By Jon Chown
Unlicensed taco vendors selling food made in a dirty kitchen in Merced have proliferated across Monterey County in the past year, but more recently have conglomerated at an empty lot on the corner of Railroad Avenue and Salinas Road in Pajaro. County supervisors promised a crackdown.
Supervisors discussed the issue Tuesday, Feb. 3 and vowed to act before a catastrophe happens, but District 3 Supervisor Chris Lopez said that date is past.
“I’ve already lost a resident — somebody crossing the road in Soledad trying to get to one of these vendors was hit by a car and died,” he lamented. “And I’m done with this. … We know the vans come out of Merced. You see the license plate. It’s crystal clear.”
Vendors set up shop in Pajaro on Saturday, Feb. 9.
The corner lot on Railroad Avenue and Salinas Road is owned by Union Pacific Railroad and has become an unauthorized flea market filled with unlicensed vendors of all sorts, selling a wide variety of goods. Monterey County officials say it has resulted in food safety violations, traffic concerns, and is a public nuisance. As far as food, there is no place for servers to wash their hands or even a bathroom.
On Jan. 10, police broke up the party, issuing 15 trespassing notices and left two no-trespassing signs at the property. Fencing or even concrete barriers are being considered to keep vendors out. Wednesday, a crew wearing orange vests were picking up trash at the site under the watch of two sheriff’s deputies.
“People expect their food to be safe,” said District 2 Supervisor Glenn Church. “It’s a real concern and a real health risk out there that’s in many ways just a time bomb.”
Officials said the taco stands generate a lot money, up to $100,000 per month, but the workers at these sites are paid very little. Some appear to be minors. They often have no identification.
Armando Gonzalez of Monterey County’s Environmental Health Department said operating without a food permit is only the top of the iceberg. The vendors’ actions often involve unfair business practices, tax evasion, right-of-way violations, and are a public nuisance.
The county responded to 223 complaints in the last fiscal year, with most complaints originating out of Salinas to begin with. Salinas, in turn, hired a special investigative unit to find the vendors. That spurred the vendors to move out into unincorporated areas.
Now, Gonzalez said, most of the vendors are in Pajaro or Castroville. The most frustrating part about it is that little seems to dissuade them.
Fines have increased to $100 for a first offense, $500 for a second and $1,000 for a third. Unfortunately, said Gonzalez, these vendors change names and change employees so that determining which offense it is can be very difficult. When equipment is confiscated, vendors are seen with new equipment somewhere else within days. He said the only measure the county takes that seems to deter them is to confiscate their vehicles.
“It is an organized operation,” Gonzalez said. “Through coordination with the District Attorney’s office, it has been determined that these vendors are not small or independent operators, but a large organized operation headquartered in Merced County. This organization operates in multiple counties in California.”
Merced County officials did not return calls by press time.
Church made a motion for the county to prioritize enforcement, for barriers to be placed to stop the market from occurring and for staff to come back in 30 days for a proposal to add a position to help address the problem, or for county workers’ hours to be rescheduled to address it.
“There’s a train station going there in five years and that place needs to be cleaned up and needs to be safe,” he said.
The motion passed, but with some “friendly” amendments. Supervisor Luis Alejo asked that vehicles stop being impounded and expressed some concerns with barriers being put up to block access to the lot. In the end, it’s unclear what was actually passed as the entire motion, with amendments, was not read to the supervisors before they voted on it. Church’s staff didn’t know either, when asked.
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Early Crackdown Credited for Curbing Problem in Santa Cruz County
A quick crackdown might be the difference between the problem Monterey County is having with unlicensed food vendors, and Santa Cruz County.
In Monterey County, officials are discussing how to stop an avalanche of unlicensed taco vendors, mostly originating from an organization in Merced County, from setting up shop in unsafe areas and selling food that could be unsafe as well.
The county responded to 223 complaints in the last fiscal year. Most of the recent complaints are originating out of Pajaro, where an authorized flea market has set up shop with unlicensed vendors of all sorts.
Olga Zuniga, deputy director of Santa Cruz County Environmental Health, said Santa Cruz County is watching closely.
“We’re definitely keeping an eye out because its only a bridge away,” she said. “We have a very good partnership with the City of Watsonville.”
Zuniga said the Merced County operation is affecting the entire state and has been a problem for more than a year. Last year, operators from Merced attempted to move into Santa Cruz, she said, but they were shut down quickly.
“Our response was immediate and we haven’t seen them operating in our county since,” she said. “For now, it seems like it’s not impacting our community the same way it is in Monterey County.”