From Supervisor Connie Chan:

Supervisor Connie Chan Joins Richmond District Merchants Urging SFMTA to Support Small Businesses

San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan joined with merchants from the Richmond District and across the City to urge the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to listen to the concerns of small business owners as they continue to recover from the pandemic.

Recently, SFMTA proposed a number of policy changes that would have substantial economic impacts on small businesses, including extending metered parking hours and the proposed Geary Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Quick Build that would remove 30% of parking on the corridor.

“The Geary BRT project promises to bring much needed reliable transit to the Richmond District, but we can do this without taking away from our small businesses,” Chan said. “As we see small businesses continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must also continue to provide the support and time they need to ensure their ongoing success. We urge SFMTA to continue to engage in honest conversations with our merchants and communities so we can reach a compromise that will allow our merchants and public transit to thrive.”

“During this time, we need critical support for merchants as we recover from the economic downturn of the last three years,” said Sean Kim, vice president of the Geary Merchants Association. 

“We call on the SFMTA to listen to our concerns and work with us to develop a plan that both improves our transportation and does not put us into financial ruin,” Kim said.

Additionally, SFMTA proposed a plan to extend parking meter enforcement across San Francisco until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. This plan was met with great opposition from San Francisco merchants and small businesses. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution urging SFMTA to postpone implementation until an economic impact study is conducted. 

“We thank SFMTA for taking a pause on implementing extended parking meter hours in order to take a deeper dive into the real economic impacts that this could have on our small businesses and workers,” said Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. “Our small businesses are the life and blood of the San Francisco economy. The City must be laser focused on policies that revive our neighborhood corridors, not create additional barriers that hamper their ability to make a full recovery.”

The Mission Merchants Association, which was left out of the conversations regarding the decision to implement a bus-only lane on Mission Street, joins the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants in its opposition to the Geary BRT quick build.

“Many of the businesses along these merchant corridors are owned by immigrant families who have invested their life savings into their businesses,” said Ryen Motzek, president of the Mission Merchants. “Our businesses bring vital support to the economic improvement of San Francisco. By leaving merchants out of the conversation, SFMTA is not helping small businesses thrive.”