Neighbors press commission to delay Pollo Campero restaurant over rear‑patio impacts; hearing continued

The San Francisco Planning Commission continued a contentious conditional‑use hearing for Pollo Campero’s proposed restaurant at 2740 Mission Street after several hours of public comment over a rear patio that would adjoin a shared backyard corridor.

Planning staff recommended approval with conditions, saying the restaurant would occupy a vacant storefront, create an estimated 60–70 local jobs and meet formula‑retail criteria with mitigation for sound and odor. Diego Sanchez of the planning department told commissioners the project meets planning‑code requirements for formula retail and outdoor activity areas and that the department was prepared to add hours‑of‑operation limits as a condition.

Representatives for Pollo Campero and the local franchisee described community outreach and mitigation measures, including a six‑foot acoustical wall, acoustic materials on surfaces, and exhaust equipment routed to the front of the building. The sponsor submitted petitions and letters of support and said the company has committed to hiring and training locally and to work with nonprofit partners.

But dozens of residents who live directly behind the site on Bartlett Street and nearby green corridors urged the commission to deny or delay approval. Neighbors and acoustical consultants said the developer’s noise study underestimates patron voice levels from a 40‑seat patio; they reported that sound could exceed World Health Organization annoyance and sleep‑disturbance guidelines and warned of odors from frying, increased trash, security concerns, and disrupted family and nap times for children. A Bartlett Street resident said, “I don’t want our daughter to be exposed to the noise and the constant smell of fried chicken in our backyard,” and an acoustical expert for neighbors reported interior sleep‑disturbance levels that could exceed recommended thresholds.

Supporters including the Mission Hiring Hall, merchants groups and some community organizations urged approval, saying the restaurant would fill a storefront, add jobs and opportunities for workforce training, and expand dining options in the Latino‑serving Mission neighborhood. Supporters also said Pollo Campero has promised outreach, youth externships and donated community programs.

Commission discussion focused on whether the rear patio — which the project places behind the kitchen and would accommodate most of the restaurant’s seating — is the right configuration for this location, and on enforceable mitigation. Commissioners discussed limiting patio hours, reducing outdoor seating, requiring mechanical exhaust and odor controls, and imposing a monitoring condition with a six‑month review that would allow staff to require further mitigation or enclosure if the patio created measurable nuisance impacts.

Faced with competing technical studies and widespread neighborhood opposition concentrated on the patio’s effect on adjacent rear yards, the commission voted 4–? to continue the item to May 19 and requested that the sponsor undertake further outreach with the adjacent neighbors, community groups and Supervisor Campos’s office and provide additional technical information (noise monitoring protocols, odor mitigation specs, and garbage handling procedures) for the next hearing. The public hearing will remain closed when the item returns.