SF parklet permits get easier (+ Planning Department steps out)

San Francisco
Board of Supervisors Meeting
March 10, 2026

TL;DR

• Shared Spaces parklet permits no longer go through Planning Department design review, and applicants no longer have to document community outreach or notify neighbors.
• SF's Planning Code now allows additional uses in historic buildings citywide, opening up adaptive reuse options.
• The Police Department's policy for GPS tracking devices (StarChase) was held two weeks while supervisors look into warrantless use and civil liberties questions.
• $4,000,000 from the General City Reserve goes to Department of Emergency Management for expanded street conditions staffing, and $150,000 goes to the Human Rights Commission for community initiatives.
• The SFMTA security guard contract with Allied Universal runs one more year through March 31, 2027, with a new ceiling of $64,940,326.

What happened

1. Parklet permits get faster + Planning Department steps out of the review
   1. Supervisors passed code changes that remove the Planning Department as a coordinating entity for Shared Spaces design review. The ordinance also eliminates the requirement that applicants document community outreach and notify neighbors, and drops the public accessibility and alternate public seating requirements. Public Works no longer has to publish public notice of applications either.
   2. What this means for you: If you run a business with a parklet or are thinking about applying for one, the path is shorter and the paperwork is lighter. If you're a neighbor of a parklet, you'll no longer receive notice or have a built-in outreach process to weigh in through before one is approved.
2. Historic buildings can now host more uses citywide
   1. The Board passed a Planning Code amendment that allows additional uses as principally or conditionally permitted in historic buildings across San Francisco, with conforming changes to zoning control tables.
   2. What this means for you: Owners of historic buildings have more flexibility to convert or repurpose them. The change applies citywide, not just to a single district.
3. Police GPS tracker policy held two weeks for more review
   1. Supervisor Walton moved to continue the Police Surveillance Technology Policy for electronic location tracking devices to March 24. Walton cited concerns about warrantless trackers, lack of data, cost, reliability, and civil liberties. Supervisor Chan said she wanted more time to understand the technology and Fourth Amendment questions around tracking a moving vehicle.
   2. Carl Nicita, SFPD Government Affairs Manager, told the Board the technology is StarChase, a GPS projectile launcher used to tag fleeing vehicles. Nicita said SFPD has six units mounted on vehicles. In 2025, SFPD deployed StarChase 22 times with 17 successful tags, some leading to vehicle recovery or arrest. He said SFPD uses StarChase without a warrant only in exigent circumstances and otherwise requests a warrant for continued tracking. Nicita contrasted this with Oakland, which he said requires a warrant after tagging, a policy he said "defeats the purpose" in pursuit situations. President Mandelman said he expected to support the policy in two weeks.
   3. What this means for you: The decision on whether SFPD can keep using GPS trackers under this written policy moves to the March 24 meeting.
4. $4 million for street conditions staffing, $150,000 for HRC community work
   1. The Board approved spending $4,000,000 from the General City Reserve on expanded street conditions staffing at the Department of Emergency Management, plus $150,000 from the same reserve for Human Rights Commission community initiatives. The spending covers the current fiscal year.
   2. What this means for you: DEM gets more capacity for the staff who respond to street conditions reports. Drawing from the General City Reserve mid-year means the funds have to be replenished in next year's budget.
5. SFMTA security contract extended one more year, $5.9 million added
   1. The Board signed off on a fourth amendment to SFMTA's contract with Allied Universal Security Services, adding $5,911,925 and extending the term one year through March 31, 2027. The new total ceiling is $64,940,326, covering the period from April 1, 2020.
   2. What this means for you: Allied Universal continues providing armed and unarmed security for SFMTA facilities through next March.

What residents brought up

• Opposition to repealing Proposition I (the 2020 real estate transfer tax). Roughly a dozen speakers urged the Board to reject the "BUILD Act," a proposed ordinance to halve the transfer tax rate on properties over $10 million. A policy director with a community land trust said Prop I has funded the COVID rent relief program that protected 20,000 tenants from eviction, took hundreds of homes off the speculative market, and is funding affordable housing currently under construction. Other speakers pointed to a 365-unit affordable project at Potrero Yard and a Sunset project at 1234 Great Highway that have stalled for lack of funding, and argued the tax cut would benefit large commercial properties including 555 California Street.
• Concerns about the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center in the Fillmore. Three speakers, including someone identifying as a Fillmore corridor ambassador, said the community center is at risk of closing and described plans to form a new board of directors to take it back. Speakers tied the situation to the history of redevelopment in the Fillmore, citing the displacement of 4,700 Black residents and 883 Black-owned businesses. One speaker urged supervisors to act on the building, named for the city's first Black woman supervisor.
• Support for the Iranian American Heritage Month resolution. Several Iranian-American residents thanked Supervisor Dorsey and his staff for sponsoring the resolution. One speaker described a year of work to bring the recognition to City Hall and called it a "monumental moment" arriving alongside a "complicated" period for the community. (stated in meeting)

Also happened

• Supervisors granted PG&E a permanent easement at the Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant (1800 Jerrold Avenue) at no cost, covering approximately 2,944 square feet, on a 10-1 vote with Supervisor Fielder voting no. Fielder cited climate concerns about delivering more natural gas to the plant. Jeremy Spitz of SFPUC said the easement is to heat new biosolids digesters, not to support bio gas, and that SFPUC moved away from cogeneration due to environmental justice concerns near the plant.
• The Board adopted seven settlements forwarded from the Government Audit and Oversight Committee: $55,000 (Henderson employment dispute), $800,000 (Owens wrongful death on a City sidewalk), $500,000 (Pham family elder abuse and medical negligence), $350,000 (WPP Group gross receipts and homelessness tax refund), $32,500 (DyFoon flooding property damage), $2,192,098.28 (Everen Capital gross receipts and homelessness tax refund), and $30,450 (Bay Area Air Quality Management District citation against the Sheriff's Office for discharge of chemical agents).
• SF repealed its existing Fire Code in full and adopted the 2025 California Fire Code with SF-specific amendments, operative January 1, 2026.
• Oakdale Avenue between Third Street and Newhall Street gets the commemorative name "James Richard Way."
• Mayor Daniel Lurie used his monthly Board appearance to preview a Charter reform package with President Mandelman: bringing city contracting under the City Administrator, requiring a majority Board vote to place measures on the ballot (and eliminating the mayor's unilateral placement authority), and letting the mayor hire and remove department heads.
• Supervisors Chan and Fielder introduced a motion directing the Budget and Legislative Analyst to perform a 2026 audit of the Sheriff's Office. Fielder cited a projected $19 million overtime overrun, the Bay Area Air Quality settlement involving a sheriff training exercise near Portola Elementary, Mission Local reporting on jail searches, and questions about sanctuary policy enforcement. The motion was assigned to the Government Audit and Oversight Committee.
• Supervisors pulled the Proposition E Commission Streamlining Task Force hearing from the Rules Committee and scheduled a Committee of the Whole on it for March 17 at 3:00 p.m.
• The 524-526 Vallejo Street and 4-4A San Antonio Place Conditional Use Authorization appeal was continued open to April 7 to allow a Department of Building Inspection site visit.

For any updates or corrections, please email steven@polisdesk.com