The stretch of pavement near Casa Loma Drive that once filled with vendors and shoppers now sits mostly quiet.

In the past month, city and county code enforcement officers swept through the area, issuing citations to vendors who had been selling without permits. The crackdown forced many sellers to pack up and search for other places to work.

Some have since moved to other empty lots near Casa Loma drive or to the fairgrounds swap meet. Others say they are still unsure where they will be able to sell next. Community members have also begun offering possible solutions, sharing ideas on where vendors might be able to relocate and continue their work.

Joe Alvarez, who said he sold in the Casa Loma area for about three years, said many vendors left after authorities increased enforcement.

An empty lot between Casa Loma Drive and Cottonwood Road where dozens of vendors once gathered to sell goods sits quiet following recent code enforcement actions. 

“These people get scared,” Alvarez said. “They start packing up because they think they’re going to get tickets or go to jail.”

Alvarez said many of the sellers rely on the extra income to supplement retirement benefits.

“A lot of us are retired,” he said. “Everything is going up, and we’re just trying to make ends meet.”

Danny Gurrolla, another vendor who has sold in the area for several years, said he also recently relocated with other sellers after enforcement increased.

“We’ve been out here trying to make a little money,” Gurrolla said. “People are just trying to survive.”

Some vendors said a code enforcement officer recently visited the lot near White Lane and Union Avenue and warned sellers they needed to pack up and leave or risk further enforcement. The warning prompted some vendors to begin gathering their belongings while others chose to stay.

“They intimidate people,” Gurrolla said. “A lot of vendors just leave because they don’t want trouble.”

Joe Alvarez (left) and Danny Gurrolla (right) stand near White Lane and Union Avenue. The vendors said increased code enforcement forced many sellers to relocate from the Casa Loma area.

Many vendors said selling items on weekends or during busy hours helps them cover basic expenses.

“I’m retired,” Gurrolla said. “I get about $1,900 a month, but my bills are high. My PG&E bill alone is about $1,500.”

Some vendors said they have considered selling at the swap meet at the Kern County Fairgrounds but say the fees make it difficult to earn a profit.

According to operators of the swap meet, daily vendor space fees are about $35 on Tuesdays and Fridays and $45 on Saturdays and Sundays.

“If you don’t make any money, then everything you earn goes to paying the space,” Gurrolla said.

Santos Verduzco, who was selling near White Lane and Union Avenue, said the cost keeps many vendors from moving to the swap meet.

“Those vendors are able to pay the fees over there,” he said. “Everyone sells where they want and where they can afford.”

Verduzco said he had only been selling for about three months and began doing so out of necessity.

“No one is hiring, work in the fields has died down, and most of us are now retired,” he said. “We sell so we can afford to eat and not just stay home.”

Not everyone views the situation the same way.

A woman who sells regularly at the swap meet at the Kern County Fairgrounds, and asked not to be identified, said vendors there were also affected when large numbers of sellers began operating near Casa Loma.

“It was a ghost town here,” she said. “Everyone was over there.”

The vendor said many sellers at the swap meet pay booth fees, permits and other regulatory costs, which made it frustrating to compete with unpermitted vendors operating elsewhere.

She said the informal market had grown so large that vendors at the swap meet were making far less money because many customers were going there instead.

At the same time, she said she sympathizes with the vendors who were selling at Casa Loma.

“It’s hard and honest money,” she said. “Permits and fees everywhere are expensive.”

Armando Garay Salcedo, who said he has been a vendor for more than 20 years, said he sometimes chose to sell at Casa Loma because rising booth fees at the swap meet made it difficult to continue operating there.

Salcedo said many vendors were simply trying to find ways to earn income during difficult economic conditions.

“I don’t think the city is doing the right thing here because we aren’t the problem,” Salcedo said. “We sold there out of necessity.”

Salcedo said he believes local officials should consider creating a lower-cost market option for vendors who cannot afford traditional swap meet fees.

“The City should create another swap meet with lower fees,” he said. “Not just for me, but for people even less fortunate, so they can work honestly.”

Armando Garay Salcedo, a vendor for more than 20 years and a former Casa Loma seller, selling dozens pairs of shoes at his booth at the Kern County Fairgrounds swap meet.

For now, many vendors say they are still trying to figure out where they can legally operate.

“We’re just trying to work,” Alvarez said. “That’s all.”

Kern Sol News reached out to the City to receive insight on the closure of the Casa Loma swap meet, but didn’t receive a response. 

A community meeting is also scheduled for March 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Belle Terrace Park, where vendors can learn how to obtain permits and operate legally. Some vendors said they plan to attend.