It’s too early to tell if enforcement of the new Sidewalk Vending Ordinance in the beach areas has been working as the City expected. Local leaders have seen mixed results and are curious about how the City will handle the summer.

“I’d say the results are still to be determined,” said Larry Webb, Mission Beach Town Council president, about early returns on the Sidewalk Vending Ordinance. “[Poor] weather has played a factor in not as many vendors attempting to be out. So when better weather comes it may lead to more vendors. We will have to see how enforcement goes at that point.”

“Many community leaders and I are very frustrated with the resurgence of the vending appearing along our coastline parks and beaches,” said Bob Evans, president of La Jolla Parks & Beaches, Inc.

“Initially, park rangers and other enforcement were very effective with the ordinance at removing all the vending that had taken over the coastal areas. However, now the City’s policy is to let any vendor who claims, insincerely, they’re exempt from the ordinance because of their freedom of speech rights, to continue to operate in just about any place they desire,” Evans said.

“Since the implementation of the sidewalk vending ordinance, many people in Pacific Beach have noticed a drastic increase in public access to the beach,” said Charlie Nieto, president of Pacific Beach Town Council. “It is almost like comparing night and day when you contrast the difference of what the boardwalk is like now to how it was last summer.”

“Park rangers did an excellent job educating vendors on the ordinance,” said Susan Crowers of PBTC noting, “Within a week, there was a noticeable improvement in the situation and residents enjoyed unimpeded views and access to public beaches and shoreline park pathways. Since then, some vendors have returned and are claiming protection under the First Amendment.”

“I pay taxes and rent as well as buying permits and business licenses,” noted Chris Cott, a La Jolla artist who worked over 20 years on the Mission Beach boardwalk. “Scripps Park wasn’t donated so vendors could turn it into Kobey’s Swap Meet.”

“It is better without the vendors for most everyone except the vendors,” said Gary Wonacott of Mission Beach questioning, “Is this issue done? Probably not. It all comes down to what happens in July and August.

Will some of the vendors come back? Probably. Will code enforcement or rangers step in? Depends on how much money the City is getting versus time/money required to manage the vendors,” Wonacott added.

The City Council voted to approve the new Sidewalk Vending Ordinance in May 2022, bringing San Diego into compliance with SB 946, a California law that decriminalized sidewalk vending statewide and set parameters on how cities could impose regulations.

San Diego law enforcement personnel began fully enforcing the Sidewalk Vending Ordinance in beach areas on Feb. 1 of this year. The ordinance then went into effect in the City’s Coastal Overlay Zone, which includes Point Loma, Ocean, Mission and Pacific beaches, La Jolla, and Sorrento Valley.

Webb of MBTC believes Sidewalk Vending Ordinance enforcement thus far has “had a positive effect” while noting “some vendors are still around.” He added that “Initially, City officials stated vendors claiming First Amendment rights would not be allowed unless their goods were political or religious. Over the last several weeks, we learned that park rangers are not allowed to enforce the ordinance if a vendor claims First Amendment rights regardless of the goods offered. The city attorney is once again acting in fear of litigation.”

Crowers of PBTC questions whether vendors are obeying all Sidewalk Vending Ordinance rules.

“I have spoken with vendors who display their goods and offer services for a donation, and I’ve also spoken to vendors who claim it’s okay for them to sell their goods as long as they’re homemade,” she said. “That doesn’t align with what the ordinance says. It seems the park rangers are still waiting on a clear directive from the city attorney. But with summer just around the corner – we need action now.”

“The families who are using Scripps Park can’t find a place to park because it’s all being taken up by vendors,” complained Cott of La Jolla. “The so-called vendor artisans who are selling knick-knacks, sunglasses, T-shirts, and doing wetsuit rentals at taxpayer’s expense should all be run off.”

Evans of LJPB believes the new Sidewalk Vending Ordinance isn’t being properly enforced.

“Until the City changes their policy on the ordinance and decides to enforce it as intended, the rangers are essentially powerless to get results,” he said. “No other California coastal communities seem to have this vending problem, and all state and national parks don’t allow vending. You don’t see merchandise vendors set up at Cabrillo National Monument, nor Torrey Pines State Park, Yellowstone, or the DC Mall. San Diego needs to return its great coastline parks and beaches to recreational use and scenic beauty, and not be a commercial zone.”

“There are certainly still some concerns about some remaining vendors along coastal pathways,” pointed out Nieto. “The work that remains has to do mainly with some fine-tuning and determining the distinction between actors who are earnestly exercising their First Amendment rights versus those who are abusing loopholes in the system.”

But, having confidence in park rangers and law enforcement, Nieto concluded: “Ultimately, with the current ordinance in place, I do believe that this summer, many will see that the coastline has returned to a place for families and recreation.”