Divisadero Merchants

Hello Fellow Merchants, Recently, the Divisadero Merchants Association was informed that a power washing service for the corridor's sidewalks has been included in District 5's budget for this year. The power washing service will be contracted to a private company that will perform bi-monthly cleanings of the corridor's sidewalks. Starting in October, the service is to include power washing of sidewalks along Divisadero starting from Haight st all the way to Ellis st, a span o...f 11 blocks. The DMA would like to collect feedback from the merchants along the corridor on which times are best for this service. The assumption is that the service will be offered sometime between Monday through Friday either in the early mornings or late evenings. That information hasn't been completely verified, though we will be reaching out to the company offering service for further details about the schedule. If you have a preferred day of the week or time of day that would be best for your business, please submit your response to [email protected]. Once enough feedback is compiled, we will inform the power washing company with the day and time that best suits the majority of the merchants along the corridor, and hopefully they can accommodate that preference. We'd like to thank Supervisor Dean's office for including this service in this year's budget and we look forward to cleaner and safer streets. Sincerely, Tom H. DMA

Good afternoon, The following message has been forwarded from City Hall. Stay Safe!...Continue reading

Hello Fellow Merchants, As a response to the concerns discussed during the last Divisadero Merchants Association meeting last month, a merchant walk has been organized with the San Francisco Police Department, and it is to take place on Thursday the 27th of August starting at 1pm. The merchant walk will be an opportunity for the Divisadero merchants to voice their concerns directly to our local law enforcement officials while also being an opportunity to meet and greet each o...ther. The merchant walk plans to include the following members of SFPD, Chief Scott, Captain Pedrini, Captain Yep, Captain Daniels, and Deputy Chief Lazar. The corridor's merchants are also welcome to join the walk, though given the current public health situation, there is only room for up to 4-5 merchants to join the group, as to the request from SFPD to keep the walk under social distancing guidelines. That being said, the DMA has been asked to create a list of merchants that would like to be visited by the SFPD. Please submit your requests for a visit in an email [email protected] or respond to this post, so that list can be compiled. The DMA will reach out to the merchants who have been chosen for a visit through email, that email will be sent either late this week or early next week. The DMA would also like to gather comments and concerns from our members and any other merchants along the corridor so they can be relayed directly to SFPD. Please pass along this request to any merchants who aren't members of the DMA, because we would like to compile as much input as possible. Those comments and concerns can be submitted directly to [email protected] The DMA would like to thank Maryo Mogannam of Postal Chase in coordinating this effort, as well as the SFPD for their response and participation. We are looking forward to this event, and hopefully this will lead to a step in the right direction for our community. Stay safe everyone. Sincerely, Tom H. DMA

Hello Fellow Merchants, The following is a message from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in regards to bill relief programs they offer. ________________________________________________... Greetings, We know that due to COVID-19 many of our small businesses, non-profits, and residents are finding it more difficult to pay for their basic utilities. No one should have to choose between buying groceries or paying their utility bills. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has announced several bill relief programs that will offer discounts to residential and small business/ non-profit customers who need help paying their water, sewer, and power bills. The newest program provides water and sewer bill discounts of 20% to our small businesses and non-profits experiencing financial hardship during the COVID-19 crisis. This builds on the previously launched residential emergency discount program which provides up to 35% discounts on water, sewer, and power bills. Help us get the word out to our neighbors in need! Please share this information widely with your networks of community members, non-profits, and small business owners. Please go to sfwater.org/billrelief to learn about available bill relief programs. We have created a folder of outreach materials to help you communicate about bill relief programs that are available. They include flyers and social media posts: https://drive.google.com//1akt33Kwv692eZ-2di1sw6q7K_gB_Ya- Applications and FAQs for all bill relief programs have been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, and Tagalog. A sample email to send out to your networks is below. Sincerely, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Community First Bill Relief Outreach Toolkit

Business Registration Deferral Updates from City Hall Deferral of Business Registration Fee The City will extend the 2020-2021 Business Registration Fee deadline to March 1, 2021. Business Registration Certificates issued for 2019-2020 will remain valid through March 1, 2021. In April 2020, The City announced an extension of the deadline to September 30, 2020 instead of May 31, 2020. Given that the situation with COVID-19 continues to be challenging for the City’s businesses,... the City has decided to further extend the deadline. The city is notifying businesses that they now have five additional months to file and pay the Business Registration Fee. Every business in San Francisco has to renew their registration annually. There are currently 93,000 registered businesses who pay nearly $49 million in Business Registration Fees. Deferral of Business Licensing Fees The City will provide regulatory fee relief for businesses by further delaying the City’s collection of the Unified License Fees until March 1, 2021. The Unified License Fees include, but are not limited to, charges to restaurants and food businesses, bars, convenience stores, many small retailers, hotels, and tour operators, from departments such as the Department of Public Health, Entertainment Commission, Fire Department, and Police Department. This impacts nearly $14 million billed to 11,000 businesses. In March, the City announced an initial delay for the collection of the fee and in April further extended the deadline to September 30, 2020.

