SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Court Blocks Enforcement of Street-Vending Law

A Superior Court judge on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the city from enforcing its street-vendor ordinance.

The owners of five street-vending businesses sued the city Tuesday, claiming the ordinance regulating the mobile businesses violates their constitutional rights.

The suit also claims that the ordinance includes sections that should come under the state jurisdiction in the state vehicle, health and safety codes.

A court hearing has been set for Sept. 29. The restraining order will remain in place until the hearing. It would be lifted if the city prevails.

The ordinance, enacted in November, requires vendors to obtain permits and comply with rules governing when and where they can park while doing business.

“We think that the ordinance is reasonable,” City Manager George Scarborough said Thursday.

But Salvador Sarmiento, a Santa Ana attorney representing the five vendors, said the city has no authority over activities governed by the ordinance.

“What they are trying to do is regulate an area that the state already handles,” Sarmiento said. “They’re passing laws that overlap state laws.”

Sarmiento said the ordinance should not apply to his clients.

Since the ordinance took effect, two of Sarmiento’s five clients have received citations from enforcement officers, he said.

One of the vendors, Barajas Produce, was told by a code-enforcement officer this week that his license would be suspended for a year because he had received three citations, Sarmiento said.

Sarmiento has a similar lawsuit pending against the city of Anaheim.