San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie launched the “PermitSF” project on February 13, 2025, to expedite the economic recovery of San Francisco. The initiative aims to reform the permit approval process, prioritizing the acceleration of housing and small business approvals.
To fulfill his campaign promises, Mayor Lurie signed the first executive order after taking office on the 13th, officially initiating the “PermitSF” project.
This project will introduce new technologies to enable residents and small businesses to quickly obtain permits, thus driving economic recovery.
Mayor Lurie stated, “San Francisco is one of the most innovative cities globally.” However, the city’s permit process has been overly complex, hindering business and housing development. PermitSF will change this status quo, showcasing to the world that San Francisco is ready to embrace commercial development, and they will do everything possible to assist businesses in opening and create job opportunities.
Mayor Lurie has assigned Planning Department Director Rich Hillis to lead a cross-departmental team to integrate key city departments, including the Planning Department, Building Inspection Department, Small Business Office, and Permit Center, to collectively promote permit reform.
With a customer-centric approach, the team will study short-term and long-term reform plans to shorten permit approval times.
Within the next 100 days, the PermitSF team will unify the permit application portal, streamline cross-departmental application procedures, extend service hours, advocate for legislation to reduce cumbersome procedures, and push for “Shot Clocks” to ensure applicants receive responses within specific timelines.
Within a year, the team also plans to establish a unified online application platform, develop public permit tracking tools for all permit applications to be submitted and tracked online, research and propose amendments to the city charter to consolidate key permit approval departments to further increase efficiency.
Planning Department Director Hillis commented, “Through close collaboration with partner organizations, I am confident that we can fulfill the Mayor Lurie’s entrusted task and provide bold and transformative permit solutions.”
“A more streamlined, customer-centric approval process will help new businesses thrive in the community and downtown area, while accelerating the much-needed construction of housing.”
District Five Councilmember Bilal Mahmood stated that the current permit approval process in the city is overly complicated, causing delays in housing construction and impacting small business openings. PermitSF “will help expedite housing construction and revitalize small businesses in the city.”