the public’s visual and physical access to the beach.

The enforcement of the ban on street vending in Mission Beach Park is also a public safety issue. There is a direct correlation between the rise of crime around Mission Beach Park and the influx of uncontrolled street vending over the last several years. This has resulted in a cost to the city of 1,000 of hours of police overtime to ensure the safety of all in the area.

The mere presence of graffiti (which appeared with much more frequency after the vendors appeared) doubles the number of people littering and stealing in neighborhoods, according to various research studies.

Since illegal street vending began, Mission Beach has seen a rise in public sentiment that the community is unsafe. This has a down-the-line impact on the mental health of residents, civic pride, economic development, and private investment.

Dirty streets are linked to deprivation and higher crime. The nonprofit Don’t Trash Mission Beach will be there present with statistics about the 25% increase in trash over previous years that did not experience illegal street vending.

Every day, trash cans are filled with food scraps by the vendors, trash receptacles are overflowing all over the grass and boardwalk, all the plastic wrapping is on the ground and food service with broken pieces of Styrofoam, and vendors leave bags of trash to be dealt with by City workers and volunteers like Don’t Trash Mission Beach.

For more information about the Mission Beach Town Council, visit missionbeachtc.com