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

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Giants Predicted to Spend This Offseason in Free Agency

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San Francisco Giants Predicted to Spend This Offseason in Free Agency


The San Francisco Giants are heading into free agency and the offseason as a very interesting team to watch. 

It was another disappointing season for the Giants in 2024, as they finished under .500 once again and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. 

The struggles in San Francisco resulted in a change in the front office, as Buster Posey took over as the President of Baseball Operations. 

With the decision to add Posey to the front office, the hope is that he will be able to lure in some of the top caliber free agents that they have been missing out on in recent years. 

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The Giants haven’t been shy about spending money, but that money hasn’t always went to the right places. 

Recently, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report ranked teams in different tiers based on what they will spend this offseason. For San Francisco, he placed them in the tier that will be spending this winter. 

“Perhaps the most interesting team on this list is the Giants, with former NL MVP Buster Posey now serving as their president of baseball operations. He’s talked about wanting to figure the shortstop position out, which is why we’ve projected the Giants as the landing spot for Adames. But San Francisco has had a hard time getting star players to sign on the dotted line in recent years, probably due in large part to Oracle Park being seen as a bad place to hit at 81 times a season.”

While the Giants have the desire to sign a superstar and the next face of the franchise, there have been some indications that they might not break the bank this offseason. However, at the same time, they have been linked to some of the top free agents this winter. 

Currently, the biggest need for San Francisco is in their lineup. While Juan Soto would be a great addition, him going to the Bay Area seems unlikely. However, a player like Willy Adames or Alex Bregman might be a more realistic target. Neither one of those players would be cheap, but both would instantly upgrade the lineup. 

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In addition to trying to upgrade the lineup, the Giants also saw Blake Snell decline his player option to become a free agent. Considering how good Snell was in the second half of the season, it will be interesting to see what the plan is to either bring him back or replace him. 

While San Francisco will certainly be spending this offseason, the real question will be how much the organization is willing to invest. 



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Atmospheric river storm causes minor flooding in San Francisco

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Atmospheric river storm causes minor flooding in San Francisco


Some San Francisco roadways and neighborhoods experienced minor flooding Friday as the atmospheric river dumped heavy rain on the city.

Matthew Coric said he was inside his restaurant when all the sudden he noticed water rising outside.

“Water was coming over the curb already and Rainbow Grocery closed for the day because they flooded or started to flood, and the next two restaurants had water in their restaurant already,” said Coric.

Two years ago during another big storm, the entire block flooded with several feet of water.

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Coric told KPIX he was determined to not let that happen again, so he and some of his employees grabbed brooms and anything else they could get their hands on and ran towards the flooding.

“These two drains right here on either side of the street, we literally couldn’t see them. This was up above the curb. We were just blindly scraping trying to get it unclogged until we could see the little tornado start,” said Coric.

He said they were able to unclog the drain just in time to stop the water from flooding his restaurant, and that it took about 30 minutes for the water to fully recede. 

While he is happy they were able to avoid another crisis, he said he wishes the city would have been monitoring the area so that he and his employees didn’t have to fix it on their own.

“It flooded two years ago, and then last year the city was like high alert. They would park their trucks out here and make sure nothing happened. But now it’s been two years, they forgot about us again and same thing happened,” said Coric.

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He said, from now on when it rains, he’s going to monitor the drains himself and step in anytime he sees them getting clogged.

He recommends that others in areas where flooding happens do the same.

“If you’re out on the street, anybody right, and you see the drain overflowing, I know if you can wait for the city that’s great, but it might not come. Just clean it yourself or get somebody that can just to save everybody a bunch of headaches,” said Coric.



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San Francisco D.A. announces conviction in 2015 quadruple murder

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San Francisco D.A. announces conviction in 2015 quadruple murder


Nearly 10 years after a quadruple murder, drive-by shooting shocked the San Francisco Hayes Valley neighborhood, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Friday announced the conviction of the San Francisco man responsible. 

The D.A.’s office issued a news release that said Lee Farley, 36, was found guilty by a jury on four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances when he opened fire on an occupied vehicle on the night of January 9, 2015.  

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According to evidence and testimony, four men were ambushed from behind on Laguna Street just south of Page Steet at around 10 p.m.

The jury found that Farley committed this act as a participant of a criminal street gang and that he was a felon in possession of a firearm. 

Police arrested Farley in the summer of 2016. He was already serving time at a federal prison in Atwater on unrelated weapons charges when he was taken into custody. 

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The slayings of Manuel O’Neal, David Saucier II, Harith Atchan and Yalani Chinyamurindi left the victims’ families in turmoil as they waited for justice. 

“I would like to thank the jury for their service in this trial,” said District Attorney Jenkins. “I would also like to thank the mothers and families of the murdered men for their patience, faith and trust in my office to get justice for their families. Our strong legal team fought hard, understanding that while nothing we do can bring back their loved ones, that hopefully this verdict brings them some comfort.”

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The D.A. thanked her team and the San Francisco Police Department’s homicide unit for their work on this case. 

Farley’s sentencing will be scheduled after a bench trial on priors. That date is set for Dec. 16, 2024. 



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