April 29, 2026 Update
Following ISCOTT’s approval, we have submitted a formal request to SFMTA to pause implementation of the proposed farmers market for 60 days to allow for coordinated review, stakeholder engagement, and consideration of alternative locations.
Read our full letter to SFMTA here.
April 23, 2026 Update:
ISCOTT approved the year-long weekly farmers market proposal today. The committee treated it as a standalone “special event,” without any coordinated review of the existing Shared Spaces permit, which remains under formal administrative complaint. This approval further entrenches the contested closure through a separate permitting channel.
Why This Matters
This approval reflects a broader pattern:
• A second recurring use has now been added to the same block
• The existing Shared Spaces closure remains under formal administrative complaint
• Adjustments between permits are being made without a coordinated, transparent review
• There has been no evaluation of cumulative impacts on access, deliveries, business viability, or transit
At a certain point, these overlapping “temporary” approvals function as a long-term change to how the street operates, without a clear, accountable decision to that effect. This is not a one-off decision. It reflects how the process is currently operating.
April 15, 2026
TL;DR
- A weekly farmers market is being proposed as a “special event,” but would create a year-long recurring street closure on the 400 block of Hayes Street (Gough to Octavia).
- This would layer another closure on the exact same block that is already under a formal SFMTA administrative complaint for sustained noncompliance.
- When combined with the existing Shared Spaces permit (Friday 4–10pm and Saturday 10am–10pm), this would effectively close the corridor from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM every Saturday.
- The proposal expands use of a dense commercial corridor where small businesses rely on consistent access, deliveries, and visibility, without a clear, coordinated evaluation of cumulative impacts across the corridor.
- It was introduced through limited stakeholder channels, with many corridor businesses and residents unaware until the public notice appeared.
- More broadly, it continues the pattern of incremental, fragmented street conversion through overlapping approvals instead of a single, coordinated, accountable decision.
Full Statement
A new proposal would close the 400 block of Hayes Street (Gough to Octavia) every Saturday from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM for a full year — June 2026 through June 2027 — under the “special event” process.
This comes just days after we filed a formal administrative complaint with SFMTA on April 10 demanding enforcement and revocation of the existing Shared Spaces permit for sustained noncompliance. Yesterday we sent a formal addendum to Director Kirschbaum specifically noting this new proposal and the lack of any coordinated review. Advancing this while the existing permit is already under formal complaint would further entrench the contested closure.
The proposal has been presented as a “low-impact activation,” but its scale and duration would significantly extend the current closure conditions on Hayes Street.
We are not opposed to a farmers market. The issue is that this proposal represents a predictable, year-long recurring closure layered on top of an already contested street closure (Friday 4pm–10pm and Saturday 10am–10pm), rather than a temporary or occasional event. On Saturdays, this would mean the block is effectively closed or severely restricted from 7am to 10pm — essentially the entire business day.
Key Concerns:
- A “Special Event” in Name Only A weekly, year-long closure functions as programmatic use of public space, not a temporary event. Approving it under the special-event framework bypasses the coordinated planning and review normally required for long-term changes to the public right-of-way.
- Layering Closures Without Coordination The proposed market would operate on a block that is already subject to an ongoing street closure under the existing Shared Spaces permit. There has been no clear explanation of how these two overlapping permits would be coordinated, whether cumulative impacts have been evaluated, or how they will be managed together on a block that is already contested. There is no clear indication that these uses are being evaluated together at a corridor level.
- Expansion During Active Review The existing Hayes Street closure is currently under formal complaint and ongoing public concern. Advancing an additional, recurring closure on the same block through a separate process raises fundamental questions about timing, process, and accountability.
- Small Business Impact and Corridor Balance Hayes Street is not a plaza or event space — it is an active commercial corridor. The block between Gough and Octavia is home to restaurants, retail storefronts, and service-oriented small businesses that rely on consistent access, visibility, and circulation to operate. A recurring weekly closure from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM would disrupt morning and midday operations, including deliveries and staffing, reduce accessibility for customers across a full business day, and shift foot traffic patterns in ways that do not uniformly benefit all businesses. While centered on the 400 block, the proposal has spillover effects on circulation, customer patterns, and business activity across the broader Hayes Street corridor.
- Imbalance Across Business Types Not all businesses benefit equally from programmed street use. While certain uses may draw activity, destination retail, service-based businesses, and restaurants dependent on regular turnover may experience reduced access, displacement of customers, or inconsistent demand patterns. Over time, this type of recurring disruption can change the economic makeup of the corridor, with effects that extend beyond a single block, favoring some uses while displacing others.
- Not Appropriate for a Commercial Corridor This is not an appropriate venue for a recurring, year-long farmers market. Hayes Street is a dense, mixed-use commercial corridor, where multiple small businesses rely on consistent access, visibility, and customer flow throughout the day.
Placing a weekly market in this setting:
– introduces direct competition within the same limited footprint
– disrupts the normal circulation patterns that support existing businesses
– and reallocates public space in a way that does not uniformly benefit the corridor
Farmers markets are not commonly placed on active commercial corridors where the street itself functions as the primary economic spine. This is fundamentally a corridor compatibility issue, not simply a permitting question. - Alternative Locations Were Not Clearly Evaluated — and This Location Is Inappropriate There are nearby spaces including Linden Street and Proxy / Parcel K, which are far better suited for recurring markets and public programming. It is unclear whether these locations were meaningfully considered. Additionally, placing another farmers market here would put it too close to the existing Fillmore and Civic Center markets, creating unnecessary competition and further strain on the surrounding area.
- Limited Outreach and Stakeholder Representation The proposal was presented in a small-group setting by the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA), but many impacted businesses and residents were not aware of it prior to the public notice. There has been no open community meeting or structured process to gather input from the full range of corridor stakeholders.
- Broader Pattern of Incremental Expansion Taken together, this reflects the ongoing issue: public streets are being reallocated in pieces through overlapping and fragmented approvals, rather than through a single, transparent, and accountable decision-making framework. By advancing a year-long recurring closure on a block that is already the subject of a formal administrative complaint, this proposal would further entrench a highly contested street closure instead of allowing for a fair evaluation of whether the block should be reopened. Public streets should not be converted incrementally. They require coordinated planning, clear authority, and broad community input.
Our clear ask: This is not the appropriate venue for a year-long recurring street closure. This proposal should be denied under the special-event process.
At a certain point, when multiple permits govern the same street on a recurring basis, this is no longer a series of temporary approvals — it is a decision about the long-term use of public space.
What You Can Do We have until next Wednesday at 12:00 PM to submit public comments ahead of the ISCOTT hearing on Thursday April 23rd at 9am.
Click here for online meeting info to attend the ISCOTT hearing.
The period to submit public comment via email has ended.