The San Diego City Council unanimously approved strengthening an ordinance to prevent vendors from setting up in parks or sidewalks along local beaches. The Monday decision ends weeks of lobbying by a coalition of local town councils from Ocean Beach to La Jolla.
“What we’re most concerned with is protecting the public’s access to the beach,” said Mission Beach Town Council president Larry Webb.
An older city ordinance strengthened the regulations against unpermitted street vendors, but the City of San Diego couldn’t enforce those regulations in a coastal zone that fell under the California Coastal Commission’s control.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
“There’s very limited enforcement,” Webb said.
Webb said Monday’s decision will override that control.
“That would then allow the city to begin full enforcement of the street vending ordinance,” he said.
Local
The decision was disappointing to one vendor who set up his artwork along the Mission Beach boardwalk.
“We’re out here doing this because we’re trying to pay our bills. We’re trying to pay our rent and our groceries,” said Tommy Turner.
However, Turner understood his pop-up tent wasn’t “paying into the system” like brick-and-mortar stores.
“They’ve got a mortgage to pay, overhead, employees, all kinds of things that they have to pay, and I understand that,” he said. “If they have to pay for a business license then vendors should also have to pay.”
The new, stronger ordinance is expected to be in place by next year.
