Rules Committee advances ordinance to create Legacy Business Assistance Program fund with landlord sharing requirement

The Rules Committee on March 4 voted unanimously to send an ordinance creating a Legacy Business Assistance Program fund to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation. Director Katie Tang of the Mayor’s small-business office described two primary changes the fund would implement for the Rent Stabilization Grant Program: (1) for new applicants moving forward the city may require landlords who receive incentive grant funds to share at least 50% of the grant with the legacy business tenant, and (2) the ordinance would remove a special contingency in legacy business leases that allowed landlords to cancel the lease if they did not receive the $4.50-per-square-foot grant payment.

Tang said the proposal preserves existing eligibility and registry rules (including the definition of legacy businesses established by Proposition J) and is intended to stabilize long-standing neighborhood businesses. She said the proposed fund creates administrative capacity to make those changes without altering the underlying measure voters approved in 2015.

Committee members asked for specifics on the program’s scale and mechanics. Tang said the fund ties to the rent stabilization grant program, which currently has an annual budget allocation of $1,000,000 for the rent stabilization grants; the legacy-business registry lists nearly 400 businesses, and Tang said there are 53 active leases participating in the rent stabilization grant program. Grants are calculated at $4.50 per square foot with a 5,000-square-foot cap per business, and Tang said the fund is designed to be flexible so additional funding sources could be routed to direct grants or business assistance when available.

Public comment included Calvin Yan, who spoke on behalf of a supervisor’s office and urged support, citing local cases in which legacy-business protections were overlooked and noting the program’s role in preserving neighborhood commercial diversity. Chair Ronan moved to send the ordinance to the full board with a positive recommendation; Vice Chair Walton and Supervisor Safai voted aye and the motion passed without objection.

What happens next: The ordinance will be scheduled for the Board of Supervisors for further consideration and potential adoption; the committee’s action advanced the item for that subsequent review.