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Committee adopts amendments and forwards 6‑month supermarket‑closure notice ordinance
Summary
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee voted to forward Supervisor Dean Preston’s Neighborhood Grocery Protection Act, which would require large supermarkets (20,000+ sq ft) to give six months’ notice before permanent closure, hold at least one community meeting, and explore replacement options; the committee adopted amendments expanding enforcement and regulatory authority.
San Francisco — The Government Audit & Oversight Committee on Oct. 17 approved amendments and forwarded to the full Board the Neighborhood Grocery Protection Act, legislation that would require large neighborhood‑serving supermarkets to provide six months’ notice before a permanent closure and to meet with community representatives to explore ways to maintain grocery access at the site.
Supervisor Dean Preston, who introduced the ordinance, said the measure updates a 1984 law that never took effect and was motivated by an abrupt Safeway closure notice on Webster Street earlier in 2024. “What Safeway did earlier this year — announcing a sudden grocery store closure — should never have happened in the first place,” Preston said, describing the bill as a protection for residents who lose access to food, pharmacy and banking services.
The ordinance requires a minimum six‑month notice period, at least one advanced public meeting convened by a neighborhood association, nonprofit or city official, and a transition plan so city departments can coordinate responses. Preston circulated amendments that: add HSA’s executive director to consultation lists; clarify that neighborhood associations, nonprofits or city officials may convene meetings; expand enforcement so any person who purchased groceries at the supermarket in the prior year (or a nonprofit representing such persons) may sue to enforce the ordinance; and allow the director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), in consultation with HSA, DPH and MOHCD, to issue implementing regulations.
Jen Calloword of the Department of Public Health’s Environmental Health Branch clarified the definition of a covered supermarket: the measure targets large food production and marketing establishments with on‑site food preparation of 20,000 square feet or greater — distinguishing them from retailers that only sell prepackaged foods. “This ordinance only reaches supermarkets, which would cover large food production and marketing establishments that would be having food preparation happening in the facility that are 20,000 square feet or greater,” she said.
Community speakers from the Western Addition, Fillmore and Japantown urged rapid adoption and said the bill comes after a painful experience: the Webster Street Safeway is slated to close in January, community leaders said, leaving the neighborhood concerned about becoming a food desert. Alice Kohlhats of the Japantown Task Force said the group supports the ordinance but noted it comes late for the Safeway community; others urged continued outreach to developers and use of Community Opportunity to Purchase Act tools to secure affordable housing and a grocery presence at the site.
The Committee adopted the circulated amendments and voted to forward the ordinance with a positive recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The item will be scheduled for a Board meeting; departments said they will supply a current list of supermarkets that would be covered by the measure for the legislative file.
The ordinance’s enforcement provision allowing civil proceedings and penalties was added in amendment and will be available to residents and nonprofits who can show prior purchase at the location. OEWD said it will prepare an impact report and that departments will continue coordination during Board review.
