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Mandatory closing times for certain convenience stores in the Tenderloin and other downtown San Francisco neighborhoods will expand and continue for 18 additional months, after the Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to extend a pilot program.
Supporters of the new ordinance say the program has helped reduce illegal activity in the late evening and early morning hours by limiting spaces where people might congregate, particularly around shops that sell alcohol and tobacco. But some local residents worry the plan cuts off business for small shopkeepers without addressing the root cause of street-level crime issues.
“Philosophically, I don’t like having to punish small businesses for problems that are outside of their control,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who oversees the South of Market neighborhood, which the pilot program will encompass. “But the reality is that we need an effective strategy to give the neighborhood a kind of overnight cooling off period and just to make it a less welcoming environment for some of the disorder that plays out.”…