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Board continues Halal Cart mobile permit appeal, asks Health and Fire to respond
Summary
After hours of testimony from downtown restaurant owners and Public Works, the Board of Appeals continued an appeal of two mobile food facility permits for Halal Cart LLC to Jan. 10, 2018 and asked departments to provide maps, current regulations and Health/Fire review details.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Dec. 6 continued a dispute over two mobile food facility permits issued to Halal Cart LLC (permit 16MFF0129) for locations on Market Street and 1 Front Street, instructing Public Works to supply the board with the current regulations, a one-block-radius map of permitted mobile food facilities and to have the Department of Public Health and Fire Department appear Jan. 10 to explain review criteria.
Appellant Mona Asagayer (owner of Oasis Grill) and other downtown restaurant owners said new carts harm brick-and-mortar businesses by taking foot traffic and avoiding the overheads and regulatory burdens restaurants face. Asagayer told the board the city’s $15 minimum wage and other mandates already squeeze small restaurants; she said carts’ lower overhead creates unfair competition and that propane and sanitation on sidewalks raise safety and public-health concerns.
Halal Cart representative (identified in the record as Sai/Amini) and Public Works (Brian Cohen; Raul Shah) said the Public Works code permits the locations at issue, that fire and health approvals (including restroom verification) are conditions of final permit issuance, and that Public Works does not review for “like food” or competitive impact because the code no longer includes a like-food restriction. Public Works said the locations were subject to the code’s notification procedures and that some limits (minimum sidewalk widths and certain overlapping-time limits) apply, but no block-wide maximum counts exist in the code.
A steady stream of downtown restaurateurs, the California Restaurant Association and local owners described economic harms, concerns about restroom verification, litter and propane handling. Public Works agreed to return with a map of nearby facilities, the department’s regulations and a clearer account of how coordination with Health and Fire is performed. Vice President Fung moved to continue the case to Jan. 10, 2018 to allow Public Works to provide that information and to invite Public Health and the Fire Department; the board approved the continuance by recorded voice vote (3 in favor, 1 opposed).
The continuance requires Public Works to provide the current regulations, a map of other mobile food facilities within a one-block radius, and for Public Health and Fire to explain review and permitting differences between mobile food facilities and brick-and-mortar restaurants.
