Planning Commission Approves Sanctum Baths 7-0, the First Gay Bathhouse Authorized Since 2022
The commission last week approved permits for a two-story, 7,516-square-foot bathhouse at 40 12th Street, with noise and lighting conditions. It would be the first gay bathhouse authorized in San Francisco since 2022 law changes.
By the Bay Area Brief staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 3 min read
Mission Dolores Park and the downtown San Francisco skyline on a clear day. Photo: 4300streetcar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped, resized and color-graded). Archive photo of the area; not a photo of the events in this story.
San Francisco's Planning Commission last week approved permits 7-0 for Sanctum Baths, the first gay bathhouse authorized in the city since changes to local law made "adult sex venues" legally permissible in 2022, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The project would convert a two-story, 7,516-square-foot building at 40 12th St. into a bathhouse near the city's Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District. Commissioners approved it with conditions, including requirements for noise attenuation and lighting. Associate city planner Vincent Page, who introduced the project, spoke at the meeting about its cultural significance, the Chronicle reported, noting it comes 40 years after most commercial sex clubs and bathhouses in the city closed.
The vote is distinct from earlier coverage of the project going to the commission with staff backing. The approval authorizes the permits with those conditions; it is not a report that the bathhouse has already opened.
Sources
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