Merced restaurant owners are calling on the city to regulate pop-up food vendors
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Merced restaurant owners petition city for equal regulation of pop-up vendors
- Concerns include unfair competition, public health risks, and sanitation issues
- City council expected to review draft ordinance on vendor regulation by October
Some Merced restaurant owners are petitioning the city to crack down on pop-up food vendors by requiring them to follow the same regulations as brick and mortar restaurants. The petition comes as the city is weighing new regulations for street food vendors.
Merced restaurant owners Enrique Valencia and Saul Rosas, and their “designated speaker” Arturo Barajas, intend to file the petition with other business signatures at the city council’s Oct. 6 meeting.
The three said they believe the pop-up vendors pose unfair economic competition to permitted businesses, raise concerns about exploitation, damage Merced’s reputation and pose public health risks.
The two business owners and Barajas said they would like to see the city regulate the street food vendors by requiring that they follow the same health, safety and permitting rules as established businesses and designating specific areas for the street food vendors.
“It’s not fair for a lot of people like us, going through a lot of stuff to open up a business legal,” Rosas, who owns La Taqueria Con Sabor A Mexico, said.
“I believe in justice and fairness, being fair for everybody,” he said.
Since pop-up vendors have grown in number near their businesses, Valencia, who owns Maria’s Taco Shop, said he sees fewer customers after 6 p.m. Barajas said he has noticed the impact on local businesses beginning about a year ago.
While there has been an economic impact, Rosas and Valencia contend they are also concerned with the public health impacts of the street vendors.
“We have to be qualified on food handling and pay for all those kinds of things,” Rosas said. “They don’t have none of that. So, we’re concerned not only on our business but in public safety.”
“They don’t have a bathroom where they wash their hands,” Valencia said.
The petition Barajas, Rosas and Valencia plan to submit to the city comes as the city is already weighing an ordinance regulating street food vendors. They discussed the issue at their Aug. 4 city council meeting.
“Unfortunately, we deal with meats that are not being properly stored in refrigeration, and there’s improper sanitation, and the health inspector is basically confiscating all of the food and equipment because it doesn’t meet the health and safety requirements,” Merced Police Chief Steven Stanfield said at the meeting.
A draft ordinance is expected to come before the city council within 60 days of the Aug. 4 meeting.
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM.