In San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, where espresso bars and old jazz clubs still echo the city’s bohemian past, new rules could soon change what types of businesses call the storied area home — stirring both hopes of renewal and fears about losing what has long made it special.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco’s North Beach divided over proposal to loosen zoning rules
Residents are worried that a change in zoning could mean that neighborhood staples like Molinari Delicatessen on Columbus Avenue could lose protections that have helped them survive.
“It’s a really unique ecosystem that allows there to be, on one block, a record store next to a flower shop, a candle shop, a souffle restaurant and a jewelry store,” said local business owner Stuart Watts, who is also the president of the North Beach Business Association. “That’s unheard of in most neighborhoods because … it can become really expensive for micro businesses like that to operate.”
In recent months, Watts joined the chorus of more than 50 small business owners who opposed legislation authored by the area’s supervisor, Danny Sauter, that stands to set aside longstanding zoning restrictions meant to protect the diverse mix of small, locally-owned businesses in North Beach and several surrounding neighborhoods, in favor of more permissive regulations.
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The legislation, called “District 3 Thrives,” would, among other things, expand the types of commercial uses allowed in North Beach and the neighboring Nob Hill and Jackson Square neighborhoods and permit the merging of small storefronts into larger storefronts.
Patricia Lanao sells flowers to Arielle Christian on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood in 2023. Some residents worry that a change in zoning could threaten small businesses.
On Monday, Watts and other opponents were dealt a blow: A City Hall committee advanced the controversial legislation to the city’s Board of Supervisors, which is expected to hold a hearing on the legislation Tuesday.
District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who chairs the Land Use and Transportation Committee, perhaps said it best: “As San Franciscans, it’s very rare that we all agree on something anytime.”
But in a city where recalling elected officials over land use decisions already has a precedent, crossing constituents means toeing a fine line. While a notable list of supporters on Monday welcomed Sauter targeting “archaic rules” that no longer make sense for the district, others said that the effort left them feeling blindsided and alienated.
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“Our supervisor doesn’t care,” said District 3 resident Romalyn Schmaltz during Monday’s hearing. “We know these changes will push a lot of us out in favor of larger, more corporate businesses, all while creating more vacancies. But he just stays the course.”
“My neighborhood’s morale is extremely low,” said another North Beach resident during the hearing, who gave his name as Apollo. “Here again is our new supervisor trying to fix something that isn’t broken.”
Not everyone agrees — neighborhood and business stakeholders including the North Beach Neighbors, the Jackson Square Merchants Association, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce have shared their support for the legislation.
Sauter said that his legislation will solve a problem that many commercial corridors throughout the city are experiencing: stubborn vacancies. Storefront mergers of up to 3,000 square feet would be permitted, allowing new businesses to enter North Beach, where such consolidations have long been banned. The legislation would also legalize new walk-up establishments and “flexible retail” — meaning a bookstore could now co-locate in the same space as a coffee shop.
Businesses like Knitz & Leather, on Grant Avenue in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, are central to the area’s character.
“District 3’s reputation as the hardest district in San Francisco to start or run a small business is not something I think anyone should be proud of, and I believe our legislation will go a long way towards changing that,” Sauter said.
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Sauter said he’s also honored requests from constituents who are worried that his effort will open the door to well-funded businesses that have the ability to outbid mom-and-pop retailers, like medical offices.
On Monday, Sauter amended his legislation to walk back a provision that would have allowed “health services” uses in ground floor spaces in North Beach.
But the change did little to appease constituents who do not believe that streamlining is an appropriate approach for revitalizing historic neighborhoods like North Beach and Jackson Square, where restaurants and bars dominate and retailers are bucking citywide trends.
“North Beach is not a struggling corridor. … Our commercial vacancy rate is 6%, among the very lowest in the city,” said Nick Ferris, who is the president of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers association. “These policies that have created that stability are the very policies that this legislation would undo.”
A cable car heads down Columbus Avenue in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, in 2023
According to Ferris, larger storefronts equal higher rents, which would make it difficult for a range of small businesses to compete.
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“For nearly 40 years, storefronts have been capped at 2,000 square feet, with conditional use allowed up to 4,000 square feet — this has preserved small, independent businesses and prevented large format retail from dominating,” Ferris said.
The concern is that the legislation, coupled with a current effort by Mayor Daniel Lurie to upzone commercial corridors citywide and a stalled effort to declare much of the North Beach neighborhood as a historic district, would incentivize the replacement of the neighborhood’s quaint commercial buildings with large box retailers.
