![\"Pete](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783475836_780_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nOn a warm Tuesday morning outside of San Diego Superior Court, Pete Soto cooks hot dogs at his Brooklyn Dogs street cart.<\/p>\n
He and his family have been selling from a street cart in San Diego for over two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the day we’re here now, and at night we head to Civic Center,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While Soto pays rent to sell food at the Civic Center location, he said that after police stopped enforcing San Diego\u2019s sidewalk vending regulations, dozens of other vendors began selling there.<\/p>\n
Due to the influx, he stopped earning as much money, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt nighttime with the shows there we get swamped with 50 to 60 carts in one night. They take over the whole plaza; police can’t enforce it because they were told to stand down,\u201d Soto said.<\/p>\n
He said the other vendors don\u2019t appear to be following health department rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just have a little thing and a propane tank and no refrigeration like we do. And they get away with it,\u201d Soto said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pete Soto and his son sell hot dogs to customers from their Brooklyn Dogs street cart in downtown San Diego, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n
He said his yellow and blue umbrella setup is fully compliant with the law. They have a health permit and food handlers license, business license and pay sales tax.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a legal hot dog cart. This is what the city and state and health department requires,\u201d Soto said.<\/p>\n
Back in 2018, the state decriminalized sidewalk vending and authorized cities to adopt requirements for public safety.<\/p>\n
San Diego passed its street vendor ordinance in 2022. It regulates the time, place, and manner in which street vendor businesses can operate.<\/p>\n
But Michael Trimble, executive director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association, which represents downtown restaurants, hotels and other businesses, said enforcement has been inconsistent from the start and no longer exists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen hot dog carts on fire; we’ve seen people spill hot dogs on the ground, pick them up and serve the public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Under the city\u2019s ordinance, the Gaslamp Quarter is designated a \u201cno vending zone.\u201d But no one is stopping vendors from selling in the district now, Trimble said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the evening from 10 p.m. until the bar break, there are 50, 60, sometimes even 100 vendors all down 5th and 6th avenue and the cross streets,\u201d Trimble said. \u201cThey leave their grease and whatever they\u2019ve been selling and their waste, dump it in the storm drains, dump it on the sidewalk and leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
City of San Diego spokesperson Nicole Darling said street vendor \u201cenforcement is paused due to a legal challenge and court order to cease enforcement of the City\u2019s ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not specify how long the pause has been in effect or confirm details of the legal challenge and court order.<\/p>\n