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Heated debate as Planning Commission backs making banks subject to formula-retail rules
Summary
Supervisor Eric Marr proposed adding financial services (bank branches, credit unions) to San Francisco’s formula-retail rules; the Planning Commission recommended approval without staff’s amendment to remove the catch-all 'sales and service' language after hours of testimony for and against, passing 5–1.
Supervisor Eric Marr introduced legislation to amend the planning code to include financial services — banks, savings and loans, and credit unions meeting certain size/frontage thresholds — within the city’s definition of formula retail. Marr said the change would not ban branches but would require conditional-use review for formula retail financial services in neighborhood commercial districts and other protected corridors.
Planning staff supported the concept but recommended a separate technical change: removing a broad “sales and service retail” catchall from the formula-retail definition to reduce ambiguity in interpretation. Several neighborhood merchant associations, small-business advocates and community groups testified in favor of Marr’s approach, arguing formula retail rules help protect unique neighborhood character and small merchants. The Small Business Commission and a range of neighborhood organizations urged the commission to keep the broader sales-and-service language in place pending further review.
Opponents including the Chamber of Commerce and Committee on Jobs said the proposal would add burdensome approval processes that could discourage financial institutions that provide local jobs and services. Bank advocates stressed the difference between a networked financial-services model and typical national retail chains and warned of unintended impacts on access to banking services.
Commissioners debated the scope and exemptions, including the effect in areas that currently ban formula retail (Hayes Valley, North Beach). The commission voted to recommend approval of the Marr ordinance but declined to adopt the staff’s recommended deletion of the broader language, passing the recommendation 5–1 with Commissioner Antonini dissenting.
The vote directs the Board of Supervisors to consider the ordinance; commissioners asked staff to clarify implementation details and potential exemptions for smaller financial institutions and ATM-only installations during the Board process.
