BOARD QUESTIONS POTENTIAL VENDOR LOOPHOLE
La Jollans say some accepting ‘donations’ to work around ordinance
Members of the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board are voicing concern over a possible loophole in San Diego’s regulations on sidewalk vending, which has started to re-emerge recently in areas like Scripps Park after enforcement went into full effect in coastal areas Feb. 1.
Sidewalk vendors are regulated by an ordinance the City Council passed last year that took effect in most of the city June 22. But its restrictions focusing largely on where vendors can operate could not be enforced in coastal communities while awaiting review by the California Coastal Commission. The commission agreed in August to withdraw its
review and allow enforcement in the coastal zone.
The ordinance includes regulations for permitting and health and safety and aims to block vending year-round at La Jolla’s Scripps Park, Children’s Pool, the Coast Boulevard boardwalk between Jenner and Cuvier streets, and on main thoroughfares in some business districts, such as the boardwalk at La Jolla Shores, according to local officials. Vendors are allowed to continue operating on the cross streets and side streets in those areas.
La Jolla Parks & Beaches President Bob Evans said the enforcement has had “a lot of positive results” and caused “a significant decrease in what was outof-control
vending.” But he said he has seen vendors “creeping back in” to the public shoreline parks.
Some are operating under speech protected by the First Amendment and others are operating on a donation basis — neither of which are regulated in the sidewalk vending ordinance.
Thus, some people at the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board meeting Feb. 27 expressed concern about the concept of “donations” and whether vendors who choose to accept donations will be allowed to operate.
Trustee John Shannon said that with the donation loophole, the number of vending stands
push people toward services and shelters. But the scope of the problem in big cities is so much greater and shelter space is limited.
Homeless people who resist available shelter and services are often moved out of encampments and given citations — even thrown in jail. For the most part, the law requires adequate shelter space to be available to take such actions against homeless people.
Homelessness in Coronado may be small by regional comparisons, but that doesn’t mean a lot of thought and effort haven’t gone into how the city approaches it. The Coronado Police Department is the lead agency and designates an officer as a homeless liaison “when needed.”
Four days a week, a clinician with expertise in psychiatric assistance works with the department to help people in distress and direct them to services. That’s an increasing focus across the nation in helping people get off the street.
The San Diego region has dozens of PERT units (Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams), having added significantly to the numbers in recent years.
Coronado police officers, like counterparts in other departments, receive training on how to approach people who are homeless and, in particular, people who exhibit signs of substance abuse or mental health issues.
Coronado has no shelter space of its own, but pays for two short-term emergency beds at St. Vincent de Paul Village. It’s not uncommon for small jurisdictions — Coronado’s population is just under 20,000 — that aren’t equipped to deal with
homelessness long term to send people to where shelters are available.
According to the city, 58 people were taken or sent to shelters in 2022. The city said that includes a small number of repeat cases, but didn’t have an exact number.
This may be a worthy strategy for a city like Coronado. But Bailey, who has his eye on running for higher office, used it to make a broader political point.
The mayor described Coronado’s policy as an either/or proposition.
“The fact of the matter is, although there are a myriad of reasons that people end up homeless, they eventually only fall into two camps — those who want help and those who do not want help,” Bailey said on Fox News. “And those that are refusing to get help ... shouldn’t be granted the ability to break laws such as tent encampments on the sidewalk or urinating or defecating in public.
“We need to be enforcing these policies to ultimately
kind of help them get into that other camp and eventually get help.”
Moreover, the city and county of San Diego and nonprofit agencies also are focused on moving homeless people into long-term housing.
Throughout the county, getting homeless people into permanent homes has been an uphill battle. The San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness issues regular reports, and for the last several months more people have fallen into homelessness than found housing.
Beyond the government efforts, Coronado has other advantages in keeping homelessness to a minimum.
“There’s no question about that,” Bailey said in an interview. “That’s certainly not lost on me.”
Coronado is geographically isolated from the rest of the region. A lot of unsheltered people travel on foot or maybe by bicycle. Without a vehicle, it takes some doing — and money — to get to Coronado. There’s the bridge — with no pedestrian or bike access — the 7-mile-long Silver Strand from Imperial Beach, and the ferry that crosses the bay.
It’s also an exclusive enclave without much affordable housing or amenities such as food distribution that homeless people might seek out.
Coronado may have unique circumstances, but that doesn’t mean what Bailey is talking about doesn’t resonate beyond his city. Polls show the worsening homeless situation across the state is the top concern among voters.
Republican lawmakers at the state and local level similarly have been stressing there needs to be an obligation not only to help homeless people, but to protect the larger population with tougher enforcement to keep public areas safe and sanitary.
Increasingly, Democrats in Sacramento and California’s big cities are moving in that direction. San Diego Councilmember Stephen Whitburn has said he soon plans to identify a location near downtown where much more shelter space can be erected, while proposing stronger anti-camping rules.
Bailey said the steps his city has taken have been effective. But in our interview, he downplayed his notion that Coronado could serve as a specific model for other cities beleaguered by homelessness, such as San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“This is obviously a regional issue,” he said.
Too often, politics is perception. It shouldn’t be illusion as well.