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Supervisor Wiener proposes ISSCOTT reforms to standardize permissions for street events and closures
Summary
Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced legislation to restructure and formalize the Interdepartmental Street Closures Committee (ISSCOTT). The proposal would add public members, require votes and written findings, improve notice, and mandate an annual report and feedback survey for applicants.
Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced legislation to overhaul the committee that reviews and authorizes temporary and limited permanent street closures and public-space uses (commonly known as ISSCOTT).
Wiener told the board the current ISSCOTT process operates with informal practices and inconsistent notice and decision-making. "This committee'which is currently basically an interdepartmental committee without community representation'plays a really important role," Wiener said, adding that the panel should "be expanded to go beyond department city departments and also to include representatives of the public." He said reforms would improve transparency and predictability for applicants and neighbors.
Key elements of the proposal include:
- Formalizing ISSCOTT membership and giving the Board of Supervisors four appointments for public representatives knowledgeable about pedestrian access, entertainment or community uses. - Requiring departments to send appointed representatives with authority to vote and to commit on guidance at meetings rather than informal or underinformed staff attendance. - Requiring ISSCOTT to take and record votes on permit applications and issue written findings for denials or major conditions. - Improved public notice for hearings and a mandatory annual report summarizing applications, approvals, and denials. - A post-application anonymous survey of applicants to provide feedback on committee performance.
Wiener said technical approvals -- for example, fire-department sign-offs on safety -- would remain required before final permits issue, and that the legislation would not remove the ability to require technical preapproval on letterhead from agencies such as the Fire Department or MTA.
The measure seeks to preserve temporary public space programs, including pavement-to-parks projects, while increasing procedural safeguards and clarity for residents and organizers. Wiener characterized the changes as modest reforms to ensure consistent, documented decision-making and better community input.
The item was introduced; Wiener and his legislative staff will bring the measure forward through committee review and drafting before additional public hearings and a final board vote.
