Clay Theater Gets Green Light for Wine and Beer as Twin Peaks Park Takes Shape

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Land Use and Transportation Committee moved unanimously on all four items Monday, advancing a Planning Code change that could breathe new life into the city's struggling independent cinemas, honoring a Chinatown anti-trafficking pioneer with a commemorative street name, and setting the stage for a $4.25 million linear park atop Twin Peaks — though not without a neighborhood leader warning that his community has been left out of the conversation.

• Ordinance lets movie theaters operating as eating places serve alcohol and host entertainment, boosting the Clay Theater's revival

• Twin Peaks Promenade advances toward summer 2026 construction with $4.25M in state grants already secured

• Chinatown's Joy Street to bear the name of Tian Fu Wu, who rescued hundreds of women and girls from trafficking

• Midtown Terrace president says neighbors haven't been consulted, requests continuance - committee moves forward anyway

Why it matters: Independent movie theaters across San Francisco face an existential squeeze from streaming, shorter theatrical windows, and industry consolidation. This ordinance amends the Planning Code to let movie theaters operating as bona fide eating places serve wine, beer, and liquor and offer live entertainment — a revenue model already common in other cities but blocked by San Francisco's existing zoning rules. The change applies citywide but is tailor-made for the Clay Theater on Fillmore Street, which is undergoing a full rehabilitation.