Mayor Lurie Unveils Latest Wave of Permit Reforms to Drive Economic Recovery and Save Homeowners Time and Money

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today unveiled the latest pieces of his PermitSF plan, his effort to drive the city’s economic recovery by making the permitting process fast, predictable, and transparent. The latest reforms include process improvements for special events permitting, eliminating a public hearing requirement for some neighborhood events. In addition, the changes being introduced today will align local and state inspection timelines for decks and balconies.

About a year into Mayor Lurie’s work to make permitting faster and more transparent, the mayor launched a fully digital permitting portal that will allow homeowners and business owners to obtain the permits they need online, more easily than ever. Since initiating PermitSF, it has launched 20 ordinances, including common-sense reforms to remove burdens for homeowners to repair their decks and park in their driveway, or for businesses to set up cafe tables on the sidewalk and paint their own business name on their storefront. To continue the work, the mayor announced plans to create a more coordinated and accountable permitting process by merging the Department of Building Inspection, the Planning Department, and the Permit Center. As part of the mayor’s Heart of the City executive directive to accelerate San Francisco downtown recovery, Mayor Lurie established a goal to redesign the event permitting process to be more efficient.  

“Today, we are taking another step to get rid of the nonsense and focus on common sense. The changes we’re making today will help residents bring their communities to life, drive foot traffic to our neighborhoods, and ease the permitting process for San Francisco’s homeowners,” said Mayor Lurie. “Our PermitSF legislation is cutting red tape and removing unnecessary hurdles—supporting San Francisco’s homeowners, driving our economic recovery, and building a more vibrant future for our entire city.”

Legislation being introduced today would streamline special event permitting for an estimated 50% of applicants—eliminating a time-consuming public hearing requirement for events that close no more than 3 blocks and do not affect intersections or Muni routes. The public hearings held by the Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation (ISCOTT) involve staff from SFMTA, the San Francisco Fire Department, San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), and the Entertainment Commission.

Under the new process, qualifying events would move to an administrative approval, cutting weeks from the permitting timeline while preserving public input opportunities and creating efficiency for staff and public safety officers.  

In 2025, there were 533 event permits issued through ISCOTT and today’s announcement is part of a larger effort to address special event permitting. The streamlined process will improve public safety, strengthen departmental coordination and efficiency, and clarify the permit requirements that have long been a barrier for many applicants, including:

• The launch of a unified website to guide applicants through the steps and requirements. Applicants previously navigated up to seven different websites to find instructions and forms.  
• New, city-approved site plan templates for downtown’s most active streets and entertainment zones—eliminating the need for costly custom architectural drawings and repeated submittals that can cost thousands of dollars and lead to months of delays.
• A digital intake form in the PermitSF portal, where applicants will receive customized instructions about which permits they will need, and when and how to apply.
• City staff dedicated to helping applicants through the permitting process.
  

Additional legislation being introduced today will align local and state inspection timelines for decks and balconies. This update will remove the cost and time of duplicative inspections for buildings with three or more units.

“During and since the COVID pandemic, San Franciscans have been making the most of opportunities to activate our public spaces for entertainment, community-building, commerce, and joy,” said Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman. “I am happy to be able to support the efforts of the mayor and his team to make the city a better partner in these efforts!"

“Our goal is to make City Hall work better for the people it serves,” said District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong. “This legislation is a practical step toward a more efficient and predictable permitting process, especially for community-based events that don’t require complex coordination. It reduces unnecessary delays while maintaining strong safety standards and public input. In the Sunset, we see how important these events are to supporting our small businesses and bringing neighbors together. This will make it easier for our communities to thrive and ensure the Sunset continues to be a place where local businesses grow and neighbors stay connected.”

“These changes will reduce the time Police Department staff spends on paperwork and in meetings, allowing the SFPD to allocate resources more effectively,” said SFPD Chief Derrick Lew.

“Our Ford Street block festival takes less than a minute to approve during an ISCOTT hearing yet requires multiple neighbors to stay on standby during a long virtual meeting,” said Carolyn Thomas, organizer of the Ford Street Block Party. “Shifting simple events to administrative approval is a welcome change that makes community gatherings easier to organize—and easier for the city to manage.”

“This latest proposal by Mayor Lurie to further cut the daunting administrative burden required for the approval of special events on entertainment zones is very encouraging, and very timely,” said Brian Sheehy, CEO of Future Bars Group. “With hotel and office occupancy still challenged, we all have to work more efficiently to give people more reasons to visit and experience downtown. This proposal will cut weeks off the special events approvals process which will allow operators like Future Bars to focus on the creation of meaningful and appealing events in outdoor spaces.”

PermitSF continues to streamline processes, improve customer experience, and cut red tape. Recent improvements include:

• Digital Impact Fee Calculator: A new online tool that lets applicants see their project's impact fees upfront, before applying. Previously, applicants often learned of these costs deep into the permitting process. The calculator will eventually display all permit fees in one place.
• Added flexibility for bars under new ownership by allowing equivalent sink and water heating facilities that already existed in the space. This could save a new small business thousands of dollars in unnecessary equipment purchases.  
• Updated online information for pop-up retail from the Department of Public Health, with better guidance and transparency.