Small Business Commission removes Phaedrus from legacy registry, approves four new legacy listings

The San Francisco Small Business Commission voted on May 12, 2025, at City Hall to remove Phaedrus from the Legacy Business Registry and to add four other businesses to the registry after public presentations and a staff report.

The removal request for Phaedrus, a BMW and MINI repair specialist established in 1979 at 1641 Jackson Street in the Polk Street–Van Ness corridor, was presented by Richard Curillo, Legacy Business Program Manager with the Office of Small Business, and by the business co-owner, Dale Tocchini. Tocchini told commissioners that the owners negotiated a three‑year lease extension through April 30, 2028, and that being listed on the registry created a conditional‑use requirement that his landlords—the Horne brothers—would face when re‑leasing the property. “We don't want to leave the Horne brothers … with an economic cost once we leave the building, so that's why we agreed with them that we would request removal from the San Francisco legacy business registry,” Tocchini said.

The commission discussed the legal standard for removal under the legacy business rules and regulations. Curillo summarized the rules, noting that Section 4 outlines grounds for removal (for example, misrepresentation of qualifications, cessation of operations in San Francisco, or failure to maintain the features that led to listing) and said the City Attorney’s office advised those causes did not clearly apply in this case. Curillo told the commission that the decision…