Taco stand owners facing lawsuit from the city of Santa Clarita

Residents in Santa Clarita say Tacos Jacky is a great option to enjoy authentic street tacos.

"There were always long lines, so they could serve people," said Maribel Crispin, a Santa Clarita resident.

However, the city filed a lawsuit against the street food stand, accusing them of continuing to operate illegally, despite having imposed 40 fines against them for over $17,000 that have not been paid.

The city of Santa Clarita released a statement stating that Tacos Jacky has been operating without a valid peddler license, public health permit sidewalk vending permit since 2019.

According to the city, Community Preservation staff members conducted 218 site inspections at various Tacos Jacky locations. They determined on 74 occasions that the stand was operating under dangerous food safety conditions.

"They say we have many stands when in reality we only have one stand," said Ever Hernández, one of the workers at Tacos Jacky, who is included in the lawsuit. "We go to Los Angeles and they tell us that there are no permits for what we are doing. We have even wanted to rent a lunch truck and they won't give us permits either."

Hernández said that they have always taken care of the quality of the products they offer. He also pointed out that many of their customers have defended them.

"Last time we had a line of about 20 people and they (the customers) protected us," Hernández said. "They (city workers) didn't take anything from us that day, but they came back at around 12 or 1 in the morning and took everything from us."

Hernandez said that city workers have arrested them twice this year for allegedly not having permits.

Attorneys for the city of Santa Clarita noted that the decision to pursue a lawsuit came after exhausting all administrative processes to address dozens of health and safety violations. The injunction would force the street vendor to temporarily cease operations until all code standards are met.

"It's not right because what they want to do is work and get ahead," Crispin said.

The workers of Tacos Jacky said they will seek legal advice about the lawsuit.

Telemundo 52 spoke with some merchants in the area and they said that they do not mind the installation of this taco stand because they are different products and different clientele.

The filed injunction against Tacos Jacky will require the vendor to temporarily stop all operations and appear in court before returning to business.

This story first appeared on NBCLA sister station, Telemundo 52.  Click here to read this story in Spanish.