Street vendors have returned en masse to areas of San Diego long designated as “no vending zones” — including the Gaslamp Quarter and local beaches — as a legal fight over the city’s vending rules plays out in court.
The shift follows a Jan. 22 ruling from the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal, which found that key parts of San Diego’s sidewalk vending ordinance conflict with the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act, the 2018 state law that decriminalized street vending statewide.
The ruling did not strike down the city’s ordinance outright. It reversed a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction and sent the case back to San Diego Superior Court, where for now it remains unresolved.
Mission Beach Town Council President Larry Webb, part of the local Coastal Coalition – the advocacy alliance of coastal and beach town councils – said while the ruling did not completely overturn the city’s vending ordinance, it does limit enforcement.
“The city can do enforcement in the beach areas, they just can’t confiscate carts and such,” Webb said. “It has to be done administratively, not criminally.”
San Diego City Councilmember Joe La Cava, the District 1 representative, said that “while (the recent) court decision did not overturn the City’s Sidewalk Vending Ordinance, it resulted in some limits on enforcement. The City can and will enforce in District 1, including our beaches and shoreline parks.”
La Cava said he would “take every available measure to ensure that our neighborhoods do not return to the ‘wild west’ days of an unregulated market.”
How court fight began
The legal fight traces back to Imhotep Mustaqeem, who has sold snacks outside Petco Park since 2009. After the city cited him and impounded his merchandise under the 2022 ordinance, Mustaqeem sued, arguing the city’s rules conflicted with Senate Bill 946.
A Superior Court judge denied his request for a preliminary injunction, but the 4th District agreed with him that state law does not allow cities to impound a vendor’s equipment or goods, and that cities cannot restrict vendors’ operating hours more tightly than those of brick-and-mortar businesses on the same street.
The case is still pending. The city says the ordinance itself remains in place.
On Thursday, the city issued a statement saying that “Court orders currently limit how the City can enforce certain provisions while litigation continues.”
In most areas, police officers can still issue administrative citations, but are barred from impounding carts or merchandise. A separate court order limits enforcement specifically within the Ballpark District.
The city says it will continue defending the ordinance in court while enforcing it to the fullest extent allowed by law. Under SB 946, violations are punished only by fines, up to $100 for a first offense, but not criminal penalties.
William Dorsett is a San Diego street artist who sued San Diego in 2024 for violating his First Amendment rights to free speech after receiving a citation for disorderly conduct. In April he won $450,000 in a settlement in his favor.
For years Dorsett has been outspoken about the city of San Diego’s targeting of street vendors and buskers. While the city requires citizens to obey the law, he said, “it’s completely unwilling to hold itself accountable for violating laws.”
The city “continues to selectively enforce the rules,” Dorsett said.
“The city needs to train its enforcement officers better because they keep making up rules and applying to other laws. They have no accountability, zero First Amendment training beyond the basics … They also seem to refuse court orders they disagree with,” he said, adding that “the city has walked itself into” multiple lawsuits regarding street vending.
Bob Evans, vice president of the La Jolla nonprofit La Jolla Parks & Beaches, Inc., said he supports vending generally but not in local parks or San Diego beaches and seaside boardwalks.
He said a recent visit to the La Jolla Cove near Ellen Browning Scripps Park “seemed like old times” – but not in a good way. The park was packed with vendor tables, taking away from the natural beauty and views. Parking, already at a premium in beach areas, is also directly impacted.
“I support sidewalk vending and street vending — just not in our parks, or beaches or boardwalks – they’re for the public,” Evans said. “Vending should be done in a safe, legal sidewalk area. We don’t want our beach areas to look like a swap meet, or commercial activity in our parks.”
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