Board amends planning code to subject large banks and credit unions to formula-retail controls

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved, on first reading, an ordinance amending the Planning Code to bring financial services into the city's formula retail controls, requiring a conditional use permit for banks, credit unions and similar institutions with 11 or more branches.

The ordinance's sponsor, Supervisor Marr, said the change responds to neighborhood concerns about an "uncontrolled proliferation of formula retail banks" and would "allow neighborhood residents a stronger say in the approval process of formula retail financial service uses." He described the measure as "pro neighborhood" and aimed at protecting small businesses.

Supporters said the measure is not a ban but a tool to give community members and the Planning Commission more ability to review whether a proposed branch is "necessary or desirable" and to assess "overconcentration" of financial institutions. Supervisor Wiener said he supported the ordinance but from a different perspective, arguing that banks "are a mixed bag. There's good, there's bad" and raising concern about how many street-level bank storefronts can hollow out neighborhood commercial corridors.

Supervisor Chu said she would vote against the ordinance, warning that some banks act as active participants in neighborhood commerce and that adding barriers could be harmful in areas struggling with vacancies. Other board members said the measure includes a grandfathering amendment for permits already submitted at the time of introduction.

On the roll call the ordinance passed its first reading by a recorded vote of 8 ayes and 3 noes. The ordinance will next return for a second reading and final adoption per the city's charter schedule.

Votes at the roll call were recorded as 8 ayes and 3 noes; the transcript does not consistently list every supervisor's vote on the record (final tally: 8-3).