San Francisco Permitting Nightmares

I honestly have no idea how I missed this. The San Francisco Chronicle has been running a series of stories on permitting nightmares for two years. The most recent installment is from March of this year. It involves a newly renovated donut shop and the placement of a single sink.

[Rebekah] Ahn’s family has owned Bob’s since 1977 and opened storefronts in the Western Addition and Mill Valley. In 2023, the family decided to move to a new location across from its original spot on Polk Street, turning two adjacent storefronts into one, larger space. Because of zoning restrictions on Nob Hill that limit the size of commercial businesses, the family couldn’t build out the space until city supervisors passed an ordinance in July allowing them to merge the two storefronts. 

As they were embarking on their renovations, officials from the Department of Public Health raised concerns about a sink in a front kitchen, asking for it to be placed in the center of the food preparation area. That worried Ahn, because it would place the sink between two fryers — close enough that employees could be burned by splattering oil.