San Rafael cracks down on illegal food vendors

By Adrian Rodriguez | arodriguez@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal and Richard Halstead | rhalstead@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

UPDATED: May 20, 2025 at 6:18 PM PDT

San Rafael is ramping up enforcement of illegal food vendors in the Canal neighborhood after complaints about noise, health and safety.

City Manager Cristine Alilovich announced Monday that the San Rafael Police Department will staff evening patrols with Spanish-speaking officers in the primarily Latino neighborhood. The enforcement patrols will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays starting this week, Alilovich said.

“Officers will distribute materials on how to obtain vending permits while we continue to explore longer-term solutions,” Alilovich said during her city manager’s report at the City Council meeting.

City officials are also partnering with Marin County Environmental Health Services, which regulates food vending licensing for all of Marin’s jurisdictions. A joint operation is planned on the evenings of June 5 and 6, Alilovich said.

Over the past year, the county agency received more than a dozen complaints about food safety and unfair business practices in the area. City officials said they’ve received upwards of 50 complaints.

Two adults and two children reported experiencing symptoms consistent with food-borne illness after purchasing food from an unpermitted vendor, said Peter Feng, a county spokesperson.

The county has conducted more than 20 permit enforcement operations in San Rafael and Novato since 2024, Feng said.

Because licensing is regulated by the county, enforcement is also primarily the responsibility of the county.

Another hurdle for San Rafael is that the city has not updated its regulations since the state’s decriminalization of street food vending through Senate Bill 946 in 2018 and Senate Bill 927 in 2022, officials said.

Don Jeppson, a city official, said code enforcement officers can issue citations for operating without a business license or a food vendor permit.

However, San Rafael police Capt. Roy Leon said, “Under SB 946 and SB 972, the city cannot entirely prohibit sidewalk vending. The city can require vendors to leave a 4-foot pathway on the sidewalk to provide access for people with disabilities.”

City officials are proposing time, place and manner restrictions to regulate street vendors. A proposal is expected to be presented for City Council consideration this summer.

“Illegal food vending is an unsafe, unregulated and unfair daily situation impacting our city,” San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin said. “The city is ready and willing to deploy resources to support a stronger, coordinated and regular enforcement effort from the county’s department of environmental health to address this serious issue.”

Omar Carrera, chief executive officer of Canal Alliance, a nonprofit in the Canal neighborhood that provides immigrant services, said he has some concerns.

The rise of unregulated street vending, he said, “is a visible symptom of deeper systemic gaps in economic inclusion, housing and public space access.”

“We must resist the urge to criminalize poverty,” he said.

Carrera suggested the city and county consider designated vending zones created with community input to ensure order, accessibility and visibility without conflict. Officials should also lower barriers for permitting so its easier for vendors to operate legally, and offer small business training and other assistance.

Meanwhile, the county is working on its own ordinance that would legalize food sales from home-kitchen cooks and street vendors. The proposed ordinance is related, and could help, but it is not designed specifically to curb the experience in the Canal neighborhood, Feng said.

The county’s ordinance follows recent state laws on the issue.

Assembly Bill 626, signed into law in 2018, adds “microenterprise home kitchen operations,” or MEHKOs, within the definition of a food facility. The law enables local governments to establish programs to permit and regulate the operations. Senate Bill 972 allows MEHKOs to act as commissary kitchens to prepare and store food for up to two mobile food vendors.

MEHKOs are limited to preparing 30 meals per day and 90 meals per week, and making $100,000 in gross sales per year. The operations may sell or donate directly to customers for pickup, delivery or onsite consumption. They are barred from catering.

The goal of the county’s program is to “address long-standing racial and economic disparities,” according to a staff report. County staff recommend reducing or waiving application and inspection fees for people residing in communities with such disparities.

Cristina Parra-Hernandez, who lives in the Canal neighborhood, said, “This initiative is really important for my community since we have a lot of vendors on the street. It’s going to be an amazing opportunity for them to do everything under the law.”

Lauren Wolfer, a spokesperson for Cook Alliance, a nonprofit supporting home food entrepreneurs, said, “Establishing a MEHKOS program will enhance food safety and expand access to education and resources for home cooks who are already operating informally.”

The Marin County Board of Supervisors delayed a vote on the ordinance at its May 6 meeting after raising concerns.

Supervisors said some restaurant owners and caterers said they feel heavily regulated and the program does not impose the same rules on home cooks and street vendors.

Supervisors questioned whether the ordinance contains sufficient guidelines given that it would allow the operation of MEHKOs in all municipalities in Marin. They also wanted assurances that taking on the new program wouldn’t impede the Marin County Community Development Agency’s other work.

However, Supervisor Dennis Rodoni said, “There may be a lot of issues that we need to deal with, but for me this has been a long time coming, and I am going to support moving it forward.”

The vote on the ordinance has not yet been rescheduled.

Originally Published: May 20, 2025 at 6:10 PM PDT