San Francisco, CA

SF makes changes to planning code to make it easier for businesses to get permits

Published

1 year ago

December 15, 2023

SF makes changes to planning code to make it easier for businesses to get permits

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Thursday announced 100 changes to the city’s planning code that would make it easier for new and existing businesses to thrive.

These new laws will make it easier for business owners to either expand or change their business model or even for new businesses to open, removing the burden of the typical permitting process.

Ten months ago,. Anthony Strong opened Pasta Supply Co. in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond.

“We make 30 different shapes. Thirty different pasta shapes and 20ish different sauces basically,” said Anthony Strong, Owner of Pasta Supply Co.

Mayor London Breed says the changes will help new and current business owners focus on their businesses and not fear the city’s permitting process.

MORE: 5 days in the office: SF small businesses say it may be the only way they can survive

“These pieces of legislation is going to make things that were impossible for years to happen in the city possible,” said Mayor Breed.

One-hundred changes to the city’s planning code means eliminating fees and streamlining rules around permits.

“It also does a lot of things to just remove simple zoning restrictions that won’t allow one person with a guitar to play at a coffee shop,” said Ben Bleiman with the Entertainment Commission, and added, “This is huge. Huge, huge for these businesses.”

One of the changes impacts liquor licenses for music venues.

“Now through this legislation bars and nighttime entertainment and restaurants that want to add liquor licenses, they can actually go through and be eligible for the expedited review process. So they would have a hearing within 90 days,” said Katy Tang, director of the San Francisco’s Office of Small Business.

MORE: ‘Union Street Holiday Stroll’ in SF’s Cow Hollow calls for support of small businesses

These changes will also allow neighborhoods like Haight Ashbury to grow. For decades, they’ve had a cap on the number of restaurants and businesses allowed. That’s changing now.

“We will be able to have more restaurants. The shops will be able to have a more diverse offering where if they wanted to do coffee, music, a pop-up – we can do all these things and be able to do pilot programs to see what works,” said Sunshine Powers, president of the Haight Ashbury Merchant Association.

These changes are adding to previous small business reforms that went into the effect during the pandemic.

“Removing roadblocks to opening businesses is going to help us business owners. Anybody who wants to be one can open with less headache and that is going to create thriving neighborhoods and communities,” said Strong.

The city has helped business owners with past small business reforms like the passage of Prop H in 2020 and the Small Business Recovery Act in 2021, which allowed for more commercial projects to be processed faster.

The new laws will go into effect in 30 days.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco celebrates Christmas, first night of Hanukkah

Published

4 hours ago

December 26, 2024

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San Francisco celebrates Christmas, first night of Hanukkah

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San Francisco, CA

St. Anthony's Foundation serves Christmas Day meals in San Francisco

Published

14 hours ago

December 25, 2024

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St. Anthony's Foundation serves Christmas Day meals in San Francisco

This Christmas, St. Anthony’s Foundation in San Francisco continues its nearly 75-year legacy of service and compassion, bringing hope and community to the city’s most vulnerable by serving a festive meal to anyone who wants one. Veronica Macias reports.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco hotel workers agree pay rise after 3-month strike

Published

24 hours ago

December 25, 2024

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San Francisco hotel workers agree pay rise after 3-month strike

What’s New

Hilton hotel workers in San Francisco voted on Christmas Eve to approve a new union contract after a 93-day strike, according to the Unite Here Local 2 union.

The union, which represents about 15,000 workers in the region, announced that the deal settles the last of the city’s 2024 hotel strikes, covering approximately 900 Hilton workers.

Newsweek has contacted Unite Here Local 2 and Hilton via email for comment.

San Francisco Union Square Hilton Hotel workers strike on September 3, 2024. Workers voted on Christmas Eve to approve a new union contract after a 93-day strike, according to the Unite Here Local 2 union.

Justin Sullivan/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Why It Matters

The new contracts after this year’s strikes establish significant improvements in wages, health care and workload protections for workers at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott-operated hotels.

The agreements conclude months of labor unrest that involved thousands of workers and disrupted San Francisco’s hotel industry.

What To Know

Hilton workers voted 99.4 percent in favor of the agreement on Christmas Eve, which includes a $3 per hour immediate wage increase, additional raises, and protections against understaffing and increased workloads.

The four-year contract preserves affordable union health insurance and provides pension increases. The deal covers workers at Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55, with 650 workers having actively participated in the strike.

This agreement follows similar contracts reached with Hyatt workers on Friday and Marriott workers last Thursday, covering a total of 2,500 workers who had been on strike since late September.

What People Are Saying

Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years, said: “These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up. We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”

Lizzy Tapia, President of Unite Here Local 2, said: “Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott workers refused to give up their health care or go backwards – and we proved on the picket line that we’re not afraid of a tough fight. As contract talks begin with the city’s other full-service hotels in the new year, they should know that this is the new standard they must accept for their own employees.”

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie said on X: “All those that have been out on strike will be back to work, and just in time for Christmas. So, things are looking bright as we head into 2025.

What Happens Next

Unite Here Local 2 said it would push for other full-service hotels in San Francisco to adopt the same standards established by the Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott agreements when contract negotiations resume in 2025.

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