Board of Appeals overrules planning, permits limited sake sales next to sushi restaurant

The San Francisco Board of Appeals voted 5–0 to overturn the planning director’s determination and permit the limited reactivation of a dormant off‑sale liquor license so the magazine/grocery store next to Cafe Abir/Tsunami Sushi can sell sake, with written findings and conditions to follow.

The appeal centered on whether a long‑dormant Type 20 Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license — originally associated with a health‑food store at 1306 Fulton Street and deactivated in 2001 — could be treated as a continuing, nonconforming use or must be considered a new permit subject to the city’s alcohol‑restricted‑use rules. Tina Tam of the Planning Department told the board that planning views a license that has been inactive for an extended period as abandoned for zoning purposes and that planning code section 783 gives only a short window for reinstatement. “ABC did confirm that if a dormant permit, remains dormant for a very long time, they treat it like a new permit,” Tam said.

The applicants — Khaled Dajani and partners who operate the nearby sushi restaurant and cafe — argued the license has been continuously maintained (they said fees continued to be paid) and therefore should be grandfathered. Attorney Rick Gladstone told the board that ABC staff had indicated dormant licenses may be administratively reactivated and that the two retail spaces are effectively one business inside a single building: “This is 1 big building,” Gladstone said, arguing the change of address within the same building is not the kind of ‘‘substantial change’’ planning relied on.

Commission discussion reflected competing priorities: several commissioners expressed concern about precedent and the intent of the restricted‑use district to limit liquor stores, while others cited strong neighborhood support and the applicants’ community contributions. Commissioner Holland moved to overrule the zoning administrator and add conditions; the motion included directing the applicant and counsel to draft findings and to include conditions about internal integration of the two retail spaces to the fullest extent permitted by ABC rules. The board voted unanimously to overrule planning with findings and conditions to be adopted later; Vice President Randall Knox and Commissioners Michael Garcia and Catherine Albright joined President Fung and Holland in the 5–0 vote.

The board and counsel agreed that the final written findings must address how ABC’s enforcement and definitions intersect with planning’s use rules (including the 90‑day continuity language and ABC Rule 65 that staff discussed in the hearing). The board instructed counsel to return with findings at a later adoption date.

What happens next: the board will issue written findings that adopt the decision and enumerate the conditions the commission approved; those findings will be used by the parties, city departments and ABC in any subsequent ABC review. The board also noted that final local approvals do not guarantee ABC licensing — ABC approval and any required public‑convenience review by the Board of Supervisors remain separate processes.