The Small Business Commission unanimously declined to support Mayor Daniel Lurie's West Side upzoning plan due to concerns about displacement of small businesses. The plan aims to increase housing density in certain neighborhoods to meet a state mandate for new housing units. However, current sites for new development are occupied by small merchants at risk of demolition. The potential loss of these businesses impacts local economies, as they employ a significant number of people and face challenges in securing affordable retail space in new developments.
The Lurie plan allows more height and density in transit corridors in the Richmond, the Sunset, West Portal, the Haight, and other neighborhoods that are considered "well resourced."
The problem is that some of the site where new, denser housing could be built are currently occupied by small neighborhood serving businesses, which would be displaced when the building is demolished.
In some pro-formas, they don't even list income from those spaces, creating uncertainty around the viability of affordable spaces for local businesses.
Potentially hundreds of businesses could lose their spaces along Geary Boulevard, Clement St., or Haight St. and will never be able to move back.
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