SF allows 10 street vendors to resume selling on Mission St. as data shows property crime is down

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A major milestone for the street vendors on San Francisco's Mission Street. The city is letting some of them sell there again.

Starting June 21, San Francisco is allowing the 10 street vendors back on Mission Street between 23 and 24th streets.

"I like that I have a uniform. We are now different, and we are recognized as street vendors," said Idalia Samara Lopez, one of the selected vendors.

It's been a long process to get to this point. Vendors pleaded with the city for seven months, followed the rules and sold merchandise at an indoor location. All while the city banned vending on Mission Street as it worked to regain control of the area from people selling stolen items on sidewalks.

"We saw that calls for public works went down. We saw assaults, burglaries went down and now we are looking. I just looked at the data property crime are down 23% if you compare the six weeks prior to the moratorium and the six weeks after the moratorium, so we are going to continue to assess the conditions," said Noel Sanchez, spokesperson for Mayor London Breed.

RELATED: SF to close storefront Mission vendors have been using during vending ban

San Francisco will close the "El Tiangue" storefront Mission Street vendors have been using during the 90-day vending ban.

Public Works inspectors are still in the area with San Francisco police officers making sure sidewalks are not blocked and only those with permits are allowed to sell.

"We know that the vendors that we are working with today have been good actors all along," said Rachel Gordon with San Francisco Public Works. "They have been working with the city on how we can make this work for everyone. So we have confidence on this. We just have to make sure that more people are not coming through now that don't have one of these 10 permits. They are not setting up next to them or on another block."

The city's street ban is still in effect until August 22. We captured the moment inspectors asked unpermitted vendors to move.

The vendors were selected through a city lottery system that included only vendors who had previous permit to sell on Mission Street.

"We still have to work a lot to make it better, but I feel like this is in the right way. This is the right step," said Rodrigo Lopez, president of Mission Street Vendors Association.

RELATED: SF data shows Mission St. is clean after vending ban, but permitted vendors say they are struggling

It's been more than 3 months since street vending was banned on Mission Street and a first report on cleanliness is out.

Luis Ledesma is one of the 10 lucky vendors allowed back on Mission Street.

"Very happy," said Ledesma.

We introduced you to Luis and his wife back in January when he said the ban contributed to his family ending up homeless and sleeping in their van. ABC7 News viewers donated to help them to get back on their feet.

VIDEO: SF Mission St. vendors blame 90-day ban for contributing to them ending up homeless, living in van

The 90-day street vending ban is still in effect in San Francisco and now multiple street vendors are reporting housing insecurity.

Today, they are living in temporary housing and have this message for those who helped them: "Thank you for helping me and supporting me. Thank you for everything. Come to my business and I give good price for everything. Thank you, thank you very much."

Public works said they will continue to evaluate the pilot's progress before expanding it to more than 10 vendors.