1120 Bird Avenue Unit F #234 San José, CA 95125
408 271 9627 [email protected]
March 21, 2025
San Jose City Council
200 E. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113
Subject: Support for Unlicensed Vendor Ordinance – March 25, 2025 City Council Meeting
Dear Mayor Mahan and Honorable Members of the City Council,
Christmas in the Park encourages the City Council to approve the Unlicensed Vendor Ordinance. A vibrant downtown that drives an experience economy needs to be safe. The focus on equipment and not people is key with this ordinance. The equipment blocks venue exits, impedes safe corridors, and puts the vendors at risk from traffic and crowds.
Christmas in the Park produces and manages the displays and activities at Plaza de Cesar Chavez during the holidays, and our event draws 700,000 people downtown each year.
Unlicensed vendors impact the overall experience of our guests. We often get blamed for the trash and sidewalks lined with vendors. Families tell us they’ve stopped coming to our event because the sidewalks in the area feel unsafe.
Like many small businesses, the licensed vendors at our event depend on holiday business to meet their revenue goals. The proliferation of unlicensed vendors impact their business, and that impacts our ability to raise fees to cover our cost of hosting them in the Park.
The balanced approach in this ordinance allows legitimate vendors to operate within a fair and structured framework. We support the proposed measures that include education, outreach, and phased enforcement to transition unlicensed vendors into a legal and sustainable marketplace.
We acknowledge the perseverance of Chris Shay and appreciate the hard work of city staff in crafting this ordinance. We urge the City Council’s approval to encourage downtown to continue to build a vibrant destination that is the hub of San Jose’s experience economy.
With gratitude,
Debbie Degutis, Managing Director
Christmas in the Park
March 24, 2025
San Jose City Council
City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113
Subject: 8.1 Support for Unlicensed Vendor Ordinance – March 25, 2025 City Council Meeting Dear Mayor Mahan and Honorable Members of the City Council, On behalf of the Sharks Sports and Entertainment (SSE), I am writing to express our strong support for the proposed ordinance regulating unlicensed street vending. We urge the City Council to approve this ordinance at the March 25, 2025 meeting. The ordinance is an important tool that will help ensure public safety and traffic flow outside SAP Center and all of our San Jose venues. We especially appreciate the focus on equipment rather than individuals, as unregulated vending setups obstruct venue exits, impede safe passageways, and expose vendors and pedestrians to traffic and crowd-related hazards. Please vote to approve: The ordinance amending Chapter 6.54 of Title 6 of the San José Municipal Code (Peddler Permit Ordinance).
The SAP Center is a critical gathering place for San Jose residents and visitors, hosting over 150 events per year. The growing number of unregulated vendors near the arena has resulted in significant safety concerns, including:
• Fire and Life Safety Risks: Unpermitted food carts and cooking equipment present fire hazards, particularly when operating in crowded areas near exits and emergency access points. Ensuring proper regulation minimizes these risks and protects attendees, vendors, and first responders.
• Pedestrian and Traffic Safety: Vendors setting up along busy roadways, sidewalks, and parking areas create obstructions that impede pedestrian and vehicle movement and increase the risk of vehicle-related accidents. Clear pathways are essential for safe crowd flow, emergency response, and ADA accessibility. This is especially important as most of our SAP Center events occur in the evening.
• Public Space Management: Equipment blocking venue exits and emergency routes can create dangerous bottlenecks during large events. This poses a serious risk in emergency situations where rapid evacuation may be necessary.
• Quality of Life and Environmental Concerns: Reports of excessive litter, food waste, and improper disposal of cooking grease have increased around SAP Center. Additionally, unregulated operations contribute to the damage of San Jose’s tree canopy due to exposure to grease and other contaminants.
This ordinance provides a fair and structured approach that balances public safety with economic opportunity for our unlicensed vendor community. We support the proposed measures that include education, outreach, and phased enforcement to transition unlicensed vendors into a legal and sustainable marketplace.
We appreciate the City Council’s leadership in addressing these pressing concerns and urge you to approve this ordinance to protect public safety and maintain a well-functioning environment outside SAP Center.
Finally, we would be remiss if we did not mention the countless City staff, SJFD and SJPD personnel that have been instrumental in finding a solution, modeling that off the best in class ordinances adopted in other California cities and working with SAP Center to roll out the test trial that has proven so successful in early 2025. We are grateful for everyone’s work on this important topic. From experience, we know that this program will work and that this ordinance will assist our partners in City Hall and throughout the other San Jose venues, making San Jose even safer.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We appreciate Council Member Bien Doan for putting forward the collective work of all the individuals involved in the referenced ordinance.
We look forward to working together to ensure a safe and vibrant downtown San Jose and City of San Jose.
Sincerely,
Chris Shay
Sr. Vice President for Government Affairs
Sharks Sports and Entertainment
525 Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113