{"id":388593,"date":"2026-07-07T00:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T00:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/388593\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T00:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T00:28:14","slug":"san-diego-set-for-mass-illegal-street-vendor-expansion-after-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/388593\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego set for mass illegal street vendor expansion after ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Diego seems to have no solution to its illegal street vendor problem and it\u2019s only getting worse in many areas including the popular Balboa Park and Gaslamp Quarter.<\/p>\n

Local business leaders are frustrated following the January 2026 California appeals court ruling, which forced the city officials to entirely halt the crackdown on street vendors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a disaster,\u201d Denny Knox, executive director of the Ocean Beach Main Street Association, told the San Diego Union Tribune<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

Local business associations say the return of food carts raises concerns over sidewalk access and public safety. Getty Images<\/p>\n

An increasing number of street vendors are exploiting the court\u2019s ruling and many don\u2019t even bother to get a permit.<\/p>\n

Executive Director of Gaslamp Quarter Association, Michael Trimble, said that street vendors block the sidewalks, making it difficult for the businesses in the area to function.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lack of action has also led to an escalation of activity, including new vendors setting up tents and selling goods without permits, health approvals or accountability,\u201d said Trimble, the Union-Tribune reports<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Organized groups of hot dog vendors have returned to the Gaslamp Quarter\u2014bringing associated hazards like open fires, blocked walkways, and the dumping of grease into storm drains. <\/p>\n

Popular tourist destinations like city beaches and Balboa Park are seeing a resurgence of street vendors. The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so much of a slap in the face to merchants that have done things the legal way, the right way,\u201d said Ruth-Ann Thorn, owner of Native Star boutique and Exclusive Collections Gallery in the Gaslamp Quarter, reports inewsource<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Officers can no longer impound vending carts and law enforcement in Ballpark District is restricted, SDPD\u2019s Ashley Nicholes said in a statement, according to the Union-Tribune. <\/p>\n

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\u201cRecent court rulings involving the city\u2019s street vending ordinance have limited what police officers can do to enforce street vending laws,\u201d Nicholes said. <\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s tug-of-war with street vendors started in 2018 when the state law decriminalized aspects of street vending. The task to draft a vendor law fell into the laps of then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer in 2019, then passed on to Mayor Todd Gloria in 2021 and then Councilmember Jennifer Campbell.<\/p>\n

San Diego officials have instructed police and park rangers to halt enforcement of the city\u2019s 2024 vendor law. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The law, approved by the City Council in May 2022, banned vendors in Balboa Park, Little Italy, Ocean Beach and some beach areas during summer months. But, the merchants kept complaining about the lack of law enforcement and that led to the revision of the law in 2024.<\/p>\n

The revised law made it easier for officials to impound vendors\u2019 carts, limited free-speech protections, which didn\u2019t include yoga classes on the beach and selling food.<\/p>\n

After an immediate backlash, a federal appeals court ruling in June 2025 said the city\u2019s ban on beach yoga classes is unconstitutional as they are protected under the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

A California appeals court in the case of Imhotep Mustaqeem earlier this year ruled that San Diego\u2019s revised 2024 street vendor law violated state law by establishing \u201coverly restrictive\u201d geographic no-vendor zones and restricted operating hours.<\/p>\n

Imhotep Mustaqeem, a licensed vendor who had sold snacks outside Petco Park since 2009, sued the city after police impounded his cart under San Diego\u2019s revised 2024 ordinance. While a lower court initially ruled against him, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ultimately vindicated Mustaqeem and quashed the 2024 street vendor law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego seems to have no solution to its illegal street vendor problem and it\u2019s only getting worse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,4182,74,3586,7408],"class_list":["post-388593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-metro","tag-san-diego","tag-us-news","tag-vendors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}