After weeks of fruitless mediation, there is some movement regarding the future of lion dance performances in San Francisco's Chinatown.
The San Francisco City and County Board of Appeals voted Wednesday to adjust the scope of the permit. But some merchants are angry at the broad scope of the group's permit, which includes the closure of three blocks every weekend for the next year.
On Wednesday night, some franchisees raised the first part of the issue at a board meeting. They want “LionDanceME'' to reduce its box office license. It was approved for three blocks from April 6 to March 30, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both Saturdays and Sundays.
The board voted to adjust the permit to only cover one block from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and to expire at the end of June.
Vendors said the current permanent road closures, thanks to pandemic-era city regulators, are hurting business.
“This is a very tough business for our very small businesses. I don't know how we're going to survive if we're taken away from Saturday and Sunday,” said owner Jennifer Fa.
“This is a great tradition, and we want to keep it alive, but at the same time we don't want to disturb people,” said LionDanceME's Norman Lau. “We're all in a community together, so we want to reach a good agreement.”
The second phase still continues, as merchants plan to go to SFMTA to argue for reconditioning of the permit to close the street. It's unclear when that will happen.
