The Castro isn’t the only area of San Francisco with such a ban in place, but it’s one of just a few, he added.ĭiscouraging new businesses from opening seemed particularly counterproductive given the increase in vacant storefronts during the pandemic. Jennings did not respond to a request for comment.Ĭommunity members say the city needs to help make it easier to fill the Castro’s vacant storefronts, such as Q Bar, seen vacant in 2020.
She brought her vision - wine, piano music, light snacks - to the City Planning Department only to learn about the categorical ban on new bars.
The impetus for the ordinance, Mandelman said, was hearing the experience of Suzie Jennings, who wanted to open a bar in the neighborhood. Lifting the ban, these proponents say, would help ease the Castro’s storefront-vacancy rate - a problem Mandelman described as “horrendous.” Moreover, they view the new ordinance as a way to promote equity in the small-business community by boosting diversity among bar owners. Now, however, Mandelman and many of his constituents say that the rule is outdated and threatens the economic and cultural vitality of this famous neighborhood with historic ties to the LGBTQ community. That ban may have been motivated by a feeling at the time that the neighborhood was becoming oversaturated with bars, Mandelman said, and a fear that they might displace other types of businesses. Yet since 1987, new bars have been banned in the Castro Street Neighborhood District, an area stretching several blocks out from the intersection of Castro and 18th streets.