The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection hit the Mission District gas station Doubletime with a notice of violation Monday, finding that the site’s owners had not obtained the proper permits before digging at the site.
The notice of violation posted by the city found that the work — including digging below five feet to get to fuel tanks and installing “shoring” retaining beams in the ground — was done “without the benefit of a building permit nor was an OSHA permit provided.” The notice ordered the business to “Stop all work.”
The company behind Doubletime, Double AA Corporation, operates over a dozen gas stations in Northern California including the Doubletime at 3400 Mission St. on the corner with 30th Street. Business filings indicate that the location first entered the Doubletime portfolio in 2005, and it most recently registered there in 2024.
Double AA did not respond to a request for comment. An employee who answered the phone at the company’s corporate number said they were unaware of any violations, and took a message on Wednesday. Mission Local did not receive a call back.
Doubletime had “authorization” from the city’s fire and public health departments “to remove the tanks” and had proper shoring in place, wrote Patrick Hannan, the building inspection department’s spokesperson. But there was no building permit, which is “required to install the new tanks,” Hannan continued.
“We have been communicating with the project engineer who indicated that they will obtain that permit once the old tanks are removed,” he added.
Former longtime building inspector Christopher Schroeder said, for his part, that digging without permits can constitute “a life safety threat.” In mid-December, a gas station at 16th and Guerrero streets shot a column of smoke into the air after an explosion caused by an excavator rocked the area.
The excavation that prompted the violation was likely motivated by a 12-year-old change in state law. On Jan. 1, the deadline to close all single-walled underground storage tanks across California passed, a requirement created back in 2014 by Senate Bill 445. The law gave gas stations 12 years to comply.
Some have moved quickly to do so. Several gas stations across the city have been shuttered in recent months as they excavate their old gas tanks.
The Doubletime gas station on Mission Street is one of just six sites across the city with single-walled tanks left, according to data maintained by the California State Water Resources Control Board. Those records indicate that its owners did apply with the state for tank closure. But they apparently did not obtain proper permits with the city.
The person behind the counter at Thrillhouse Records next door said that work at the site began around the new year, which is around the same time SB 445 went into effect. Two complaints pertaining to the site were filed with the city on Feb. 27. Both mentioned lack of permits and “shaking” or “vibrations” in the ground of neighboring buildings.
Single-walled tanks “are much more likely to leak into the surrounding soil” and risk polluting their surrounding areas, according to the water control board. Installment of new single-walled tanks was prohibited by the state in 1984, and all but 67 across the state have been closed.
Shawarma counter may not open at gas station after all
Doubletime gas station at 3400 Mission St. March 3. Photo by Nicholas David
The excavation may have a collateral victim in the shawarma eatery set to open on-site. Its future is meanwhile in doubt.
Mission Local in early 2025 reported that a new to-go counter operated by the brothers behind Mazra, a popular Mediterranean spot in Redwood City, was slated to open at the gas station. The initial concept behind the restaurant, brother-owner Saif Makableh said, was a no-frills, counter service, Middle Eastern shawarma joint. It helped, too, that the gas station was operated by Makableh’s father-in-law.
Over a year later, the brothers are not so sure they’ll go through with the eatery. Makableh said he had not heard of the notice of violation, but said the excavation contributed to delays in their hopes to open last year. He declined to offer a contact for his father-in-law.
Makableh also said that he and his brother have faced their own logistical challenges in setting up utilities, and have contemplated the parking disputes that might arise between gas station and restaurant patrons. They’d still like to set up shop in the Mission, Makableh said, just maybe not at this location.
“I mean, it sounded cool in the beginning,” Makableh said. “Then the practicality behind it really started to hone in on us. And I don’t know, man. We’re still on the fence if that’s the move.”