Over the past several years, residents and businesses have been repeatedly encouraged by SFMTA staff to document and report conditions, impacts, and potential violations related to the Hayes Street closure and the permit governing the use of the street.
Many people have done exactly that.
Photographs, written reports, and formal correspondence have been submitted documenting a wide range of concerns — from operational issues to questions about whether the conditions of the permit are being followed.
Yet a basic question remains unanswered.
What happens after those issues are reported?
The Hayes Street closure operates under a permit issued by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency governing activity in the public right-of-way. Like any permit regulating public space, it includes conditions that define how the space may be used.
But when residents raise concerns about compliance with those conditions, there is currently no clear operational pathway for enforcement or resolution.
In practice, neighbors are asked to document problems, but the agency responsible for issuing the permit has largely stepped back from determining whether violations have occurred or how they should be addressed. In correspondence with residents, SFMTA staff have explained that the agency does not maintain a dedicated enforcement team for roadway closure permits and that in-person compliance checks are infrequent. As a result, the system relies heavily on complaints submitted by members of the public, with compliance issues generally addressed through the annual permit review process before the SFMTA Board.
That creates a troubling gap in governance.
The public right-of-way is not private property. It is regulated space overseen by the City. When the City authorizes activity within that space through a permit, it also carries the responsibility to ensure that the permit conditions are followed.
Without that oversight, the system breaks down. Documentation accumulates, but accountability remains unclear.
This raises a simple but important question for City officials:
If the City issues a permit governing the use of the public right-of-way, who is responsible for enforcing the rules attached to that permit?
Until that question is clearly answered, the public is left documenting problems without any clear mechanism for resolving them.
And that is not how a permitting system is supposed to work.
Context
Efforts to document conditions associated with the Hayes Street permit have resulted in legal action involving the permit holder and individuals documenting conditions in the public right-of-way.