Mayor Lurie Signs More PermitSF Legislation, Driving Downtown Recovery and Cutting Red Tape for Small Businesses

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today signed the latest piece of his PermitSF legislative package,driving the city’s economic recovery by making major structural changes that will propel downtown’s comeback and help small business owners secure the permits they need more easily and efficiently. Reforms that are part of the two ordinances signed today will make it easier for businesses downtown to expand and grow, and help small businesses launch and update their businesses more easily.   

This legislative package marks the second set of permitting reforms passed and signed by Mayor Lurie, with the first legislative package signed just a few weeks ago. Launched in February, the PermitSF plan is making sweeping permitting reforms with performance metrics that include transparent permitting timelines and accountability for city departments. PermitSF is also improving customer service processes to ensure customers get timely and consistent responses, with a request for information for technology to deliver a public-facing permit tracking tool. These milestones under PermitSF are supporting Mayor Lurie’s work to drive San Francisco’s economic recovery. 

“The city’s permitting process should be simple and transparent—and instead, it has been slowing business owners down, draining their resources, and discouraging investment. PermitSF is changing that,” said Mayor Lurie. “Our administration is creating the conditions for San Francisco’s recovery, and with the latest package, we’re cutting red tape, driving downtown recovery, and spreading the word that San Francisco is open for business.”

“This package of reforms is a big win for small businesses, neighborhood vitality, and the city’s economic recovery,” said Liz Watty, Director of PermitSF. “By removing outdated and unnecessary permitting requirements we’re making it faster, easier, and less expensive for businesses to open, operate, and grow in San Francisco. These changes reflect a shared commitment to customer service and government that works better for everyone, and we’re excited to keep building on this momentum.”

When they take effect, the reforms signed today will:

• Remove permit requirements and fees for many common business signs. Small business owners will not need to obtain a permit and pay the city to paint the name of their business on their façade or put up a small sign in their window, saving businesses hours of time at the Permit Center and saving several hundred dollars.
• Allow common-sense privacy options. Currently, ground-floor uses must have at least 60% of the windows and doorways transparent, allowing visibility to the inside of the building. The Planning Code would be amended to allow childcare facilities, homeless shelters, mortuaries, religious institutions, reproductive health clinics, and school uses to be exempted from these requirements.
• Support downtown revitalization by increasing flexibility for ground-floor and second-floor uses. To help drive downtown’s comeback, this legislation would expand the range of allowable uses on the ground floor to better serve employees and businesses.
• Eliminate a Department of Public Health requirement to review and issue permits for laundry facilities and veterinary hospitals. This legislation also reduces fees for certified farmers' market permits.