Hello fellow merchants, The DMA has a letter to pass along from Jason Everett in regards to the proposed Cannabis retail store at 353 Divisadero St. _________________________________________________... Dear Neighbors, We are happy to announce that we have been approved by the San Francisco office of cannabis to pursue permits for a cannabis retail store on Divisadero and Oak St. But first we want to hear from you. Event Invite Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87381341129 Meeting ID: 873 8134 1129 Join us for zoom meetings on July 31st @6pm. Email us at [email protected] for a zoom link. Or please call us at 415.310.7405 (Instructions & translations attached in zoom instructions. pdf) We have attached our neighborhood outreach flyer (w/ translations), Zoom meeting instructions (w/ translations), and good neighbor policy (w/ translations) This includes all the information we have sent to our neighbors within 300 ft of 353 Divisadero St. What can we do to enhance the neighborhood and retail experience? How can we better serve our community? What non-profits, events, or projects can we can support? We plan to hire from our local community, do you know anyone interested in joining our team? We would like to meet with our neighbors & organizations to discuss issues that matter to you. We would like to hear thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. Please reach out to us [email protected] or 415.310.7405 With Kindness & Best Regards, Jason Everett _________________________________________________ The google drive links are for documents related to the project and upcoming zoom meeting. https://drive.google.com//13ZdFeDOPIQS3gXQjDvKbOE5-o/view https://drive.google.com//1iF3ort-S5c3ku3Cy3We6rXb3w/view https://drive.google.com//1bEduwQXYzRE47fdSe4ur-3o5g/view The DMA will be making announcements through [email protected] from now on, please refer to the aforementioned email address for any comments or concerns. SIncerely, Tom H.

Hi everyone, Here is the Zoom info for the Thursday's scheduled meeting at 10:00am. The Zoom meeting will open at 9:30am for a meet and greet portion, then start at 10:00am and is planned to end at 11:00am INVITE LINK:... https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72256827491 Meeting ID: 722 5682 7491 Passcode: 828891 The agenda is open. We can start with introductions and then open the floor to various topics and/or issues the corridor is experiencing at this time and what solutions can be offered. More of an impromptu discussion then anything else. The primary suggestion for convening the meeting was due to property crime incidents and closing storefronts, and what solutions can be provided in that regard. Another topic that has come up is the shared spaces program, and closing portions of Divisadero off to traffic. Also, Supervisor Dean's office said they will have a representative attend, possibly to field questions and give any updates. Look forward to meeting and stay safe. Sincerely, Tom H

PPE Supply information provided by City Hall and the office of small business: This is a courtesy message to inform you that the Office of Small Business has created a list of list of Bay Area shops selling personal protective equipment (PPE), which has been added to sfgov.org website here: https://sf.gov/inf/shops-sell-personal-protective-equipment. This list is a business-to-business resource guide designed for San Francisco small businesses seeking to purchase PPE. One ca...n navigate to the list as follows: Go to www.sfgov.org Click Coronavirus (COVID-19) Click Business during the coronavirus pandemic Click See shops that sell personal protective equipment The list was created by combining SF Made providers of PPE (https://sfmade.org/blog/making-it-in-the-city/) with several Legacy Business providers of PPE (https://sfosb.org/legacy-business/registry), then adding several other local businesses. Please note that by including a business in this list, the City is not endorsing the business or providing any statement or assurance as to the quality of the products offered by the business. Any Bay Area business that sells PPE to San Francisco businesses and wishes to be added to this list may contact the San Francisco Office of Small Business by email at [email protected]. We encourage you to share this list of local PPE providers with businesses (and residents) in your district and include the link in your newsletters. The Office of Small Business works to support and enhance an environment where local small businesses can succeed and flourish, and the sharing of this list helps accomplish our goal. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. Sincerely, Richard Kurylo Here is a link to a PDF listing shops in San Francisco offering supplies: https://sfosb.org//Legacy%20Business/List%20of%20Local%20P

Funds raised will go directly to small businesses in Dan Francisco. Please donate if you are able to. Thank you! https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-sf-small-businesses-du