Moving

Small enterprise homeowners contemplating leaving San Francisco – NBC Bay Space

Big retailers have left downtown San Francisco, but now some small business owners say they’re considering moving out, too.

Crime, homelessness, and expensive City Hall rules and regulations are apparently taking their toll.

Tacorea on lower Nob Hill has earned a reputation as a hotspot serving delicious Korean-Mexican fusion dishes. But owner David Lee says he’s close to throwing in the towel.

“I plan to close the shop probably in December. I’m just over it,” he said.

His latest disappointment with the city is new regulations for the parklet he built during the pandemic.

He received a long list of requirements from the SFMTA to get it on the post-pandemic code.

For years it was a lifeline for his company, but this week he decided to get rid of it.

“I just decided that we’re going to take it apart. So I told the guys the night before to stay open. And sure enough, there’s a guy in there who’s not wearing pants,” Lee said.

In a surveillance video he shared, a homeless person can be seen in the parklet as the contractor dismantles it bit by bit.

Lee said the chronic problems of homelessness, outdoor drug use and crime in the neighborhood were increasing.

Earlier this year his shop was broken into and thieves stole his cash register and an iPad he uses to place orders.

He received a $1,000 grant from the city for small business vandalism. But he said he was at his breaking point.

According to the San Francisco Office of Small Business, there are no clear figures on how many small businesses in the city have closed since the pandemic began.

But they say they have other grants available that could potentially help people in the bubble. They also say they can help small businesses navigate city bureaucracy.

Motorcycle and scooter shop Scuderia will be moving in the Mission District. But the owner says it will be a larger space in the Dog Patch area.

“There’s a company called Brookefield Construction that’s renovating a number of these old steel mill buildings,” said owner Greg McCord. “And so we start with the first one they completed.”

McCord says the Mission District, where his business has been located for more than 30 years, also has problems with homelessness, drugs and some crime.

But he commends City Hall for recent efforts to address these issues. He said he’s noticed improvements over the past six months.

He said he and his staff miss the mission and hope improvements continue across the city.

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