Historic Preservation Commission adds six long-running San Francisco businesses to legacy registry

The San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously on Nov. 16 to add six long-running local businesses to the city's legacy business registry, protecting signage, storefront character and other features the department said are important to neighborhood identity.

Elena Moore, planning staff, presented the nominations for Peking Restaurant in the Outer Sunset, Artisans of San Francisco (framing), the Mary Elizabeth Inn (a century-old nonprofit supportive-housing provider), Chinatown Kite Shop (717 Grant Ave), Canton Bazaar (616 Grant Ave) and Life, a 30-year Lower Haight gift and fragrance shop. "The department is supportive of the [applications] and recommends a resolution to add them to the legacy business registry," Moore told the commission.

Dionne Roberts, executive director of the Mary Elizabeth Inn, described the Inn's century of housing and supportive services for women who are homeless or in crisis. Roberts said the 2022 San Francisco point-in-time homeless count identified 7,754 people as homeless and that the organization has provided long-term shelter and case management. "There will always be a need for stable, affordable, and supportive housing that the Mary Elizabeth Inn provides," Roberts said.

Commissioners praised the businesses' roles in hiring recent immigrants, sustaining neighborhood culture and providing services. Commissioner Johns said the package represented "a really interesting group of businesses" and moved to approve the staff recommendations; a second motion was recorded and the commission approved the nominations unanimously 5-0 (Commissioner Wright had recused earlier on an unrelated consent item). The commission recorded that the designations will help safeguard storefronts, signage and the cultural contributions each business brings to its neighborhood.

The registry action is procedural: businesses added to the legacy list gain recognition and additional consideration in planning reviews, but the designation does not itself impose zoning or land-use restrictions. The commission said staff would work with each business on how the legacy status is implemented in permitting and future reviews.