{"id":486230,"date":"2026-10-05T23:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T23:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/486230\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T23:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T23:04:10","slug":"san-jose-tells-food-pantry-it-must-shut-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/486230\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose tells food pantry it must shut down"},"content":{"rendered":"

A popular San Jose neighborhood food pantry is at risk of closing again after being hit with more zoning violations.<\/p>\n

Lighthouse Food Rescue & Distribution<\/a> was cited by San Jose on Sept. 25 for hosting its food distribution on the sidewalk and for not following zoning rules, as a food distribution center is no longer permitted in that neighborhood. If the organization does not comply within 10 days by removing the distribution and canopies from the sidewalk, it will start incurring daily fines of up to $20,000 a day, according to the citation, which also says the food pantry must cease operations within 60 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m up against the wall,\u201d Pastor Ralph Olmos, president and CEO of the food pantry, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like (the city is) telling me to stop. But my conviction says, \u2018How can I leave the people?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents and advocates have said the food pantry is a lifeline for the community, serving families, older adults, homeless people and those with disabilities. The organization feeds more than 1,000 people a day, five days a week from noon to 5 p.m. It offers a variety of foods that are not available at other pantries \u2014 including milk, meat and eggs.<\/p>\n

\"\"The food provided by the pantry is a lifeline for residents, who appreciate the variety of options. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\n

San Jose cited Olmos\u2019 efforts more than four years ago<\/a> due to zoning noncompliance. In order to operate, he needed to obtain a special use permit, which cost up to $15,500 \u2014 money the organization didn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

Due to community protest, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously<\/a> in 2022 to waive special use permit fees for food pantries or to create a program that would fund special use permits.<\/p>\n

Marika Krause, spokesperson for the city Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department, said the zoning has since changed and a special use permit is no longer an option.<\/p>\n

According to the citation Lighthouse received, a food distribution center is no longer a permissible use of the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe value and commend the efforts of community organizations that help people during difficult times,\u201d Krause told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe city is working with the property owner to find a suitable path forward in ensuring the health and safety of our community. Our inspectors have made it clear our goal is to work collaboratively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olmos said the citation confused him and seemed to have come from nowhere, as he had no prior communication from the city that he was no longer in compliance or that the zoning had changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not informed (of) any of that,\u201d Olmos said. \u201cIt\u2019s so crazy how much red tape we have to go through. You\u2019re going to discourage people from starting a nonprofit, from helping the homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Tim Robinson, 65, said he relies on the food pantry to get by after he lost his job. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\n

Residents said they are drawn to Lighthouse because of the variety and choice of food. The pantry, located at E. Julian and 17th streets near Lighthouse Church, is within walking distance for many families.<\/p>\n

After Tim Robinson, 65, lost his job working at Williams Sonoma, he left San Francisco and moved in with his brother in San Jose. Robinson gets food at the pantry at least once a week and lives down the street from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would suffer (without the pantry),\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI\u2019m very dependent on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In-line<\/a><\/p>\n

The Lighthouse pantry also creates specialized food boxes for people to pick up \u2014 including a box catered to people with diabetes, a vegetarian box and a box for homeless people with premade meals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe box is super important because diabetes and hypertension are involved in so many of the unhoused deaths,\u201d homeless advocate Shaunn Cartwright told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cNobody else lets you be in charge of the food that you pick up. This gives you dignity, and that\u2019s what\u2019s really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olmos said he\u2019ll need to shut down the pantry if he\u2019s not allowed to set up on the sidewalk. Relocation is a possibility, but it would need to be located somewhere accessible to older adults and people with disabilities \u2014 and rent would have to be affordable.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo lose something like this \u2026 it\u2019ll be a community injury for sure,\u201d Olmos said.<\/p>\n

Contact Joyce Chu at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> or @joyce_speaks on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A popular San Jose neighborhood food pantry is at risk of closing again after being hit with more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[712,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-486230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-centerpiece","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486230","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=486230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}