Land Use committee backs waiver of permit fees for Detroit Street steps archway in Sunnyside

The Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on May 5 unanimously recommended that the full board consider an ordinance to waive a tier-3 major-encroachment permit fee and a Board of Appeals surcharge for the Detroit Street steps archway project in the Sunnyside neighborhood.

The recommendation, offered as a committee report, moves an ordinance that amends the Public Works Code and the Administrative Code and affirms a planning department determination. Committee Chair Supervisor Marina Melgar made the motion to send the item to the full board with a positive recommendation; Vice Chair Supervisor Cheyenne Chen and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood voted "aye." There were no public speakers on the item at the committee meeting.

Supervisor Marina Melgar, chair of the committee, said the Detroit Street steps project was launched by the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association in 2018 and described it as a community-led, multiyear effort to improve a stairway that connects Monterey Avenue with Slohore Street. She said the work includes landscaping, tiling and lighting to make the steps a safer pedestrian route and local destination. Melgar said project leads Suna Mullins and Rosaura Valle have raised money through grants and private community fundraising.

Melgar told the committee that the archway design for the Detroit Street steps was approved by the San Francisco Arts Commission Civic Design Review Committee in August 2022 and that, since 2019, the project has progressed with safety installations such as fences and a backflow device. She said the ordinance would implement fee waivers through the Love Our Neighborhoods program, which aims to reduce permitting barriers for community-led improvement projects.

Committee Clerk John Carroll read the item summary for the record and noted that items acted on by the committee typically appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda on May 13, 2025; an earlier committee remark indicated the item "may be sent for consideration by the board of supervisors on their agenda tomorrow, 05/06/2025." The committee's positive recommendation means the ordinance will be transmitted to the full board for consideration.

The committee vote was recorded by roll call: Vice Chair Cheyenne Chen, "aye"; Member Bilal Mahmood, "aye"; Chair Marina Melgar, "aye." The motion passed with three ayes and no recorded noes, abstentions or recusals.

Next steps: the ordinance will be scheduled for consideration by the full Board of Supervisors; the committee did not set a specific board hearing date during the meeting.