any bans? affectively, the cu, so that we do not have neighborhoods where there is a blanket ban on banks but it would hat -- it would still have to go through a conditional use? >> there is probably a way, unless it was part of what was before the voters. i'm sure that there is a way to craft that to make sure that they are not banned within commercial districts. supervisor mar: these are banks with 11 or more districts each. not all banks are caught up in this legislation. >> correct. supervisor mar: thank you so much, mr. starr. i wanted to invite up regina, the director of small business for the city. maybe you can address a little bit about the different

neighborhood input processes. >> good afternoon. my name is regina tracy, from the office of small business, as the supervisor noted, the commission did support this legislation and, for many of the reasons stated here in terms of seeing this as a reasonable expansion of formula retail controls, to be able to deal with maintaining the unique diversity and visual retell, the daytime -- not daytime, but the retail environment for commercial corridors, the concentrations are like what you see and how that can affect -- affect the flow and traffic of a commercial corridor. in terms of the outreach, on behalf of the office of the small business commission, as with any piece of legislation

that comes your office, we highlight it in our bulletin. we send it out to the key business leaders in the area. but we did not do a specific -- we did not do specific calls to reach business and organization. we did not pull them on this particular matter. -- poll them on this particular matter. i know that there were some discussions on this regarding the cost for financial-services. the commission noted that there are others that have to pay for the additional use process and have to wait six months, as with any business under a formula retail control. those are bars, restaurants, specialty foods, entertainment, massage establishments, auto repair, tobacco paraphernalia

establishments, or walk up areas, like if a small business does more to have atm machine outside their property, a parking lot, or professional services in the north beach sacramento see district. so, again, the commission found that this met the reasonable expansion of a formula retail control to work to maintain the unique character of the city's neighborhoods. supervisor mar: thank you. supervisor cohen: can you tell me who you did speak to? >> we did not poll. it was an e-mail to our business organizations that we generally communicate with on a regular

basis. supervisor mar: -- supervisor cohen: give me an indication of who the respondents were. >> they are usually merchant organizations. supervisor mar: was it -- supervisor cohen: was at valley merchants? >> all the merchants, all 45 merchant organizations received information about legislation. supervisor cohen: i understand that, but who responded? >> in terms of e-mails, no direct response. i do not recall of the top of my head was in attendance, but i can follow up with that. >> no one responded to the e- mail, but you count that -- supervisor cohen: no one responded to the e-mail, but you count that as outreach? >> correct. from our standpoint, we send the

information out and do not have the capability of being able to follow up with each business organization on the policy matters. merchant organizations know our procedures and know that we send them out on a regular basis. supervisor cohen: would you be willing to do more upbeat before the item came to the full board? >> shirt. -- sure. supervisor mar: i know that when the small business commission heard this, there were representatives from a number of neighborhoods to testified. i know that it engaged in number of associations in the richmond district on the issue. i spoke before a number of groups about the issue as well.

we received a number of communications where we give them more information. i do not have numbers for them, but i will let you know from my office. i can tell you that it was based on a small business network of neighborhoods and others, but i am not sure if we have the capacity to reach out to every single neighborhood. we felt that that showed strong support, which went to the unanimous support of the small business commission in a neighbor biddy unanimous support in assuming -- >> another concern is that i am assuming that the message that went out was all in english? supervisor cohen: in my

district, i have many merchants that do business that do not speak english, or english is not their first language. the chinese or spanish. i understand that there has been a significant amount about -- and people have been very excited about it. we are leaving a lot of other people on the table. at the very least, they are not educated or knowledgeable about what is going on. >> -- supervisor mar: i definitely acknowledge that we need to do much more multilingual outreach. but it does seem that the groundswell of support from the various coalitions of this ring

