April 29, 2026 • 4:25 pm Dear Director Kirschbaum and SFMTA Staff, We are writing to follow up on the recent ISCOTT approval of the proposed weekly farmers market on the 400 block of Hayes Street. To be clear, there is broad openness among corridor businesses and residents to the concept of a farmers market in Hayes Valley. However, there … Read post
San Francisco has spent years making it easier to close streets than to keep them open for the businesses and residents who actually use them. On the 400 block of Hayes Street, we are watching this play out in real time: a Shared Spaces permit already under formal administrative complaint for 71 weeks of sustained noncompliance is now being layered … Read post
April 21, 2026 Attention SCOTT Committee, We are writing to oppose the proposed weekly farmers market on the 400 block of Hayes Street. We do not oppose a farmers market in principle. Our concern is with advancing it in this location, particularly on a block already subject to a contested and unresolved street closure. There are existing open spaces in … Read post
A new proposal for a year-long weekly farmers market on the 400 block of Hayes Street (Gough to Octavia) is being framed as simple community activation. But the real issue is deeper. Every new “activation”, whether a market, event, or shared space extension, is being decided on the assumption that the street must remain closed. No one in City Hall … Read post
April 10, 2026 Dear Director Kirschbaum and SFMTA Shared Spaces Management Team, We submit this formal administrative complaint regarding the administration of the Shared Spaces permit for the 400 block of Hayes Street, including sustained noncompliance, lack of enforcement, and related procedural concerns. This complaint is intended to establish a formal administrative record and to request corrective action. 1. Sustained … Read post
What began as a temporary COVID-era street closure is now being treated as something permanent. Recent public records show that District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood directly requested and drove the City’s initiation of a Public Life Study on Hayes Street, with the Planning Department leading the technical work in coordination with SFMTA, SFCTA, and the Supervisor’s own office. This is … Read post
Over the past year, a small group centered around the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood quietly set the direction for the future of the 400 block of Hayes Street.A study was launched.Funding was secured.Agencies were coordinated. For the small businesses and neighbors who actually live and work here, one question stands out:How did this happen without … Read post
For years, the conversation around Hayes Street has been framed as a question of preference…whether one supports it or not. But that framing misses something more fundamental. Because underneath the debate is a different question entirely: Is the current use of Hayes Street aligned with the legal and policy framework that governs street closures in California? What the Law Actually … Read post