Mayor Lurie Signs PermitSF Legislation, Cutting Red Tape for Small Businesses, Driving Economic Recovery

 Mayor Daniel Lurie today signed five ordinances from his PermitSF legislative package, driving the city’s economic recovery by making major structural changes that will help small business owners and property owners secure the permits they need more easily and efficiently. Reforms include common-sense measures to support small businesses through the permitting process, boost the city’s nightlife businesses, help families maintain their homes, and increase flexibility to support businesses downtown.

Today’s signing is part of Mayor Lurie’s sweeping permitting reforms launched in February, 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 informationfor technology to deliver a public-facing permit tracking tool. These milestones under PermitSF support Mayor Lurie’s work to drive San Francisco’s economic recovery. Last week, he signed legislation to extend the First Year Free program, waiving city start-up costs for new and expanding businesses, and his Family Zoning proposal will help ensure the next generation of San Franciscans can raise their kids in the city.

“When I talk with our small business owners, I hear the same story again and again: Working with the city feels like swimming upstream. The permitting process should be simple—instead, it slows them down, drains their resources, and discourages investment,” said Mayor Lurie. “I am determined to create the conditions for success, with legislation like the package I’m about to sign and through the partnership of everyone here. San Francisco won’t just imagine the future—we will build it.”

“Today's PermitSF legislative package is a major step forward in making it easier to open and run a small business in San Francisco. These critical changes will allow entrepreneurs and artists to focus on their craft instead of spending their time navigating complex permits and procedures,” said District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter. “Our message is clear: San Francisco is open for business, and we'll be there every step of the way to help you bring your ideas to life in our great city.”

“I am thrilled PermitSF is underway. Permitting should be simple and sensible. This effort is especially important to make it easier for first-time entrepreneurs and limited English applicants,” said District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar. “Businesses and homeowners should focus on building their best projects not battling bureaucracy. I am grateful for the collaboration and looking forward to more thoughtful reforms.”

“San Francisco is open for business, and this legislative package unlocks new possibilities for downtown and for our neighborhoods,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “These changes, big and small, will make a huge difference for our local businesses and entrepreneurs.”

“If we want to build housing, support small businesses, and fix our city’s infrastructure, we have to make it easier to get things done,” said District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill. “PermitSF is a long-overdue step toward a system that’s faster, simpler, and built for real people. That includes making it easier to host events and bring energy to our neighborhoods. With this legislation now becoming law, we’re finally moving from a culture of delay to one of delivery.”

“For decades, small businesses in this city have been crushed under the weight of overregulation, on everything from signage to sidewalk tables and chairs,” said District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. “Mayor Lurie’s PermitSF initiative gives businesses room to breathe, and I’m proud to support this effort to strengthen the beating heart of our city.”

“To every entrepreneur and innovator in the world who has a good idea, let it be known that this legislation is for you,” said District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio. “We're rolling out the red carpet and cutting the red tape so your idea has the runway it needs to succeed. We’re making it easier to activate an empty store front with your pop-up idea for retail, art, community service, or anything you’re dreaming of. We’re reducing the barriers, consolidating the permits, and streamlining approvals. San Francisco is the place to create your business. Because we want your idea to become one of many that will save our local economy.”

“Running a café in San Francisco comes with challenges, but the people and the community make it all worth it. When I was told I had to stop putting tables and chairs outside unless I paid for permits, insurance, designer drawings, and more—it added up to thousands of dollars I just couldn’t afford,” said Rich Lee, Co-Founder and Owner of SPRO Coffee Lab. “This new legislation is a huge relief. It means I can focus on what matters: serving great coffee and building community. I’m grateful to have a mayor who understands what small business owners are going through and is fighting to remove these barriers. Cutting these fees isn’t just helpful—it’s vital.”

When it takes effect on August 16, the legislation signed today by Mayor Lurie will:

• Reduce the permit processing timelines by eliminating unnecessary steps in the permit review process for entertainment. Businesses won’t need review and approval from the Department of Building Inspection on permits to extend their hours or from Planning Department for limited live performance permits, among others. Last fiscal year, about 60 of these permits cost applicants approximately one additional month each of processing time and $12,000 in aggregate.
• Eliminate permits for sidewalk tables and chairs and sidewalk merchandise displays to support small businesses. Each year, more than 500 businesses apply for these permits, which can cost a small business between $300 and $2,500 annually. Removing this requirement would save small businesses both time and money, allowing them to focus resources on serving customers and growing their operations.
• Eliminate minor encroachment permits for routine tenant improvements. If a business owner installs a door opener to improve accessibility, they no longer will have to pay a nearly $2,000 one-time fee plus an annual fee to the city.
• Make it possible for business owners to legalize their existing security gates, integrating gates into an existing amnesty program for storefront awnings and signs, ensuring small business owners in Chinatown and throughout the city are not punished for keeping their businesses safe.

Mayor Lurie’s work to streamline the city’s permitting process continues, as the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to pass more ordinances from the PermitSF legislative package after their first reading. 

The legislation that passed its first reading Tuesday 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.