-- interesting properties, even smaller communities would look at this. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- -- supervisor wiener: does the small business commission support banning banks? it looks like right now they are using gulf ended is financial services on the ground for this principally permitted. i am sorry if i misread the planning code. so, this would swing it all of away from prince of be permitted to band. i apologize for not having read the planning code, but it looks like a combination of not

permitted at all or conditional use. i am guessing that it has to do with square footage, but i suppose it could not. and a small business commission has as opposed to putting controls them, which a lot of really -- and out of us will be supported. >> the commission did have some discussion around this topic and we understood that their recommendation would be in aban, -- mean a ban, and that not having a bank in a merchant area does impact merchants in terms of the ability to do banking close by. >> we are talking about 11 inches or more.

whites do you know how many are flawed under 11? not many, but there are a few. it has been the commission's way of weighing in on controls as they respected what each so, if the board of supervisors in a policy matter wanted to go in the direction of conditional use, i would say that a conditional use, we have made a conditional use as i have read off the list for small businesses, falling within the purview of the discussion.

as to whether it should be a control or straight out additional use control. supervisor mar: in also think that before these were put in place, idea no where i became for a former retail? someone who the board had included banks where they anticipated that and believed it was already included. they would say absolutely, they want to have a conditional use to avoid concentration of banks, as it hurts the neighborhood, but we do not want to have no

banks either. does the small business commission have a view on whether formula of lying to financial-services on this second, as opposed to the ground level. >> the commissioner has not had an extensive discussion. i think that i can say that from the discussion, they have not had one on the first part of the second floor and retell control relationships to this call or any other conditional use or formula retail control. they have steps and an opinion on it. i think that what i can say is that the gist of their discussion on a bunt -- ground floor uses .

supervisor mar: credit unions can create a unique neighborhood character within neighborhoods. i think that that is why it was supported by a broad range of groups. i asked my staff, and it is not a ban, because smaller institutions could get through and be supported by neighborhoods. there are 11 branches or less, and i do not have the list, but i will make sure that my staff is the list of credit unions that do not fall within the formula retail definition. i wanted to thank the small business network's for engaging on this issue as well. supervisor cohen: -- >> the

commission did have discussions on the other financial services not being part of the control. they do occupy some of the quarter spaces in the outlying areas, but they would fall under this. they would appreciate that that was not included. supervisor mar: thank you so much. if there are no other questions, let's open this for public comment. we have a number of cards. [reads names] and if there are others that would like to speak, i see a few other cards. we will limit people, as we have a number of hearings today. 30 seconds, please do your best to stick within the timeframe. >> basically, we need to minutes.

i will not speak about what i was supposed to speak on, but i will speak about the process. i am listening to the deliberations that the planning commission. i have listened to the deliberations that small business. they demanded gray areas where they were taking place. when this came before this committee, the questions asked are very, very confusing. i would say that if one of you chooses to do something like this, you actually have a point that should be distributed to all the supervisors. this concerns every district, even though the ones not based in chinatown cannot be grandfathered in. secondly, it is the responsibility of representatives to do some

focused outreach, ok? we have budget associations that work, because all of a sudden they take. they work with representatives. the representatives get everything done at this rate. you are a representative because you are supposed to represent. you have to do some outreach and i am suggesting that the smart business commission, or the planning commission, should be doing that. now, in some of the district we need to stop cash cashing places. in some of the districts, we need credit banks. i have five seconds and i turn it over to you. thank you very much. supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker. i will call a few more.

[reads names] >> yes, good afternoon, supervisors. my name is russell pritchard. i own a small business called valley home interiors. i am a very active member of the hayes valley neighborhood association. at this time i wanted to state again, 100%, support of having those institutions added in the form of retail bands. we want banks to be completely and forever banned from our neighborhoods. this is and has always been the position of the merchant association. this is the fourth meeting i have addressed in the last year, starting with the planning commission. if you look at the minutes from that meeting, you will find the hayes valley neighborhood association has been fully

