San Francisco Begins 90 Day Ban On Mission Street Outdoor Vendors

The newest chapter in the years-long feud between the City of San Francisco and outdoor street vendors began on Monday when the 90-day street vending ban in the Mission District, prompting local street vendors to announce an upcoming “direct action” protest.

For years, San Francisco has seen a major upswing of street vendors appearing on city streets because of high rents of brick and mortar buildings, as well as the rise in crime and overhauls in the street permitting system. While proponents of street vending have said that it gives livelihoods to people who could otherwise not afford a storefront or other retail space not on the sidewalk, opponents have said that street vending itself increases crime and has led to dirtier streets because of city services unable to go into areas packed with vendors, such as on Mission Street.

Last year Supervisor Hillary Ronen and DA Brooke Jenkins, announced major new initiatives and ordinances to crack down on crime by taking down illegal street vendors. Namely, the measures taken aimed at going after open air drug markets and areas with illegal and unpermitted vendors, who often sell stolen goods. Despite some protests from vendors who said it was difficult to get permits or that it restricted where they could do business, the number of illegal vendors quickly fell throughout the city.

Encouraged by this, an even more targeted crackdown occurred later in 2022, aimed at vendors who didn’t pay the $430 fee for a license, or didn’t get one for free if they met certain financial conditions. While this also proved to be successful, new problems appeared in 2023. Namely, some areas, such as Mission Street, began  teeming with outdoor vendors, making both local residents and businessowners alike upset. Businessowners reported fewer people going into physical store locations because of the high number of vendors, with city workers struggling more than ever to get into areas to clean them up. With Department of Public Works workers effectively blocked, trash accumulations became the norm.

“The area looks junky thanks to these outdoor sellers,” said Jose Chavez, a local resident, to the Globe on Monday. “They just don’t care if they leave out boxes or packaging materials or papers or anything like that. It used to just be a few outdoor food places and maybe a store or two. And that was fine. It added local flavor. But then more showed up, and soon you pass stalls that sold things of tide pods with electronic alarm tags obviously ripped off and boxes of razor blades still with price tags on them. There were some legitimately making a living who went through the right channels and cleared it with local store owners, but they were so few. Even with that big crackdown last year, it just meant that licensed places congregated together, making problems like the trash even worse.”

New vendor ban in SF

With problems growing worse yet again, and more and more city workers reported being assaulted when trying to do work in vendor heavy areas, Supervisor Ronen began work on a new total street vending ban on Mission Street in early fall. While previously limited by a state law, SB 946, that legalized street vending, Ronen worked with city leaders in finding health and safety issues occurring in areas with many vendors, including the fact that some city workers had resorted to wearing bulletproof vests in areas out of fear for their own personal safety. With areas permitting vending now deemed a hazard, the city swiftly moved to a ban for several months on Mission Street and other areas.

“Unfortunately a good intentioned State Law SB 946, which legalized street vending in any public space in California, has led to problems in the Mission District and in many other areas around the City,” said Ronen in a newsletter last month. “When I originally tried to limit street vending in the Mission, the City Attorney explained that the State law limits what we can do. I stretched the limits of the law by passing a permitting regimen attempting to improve conditions. That law has had only limited success and the Mission’s vulnerable small businesses and residents deserve streets and a public transportation system that they can easily access and that is safe.”

“I recently learned that DPW workers who enforce the law have been assaulted and had their lives threatened by individuals selling stolen goods on the street. I also found out that DPW workers are wearing bullet proof vests to work and that many workers filed grievances through their union so they no longer had to work in the Mission because they feared for their safety. Outraged,  I pulled a group of City leaders together with the City Attorney to demand that we find a way within the law to address the situation. After pulling health and safety records in the neighborhood, we were able to make the case that allowing vending on Mission Street and around BART Stations are creating measurable hazards in the neighborhood.”

“Therefore, starting in November, the City will ban street vending on Mission Street. To mitigate the harm to innocent street vendors who sell their artisan goods to make a living, we are identifying spaces off public sidewalks where vendors can sell their goods as well as adding resources to existing workforce development programs serving the street vending population so they can find alternative sources of income.”

With new areas around the street leased for the vendors, the city went ahead with the Mission Street outdoor vending ban on Monday. Vendors, who had furiously challenged the ban, said that the action, which is set to go through at least the end of February, punishes vendors who are abiding by the law and that it takes away needed income during the holiday season. Vendors also noted that while there are well over 100 licensed vendors along Mission Street before the ban, city designated areas nearby only have enough spaces for 48 vendors, leaving most out as a result. Many also charged that there was a lack of dialogue between Ronen and the vendors, despite numerous meetings happening between the sides, including a particularly charged public meeting in October.

“This misconceived ban would force vendors to abandon their established livelihoods and possibly relocate to two designated sites with limited space, a move that would cripple their businesses during the crucial holiday season,” said the Mission Vendors Association. “We have exhausted every avenue to collaborate with the Supervisor, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. We are not seeking preferential treatment. We simply ask for the opportunity to continue providing for our families during this critical time of year.”

A new ban beginning in the holiday season

With previous rallies and attempts to work with lawmakers failing, vendors announced on Monday that a new direct action protest would be occurring to combat the new ban. However, many outdoor vending experts told the Globe that vendors would have a hard time challenging the ban because of the focus on health and safety.

“Ronen found a much needed exception to the state sidewalk vending law,” said Amy Blaine, a lawyer who has represented retail stores in the past against outdoor sidewalk vendors, on Monday. “In LA, the city has been keeping up as many anti-vending laws as possible. They put them up in the late 2010s and, lucky for them, the pandemic happened and challenges against them  fell on deaf ears. Areas of LA once infested with them are now pretty much clear of them. Still a big battle going on for sure, but the city is finally seeing more and more victories against them.”

“San Francisco had success last year in getting rid of illegal ones, but permitted vending areas began to wreck havoc. This is why the Mission Street ban is so crucial too. San Francisco followed state and city law and managed to use health and safety concerns to shut it down. It’s a 90 day ban right now, but it could be extended.”

“This is what stores want. When you have another store in front of yours, it doesn’t bring in business. It scares customers away. Food they are cooking can nauseate people living nearby. People get hurt, crime goes up. There are some responsible vendors out there. But it has gotten to be such a nuisance. Hopefully this action is expanded. Vendors are people trying to live their lives, but so are store owners and residents who don’t want their quality of life to go down. Thankfully, San Francisco listened and vending is banned on the street for awhile.”

As of Monday, it is unknown as to what effect the vendors new “direct action” protests will have on the ban.