The for Profit Southern California based Head West Market seeks a fast track permit approval process for 2025 despite no consensus at the neighborhood level and an apparent collusion with efforts by the HVNA for a permanent street closure on Hayes Street.
January 22, 2026
Post SFMTA ISCOTT Hearing Update
Political Pressure Overwhelms Permitting Process
On Thursday, January 22, 2026, SFMTA/ISCOTT approved a 4-date street closure permit for the for-profit Head West Market, despite four years of community opposition and strong testimony from local small businesses.
What changed this time? Nothing — except for the Supervisor’s pressure.
No community member or merchant spoke in favor. The only person who did? Lloyd Silverstein of HVMA, a longtime advocate of the contested Hayes Street closure.
Yet behind the scenes, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood’s office actively lobbied for approval. According to SFMTA/ISCOTT Chair Bryant Woo, “policy direction” came from the Supervisor. That became the basis for permitting. Not data. Not impact review. Not community input. Just raw political influence.
This is alarming.
SFMTA/ISCOTT are supposed to be neutral agencies that evaluate permits based on operational impact, neighborhood support, and safety — not politics. But on Hayes Street, that responsibility has been outsourced to a short-tenured Supervisor with deep ties to the event’s supporters.
When permitting decisions are driven by a Supervisor’s agenda — not public input or transparent review, the process loses all legitimacy. What we are witnessing is a politically hijacked system.
No Convening, No Process — and Now Mayoral Involvement?
There was no merchant convening ahead of this 4-date approval. No outreach. No heads-up. No process.
Then came a new revelation: SFMTA/ISCOTT staff referenced coordination with the Mayor’s Office, suggesting that approval was quietly pre-arranged at the highest levels, despite the absence of consensus and years of documented harm.
This points to a disturbing trend: a politicized, non-transparent process that systematically cuts out the very stakeholders most affected.
The Bottom Line
It’s now clear that events like Head West are not being approved on operational merit, but on political cues from the Supervisor’s office, and potentially even the Mayor’s.
This raises serious concerns about agency independence and the politicization of what should be an equitable, community-based permitting system.
Read our pre hearing correspondence to SFMTA
After years of warnings from Hayes Valley businesses, the City is poised to approve four more Sunday closures for Head West, with no accountability and no relief.
The organizer behind Head West Marketplace has applied for 4 more Sunday dates in Hayes Valley in 2026 — continuing a pattern that has already caused measurable harm to local businesses.
For nearly four years, Hayes Valley merchants and residents have raised concerns about this event:
– It draws foot traffic away from storefronts,
– Compounds the strain caused by the weekend street closure,
– Privileges outside vendors and promoters over the needs of neighborhood leaseholders.
We’ve testified. We’ve submitted hundreds of letters. We’ve met with City departments. And yet, the pattern continues.
SFMTA continues to say it “can’t consider business harm.” City Hall continues to look the other way. And once again, small businesses are being told to absorb the cost of someone else’s event.
We told SFMTA ISCOTT in 2025 that approving a 4th date was a tipping point. We submitted a detailed letter. We raised formal concerns about economic harm, stakeholder exclusion, and bad faith behavior by the event organizer. We asked that the cycle not be repeated in 2026.
Now, the exact same playbook is being run — with the exact same disregard for businesses, residents, and stakeholders.
>> Read letter here
📅 2026 Proposed Dates for Head West Marketplace (now under review):
- Sunday, April 12, 2026
- Sunday, June 14, 2026
- Sunday, September 13, 2026
- Sunday, November 8, 2026
What You Can Do
Submit a comment before Thursday’s hearing. Tell SFMTA:
→ Hayes Valley cannot absorb this harm any longer.
→ Limit Head West to one event per year.
→ End the rubber-stamping of events that hurt local retail.
Hearing date: Thursday, 1/22 at 9am
>> Click here for AGENDA & ONLINE HEARING info <<
Sorry – the email comment submission period has ended.