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Committee backs easing sign restrictions to let businesses show name on both awning and projecting sign
Summary
The committee voted to recommend a Planning Code amendment that would allow businesses in many neighborhood commercial districts (including some Chinatown districts) to display their name on both awnings and projecting signs while retaining current size and illumination limits; the change drew both merchant support and neighborhood opposition over visual clutter and enforcement concerns.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee voted Nov. 15 to forward to the full Board an ordinance introduced by District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stephanie to amend the Planning Code to allow business names on both awnings (or marquees) and projecting signs in specified neighborhood commercial and mixed‑use districts, and in certain Chinatown districts. Committee members recorded a unanimous committee vote to recommend the ordinance.
Supervisor Catherine Stephanie said the proposal is a modest code change designed to help small merchants survive during and after the pandemic. She said roughly 400 businesses citywide currently display their name on both awnings and projecting signs and face enforcement actions under an older ordinance dating to the 1980s. Stephanie said the change would not alter existing size or illumination restrictions and would not permit billboards; instead, it would legalize common practices used on merchant corridors and avoid charging small businesses fines during an economic recovery.
Planning Department staff member Aaron Starr presented mockups the Planning Commission requested to demonstrate the visual effect of allowing signage on awnings in addition to projecting signs; Starr said the Planning Commission recommended approval on Oct. 14 and that the Jackson Square visuals shown at the meeting were a visual example, not a map change. Starr clarified that special sign district controls remain in force where they overlap with the proposed NC/RC/C district map.
Public comment was mixed. Tim Heyman and other small‑business advocates and merchants supported the change as a pragmatic way to help struggling storefronts and to reduce punitive enforcement. Opponents — including George Whiting, David Osgood and representatives of the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods — urged enforcement of the existing ordinance and warned the change could increase sign clutter and favor chain stores or signmakers over merchants’ other needs. Some callers argued the Planning Department’s prior non‑enforcement, not a code change, created the issue. Several neighborhood residents and designers defended the visual character of projecting signs and historic commercial corridors.
After discussion and clarifying answers from Planning staff about map coverage and special district exceptions, Chair Melgar moved to forward the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation. The clerk recorded votes of 'aye' from the supervisors present and the motion passed.
Next steps: the ordinance will be transmitted to the full Board for consideration; Planning staff indicated they will continue to answer supervisors' questions about district coverage and visual examples.
