Some 90 street vendors gathered at 24th and Capp streets yesterday to hear about the upcoming plan to ban vending on Mission Street — and to voice their concerns.
Santiago Lerma, legislative aide to Hillary Ronen, fielded questions from the group of mainly Latinx vendors in a back-and-forth held mostly in Spanish. The ban is set to start in early November, and will prevent all vending on Mission Street from both permitted and unpermitted vendors.
Several of the assembled vendors acknowledged that illegal vending was a problem, but said their legitimate livelihoods would be hurt by a blanket ban. The meeting occasionally devolved into shouting as tempers flared.
“I have a permit to sell,” said a vendor named Guillermo in Spanish. He said that while stolen goods were sold at the 16th and 24th Street plazas, the problem was not unique to the Mission.
“They are working in an absurd way, wanting to clean up the Mission before attacking … or seeing where the product is actually coming from,” he said, drawing applause.
Another vendor, who identified himself as Diego, said a total ban across Mission Street made little sense, and was in favor of targeting the plazas where “truthfully, there is chaos.”
“The question is, why are you choosing to clean all of the Mission?” he asked, adding that he and other vendors have ensured their slice of Mission is clean and safe, but that newcomers to the plaza are creating problems.
He also worried that, after the ban, even legal street vendors would have their permits revoked, and that he and other families would be left without breadwinners, a notion that Lerma sought to dispel.
“I wrote the law, I’m here standing in front of you, speaking to you, because … I understand that street vendors are part of the Mission community, part of the history of the Mission,” Lerma said, saying that it was “not true” that permits would be revoked.
Lerma told the crowd that the street had become too dangerous. He said there had been several thousand police calls to the area regarding violence and illegal vending since the permit system came into effect in 2022.
It is true that there have been many violent incidents at the Mission BART plazas in the past year. Since last summer, there have been three homicides at or near the 24th and Mission plaza. A man was shot at the 16th and Mission plaza just two days ago.
Another vendor said that, for the last four weeks, he has not seen any city workers like those with Public Works who are meant to check vendors’ permits. “Where are the city inspectors? They haven’t come. It has been chaos. It has been a disaster,” he said.
The ban will take in all of Mission Street from Cesar Chavez to 14th streets, plus several small adjacent roads. Some vending will be permitted on certain sides of Capp Street, Julian Avenue and Bartlett Street.
The banned area includes Mission Street and several side streets
= area of vending ban
Vending will be
prohibited on parts
of Erie St and
Woodward St
Woodward St
Erie St
Valencia St
Guerrero St
14th St
Mission St
Minna St
S Van Ness Ave
Julian Ave
15th St
Wiese St
Vending will be
prohibited on the
east side of Julian
Ave, but permitted
vendors will be
allowed on the
west side
16th St
BART
Plaza
An indoor market is
planned for permitted
vendors at 17th and
Mission – but it will not
open before the ban
Hoff St
17th St
Clarion Alley
Capp St
Sycamore St
18th St
Mission St
Vending will be
prohibited on the
west side of Capp St.
On the east side, it
will “be reviewed on
a case-by-case basis.”
San Carlos St
19th St
Mission
Playground
S Van Ness Ave
Folsom St
20th St
Capp St
Valencia St
21th St
Barlett St
22nd St
Between 21st and 22nd
streets, vending will be
prohibited on the east side
of Bartlett St but allowed on
the west side. Further south,
vending on the west side
of Bartlett St will “be reviewed
on a case-by-case basis.”
Mission St
23rd St
Capp St
24th St
BART
Plaza
Osage St
Lilac St
25th St
Mission St
Most vending directly
on the BART plazas,
as opposed to the
sidewalks next to them,
is banned already
26th St
Cesar Chavez St
= area of vending ban
Vending will be
prohibited on parts
of Erie St and
Woodward St
Woodward St
Erie St
Valencia St
14th St
Minna St
Mission St
S Van Ness Ave
Julian Ave
15th St
Wiese St
Vending will
be prohibited
on the east
side of Julian
Ave, but
allowed on
the west side
16th St
BART
Plaza
Hoff St
17th St
Clarion Alley
Capp St
Vending will
be prohibited
on the west
side of Capp
St. On the
east side, it
will “be
reviewed on
a case-by
-case basis.”
Sycamore St
18th St
Mission St
San Carlos St
19th St
Mission
Playground
S Van Ness Ave
20th St
Capp St
Valencia St
21th St
Barlett St
22nd St
Mission St
Between 21st and
22nd streets, vending
will be prohibited on
the east side of Bartlett
St but allowed on the
west side. Further
south, vending on the
west side of Bartlett St
will “be reviewed on
a case-by-case basis.”
