Trimble has a new target, announced Friday, after a series of cryptic social media posts this week stating that the historic heart of San Diego \u201cdeserves better.\u201d He is calling on the city to immediately, and consistently enforce a no-vending zone in the Gaslamp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The city designated the Gaslamp a no-vending zone in 2022. The street vendors take up precious sidewalk space, particularly after the Fifth Avenue Promenade ended, with huge crowds now crammed onto sidewalks so cars can drive through \u2014 even during busy nightlife hours.<\/p>\n
Pete Soto, a hot dog cart vendor who does not operate in the Gaslamp because of the no-vending rules, criticized the unlicensed vendors for causing a friend\u2019s restaurant to close. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s lots of places you can go and make money the right way,\u201d Soto said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do it the illegal way and kill all the other small businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gaslamp Quarter Association believes that the carts, tents and stalls violate ADA access by blocking sidewalks as well as restricting emergency access, causing sanitation problems and other public safety risks. Open propane cooking without oversight has an obvious fire risk to the surrounding historic buildings and highly-trafficked areas, the callout says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gaslamp deserves better. The city has known about these conditions for years, and the longer this goes unaddressed, the greater the risk to public safety, public health and the future of one of San Diego\u2019s most important districts,\u201d Trimble said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local businesses fund the Gaslamp Quarter Association, which promotes them and is their voice to the city. Trimble brought up the inequity that struggling brick-and-mortar businesses face while paying city taxes, permits and fees as well as meeting health, fire and safety standards that unregulated vendors do not meet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Letty Soto documents unlicensed vendors near where Brooklyn Dogs operates at the Civic Center Plaza. This video is from 2023 when she first began documenting vending violators. (Video courtesy Letty Soto\/Brooklyn Dogs)<\/p>\n
Even other street vendors are fed up with lack of enforcement. Letty Soto, who has operated licensed hot dog cart Brooklyn Dogs<\/a> for 20 years with Pete Soto, has complained for years about unregulated vendors violating the no-vending rules.<\/p>\n \u201cThese vendors have not been stopped, even with a city ordinance or posted \u2018no vending\u2019 signs,\u201d Letty Soto said.\u00a0\u201cIt is still a major problem down here. We pay rent, have health permits and pay taxes. They do not uphold any of that and place the public in jeopardy with unsanitary practices.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey get into fights with us because they want to be there regardless of the law,\u201d Pete Soto said of his lease in the Civic Center Plaza. \u201cIf you call the police, they don\u2019t come. They don\u2019t show up. They say they got better things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Trimble said there have been short-term enforcement efforts, but the neighborhood needs consistent enforcement, including at night when crowds are biggest. And while the issue continues, sanitary conditions will continue to deteriorate.\u00a0<\/p>\n SB 946<\/a>, the state law passed in 2018 that decriminalized street vending, complicates the issue. Still, local jurisdictions can pass vending restrictions under the law \u2014 as long as the rules relate to objective health and safety concerns.<\/p>\n The Sotos supported efforts to pass the local ordinance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe worked so hard to help create a strong ordinance to stop this behavior,\u201d Letty Soto said. <\/p>\n \u201c(The) ordinance passed but it has not done anything for us except put stress on our family business.\u201d<\/p>\n However, another licensed vendor outside Petco Park, Imhotep Mustaqeem<\/a>, is suing the city for violating state law in its vending ordinance. The 2024 case is ongoing, but the California Courts of Appeal in January invalidated parts of San Diego\u2019s vending ordinance. A three-judge panel ruled the city impounding vendors\u2019 items and limiting their hours of operations contradicts the state law.<\/p>\n Of the January decision, Mustaqeem said<\/a>, \u201cI am a legal business. I have every right that a brick-and-mortar business has.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/imagejpeg_2.jpg\")
<\/a>Letty Soto, of Brooklyn Dogs, sees unlicensed vendors like the one above outside the Civic Center as unsanitary and harming her business. (Photo courtesy Letty Soto\/Brooklyn Dogs)<\/p>\n
![\"Crowds](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Comic-Con-crowds-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Comic-Con crowds outside in the Gaslamp Quarter on Saturday, July 28, 2024. (Photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n