Committee advances ordinance to require Planning Commission review before laundromats can be converted

Supervisor Erin Peskin presented an ordinance to add a definition of "laundromat" to the Planning Code and to require Planning Commission conditional use authorization before a laundromat could be converted to another use. Peskin said the measure responds to a steep decline in laundromats citywide and seeks to protect an essential community service that disproportionately serves low‑income renters, seniors and people with disabilities.

Peskin cited research assembled by her staff and the Public Utilities Commission, saying "The number of laundromats in San Francisco has decreased by one third since 2013," and described local examples where closures or threatened conversions imposed hardship on neighborhood residents. The ordinance would require that the Planning Commission find there are other accessible laundromats in the immediate vicinity before approving a conversion and would require the Planning Department to monitor closures using PUC data. The code change as proposed would be temporary (initially three years) to allow the city to study closure drivers and consider permanent protections.

Planning staff reported that the Planning Commission recommended approval with modifications, including tightening the laundromat definition to explicitly require both washing and drying services and adding more quantifiable findings. Supervisor Peskin offered non‑substantive amendments intended to clarify conditions for Commission consideration and to adopt an "in the immediate vicinity" standard.

Public testimony included laundromat operators, neighborhood residents and tenant and senior advocates who said laundromats are critical infrastructure for people without in‑unit laundry and urged the committee to protect them. George Wooding and other callers said loss of laundromats causes severe hardship for seniors and low‑income residents.

On a motion to move the amendments and the ordinance as amended to the full Board, the committee recorded unanimous ayes from the three members present and the motion passed. The ordinance will move to the Board of Supervisors for final consideration.