As more pop-up vendors make their way back to La Jolla’s parks and beaches, the La Jolla Town Council is taking notice — and looking to take action.
Recent court rulings have forced the city of San Diego to halt a crackdown on vendor operations in areas from the Gaslamp Quarter to city beaches, and limited the city’s ability to enforce certain terms of its sidewalk vending ordinance.
The recent ruling — spurred by the complaints of a vendor who had operated for years outside Petco Park and a state appeal claiming the city of San Diego was illegally impounding the carts and other property of sidewalk or streetside vendors — declared the city’s geographic no-vendor zones and limitations on vending hours as “overly restrictive.”
Since the court decision, vendors have returned to many areas where they’d been before the city’s street vendor law took effect in 2023. That includes much of Ellen Browning Scripps Park, La Jolla Shores and the La Jolla Cove area.
In light of this uptick, La Jolla Town Council trustee and Taste of the Himalayas restaurant Karan Gurang voiced his discontent with the amount of vendors by Scripps Park and how it affects businesses like his and his peers, during the Town Council’s Aug. 13 at the La Jolla Recreation Center.
“They’re trying to make their living — I shouldn’t say they’re not allowed to do that — but it doesn’t sound fair that they can just set up their tent and start selling stuff down there, and it is impacting our local businesses,” Gurang said of the vendors.
Town Council president Mary Soriano added, “This has been really heartbreaking because a lot of these (brick-and-mortar) businesses are hurting from that.”
Following these statements, one attendee asked if there’s anything the Council can do to push back against the influx of vendors.
Soriano proposed the idea of gathering signatures on a petition and delivering it to the city to demonstrate robust community opposition throughout the court proceedings to follow. Though no motion was taken, Soriano said she would begin the petition process.
Joaquin Quintero, the community field representative for San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava, while not dismissing the proposal, pointed out the difficult position the city finds itself in at this time.
“The position of the city has not changed,” Quintero explained. “A recent court order has impacted our ability to exercise enforcement on the sidewalk vending ordinance. That is why you’re seeing what you’re seeing.”
Quintero added that LaCava continues to be in support of the 2022 sidewalk vending ordinance that allowed the city to more strictly enforce limits.
“This is not indifference on your legislative branch’s part,” Quintero continued. “This is the legal process of a lawsuit that has left us in position.”
In other Town Council news
A La Jolla Fire Safe Council presentation: La Jolla Town Council spent the latter half of its August meeting providing updates on the La Jolla Fire Safe Council.
Fire Safe Councils, commonly referred to as the fire prevention version of Neighborhood Watch groups, are grassroots nonprofits that partner with fire agencies to provide local education on how to best prepare for and prevent wildfires.
The process of forming a La Jolla Fire Safe Council began in April 2025 as about 25 community members gathered to discuss applying. They have since teamed with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department to provide home risk assessments for residents and met to discuss pertinent local fire safety issues.
The first of several guest speakers was La Jolla Farms homeowner Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz, who walked attendees through her experience getting a home risk assessment and making her house fire safe.
In June last year, Hansen Shaevitz got a notice from her fire insurance company, saying she would lose her insurance in a couple weeks if she didn’t take action on “a number of issues that showed my home and yard were not safe” including overgrown brush, she explained.
“I got on this immediately,” Hansen Shaevitz said. “I called my insurance agent … to find out what to do. With his advice, I immediately dealt with all of the fire issues the insurance company identified, as well as what the home assessment found. I hadeverything fixed within two weeks.”
Hansen Shaevitz was able to keep her fire insurance. Soriano praised her for her proactivity and implored others to do the same.
“We really appreciate you, Marjorie, for setting the example of caring for your neighbor … because it’s not just going to take one person setting the example (but) everybody next to you (too),” Soriano said.
Next meeting: The La Jolla Town Council next meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at the Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St. Learn more at lajollatowncouncil.org.