Supermarkets in San Francisco will have to give the city and residents at least six months’ notice before closing after the Board of Supervisors dusted off a 40-year-old ordinance that was vetoed at the time.
The effort to revive the legislation was reinvigorated after Safeway said it would close a store in the Fillmore District earlier this year with only two months’ notice. The company and the property’s buyer, Align Real Estate, changed course after an outcry by residents and city leaders and will now close the store in early 2025.
The ordinance was first passed by the Board of Supervisors in 1984 but was vetoed by then-mayor Dianne Feinstein.
The new ordinance passed Tuesday, The Neighborhood Grocery Protection Act, closely resembles the first one, according to its author, Supervisor Dean Preston. Preston represents District 5, where the Fillmore Safeway is located.
“It shouldn’t have taken 40 years for this to become law, but I’m glad we were able to bring everyone together to get it across the finish line,” Preston said.
The store at 1335 Webster St. also provides prescriptions and banking services to residents in the Fillmore District and Japantown.
“The Fillmore’s Safeway has played a central role in helping build and bring community together, especially among senior citizens,” Mayor London Breed said after the store delayed its closure.
The ordinance will require grocery stores larger than 20,000 square feet to give six months’ written notice to the director of the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Customers must also be notified through signs posted at exits and entrances at the business at least six months in advance.
The grocery store owner must then meet with Office of Economic and Workforce Development personnel to try to find ways to remain open and keep selling groceries at the location.
The owner must also hold at least one community meeting hosted by a nonprofit neighborhood association, city department or official. That meeting would help residents plan for the store’s closure by either instructing them how to form a co-op or identify another grocer that could be a viable replacement.
Closures worsening food access
Erris Edgerly, founder of the Fillmore Alliance, a neighborhood group, said the city needs to be giving its full effort to stop grocery store closures.
“Food insecurity is on the rise, especially for seniors and families, as food prices skyrocket and food programs face major cuts,” said Edgerly.
Safeway representatives have not yet met with community members regarding the Fillmore store’s impending closure, according to Preston’s office.
A Safeway representative did not return a request for comment.
There are exceptions in the law for a closure due to a natural disaster or if the grocery store owner was seeking capital to keep the business open that did not materialize within the six-month timeframe.
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