Traffic from San Francisco ghost-kitchen location becoming safety issue, one business owner says
SAN FRANCISCO — The traffic created by a San Francisco ghost-kitchen location is becoming a safety issue, one nearby business owner said.
Dan Perata spends his days teaching obedience to man's best friend. But step outside onto Charter Oak Avenue, and he said there are plenty of examples of people not obeying traffic and parking rules — and at times, the unspoken rules of common courtesy.
"All of those cars are parked illegally," Perata said, pointing to cars blocking a driveway. "Here we go. It never ends. There's my gate. There is my barricade that he is running over. That's an everyday thing."
His street is constantly packed with delivery drivers. His business is at the end of a cul-de-sac, across the street from a ghost kitchen operated by Cloud Kitchens.
Numerous take-out only restaurant operations are housed inside the ghost kitchen. Delivery drivers can be seen waiting for their orders, idling in the road, boxing cars in, disobeying parking and traffic rules, close-misses, and to Perata's ire, constantly blocking driveways, like his.
"It damages my business. It makes it very difficult for my clients, who have every right, to park in my spots, and they can't because it's always filled up," he said. "Time and time again when I ask them nicely, please don't block my driveway, I usually get the f-word, threats. I've had to call the police on multiple occasions, we've had fights, we've had employees hit, we've had cars hit."
Perata said the status quo is unsustainable for locally owned small businesses that share the block.
"I'm here. I'm a business. I pay taxes. I have clients. I was established here, as well as all the other businesses long before they moved in," he said.
KPIX reached out to Cloud Kitchens to see if they'd comment, but did not hear back. Perata's plea?
"Would you please come out and be a part of the solution and not the problem," Perata said. "You make enough money – you can hire somebody to come out here to make sure these cars are parked properly, that they're moving properly."
On top of that, Perata said it feels like the city turns a blind eye to the situation, despite what he says have been numerous attempts to get parking enforcement involved.
"The city doesn't do anything about it which is very, very frustrating for us," he said.
He said, aside from the nuisance it causes, there are legitimate safety concerns. He pointed to numerous cars illegally parked in front of a fire hydrant at the end of the cul-de-sac.
"How is the fire department going to come down, identify the fire hydrant, get a hose hooked up to it and potentially put out a fire in this general neighborhood, when they're blocked with the cars," he said. "That's a danger to all businesses down here."
KPIX reached out to the SFMTA, the agency in charge of parking enforcement, for a comment, but did not hear back.
"I feel let down, truthfully," Perata said.
He routinely sets up barricades in the hopes that will dissuade people from blocking his driveway, but is pleading for a real solution to arise, for a persistent problem.