supportive of this issue and the banks in hayes valley. so, we would certainly urge for you to pass this committee, urging your fellow supervisors to support this ban. thank you. >> afternoon. my name is kate stewart. i am a self-employed insurance agent that comes from a long line of agents in the city. my own father has been at it since the early 1970's. i am proud of what we do. together we employ about 10 staff people. we are employers and play a vital role in our community. we are affiliated with state farm brought -- state farm bank. we do offer checking accounts,

savings accounts, and other loans within our locations. i believe them to have access. i do believe the slogan, like a good neighbor, state farm is there, is true. we have been occupying store fronts since the company began in the early '20's. we're the business that sponsors little league teams, we contribute to the nonprofits and local causes. we're not the face of a big bank, we're small business owners who are beneficial for our community. i'm proud of what i do for a living and feel i'm very good for the city of san francisco. i feel that this ordinance is being proposed is an hon onerous requirement. i feel like it's not friendly to small businesses like myself. i have heard words like this is going to be well considered. or mentioned small, independently owned businesses would be protected by this. but in this case i feel like

we're not termed a branch by our own company. it represents well less than 10% of our overall revenue. but it would be cost prohibitive for me to be required to fulfill a process to relocate to better serve my clientele because of an ordinance such as this. thank you for your time and consideration. my time few seconds i will mention there are other agents in the room who will not be sharing but i know they share the same sentiments. thank you. >> my understanding, mr. stewart, and let me verify with mr. star is state farm does not fall within financial institutions, is that right, mr. star? so it's not impacting your businesses but i really appreciate state farm. thank you so much for testifying. >> i'm under a different impression because of our affiliation with state farm bank and the fact we are offering financial services. there are 18,000 state farm agents nationwide. i guess what i would appreciate then is some sort of clarifier. supervisor mar: you don't fall but that's kind of verified by

the planning staff. >> we looked into this question with the fire department. it's considered ancillary use. primary business of selling insurance is not banking, it's ancillary to your primary business. and we have been informed by the planning department you would not qualify as financial services. it would be office something or other, different category that is not impacted by this legislation. >> i look forward to talking to you more about the issues. i will make sure my staff kind of reaches out to you as well. i really do appreciate state farm is in our neighborhoods as well. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is lawrence crownander, i'm the manager of the mattress company and on the board of the hayes val glabehood association and haim -- valley neighborhood association and the chair of the business association. i come today together with russell from the hays valley

merchant to urge your support of the inclusion of financial institutions within the definition of formula retail. for most of the reasons that have been already stated, because of the vibrance, effect that institutions that are closed at night have on the vibrancy of the neighborhood and on its unique character. hays valley has been built and revived over the past few years largely through though not solely through the great efforts of the merchants of the neighborhood and creation of the unique character. in addition to that there's the fact any neighborhood as gentrifing, there's concern over commercial rents. when a bank which has very large financial resources as compared to individual business owners moves in, it can have an effect

of the raising of the rent throughout the neighborhood sofment it is for all of those reasons i urge you to pass this legislation. supervisor mar: thank you. supervisor wiener has a question. supvervisor wiener: first of all, thank you for running such an amazing, unique san francisco business. i guess the question i nopet ask earlier for the hayes valley merchants, dot hayes valley merchants, are you distinguishing between ground floor and second floor? because second floor doesn't really impact the vibrancy in the way of ground floor does. i'm wondering if you have that kind of nuance position? >> we have -- i just heard this proposal and my initial reaction to it is we would be in favor of -- would not be opposed to having financial institutions on the second floor. it's the ground floor that is the problem. supvervisor wiener: thank you. supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker. >> thank you, mr. chairman and committee members.

