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City officials preview small-business permitting bill to reduce hurdles for storefronts and music venues
Summary
An Office of Economic & Workforce Development official told the Entertainment Commission the mayors small-business streamlining package aims to reduce duplicative inspections, reclassify some arcade uses, ease local liquor and planning constraints for all-ages music venues, and expand options for patios and temporary pop-ups.
Ben Van Houten of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development presented the mayoral storefront vacancy strategy to the San Francisco Entertainment Commission on Jan. 15, outlining a legislative package and administrative reforms aimed at helping small businesses open and adapt more quickly.
"We want to help new businesses save time and money in the permitting process so they can get open," Van Houten said, summarizing the plans goals to diversify offerings, increase opportunities to fill vacant storefronts, strengthen live-music venues and clarify ambiguous code provisions.
Van Houten told commissioners the city conducted personalized outreach to about 89 venues in advance of New Years Eve and that the outreach helped generate roughly 4,000 sign-ups for Alert SF the night of the event and about 500,000 media impressions. He said the legislation would, among other things, remove a requirement that limited live-performance permits be tied to food or beverage service, reclassify certain "amusement game arcade" uses as general entertainment to expand where arcades can operate, and accept existing sign-offs from building, health or fire permits to avoid duplicative inspections for entertainment permitting.
Commissioners pressed staff about implementation details. Commissioner Lee and others asked whether the Planning Department would assign an "entertainment specialist" at counters so applicants could get consistent, rapid guidance rather than wait for an available planner. Van Houten said the package is designed in consultation with planning, health and building staff and that administrative reforms adopted in late 2018 would allow business owners to request permits be processed "over the counter" after neighborhood notification to reduce delays.
Van Houten also described a proposal to make limited back-patio uses principally permitted between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., while retaining neighborhood notification and other discretionary review when necessary. "From a land-use perspective, a back patio that would operate between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. would be a principally permitted use as opposed to a required conditional-use authorization," he said.
Van Houten said the next steps are presentations to the Small Business Commission and the Planning Commission (tentatively late February), followed by land-use review at the Board of Supervisors. Commissioners welcomed the proposal but urged clear timelines and consistent staff guidance to ensure the reforms actually shorten permitting time for operators.
The commission did not take action on the legislation at the meeting; Van Houten said the office planned outreach and further review with stakeholders.
