San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood just unveiled an ambitious new act to tackle the spread of food deserts in the city.
In a nutshell, the Affordable Groceries Act would tax vacant “zombie” storefronts, putting the revenue toward a fund that provides stimulus incentives for new city-backed grocery operators.
The move is inspired by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is rolling out a plan to put one city-owned grocery store in each borough.
SF’s Affordable Groceries Act
Mahmood’s proposal in SF would simultaneously address the city’s growing food affordability crisis while also dealing with large chain corporations that pay leases on vacant “zombie stores” to block competition.
According to Mahmood’s June 16th post on X, the Affordable Groceries Act would target the zombie stores with a vacancy tax on long-term empty sites, with the goal of discouraging storefront warehousing and pushing the properties back into productive use. Revenue would go into an Affordable Grocery Fund.
On the incentive side, the Act would streamline opening new grocery stores and pharmacies by removing conditional use permits and offering tax credits. Money from the Affordable Grocery Fund would help existing corner stores convert into full grocery markets and enable the city to purchase and lease buildings to new affordable grocery operators.
What happens next?
Mahmood put two ballot measures before the Board of Supervisors in mid-June: one for the “zombie” store vacancy tax, and one to establish the Affordable Grocery Fund. The Board is due to discuss and vote on the measures in July, and if passed, it will go before voters on the November ballot.