The Stockton City Council voted unanimously to pass a street vendor ordinance during their meeting on Tuesday. There's no law on the books to regulate vendors, so this would apply rules for vendors to abide by.

Street and sidewalk vending is a part of the fabric of communities in Stockton, specifically at Angel Cruz Park, where vendors have been lining up for decades to make a living and to sell the food they love.

"To survive, I have to do pop-ups," Bobby Clarke, a street vendor at Angel Cruz Park, said.

Clarke cooks and sells authentic Jamaican food. Clarke told CBS Sacramento that being a vendor is "everything" to his livelihood, including paying rent. The vendor bought a truck four months ago after he closed down his restaurant and went on vacation. Clarke uses it to transport his grill and food to sell as a pop-up.

"I used to work at FedEx, a man [ran into] my car, I couldn't get my car fixed early enough to go back [to] work, I lose the job," Clarke said. "Insurance, they didn't even want to pay me until now from June, so I just [bought] this truck and I start to do my thing. I used to own a restaurant. They shoot two guys in the parking lot, they kill two guys in front who just [ate] from me, so I close down."

Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities (EMAC) organizer CJ Ragasa, a Filipino-American, has seen these vendors since he was a kid.

"It's important because it helps us keep in touch with our culture, specifically, food and music," Ragasa said.

Ragasa went with his girlfriend, Desirey, a Cambodian-American, to pick up food on Wednesday evening for dinner. They got papaya, sticky rice, beef sticks, and beef sausage. Ragasa said growing up around Stockton, it's "very centered with Southeast Asians."

"I'm proud because I'm Southeast Asian," Ragasa said. "The history of Southeast Asian(s), what they've been through, protect our vendors, hopefully, it [isn't] rough for them as they already are."

This sentiment was echoed at the Stockton City Council meeting Tuesday evening. During comment, someone said that the vendors are the lifeblood of the community. Another said this gives more places for young people to hang out, and that street vendors have created a community and a space for this.

In a unifying moment, the council unanimously voted to pass a vendor ordinance. While there was overwhelming support, there were a few concerns addressed, including generator use.

Dan Richardson, a Stockton resident, said he is "not anti-vendor." However, he had concerns about the generators.

"I've had generators parked in front of my house with vendors that generate 92-104 decibels for eight hours in front of my home," Richardson said. "That's unacceptable. They're loud, they're polluting, and they're just obnoxious. Generators shouldn't be used as a power source for pop-up vendors that, under the state law, were designed to have the food prepared, bring it, set it up under your pop-up, and sell it."

Julie Dunning, a Stockton resident, is also supportive of the vendors. She just had concerns about the generators, as well.

"I support the policy, I support the vendors," Dunning said. "I support what the city's done. I do have a couple of concerns, though. One, being the chair of the Climate Action Committee, the issue of the generators is a bit alarming to me. Sixty gallons of diesel fuel, we all can imagine what a 55-gallon drum is like. I heard a prior speaker say they only use one to two gallons of fuel. And when I looked up how much a diesel generator uses, even the largest ones, running from sun-up to sun-down, could not use 60 gallons at a time or in a day." 

Another comment from a concerned citizen addressed this: "When we're talking about 60 gallons of diesel fuel, we must understand that that's the equivalent of almost four cars. Nobody has four cars-worth of diesel at these parks."

The ordinance applies rules for street and sidewalk vendors modified from Los Angeles and San Diego's ordinances, including vendors needing permits and background checks. At the council meeting, it was also brought up that this ordinance will be complaint-driven and it will be open to continual revisions made by the council.

"We want to be in compliance with state law, that in the City of Stockton, we do allow street vending because right now, our code says we do not allow street vending," Mario Enríquez, Stockton Councilmember of District 4, said. "So, if you think about street vendors going rampant and doing all these things, there is nothing to enforce because there is nothing on the books…this is a good foundation to move the conversation forward, to create policy that works for everybody and then, along the way, I am committed to be able to work with my colleagues."

CBS Sacramento also spoke with another vendor who told us how important this is to her livelihood. If she doesn't sell the food, she can't pay her bills or rent.