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Board schedules jurisdictional review and merits hearing in contested 7‑11 Chinatown permit dispute
Summary
Counsel for 7‑Eleven asked the board to hear an appeal of a building‑permit denial that parties say was delayed until a new formula‑retail/conditional‑use rule applied. Planning staff and the city attorney said the new law requires conditional‑use review; the board set a May 13 jurisdictional hearing and, if jurisdiction is found, a May 20 merits hearing.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals set a short briefing and hearing schedule after a contentious exchange over jurisdiction in a 7‑Eleven building‑permit appeal for 652 Kearny Street in Chinatown.
Counsel for the applicant, Kyle Lalonde, told the board the permit application was filed and processed under the rules in place when the application was submitted and that a series of planning delays and continuances led to the planning commission’s later application of a formula‑retail conditional‑use requirement. Lalonde said the petitioner filed an appeal to the Board of Appeals under the building‑permit discretionary‑review pathway and warned that applying the new law retrospectively could leave the applicant with no administrative remedy.
The deputy city attorney and Planning Department staff responded that the newly adopted formula‑retail ordinance and the California Supreme Court’s Russian Hill precedent require officials to apply the law in effect at the time of decision; under the charter and code, matters that now require a conditional use authorization fall outside the board’s power to grant and must be handled through the planning/Board of Supervisors process or by the applicant seeking a conditional use authorization. Planning staff noted the ordinance was discussed publicly and referenced at the planning commission hearing when the 7‑Eleven item ultimately came up.
Neighborhood merchants and community groups from Chinatown urged the board not to grant the permit. After discussion the board agreed to a limited schedule to allow briefing on the jurisdictional question: the board will hear the jurisdictional issue on May 13 and, if persuaded it has the authority to rule on the merits, will hold a merits hearing on May 20. The board asked staff to place the items early on the calendar to reduce the burden on small businesses attending the hearings.
The action preserves the parties’ ability to brief procedural and legal issues before the board takes any final position on the permit’s merits.
