In 2019, a state law decriminalized sidewalk vending and mandated that cities develop a regulatory program that allows micro-entrepreneurs to operate.  

The City of San Diego’s sidewalk vending regulations, passed last year, allow vendors to do business but also seeks to protect our local parks, beaches and business districts from overcrowding and health and safety issues that can arise from vending activity.  

The law partially bans street vendors in places where they block pedestrian rights of way and institutes a moratorium on vending during the busy summer months in Balboa Park and our shoreline parks and beaches. 

The regulations are working and being enforced, but as is often the case with new legislation, the set of rules need to be refined now that we have seen it in action.  

Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, in collaboration with my office, will be bringing forward changes to the sidewalk vending ordinance this fall to improve its clarity and enforceability. 

Some vendors have found and exploited the lack of clarity in the definition of vending and are claiming First Amendment protection for their sale of goods. We’re not talking about mom-and-pop vendors displaying art and handmade crafts, but vendors selling mass-produced products that cannot be stretched to fit the definition of free expression.  

The amendments that will be brought forward will ensure that there is no ambiguity on who is subject to this regulation under the Sidewalk Vending Ordinance. The amendments will also work to improve our enforcement efforts. 

The City will also be creating zones where people claiming freedom of expression or speech can legally operate, similar to how Balboa Park has regulated this kind of activity for years.  

These upcoming amendments will help provide the clarity needed to help our rangers enforce these new rules fairly and swiftly.  

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