Hours before sunrise on North 17th Street, Dennis Grijalva is already setting up tables for the day's food giveaway, long before the first of the hundreds of people who rely on Lighthouse Food Rescue show up to collect groceries. But the free farmer's-market-style pantry he helps run now has a 60-day clock ticking against it, after San Jose code enforcement determined that its use of a public sidewalk to hand out food violates city zoning rules.
According to NBC Bay Area, the city found that Lighthouse's sidewalk setup obstructs a public right-of-way and does not comply with current zoning rules, and it has given the nonprofit 60 days to cease operations. The order raises the possibility that the pantry could be forced to close, though Lighthouse says it does not intend to go quietly.
Nonprofit Vows to Fight City Hall
Grijalva told the outlet that the economic pressure driving people to the pantry has only intensified, saying food prices have climbed while wages have not kept pace. Pastor Ralph Olmos, who leads the organization, said the nonprofit plans to fight San Jose City Hall rather than shut its doors, while also searching for a more permanent location that would let it keep serving the community. Olmos said red tape makes doing good deeds difficult in the nonprofit world, a frustration that echoes a similar permitting dispute Lighthouse faced with the city during the pandemic, as reported by Telemundo Área de la Bahía.
Lighthouse's attorney has already sent a letter to the city's director of code enforcement demanding a sit-down meeting, per the station's report. The nonprofit describes itself as a free farmer's-market-style store built around the needs of poor and unhoused residents, and says on its website that more than 100 people line up daily to collect food, according to Lighthouse Food Rescue & Distribution. The organization says it began in 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic before formally opening its pantry to the public as a nonprofit the following year.
Mayor Says City Will Seek Compromise
Mayor Matt Mahan said he has reached out to the city's code department about granting Lighthouse an extension while it works toward compliance. Mahan also said he plans to connect Pastor Olmos with potential partners who could temporarily store the organization's food and supplies as it searches for a new site, the same account notes.
Still, Mahan made clear the city isn't backing off its zoning obligations. “While we have to follow the law and zoning designations, we can do it with care and find compromises,” he said, according to the station's reporting. San Jose intends to follow its law and zoning designations while working to find compromises in Lighthouse's case, a balance the mayor framed as achievable without abandoning either goal.
A Familiar Fight for San Jose Food Programs
This isn't the first time a San Jose food-assistance effort has run into permitting trouble. San Jose's Lighthouse Ministries was previously warned that it needed a special-use permit to keep providing free groceries, according to ABC7 News, which also reported that a community coalition had pursued a first-of-its-kind comprehensive service center for vulnerable residents, eyeing a $2.5 million property on North 15th Street. Separately, the City of San José's own outdoor-vending guidance notes that anyone selling on sidewalks or other public property generally must obtain a permit from the San José Police Department, with an administrative-permit exception carved out under municipal code for vendors of fresh, whole, uncut fruits and vegetables.
The dispute also unfolds against a backdrop of mounting need across the region. A May 2025 survey by Second Harvest of Silicon Valley found that nearly 60% of employed respondents could not cover their monthly expenses, and that one in six people across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties now turns to the organization for support. Second Harvest, which supplies free food to more than 400 local nonprofit and agency partners at over 900 distribution sites, says it must raise 20% more than its current funding to keep pace with rising costs and growing demand.
For now, Lighthouse Food Rescue remains open on North 17th Street, with Grijalva still arriving before dawn to set up tables for the people who line up each day. Whether the pantry secures an extension, a temporary storage partner, or a permanent new home remains to be seen as the 60-day window plays out.
