Neighborhood Pride Prompts Effort to Limit Chain Stores

SAN FRANCISCO — For years, Starbucks, Rite Aid, Walgreens and other corporate chains have felt the wrath of residents determined to freeze them out and protect the home-grown charm of this city's diverse neighborhoods.

Now San Franciscans have translated that passion into policy. Late last month, the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance restricting so-called formula retail stores from opening their doors here.

The measure, which has not yet been signed by the mayor but has enough support to override his potential veto, bans chains with more than 11 outlets and a standardized look from opening in the trendy-chic enclave of Hayes Valley.

It places tight restrictions on any chain store hoping to move into Cole Valley -- where residents and merchants recently fought a losing battle to keep out Walgreens after learning of its lease too late. And it requires all chain stores to notify neighbors of plans to open in any of the city's designated Neighborhood Commercial Districts.

The ordinance leaves untouched plenty of areas that are purely commercial -- including the Financial District, upscale Union Square and the tourist haven of Fisherman's Wharf. Proponents call it a necessary step to prevent the bejeweled city from turning into a replica of such cities as Phoenix, where identical chain stores are scattered across town.

"People come to San Francisco [because] it's a city of neighborhoods," said Paul Lord, a senior planner with the city who helped draft the legislation. "Chinatown doesn't look like the Mission, which doesn't look like North Beach."

Corporate chains often pay higher rents and undercut the local independent store owner on pricing, eventually driving out smaller businesses along with their vendors and suppliers, supporters of the ordinance add. Once a neighborhood turns, they say, there's no going back.

But critics say the ordinance sends a dangerous message -- at a time of record budget deficits and stinging unemployment -- that liberal San Francisco is not business friendly. It comes on the heels of a citywide minimum wage hike approved by voters last fall.

"It's ideology over practicality," said San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President Lee Blitch. "The answer to our budget crisis is to create more jobs

Besides, Blitch adds, "if a neighborhood doesn't want a certain type of store, they won't shop there. So why are we legislating that? Competition brings lower prices for the consumer and more jobs."