About two weeks after relocating to a more spacious location at 594 Castro St., Philz Coffee is making changes to the short-lived outdoor seating in front of its new space. A note in front of the storefront and on the checkout counter, dated Oct. 20th, states that the planter box area and sidewalk seating were to go down on Oct. 22nd to undergo changes.
While the seating, which appeared on October 14th, saw enthusiasm and use from locals and readers, other commenters and passersby felt that the coffee shop was taking up too much of the renovated Castro Street sidewalk. Even Hoodline saw a mix of comments:
"It took a long time for Castro to be widened and it's a shame to see Philz being so disrespectful."
"This is an amazing addition to the neighborhood... We are lucky to have outdoor seating!"
"Seems to be taking up a lot of sidewalk space. The sidewalks got widened, but then get eaten up by these tables/chairs. I'm all for outdoor seating, but this one seems a bit excessive."
Notice that the pedestrians only have two sidewalk squares to walk on. Doesn't seem right.
Not really enough foot traffic there to be a problem.
The seating area, before being removed.
According to an employee at Philz, at least one complaint about the space made its way to Supervisor Scott Wiener, who found that Philz hadn't followed the neighborhood's requirements for outdoor seating. "Philz has agreed to scale back to comply with city rules, which is a good thing," Wiener told us.
According to both Wiener and Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District Executive Director Andrea Aiello, Philz had been following city guidelines for the length of its outdoor seating space and barriers, but the rules are different in the Castro. "The guidelines are different for Castro Street, and DPW made a mistake in giving Philz a permit for their plans," Aiello explained. "Philz did not know the guidelines were different; so they just submitted plans for outdoor seating as is standard for the rest of the city ... 6-foot clearance on the sidewalk to allow space for a wheelchair. The permit department for DPW should have known that there were Castro-specific guidelines."
Aiello helped clarify the specific rules for Castro Street. "The outdoor seating guidelines for Castro Street state that seating can go out to the edge of the rectangular-shaped sidewalk panels, about 5.5-6 feet." Philz' seating was extending beyond that by a little less than three feet.
Andres Power, aide to Wiener, continued with an explanation for the different rules in the Castro. "These are special provisions for Castro Street to ensure maximum space for pedestrians while still encouraging active sidewalk uses such as tables and chairs."
"The seating will be returning after some modifications," said David Grey, project manager for the Philz location. "My understanding is that we were the first tenant on that block of Castro to apply for outdoor seating since the expanded sidewalks were completed. As such, there was some confusion regarding how much of the sidewalk could be utilized and our permit was issued for a larger space than it should have been."
"We're now in the process of getting DPW to re-issue the permit with a smaller footprint and modifying the traffic diverters we had made," Grey said. "As soon as those two items are complete, we'll get the seating back out for all to enjoy!"
The Philz employee we spoke with today appeared to be staying positive, saying that they were hopeful to have things adjusted and ready soon. "I'm hoping for the green bench to be able to stay, but we'll need to cut back on the amount of seating to make it all work."
