San Francisco County Municipal Code Art. 57 Supermarket

Sec. 5700. Findings. Sec. 5701. Definitions. Sec. 5702. Notification of Intent to Close. Sec. 5703. Good Faith Efforts to Ensure Continuity of Services. Sec. 5704. Enforcement. Sec. 5705. Regulations. Sec. 5706. Undertaking for the General Welfare.

SEC. 5700. FINDINGS. (a) Supermarkets are the main points of distribution for food and daily necessities for the residents of San Francisco and are essential to the vitality of a community. The closure of a supermarket can have widespread effects on a community’s wellbeing by reducing access to food and creating food insecurity. (b) Food insecurity contributes to poor health and health disparities through multiple pathways: stress, trauma, poor diet quality, and malnutrition. Food insecurity increases the risk of multiple chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension; exacerbates existing physical and mental health conditions; and can impair child development. (c) Supermarket closures can have an especially dire impact on senior citizens, people with disabilities, and people who lack the means to travel by car or public transportation to supermarkets located outside their neighborhood. (d) To safeguard the interests of workers, including the employees of some supermarkets, federal and state laws require large businesses to notify their employees of their intent to close or transfer ownership of the business. (e) The Board of Supervisors recognizes that a supermarket owner may conclude that it is to its economic advantage to close when it is no longer profitable to continue the supermarket in operation. This Article 57 does not preclude the owner from making such a decision. (f) Nevertheless, given the life-sustaining services a supermarket provides to residents in the neighborhood, and the important role it plays in strengthening and stabilizing the community it serves, an owner has a responsibility as an integral part of that community to undertake a reasonable effort to work with neighborhood residents and the City to explore opportunities to remain open for business, or to identify a replacement supermarket. Through this Article 57, the City seeks to leverage community and City resources to ensure that neighborhoods are not left devoid of supermarkets and residents are not left without access to supermarkets; that supermarkets continue to serve the community even when there is the possibility of a supermarket closure. (Added by Ord. 255-24, File No. 240333, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024)

SEC. 5701. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this Article 57, the following definitions apply: “Close for Business” or “Close” or “Closure” means to permanently discontinue operation as a Supermarket at a given location. “Supermarket” has the meaning set forth in Health Code Section 440, as may be amended from time to time. “Supermarket Owner” means the individual or entity that owns the Supermarket, or their agent. (Added by Ord. 255-24, File No. 240333, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024) SEC. 5702. NOTIFICATION OF INTENT TO CLOSE. (a) A Supermarket shall not Close for Business unless the Supermarket Owner has: (1) Provided six months’ written notice of the Supermarket’s intention to Close to the Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), the Executive Director of the Human Services Agency (HSA), and the Board of Supervisors; and (2) Provided six months’ notice of the Supermarket’s intention to Close to its customers and the public by posting prominent notices at all entries and exits to the Supermarket. (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a Supermarket may Close after having provided less than six months’ notice to the Director of OEWD, the Executive Director of HSA, the Board of Supervisors, and the Supermarket’s customers and the public if: (1) The Closure is caused by business circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable as of the time that notice would have been required; or (2) The Closure is due to a natural disaster or emergency; or (3) As of the time that notice would have been required, the Supermarket was actively seeking capital or business which, if obtained, would have enabled the Supermarket to avoid or postpone the Closure, and the Supermarket reasonably and in good faith believed that giving the notice required would have precluded the Supermarket from obtaining the needed capital or business. (c) A Supermarket relying on subsection (b) to provide less than six months’ notice shall give as much notice as is practicable, and at that time shall articulate in writing the basis for having reduced the notification period. (Added by Ord. 255-24, File No. 240333, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024) SEC. 5703. GOOD FAITH EFFORTS TO ENSURE CONTINUITY OF SERVICES. During the period between the issuance of the notices required under Section 5702 and the Supermarket’s Closure, the Supermarket shall meet and work in good faith with OEWD to find a workable solution to allow for the continued availability of groceries at the Supermarket location. In addition, the Supermarket shall meet and work in good faith with neighborhood residents to find a workable solution by, at a minimum, attending at least one community meeting convened by a neighborhood association, nonprofit association that represents the interests of neighborhood residents, or City department or official. Solutions may include, but are not limited to, identifying strategies and resources to allow the Supermarket to remain open, helping the residents organize and open a cooperative, and identifying another Supermarket operator capable of continuing grocery sales. (Added by Ord. 255-24, File No. 240333, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024) SEC. 5704. ENFORCEMENT. (a) Any person who had purchased groceries or other food items from the Supermarket in the year prior to its closure, or any nonprofit organization representing the interests of such persons may institute proceedings for damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or writ of mandate to remedy the violation, in any court of competent jurisdiction. It shall be a defense to an action brought under this Section 5704 that compliance with this Article 57 would have required the disclosure of information that is proprietary, a trade secret, or is otherwise protected from disclosure under Government Code Section 7930.205, Civil Code Section 3426 et seq., or Evidence Code Section 1060, as such provisions may be amended from time to time. (b) The City Attorney may at any time institute civil proceedings for injunctive and monetary relief, including civil penalties, against any

Supermarket or Supermarket Owner for violation of this Article 57. (Added by Ord. 255-24, File No. 240333, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024) SEC. 5705. REGULATIONS The Director of OEWD, in consultation with representatives from HSA, the Department of Public Health, and the Mayor’s Office on Housing and Community Development, may issue regulations necessary or appropriate to implement this Article 57. (Added by Ord. 255-24, File No. 240333, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024) SEC. 5706. UNDERTAKING FOR THE GENERAL WELFARE. In enacting and implementing this Article 57, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury. (Added by Ord. 255-24, File No. 240333, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024)