23rd St
Capp St
BART
Plaza
24th St
Osage St
Lilac St
25th St
Mission St
Most vending directly
on the BART plazas,
as opposed to the
sidewalks next to them,
is banned already
26th St
Cesar Chavez St
Map by Will Jarrett. Information from Hillary Ronen’s Office. Basemap from Mapbox.
“We are appalled, and completely against the ban,” Kevin Ortiz, co-president of the Latinx Democratic Club, told Mission Local. “I’m aware there are safety concerns on the plazas, but just moving the problem around solves nothing.”
Ortiz said he would like to see controlled outdoor markets opened up before talking about a ban: “You’ve got to have the carrot before the stick.”
A plan is in the works to open up an empty storefront at 17th and Mission streets to serve as an indoor vending space, but it will not be available until after the ban kicks in.
Ortiz added that street vending is part of Latinx culture, and said pushing out vendors who had complied with the new permitting requirements throughout the past year is unfair. “They feel like they’ve been kicked around on this,” he said.
The ban is intended to run for a 90-day trial period, although vendors yesterday complained that this may disrupt business during one of their busiest periods. Lerma said he would investigate pushing the start of the ban back to December.
Some vendors questioned the efficacy of banning vending in one relatively small area: “Is the violence going to stop if you move them from Mission to Guerrero? To Valencia?” asked one vendor who did not identify himself.
Lerma responded that lots of the people selling stolen goods are not from the neighborhood, and will likely be dissuaded by a ban around BART stops.
“They do not know to go to Valencia,” said Lerma. “They come here to make a quick dollar and then they get on BART and they go.”
Another community meeting about the ban is planned for Monday, Oct. 30. UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed. The article will be updated when new information is available.
Translation by Joe Rivano Barros.
Kevin Ortiz’ claims to speak on behalf of Latinos is belied by the fact that residents at 1950 Mission affordable housing are asking to be transferred to other buildings due to the untenable commandeering of the sidewalks by street vendors.
One characteristic I’ve noticed of my extensive travels through Mexico and Central America is that residents take pride in and ownership of their neighborhoods, and that there are eyes on the street to ensure that the public realm is honored and respected. People may be poor, but they don’t tolerate collective insults like mierda, orina y viciosos like Ortiz is going to the mat for.
It is like the Mission nonprofity cabal has as its mission figuring out exactly how to insult and abuse residents while positioning themselves as martyr spokespeople for “the most vulnerable.” Odds are that they’re angling for another city contract to administer sustained human misery.
Or, are these city funded nonprofit cabalistas really mobsters who have figured out a percentage in defending criminal enterprises?
You are definitely onto several things with your observations.
It’s about time for the city to care more about the city itself than street vendors.
The chaos keeps away repeat visitors. It’s difficult to walk on Mission Street on weekends and, while I’m a local who doesn’t think it’s dangerous, I have had friends visit from out of town who didn’t feel safe going to the BART station by themselves.
This isn’t about street vendors, many cities like New York have street vending as a part of the culture (pretzels, etc), its about the color of the vendors. sorry, that’s why your friends feel unsafe, even if there were no street vendors I wonder if they would still feel ‘safe’ in the neighborhood.
As a Mission home owner, I would love for Mission Local to bring more light to the stories of these legitimate business owners. It is telling that Hilary Ronan cannot tell the difference between legitimate vendors (flower sellers, fruit vendors, etc.) and thieves and drug dealers. Why wasn’t the first course of action to go after the thieves directly?
Ronan and everyone can certainly tell the difference, hence the
initial permit plan for the area. The program (SF police
backup for DPW workers to enforce the permits) hasn’t
worked. Going after thieves means arrest and conviction
at trial, hardly worth it for the small perps. This is the best
way — permits OK, just outside the pink area. It will still take
more police work (and signage, citing relevant codes) to attenuate the cat-and-mouse game.
It really is mind-boggling. Why can’t the city permit and allow vendors who have a legitimate business plan (eg, a fruit cart, a booth where they sell crafts) and provide them with a designated space? AND at the same time crack down on illegal “vendors” who spread a blanket on the sidewalk and try to sell 3 tubs of stolen laundry detergent and a bag of raw meat? This would never be allowed at the Ferry Building so why is it allowed here?
Bingo! Glad she’s on the way out.
Have they secured an indoor place yet? Will they delay the ban if they cannot find an indoor space?
I could be wrong, but I feel like the plazas became chaos because downtown hollowed out and effectively died. Anyone who used to hang out on market street between say, 3rd and 7th, shifted gradually south toward where there were more people and eventually seemed to coalesce around 2 hubs, the Bart plazas.
