The author of a new San Francisco ordinance is hoping it will help attract so-called chain businesses to the Van Ness business corridor.
Van Ness Avenue is one of a few spots in the city where small businesses sit next to big brands, but these days about half of the retail storefronts in the area are empty. Supervisor Stephen Sherrill said he hopes the newly-signed city ordinance will help change that.
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WATCH HERE"When a corridor is struggling like this we need to make it easier to fill these vacancies, not harder," he said. "Our legislation signed yesterday strips away that conditional use permitting to make it easier to fill these spaces."
One of the ideas behind conditional use permitting in the city is to prioritize small business over large chains. But the Van Ness corridor has long been a mixed bag of big and small businesses. The new law lifts conditional use permitting along the corridor.
"This makes it what was an average seven and a half month permitting process to zero," Sherrill said.
Sherrill said he's already in talks with three businesses that are looking to move into some of the vacant spaces.
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