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Board trims tobacco-sales suspension for Powell Street market to 20 days
Summary
The Board reduced a 25-day suspension imposed by the Department of Public Health for selling tobacco to a minor at Grama & Son Market, voting 4–1 to lower the penalty to 20 days after hearing a translator and learning it was the clerk's first offense and that legibility of the decoy ID was a factor.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Nov. 18 cut a 25-day suspension of tobacco sales at Grama & Son Market (1321A Powell Street) to 20 days, finding mitigating circumstances but upholding the regulatory goal of restricting tobacco sales to minors.
Department of Public Health representative described a May undercover decoy operation that resulted in a citation after a decoy purchased cigarettes from the market. "25 days is what we're giving everyone," the DPH representative said of the department's standard first-offense penalty. The permit holder's son, William Chan, translated for his father and said the clerk inspected the ID but had trouble reading the crumpled card; he added it was the owner's first offense and that the suspension would cause financial hardship.
Commissioner Michael Garcia moved to overrule the Department of Public Health's full 25-day suspension and to reduce it to 20 days. The Board voted 4–1 in favor of the reduction, with one commissioner recorded as opposed. Commissioners who favored the reduction cited the apparent honest error and the merchant's limited reliance on tobacco sales; dissent noted the importance of consistent penalties to deter underage sales.
The reduced suspension applies only to tobacco sales; the market's other business activity may continue while tobacco sales are restricted for the 20-day period.
