12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 11-17, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com The City of Monterey’s updated sidewalk vending ordinance went into effect on Thursday, Sept. 4, and so far, everything has been drama free. Possibly, it’s because the City hasn’t tried to enforce it yet. Monterey City Council approved the amended ordinance Aug. 5 after discussing the issue at length; it first approved an amended ordinance April 15, but after pushback from vendors, made slight adjustments. Among the changes now that the ordinance is in effect is that vendor spaces are limited to 8 feet by 4 feet— 320 square feet—and markings on the sidewalk roughly form rectangles for vendors to set up their wares. For husband-and-wife team Jim Burns and India Weeks, who sell tiedye T-shirts, that reduces their footprint by what he claims is a loss of 95 percent of their space. They haven’t yet complied with the amended ordinance, and don’t plan to. “We’ll just keep setting up,” Burns says. “They don’t have any way to enforce their ordinance.” Burns says he’s ready to sue if they do: “We have to show harm before we have legal standing, so we have to wait until they issue tickets.” One issue, he says, is the amendments were passed for the ostensible reason of health and safety, though also to preserve views of the waterfront. But Burns and other vendors think it’s all related to the business interests on Fisherman’s Wharf—they say there is no evidence of any safety incidents related to the vendors since they were allowed to start operating in 2019, in keeping with state law. Monterey planner Levi Hill, who worked on the amended ordinance, says the city’s code enforcement is typically complaint-driven, but that the City will be “somewhat proactive” with enforcing the new amendments. The City of Monterey has only a single code enforcement officer, Rory Lakind. When the Weekly dialed Lakind’s number on Sept. 4, his voicemail message said he would be out of the office until Sept. 15. On Monday, Sept. 8, just one vendor table is set up at the wharf—husbandand-wife team Shai and Mira Nissim, who sell jewelry, some of which they and their kids make themselves. They’re complying with the ordinance—or trying to, at least—and have lost at least half of their previous footprint. Mira says the new ordinance is a nightly topic of concern at their family dinner table in Carmel Valley, and they hope they can keep making ends meet. Stymied by the Byzantine nature of Carmel’s building rules and delay tactics by those who oppose change, Monaco developer Patrice Pastor faced yet another delay last month in his over six-year quest to build the 13,000-square-foot J.B. Pastor Project. On Aug. 4, a modified version of the Carmel City Council—two of the five members were recused—called for more changes to the project. After the further delay, Pastor threatened to leave “this strange community, if you can call it a community.” Residents disparaged one another, depending which side of the debate they were on. Pastor made a last-ditch effort through an attorney to pressure Carmel City Attorney Brian Pierik to reverse the recusals but failed, so on Monday, Sept. 8, Councilmembers Jeff Baron, Hans Buder and Alissandra Dramov reconvened to revisit the project again. They voted 3-0 to send the project back to the Carmel Planning Commission. The commission is being tasked with ensuring that the project includes more onsite parking and landscaping. A large number of Carmelites rushed to the defense of Pastor at the meeting, some calling him a “gift” to the town for his investments—he’s purchased dozens of properties and invested money in improvements—and chiding the city for allegedly discriminating against him. Buder blamed Carmel’s outdated system of building ordinances and policies and called for a “top to bottom” overhaul, but said they had to make decisions based on current rules. He laid out the reasons why the project did not qualify for in-lieu parking and would have to create more parking through an underground garage. Dramov wanted another full review of the project’s impact on historical resources and disagreed the project was exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, based on the potential impact on historical resources. Baron and Buder said they would not override a council decision from 2023 based on a past historic impact report. Keep Shop Monterey’s amended sidewalk vending ordinance goes into effect—sort of. By David Schmalz NEWS TREE TALK The City of Monterey is updating its tree ordinance, which was established in 1991 to regulate trimming and removal of trees. Residents are encouraged to share feedback. Survey ends Monday, Sept. 15. bit.ly/ MontereyTreeSurvey. SAFE STREETS The City of Salinas hosts a meeting addressing prostitution and public safety in the area of Kern and East Market streets. 6:30-8pm Tuesday, Sept. 16. Sherwood Elementary School cafeteria, 110 S. Wood St., Salinas. Free. 758-7328, anaa@ci.salinas.ca.us. COMMUNITY ORIENTED The City of Monterey released a draft report outlining activities funded by the Community Development Block Grant from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, including efforts toward housing and economic development. The public is invited to review and comment. Public comment period ends Sept. 16. 646-3995, monterey.gov/housing. IN THE ZONE Pajaro Valley Health Care District is transitioning to a by-zone election system, and the public is invited to help create the new zones. A forum introduces the process and shares information on how to create maps. 5:30pm Wednesday, Sept. 17. Pajaro Valley Health Trust community room, 85 Nielson St., Watsonville. Free. 7244741, drawpajaro.org. BUSINESS SECURED The Central Coast Procurement Expo connects small businesses and entrepreneurs with contracting opportunities from public agencies and businesses. Learn how to compete for contracts in this event presented by the Central Coast Small Business Development Center and Monterey Bay APEX Accelerator. 9am-1pm Thursday, Sept. 18. One Main Street, 1 Main St., Salinas. Free. 2163000, linktr.ee/CentralCoastSBDC. FUNDING BOOST The City of Seaside accepts applications for its Community Social Services Grant program. A total of $420,000 has been allocated for organizations that serve Seaside. Apply by 5pm Thursday, Sept. 18. Free to apply. 899-6700, ci.seaside.ca.us. JOIN THE CLASS MPUSD seeks to fill the vacant Area 6 seat on the board of education following the resignation of Amanda Whitmire, who moved. Area 6 includes parts of Monterey and communities south of Highway 68. Applications due 4:30pm Wednesday, Sept. 24. Free. 645-1204, mpusd.net. Building Plan A small version of Carmel City Council sends a Pastor project back to the Planning Commission. By Pam Marino Jim Burns with his tie-dye offerings at the base of Fisherman’s Wharf before the ordinance took effect on Sept. 4. He has not changed course since then. E-MAIL: toolbox@montereycountynow.com TOOLBOX “They don’t have any way to enforce their ordinance.” DANIEL DREIFUSS
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