my name is christy kenette. i'm also with state farm but actually part of the field executive team that supervises the sales zrigget for the city -- district for the city of san francisco. i wanted to address though you have determined it won't apply to our state farm agents, we had our own regulatory council review ordinance and definition and we think the definition is too broad sweeping and it should be clarified f it's not the intent -- supervisor mar: we will make sure to get it in writing from the planning staff and zoning administrator if necessary. >> i also felt even supervisor wiener, some of your comments were you mentioned that the insurance services who may happen to do some banking, being that, that would be ok on the second floor, i think that puts a lot of our agents at a competitive disadvantage to other maybe insurance agents who don't offer banking services. each of our agents are independent contractors. it's up to them what they want to focus on and sell. if they feel like they want to focus on the banking services or the other financial services

products as opposed to insurance, it's completely up to them. it's -- and so though it probably is the case in the vast majority of circumstances that the banking business would be a small portion, it may not be like that well into the future. supervisor mar: but it's not within the definition, so you wouldn't be impacted though. >> we would only be not impacted if we're considering an ancillary service of what they do, is that correct? >> it's a question for planning but i assume if the state farm agent decided their primary business would be banking and insurance, it would be a side thing that could be a different answer. but from what we understand, that's not typically the case, that state farm is primarily an insurance agency. >> we would just want some clarification on how you're determining that, if it's by income, if it's by number of employees, that addresses that line of business. supervisor mar: we will definitely reach out to you with that information. >> thank you. supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker.

and if there's anyone else that would like to speak, please come forward. >> i'm from start farm and will withdraw because you answered pretty much our questions. thank you very much. supervisor mar: thank you. >> my name is amy weiss. neighbor developing divisadero. despite my button, i'm a very reasonable person and i'm not here to be a nimby but here to be a yimby. put that right there if i may. i'm here to say yes to vibrant, unique neighborhoods. i'm here to say yes to local businesses. i'm here to say yes to community input. i'm here to say yes to adding financial services to formula retail. and i'm here to say yes to really cheap market research. hear me out, guys. this is $2,500 people pay continue gets the community to come in and say whether this is necessary or desirable. if you have a big bank that

wants to move into a neighborhood, that this is very cheap market analysis, so you can say whether or not it's actually wanted. so i want that to be really recognized. i also want to address your -- the issue that's you brought up to scott, so pending permits i think should be grandfathered in, first of all, because if this issue is so important to neighborhoods like julie, who's going to speak, there's a chase wanting to move in at 14th and valencia, and the communtwapet allowed input whfment a bank moves into a neighborhood they have not traditionally been, they red lined those areas, bay view, divisadero, these places were red lined in the past and now that they see sentra facation is coming along, they can reap the benefits of the community-based organizations and neighbors that worked really hard. second story i'm developing on divisadero, i would not want a wells fargo to be able to move

in to the second floor without a traditional use hearing. that would be gutting the formula retail loss essential will. give them a chance, this is a new era, give them a chance to move in and fill the needs because they're community-based organizations and nonprofit organizations. there are many that are popping up right now. and like i said again, good market research for a community. $2,500, that's cheap. thanks. supervisor mar: thank you. next cheaper. >> good afternoon. i'm my name is julie and i'm a be faculty member at u.c. berkeley. have i been a rezz department of district five for eight years. earlier this year i began noticing repetitive neon blue of chase bank popping up in san francisco exponentially. four chase branches in the mission. each within three to six blocks with each other. another chase is planned for 14th and valencia. there are already branches on 15th and market, 8th and market, 21 and mission, 25th and mission.

chase has publicly stated they're commitment is to customers who make over $100,000. yet they have four branches concentrated in the low-to-middle income area ors amy just mentioned, an area quickly again traa phiing. this exemplifies the side effects of unchecked use of retail space by financial services. how is it chase can come into our city and, frankly, do whatever they want with little resident feedback? on the weekend, i love to walk from haight to a locally owned coffee shop on 15th and valencia. next door flipped owns a clothing store where she sells clothing that she designed and made herself. this valencia corridor draws tourists. a former student of mine in new york city said his favorite moment in the city was the uniqueness of valencia. another chase bank on this corner will undoubtedly change the feel of the neighborhood. as it is changing others. it's a great boon to the city that each block offers new colors, new images, new textures that inspire and te