It's just 1 bench: SF business owner frustrated with complicated permitting process

Easy Breezy has three yogurt shops in San Francisco. The Noe Valley location on 24th Street is pictured. The sidewalk bench is portable and brought out on sunny days. It must be brought back into the store at night. Owner Ariel Ford would like to install a permanent bench at her Irving store but isn't moving forward due to the city's involved permitting process. less Easy Breezy has three yogurt shops in San Francisco. The Noe Valley location on 24th Street is pictured. The sidewalk bench is portable and brought out on sunny days. It must be brought back into the store at ... more Photo: Courtesy Easy Breezy Photo: Courtesy Easy Breezy Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close It's just 1 bench: SF business owner frustrated with complicated permitting process 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

Last week, the owner of a small local chain of frozen-yogurt shops expressed frustration on Facebook over the involved process the City of San Francisco requires to legally install one bench on the sidewalk in front of a business.

San Francisco resident Ariel Ford wants a comfortable place where her customers can sit outside her Easy Breezy store at 718 Irving Street, and in order to make this happen the city requires her to do everything from take photos of the sidewalk to submit "a fully dimensioned site plan created using a computer program." The city also asks for $2 million in insurance.

"It's brutal," said Ford in an interview with SFGate.

On sunny days, Ford often puts out portable benches in front of her three stores around the city, but these must be taken in at night. She wants something permanent that's bolted into the ground.

To show the number of steps required by the Department of Public Works, Ford posted the full process in her post, reminding people that you have to do all of this for "one bench."

New Applicants Submittal Requirements

Complete and submit the Request for Planning Code Compliance form after it has been approved and signed by the Planning Department, which is located at 1660 Mission Street, 1st Floor, Window #1.

Complete and submit the Café Tables & Chairs permit application.

Submit a copy of the S.F. Business License Certificate

Submit recent photos of the sidewalk fronting your business to show the existing conditions.

Submit fully dimensioned site plan created using a computer program. (See Sample Drawing) Hand drawn plans will not be accepted.

Pay processing fee; payable to Public Works either by check or VISA/MC, ATM. (See Fee Schedule)

Submit evidence of general liability insurance, a Certificate of Insurance for the business with minimum of $2,000,000 general aggregate and specifically naming "The City and County of San Francisco, its officers, officials, employees, agents, and volunteers" as additional insured. (Sample)

Submit all the above items to the Bureau of Street Use & Mapping permit office at 1155 Market Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103.

After the completed application is processed and the site plan has been approved, a Public Works Inspector will post an 11" x 17" Notification in the window or on the side of the business for ten calendar days. (sample)

The applicant must contact the Bureau of Street Use & Mapping three business day after the end date on the Notification. If the Bureau did not receive any objections then the applicant may pay the annual fee and obtain the permit.

After learning the process, Ford isn't moving forward with the bench. She said the requirement for $2 million in insurance was the biggest roadblock. "I have $1 million in insurance, which was recommended to me and which seems sufficient," she said. "It only cost a quarter million to build the shop." The businessowner is already spending thousands a year on insurance, she said.

If a bench is installed without a permit, Ford said the city can charge $100 for every day the bench remains on the sidewalk.

"Of course they have bigger fish to fry and you'll probably get away with it for awhile, but all it takes is one curmudgeon [to complain]," Ford said.

Public Works spokeswoman Rachel Gordon said the process is necessary to ensure that San Francisco sidewalks have clear, safe paths of travel for pedestrians, including people in wheelchairs.