Dozens of stores in Chinatown receive city citations for awning and sign installation without permits

(SAN FRANCISCO) Dozens of Chinese-owned businesses received notices of violations in recent weeks for failing to apply for permits before they installed awnings at their stores. Some of the merchants who have never replaced or moved their awnings for decades still received the official notices. They wondered if the actions taken by the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) targeted the Chinese community.

DBI responded to Wind Newspaper and confirmed that around 120 store awning violations notices have been issued in the past three months as of February 9. DBI denied that the notices only targeted the Chinese community.

Cheung Hing Chinese Deli, which is located on Clement Street in the Richmond District, first contacted Wind Newspaper about a notice of violation they received directly from a DBI inspector. The Deli has been owned by Wah Lee and his wife for almost 30 years.

"We had tried to clean the material of the awning which became very old and broken first. But we decided to replace it with new material last year. There was no change in the size or setting of the awning," said Lee.

"About a couple of months later. One day, a DBI inspector walked in the store and asked us a few questions. Then the inspector issued a citation-like paper saying it was an action taken based on a complaint filed with his agency," Lee continued. "We want to make our shop look better and cleaner. It is too expensive for us to replace the store sign if we need to go through a process of getting a permit first. On the other hand, we are penalized."

On February 8, at least 10 merchants and property owners on Waverly Place in Chinatown found their store windows to be posted with notices from DBI. The violations listed on the notices were almost the same which all related to awnings and store signs.

Ten stores on Waverly Place received the DBI citations including Tung Fong Trading Co., Cool Tea Bar, and Culture-Lite Printing Co. These three stores are side by side with each other.

Laura Lee, owner of the Culture-Lite Printing, saw the DBI inspector putting a notice to her store. Lee spoke to the inspector who told her that it was an action based on complaints.

A large number of the buildings on Waverly Place are owned by family associations. The family associations also received notices of violations regarding the awning installations.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin who represents Chinatown has been contacted by merchants on the issue. "This permitting involves collaboration with the Planning Department, Public Works, Building Inspection, and Fire Department. We're talking to all departments and to understand what business owners need and how the departments can find a streamlined process to bring everyone into compliance," Peskin said.

DBI affirmed that none of the awning notices of violations was issued related to any communities but rather on complaint based.

"Over the past three months, we have received 125 anonymous complaints about unsafe awnings throughout San Francisco, including approximately 60 in Chinatown, 20 in the Haight, 20 in the Tenderloin, just under 20 in the Richmond and the rest spread throughout the City," said Patrick Hannan, spokesperson of DBI.

"That’s why we’re seeing an uptick in these cases recently. We are absolutely not targeting any single community," Hannan stated.

"Our code enforcement is complaint based. Our inspectors aren’t out trolling the streets looking for awnings that violate the building code. But we are required to investigate every complaint that is filed with the Department of Building Inspection," Hannan added. " It’s not optional. We are legally bound to investigate all complaints and issue Notices of Violation (NOVs) when we see non-code compliant conditions."

With respect to the fine and cost of the violations and getting the awning permits, Hannan said there has been a fee waiver program in place at DBI. "For people who need to replace their awning, the City offers an awning fee waiver program every May. We are also working with Katy Tang in the Office of Small Business to identify resources to help people who received a code violation for an awning infraction," Hannan said.

More information about the awning fee waiver program can be found at https://sf.gov/awning-fee-waiver-program.