Board upholds permit for Hometown Creamery mobile food facility at 301 Pine

The San Francisco Board of Appeals denied an appeal from the property owner and upheld a mobile food facility permit for a vintage VW ice-cream bus operated by San Francisco’s Hometown Creamery to operate at 301 Pine Street on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The building owner, Empire Group, represented by counsel, argued the MFF violated the city’s 75-foot radius rule because the truck would park within 75 feet of Earth Bar, a food service area the owner said was an active restaurant entrance. Counsel argued the building’s main front entrance should be treated as Earth Bar’s primary entrance and that the steps and historic facade made the siting inappropriate.

Applicants Adar and his brother Halil said their operation is a fast “grab-and-go” ice-cream service and that they had identified compliant restroom access within 200 feet, as required for public-health verification. Public Works staff used the department’s map tools to measure line-of-travel distances and reported the distance from the proposed MFF location to the restaurant area exceeded 75 feet (DPW measurement approximately 82 feet).

Speakers from the public largely supported the small-business vendor, noting the modest footprint and community benefit of a local food entrepreneur. After hearing argument, the board concluded the permit had been properly reviewed under Article 5.8 and related public-works orders and voted to deny the appeal 3-0, upholding the permit.

What it means: The board allowed a small local food business to operate in front of the historic building after concluding the restaurant area was not within the code’s protected 75-foot exclusion, and that the application met public-works and public-health requirements.

Next steps: The vendor must finalize public-health restroom verification and adhere to permit conditions; the building owner may pursue other administrative or civil steps outside the board record if it wishes.