If thats the case, then I think we should be focusing ALL of our energy for creative problem solving to bringing downtown back. I thought that skatepark at city hall was a cool idea. I don’t understand why it couldn’t coexist with the farmers market. The success of the skate park on stanyan street that for years coexisted with food trucks, seems like a positive case study. I think “the downtown problem” is what we should try to fix first and then I think the plaza situation will gradually sort itself out. I know very little about city planning and economics, I’m just a regular normal person, but as a lifelong San Franciscan this is my surmising of the situation.
We are about to have 21 world leaders descend into San Francisco for APEC in the first part of November. I wonder what part that has played on ramping up the “cleaning up” of Mission Street. It seems a bit too coincidental after years of negligence by the City that the closure of street vending on Mission Street falls just before the monied, ruling class takes over all of SF.
None of those leaders or their entourages will be coming to the Mission. They will be carefully coralled into secured, cleanly scrubbed prescribed areas. The claim that the conference will be a boon to the City is hogwash.
Boon to the City? With 20,000 attending, like for any
large convention, hotels fill up. Estimates are $53M
extra spent. How does the money spread around?
Google “San Francisco Expands Community Outreach APEC” to see how.
Campers,
As a Mayoral candidate my goal is to put forward ideas, most from others.
For this situation, I think all candidates should agree to insure permanent Police Kobans above every BART station in the City.
That was Di Fi’s best idea as mayor to my way of thinking.
And, candidates should address whether our Police Chief should be elected.
That was Michael Hennessey’s idea.
Toss in an invisible and pollution free Tidal-Venturi power plant prototype under Golden Gate Bridge.
Go Niners !
h.
This is a big blow to the legitimate vendors, those who have gotten the proper business licenses and jumped through the city’s hoops to get street vending permits. This is their business, their livelihood and the majority of them have already bought the merchandise, materials, and products needed for the holiday season. Now they’re going to be stuck with it and in debt if they can’t set up somewhere else. I understand that they asked at this meeting if the ban could be postponed until the end of the year and the idea was shot down by Ronen’s rep. No leadership, no planning, no solutions.
From the end of the article:
“Another community meeting about the ban is planned for Monday, Oct. 30.”
When, where?
Hi JK – thanks for flagging this. I was told today the meeting has been postponed. I’ll update the story once a new time and venue have been decided.
City needs to be cleaned up. 24th and Bryant is gross. Can’t even walk past there without bumping into people.
Having a place for DESIGNATED PERMITTED vendors is a win for everyone.
Vendors will have a safe designated place to be.
People who want to shop with vendors can do so without obstructing foot traffic and they don’t need to compete with illegal vendors.
Illegal stolen good vendors can be stopped.
Police can better identify who are illegal vendors and who are fencing illegal goods.
Seems like all positives.
In a city where we give away clean needles to addicts for free, we are evicting legal street vendors. I don’t think one sentence encapsulates San Francisco’s problems better.
I’m glad they are requesting a ban for street vending on Mission Street. At weekends the area around 15th & Mission is an utter mess. It is fine to celebrate the murals in the alleys, but who wants to go and see the “goods” spread out on the sidewalks.
I appreciate that many street vendors are quite poor and are “just trying to make a living”. Setting aside the issue of stolen goods — there can be no excuse for making other citizens lives ugly. As Mill put it “The liberty of the individual must be thus far limited; he must not make himself a nuisance to other people.”
Do the vendors collect sales tax ? Do they pay property taxes ? Do they have business licenses ? A good deal of the stuff appears to be stolen. Why buy toothpaste from a sidewalk vendor — if it is cheaper than a supermarket it is likely stolen.
Meanwhile Safeway and other markets have to install barriers to minimize retail theft. Law abiding citizens get hit two ways: the markets install inconvenient barriers to minimize the theft and then see the stolen products littering the sidewalk. Further, who pays for the supermarket “shrinkage” — the average citizen.
Can we get the Franchise Tax Board to enforce sales tax collection ?
It is disturbing how few people understand that there are two camps of vendors, LICENSED vendors who have tables and long time small businesses where they sell LEGAL products and illegal vendors who sell stolen goods and illegal products. The first group are legitimate small business owners who pay for licenses and taxes to the city. The problem with this ban is that the licensed vendors are getting through in with the illegal vendors and treated like criminals too.
It’s really messed up to ban the people that traditionally sell food, clothes and goods on mission st completely especially when a lot of these vendors have completed the sysyphean song and dance of getting a permit and let Valencia and dolores out of it just because they sell “thrifted” stuff, which could very well be stolen for all we know, and let vendors that literally sell drugs (mushrooms and other stuff) on dolores but it’s not a problem because we know the difference between who buys and sells on mission and these other two streets. And it ain’t about law and order…