The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a pilot program that will place a curfew on overnight retail stores and shops in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
Retail food and tobacco shops in the high-crime area will be prohibited from operating between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. Businesses that hold a state liquor license are already required by law to be closed from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.
The 20-block area is between O’Farrell and McAllister streets and between Polk and Jones streets.
The legislation would not apply to restaurants, bars, or event halls. Fines can be levied for up to $1,000 for each hour a store operates in violation of the ordinance.
A petition in support of the mayor’s legislation was submitted June 14 with 521 signatures of Tenderloin residents and community organizations. One of the organizations that collected signatures was the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which is located inside the zone in the 400 block of Ellis Street.
“We don’t want stores feeding into a system of crime, with people hanging out, doing drugs, selling drugs, buying stolen goods, selling stolen goods, all in front of the store.” Pratibha Tekkey, Tenderloin Housing Clinic
“There are good store owners in this neighborhood that we love and that care about the community,” said Pratibha Tekkey, the clinic’s director of community organizing. “Most of our business owners are immigrant business owners and we are proud of that. But what we did not want is people opening up shops left, right and center and feeding into this ecosystem.”
Tekkey said she thinks the stores cater to nighttime drug use.
“These stores usually sell snacks and sweets and things that you need to keep it going once you use drugs to keep yourself high. And when you’re coming down,” she said. “We don’t want stores feeding into a system of crime, with people hanging out, doing drugs, selling drugs, buying stolen goods, selling stolen goods, all in front of the store.”