San Rafael residents frustrated with smoke, noise from local food vendors 

San Rafael residents are urging local leaders to address smoke and noise they say are coming from food vendors outside their homes. These residents claim that the vendors are there late into the night, making it challenging for them to sleep.

San Rafael resident Matthew Smith was excited eight months ago when several street vendors began selling food on the sidewalk across from his apartment on B Street near downtown.

He says the vendors are now regulars there, typically appearing Wednesday through Sunday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Smith and three of his neighbors told NBC Bay Area that the food stands are now impacting their daily lives, from smoke wafting into their apartments to late-night music and noise stopping them from sleeping to a rat population they say has appeared on the street in recent months.

“The rats, the loud music, the smell, the smoke, I’m done,” said Smith.

Smith has to wake up early in the morning to commute to his job as a social worker, and he says the late-night noise has been keeping him from getting good sleep.

“Our living here is not pleasant anymore,” said neighbor Luis Barrios.

Barrios and other neighbors explained that residences in their complex do not have air conditioning, and residents regulate the temperature by leaving their windows open. However, with the smoke from the nearby food vendors, it has become difficult for them to leave windows open as the smoke enters their residences. Some residents complained of getting headaches from the smoke.

In the meantime, Smith wound up purchasing two portable air conditioning units to cope, and his power bill has spiked as a result.

San Rafael resident Stephanie Gonzalez told NBC Bay Area in an email that the vendors have blocked her driveway and left trash in the street.

“It is unfortunate that something that could have been a good thing not only for the family, but for the people around to enjoy has been taken advantage of,” she said.

Neighbors say they’ve complained to the city, to Marin County and even state officials, but things haven’t changed.

The vendors on the street Saturday t said they don’t believe they are doing anything wrong. One employee told NBC Bay Area that police did come by on Friday night and told them they needed to move further back on the curb so that they were not blocking the street.

Smith says police told him “their capabilities to address the actual food vending was quite limited.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to the city and its leaders for comment but has not heard back. A county spokesperson said they would look into this in the upcoming week.

Neighbors reiterated that they just want some sleep and to see a response from their local officials.

“I would like to see the people who are in charge of San Rafael, and the city and San Rafael, to pay attention to this issue,” Barrios said.