Retail politics hit the Castro

Development concerns and retail politics in the Castro will take center stage at numerous meetings over the next week as merchants, city planners, and residents engage in policy debates over chain stores, late night venues and new housing proposals.

On Thursday, December 6, the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro, the gay neighborhood's business group, was expected to vote down a proposed ban on chain stores in the area. MUMC's board had recommended the group oppose the proposal, and the issue sparked a heated debate when first discussed in September.

The Castro/Upper Market Community Benefits District board voted in October not to back the proposal, and District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who would be expected to carry legislation to enact such a ban, continues to argue the current requirement that all chain stores must apply for a conditional use permit to open a store in the city is adequate.

"I am open to people making the case but I am not really seeing a line-up of chain stores," said Dufty. "I have been very forthright with major property owners that formula retail, I think, is incompatible for the neighborhood. I am just not on board with the argument [that] an across-the-board prohibition is in the best interests of the neighborhood."

Enactment of a chain store ban would have an immediate impact on the Castro business scene. It would kill Walgreens' plans to expand its pharmacy on 18th Street into the vacant coin-operated laundry space next door and put an end to the Levi Strauss & Company's search for a space to open a men's store in the neighborhood.

The company owns 47 stores nationwide, as well as 14 discount outlets, and is looking to open additional locations. Levi's had been pursuing the vacant space at the corner of 18th and Castro Streets, but those negotiations proved futile after the bank chain Washington Mutual secured the lease.

E.J. Bernacki, a senior manager in Levi's corporate communications department, said the San Francisco-based jeans purveyor is still committed to opening in the Castro.

"We are absolutely looking for a space in the Castro. It is a natural fit for the Levi's brand and a great opportunity to celebrate our history with the neighborhood and the community," said Bernacki, who is gay and lives in the Castro. "We have a long affinity and relationship with the LGBT community, especially during the early days when the Castro was being born as the neighborhood it is today and our brand was very successful with young people and the gay community in San Francisco."

As for Washington Mutual, the bank opted not to move forward with opening a branch in the heart of the Castro due to opposition to its plans, and instead, the company has applied for the necessary permits to open in the Dulux-ICI paint store space on 15th Street at Market Street, where Trader Joe's had eyed building a new store.

The Planning Commission is expected to sign off on the bank's application at its meeting today (Thursday, December 6). Planner Rick Crawford said Washington Mutual has generated no opposition with its proposal, which calls for simply adding several windows to the building's facade and keeping the parking lot intact.

Requests for comment from bank officials went unanswered this week, but a real estate source familiar with the bank's plans told the Bay Area Reporter that Washington Mutual intends to terminate its lease for the 18th and Castro space once it receives final approval from the city for the Market Street location.

The person would not speculate on if Levi's would then be able to re-negotiate with the building's owner, Mike Dotterwietch, only saying that Dotterwietch "is still negotiating with others" interested in the vacant storefront.

The Planning Commission will also wade into the controversy surrounding plans by Cafe Flore to go to 24-hour food service at its meeting this afternoon. As reported in the B.A.R. last week, owner J.D. Petras contends he needs to increase the business' hours, as well as receive permission to serve alcohol until 2 a.m. and be allowed to have amplified music at night, in order to stay open.

The cafe's plans have divided nearby neighbors who variously oppose or support Petras's plans or want to see some compromise reached. A major sticking point has been use of the cafe's outdoor spaces at night, and the commission will decide the matter this afternoon.
Monday, December 10 the neighborhood's attention will turn from retail politics to development concerns as planning staff hold the third and last meeting in the Upper Market workshop series and design plan. Castro residents, merchants, and property owners have been meeting this fall to map out a set of design principles meant to help developers create plans for nearly a dozen sites along the Market Street corridor.

The meetings have focused on such elements as streetscapes, types of retail uses, and what sort of units will be included in the new developments. Monday night's meeting is the last chance people will have to weigh in before the design plan is sent to the planning commission for adoption, sometime in early 2008.

The meeting will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Harvey Milk School at 4235 19th Street at Collingwood Street.

Washington Mutual is expected to receive approval to open a branch at the site of the former Dulux paint store.