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Restaurant owners tell supervisors permits, fees and safety are driving closures and vacancies
Summary
At a Sept. 16 committee hearing owners described long conditional‑use and permitting timelines, rising fees and costs, employee housing shortages and safety concerns; supervisors asked departments for fee and program data and to return with proposals.
Restaurant owners and operators used the committee’s public comment period to give concrete examples of how permitting delays, fee increases and local conditions are affecting operations and hiring.
Several owners said conditional‑use or discretionary reviews have taken 12–16 months. Angel Davis told the committee one conditional‑use review took 13 months and a second took 16 months, a timeline that she said made survival difficult. Kim Alter and others described multi-month permitting delays that forced them to cover months of rent during build-out and, in some cases, seek financing or move operations outside the city.
Owners also cited cost pressures from labor and healthcare requirements: Sarah Bacon said the local minimum wage rose from $12.25 to $15.59 during her time in business, ‘‘a 27% increase in just 4 years,’’ and multiple speakers described rising payroll, utilities and tax burdens that cut into already thin profit margins.
Public commenters raised employee housing and transportation as immediate limiting factors: several said staff commute from out of the city because San Francisco housing is unaffordable, and that late‑night transit gaps (and safety concerns) make hiring and retention more difficult. Charlotte Randolph said she ‘‘can’t get my employees home with dignity’’ and described employees who fear returning late at night.
Speakers also called out the rise of delivery platforms and new kitchen models as market changes that extract margin: one commenter estimated tech platforms charge carriers 25–30% commissions, a change they say erodes traditional dine‑in margins.
Supervisors acknowledged the testimony and identified near-term items to pursue: analysis of fees (chair Peskin said staff had identified 22 fees that can apply to a start-up restaurant), an evaluation of Open in SF and online permitting outcomes, and outreach to merchant associations. The committee continued the matter for staff follow-up and additional data so it can evaluate potential fee relief or program expansion.
