Ordinances to support small businesses in Mayor Lurie’s PermitSF legislation take effect on August 16, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO — Under the PermitSF legislative package introduced by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to drive the city's economic recovery and support small businesses, some of the ordinances take effect on August 16 including the elimination of permit fees for sidewalk displays and storefront awnings.

The PermitSF legislative package was announced by Lurie in February, a month after he was sworn into office, to reform the city's permit regulations which had been complained by business and property owners for taking too long to process and paying too much fees under previous administrations.

The August 16-effective ordinances are mostly related to business and property owners who need to add more functions or improvements to the facilities they own or rent. They include:

- Sidewalk usage

PermitSF would eliminate the permit fees and requirements for placement of tables and chairs and display merchandise on the sidewalk outside storefronts including pre-packaged food.

Business owners instead need to submit a simple registration form to Department of Public Works, without a fee, and attest to understanding City guidelines for sidewalk furniture.

Lurie said more than 500 businesses applied for these permits each year prior to the PermitSF becoming effective. Those permits could cost a small business between $300 and $2,500 annually. Removing this requirement would save small businesses both time and money, allowing them to focus resources on serving customers and growing their operations.

- Business signs and security gates

PermitSF would simplify business sign installations by removing the permit requirements and fees for most common business signs, including business or identifying signs applied to building facades, windows and doors (paint or vinyl stickers), interior signs.

The legislation adds security gates as part of the City’s existing amnesty program for awnings and signs.

Lurie said it would make possible for business owners to legalize their existing security gates, integrating gates into an existing amnesty program for storefront awnings and signs, ensuring small business owners in Chinatown and throughout the city are not punished for keeping their businesses safe.

PermitSF would also ease the City’s transparency requirements for security gates, allowing them to be 100% non-transparent. Historic buildings would still be required to adhere to the 75% transparency requirement.

- First Year Free program

Lurie also signed legislation in July to extend the existing First Year Free program to support new and expanding businesses for waiving permit fees and initial business registration through June 30, 2026.

The City first adopted the First Year Free program in 2021 during the pandemic to encourage more new businesses started to stimulate the city's economy. The program has waived first-year permit, license and business registration fees for new and expanding businesses.

The First Year Free program has been expanded several times and was scheduled to end on June 30, 2025. Lurie introduced legislation to extend the program until June 30, 2026.

Since the First Year Free program began, over 8,000 businesses have enrolled and over $4.5 million in permit and registration fees have been waived.

“When I talk with our small business owners, I hear the same story again and again: Working with the city feels like swimming upstream. The permitting process should be simple—instead, it slows them down, drains their resources, and discourages investment,” Lurie said when he signed the PermitSF legislation in July.

“I am determined to create the conditions for success, with legislation like the package I’m about to sign and through the partnership of everyone here. San Francisco won’t just imagine the future—we will build it,” said Lurie.

The PermitSF legislation was introduced by Lurie and co-sponsored by 6 Supervisors, District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter, District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, and District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar.