San Francisco city law discouraged sidewalk tables at cafes, restaurants
Finally, someone explaining why SF doesn't have more cafes and restaurants with sidewalk tables. Cafe Flore, one of my favorite cafes in the city, just changed ownership much to most of the loyal following's trepidation since Ahmed had owned it for over 25 years. But one of the first moves the new owner made was to add tables to the sidewalk outside on Noe Street -- an amazing, great change, especially on weekends when it used to be overwhelmed with people. According to this San Francisco Chronicle story:
Until 1993, getting a street-use permit had no formal process at all, and so it was virtually impossible for a café owner to make his outdoor dining legal.
"It was very hard to get a permit, because we dealt with each permit on an individual basis," explained senior plan checker Nick Elsner, who has been with the City's Department of Public Works (DPW) for 19 years. "Permits would get passed around to different agencies, get lost on people's desks. Planning had to look at it; Traffic had to look at it." But 10 years ago, all the agencies got together with local merchants and created a formal process Elsner says has grown increasingly efficient. "Now, we have a two-hour turnaround getting feedback from the Planning Department, telling us whether this is an establishment that has the right to put tables and chairs on the sidewalk or not."