By Calvin Welch, Housing and Land Use Chair

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to support the expansion of Gus's Community Market at 1530 Haight Street at its 27 February meeting..  This is the second expansion of the Market at the old pharmacy site, the first involving an Ethiopian restaurant. This, the second, at 1542 Haight, involves the old Haight Street Music store, which closed in 2020. Gus's re-located to the site from its original Haight Street location between Clayton and Cole in 1981.

The Board and General Membership of HANC supported the expansion.

The merger will add some 3,690 square feet to the Market creating a 10,548 square foot full service market.

 The application for the expansion describes the project as follows:

"The Project will provide for a fairly modest expansion, allowing for additional retail space in addition to storage space at the rear of the building... The Project proposes an interior change of use only, and does not affect landscaping, screening, open spaces, or parking areas... The Project will serve the neighborhood by allowing Gus’s to expand its grocery offering and inventory size. Due to the store’s large patronage and the limited number of other grocers in the area, the Project’s larger size will ensure that Gus’s Market both has the shelf-space and storage space necessary to accommodate both existing and growing local demand... The Project will also contribute to the longevity of a local employer that employs 52 people at this location, and will be able to make additional hires once the expansion is complete. "