Board upholds Public Works and denies Whole Cart permit at 101 California Street

The San Francisco Board of Appeals upheld the Department of Public Works' denial of a Mobile Food Facility (MFF) permit for a Whole Cart location fronting 101 California Street, concluding the director's decision was supported by concerns about pedestrian safety and traffic congestion.

Rob Quandt, representing Whole Cart, told the board the application met the technical distance and locational requirements of the MFF code and presented photographs showing lunchtime demand at the site. Quandt urged the board not to allow the director to substitute broad judgments for the code's technical locational rules.

Brent Cohen of Public Works summarized the department's review and the background of the director's order (DFW order 184372). Public Works said it received six written objections and a public hearing record reporting concerns including added trash, unfair competition with nearby brick-and-mortar restaurants, reduced parking, and potential obstruction of sight lines and cable-car signage. The department cited Public Works code sections 184.85 and 184.88 and the city ordinance giving the director authority to consider public safety and congestion.

After a de novo discussion, several commissioners said California Street presents a traffic and cable-car bottleneck and that a wall of food trucks could worsen that condition. The board voted to deny the appeal and uphold the Public Works determination.

The decision leaves the director's conditional approval/denial intact and denies Whole Cart's requested operation at the 101 California Street frontage.