Committee advances Shared Spaces program with amendments to improve accessibility and oversight

The Land Use and Transportation Committee voted July 12 to forward an ordinance restructuring the city's pandemic-era 'Places for People' program into a permanent 'Shared Spaces' program with clarified departmental roles, disability-access safeguards and new operational rules.

Chair Mirna Melgar and Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Dean Preston discussed the legislation’s evolution from an emergency pandemic tool into a formalized permitting program. The committee adopted several non-substantive and clarifying amendments circulated in advance: increasing the linear-foot calculation from 15 to 20 feet to match standard parking-space widths; clarifying an 8-foot minimum clear path of travel for sidewalks unless infeasible; adding the Department of Public Health to the core agencies list; requiring multilingual outreach and additional protections for small businesses in economically burdened communities; and confirming that rolling audits will occur every other month.

Supervisor Peskin described the amendments as balancing disability access, Vision Zero goals, and small-business needs, and moved to strike the separate 'shared spaces agreement' concept in favor of permit conditions. Supervisor Preston moved an amendment to make formula retail uses ineligible for temporary fee waivers and deferrals, citing their greater capacity to weather economic impacts. During public comment, callers expressed both support and concerns: advocates for disability access highlighted practical sidewalk obstacles (cords and raised covers) and neighborhood residents raised noise and nuisance concerns related to outdoor commercial activity.

The committee approved the package of amendments and voted to send the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation. Staff from Planning, SFMTA and other departments were on hand to answer operational questions; the committee emphasized that the program will continue to evolve as implementation experience accrues.