Opponents have also taken issue with a provision in Sauter’s legislation that would remove restrictions on new restaurants in North Beach and Jackson Square, by allowing limited restaurants — such as cafes — to open in spaces that were previously occupied by non-restaurant businesses.
“If any business was able to turn into a restaurant, that would cost more per square foot. And as soon as that kitchen is put in, a candle shop is not going to pay to take out that kitchen — it doesn’t have the budget for that,” said Watts, adding that of the eight vacancies that his organization is tracking in North Beach, five are abandoned restaurant spaces.
Watts said he is not opposed to more flexible zoning and incentives for new businesses to set up shop in the stretch of North Beach that he said is currently struggling with multiple vacant storefronts. The North Beach Business Association is pushing for an amendment to the legislation that maintains stricter restaurant density controls in the neighborhood’s core, he said.
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But if the committee’s vote on Monday is any indication, the future of North Beach may already be decided. Melgar described Sauter’s legislation as a “modest proposal.”
Alejandra Prieto spends time with her 2 1/2 months old baby, Gonzalo, at Washington Square Park in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, in 2023.
“I think it is wise to look ahead and plan ahead into changes that are going on around us, and adapt and give a little bit more flexibility. I don’t think these changes are all that earthshaking,” Melgar said.
District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen acknowledged that preventing an “over saturation of specific kinds of establishments” is crucial in protecting a neighborhood’s small business ecosystem.
“I would like to see data that actually shows how the existing controls are working or not working, and I haven’t seen much of the data that could really help justify the changes that are being proposed,” she said, before voting to advance the legislation.
Sauter agreed that the city “collectively” should do more to gather such data, and made a promise to the legislation’s detractors: “They have my commitment to monitor concerns, like the balance of restaurants and retail, to explore the idea of an inner and outer North Beach Neighborhood Commercial District, and to explore ground floor use reforms,” he said.
Regardless of whether or not the legislation will win approval in its current form Tuesday, views on it are likely to remain divided.
“No one wants to lose (North Beach’s) loved and iconic businesses,” said North Beach resident Barry Schiller on Monday. “This legislation isn’t about that. It’s about removing archaic rules that do more harm than good.”
Santa Rosa prepares for next big earthquake
The Great 1906 earthquake devastated the Bay Area, destroying much of San Francisco and killing more than 3,000 people. The city marked the quakes 120th anniversary this weekend, but whats not as widely recognized is the damage to surrounding comunities like Santa Rosa.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. – While the Great 1906 Earthquake was a centerpiece of news around the world when its massive damage and fire destroyed much of San Francisco and took 3,000 lives, another far smaller, far less famous town, suffered massive damage almost forgotten by history.
Nearly forgotten
On this day 120 years ago, stunned people were digging for survivors two nights after the quake. Like a demon in the night, the Great 1906 Earthquake also came to Santa Rosa also bent on mass death and destruction.
Eric Stanley is the history curator and deputy director of the Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa that supplied these pictures. “Santa Rosa, in particular, was devastated by the 1906 earthquake,” he said.
Survivors were shaken awake as whole buildings collapsed around them or on them. “A good portion, a really significant portion, of downtown Santa Rosa was completely destroyed,” said Stanley.
Many never woke up; crushed to death in their sleep. There were over a hundred people killed in the 1906 earthquake in Santa Rosa that only had 7,000 people in it at the time,” said the curator.
Active fault line
Sixty-three years later, in 1969, a time of budding, but far better science-based building codes, a double shaker nonetheless did significant damage and killed one person. “Even understanding all those things, you kind of at the earlier stage of that in the sixties,” said Stanley.
Today, four of Santa Rosa’s School buildings lie near or on the Rodgers Creek Earthquake Fault, capable of up to a 7.3 magnitude rupture. One is already closed with another due to close at the end of the school year for budgetary reasons.
That leaves two elementary schools, Hidden Valley, alongside the fault and Proctor, on the fault. The school board says both are seismically sound and safe to continue operating. “The two that are remaining open are both the ones that have the potential and the ability to grow because the entire site is not impacted by the fault line,” said Nick Caston, Santa Rosa City School Board president.
Staying prepared
In other words, things can and will eventually be moved around.
“What we’re gonna end up having to do is redesign the campus over the next several decades to have our fields and our parking in the front, which are totally acceptable to be over a fault line and actually move our academic builds and our student-serving buildings to the back,” said Caston.
Ultimately, the pictures and relics museums hold from natural disasters are given to those who come, a lesson and a warning. “Real people went through these experiences and we really do have to be aware of that and do our very best to prepare for those kinds of things,” said Stanley.
The 1933 Field Act requires earthquake-safe construction of schools, with evolving seismic codes as we learn more.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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