Planning Commission backs removing Western SoMa 200-foot buffer for nighttime entertainment

The San Francisco Planning Commission on April 10 voted unanimously to recommend a planning-code amendment that would remove a 200-foot buffer in the Western SoMa Special Use District that has restricted nighttime entertainment uses near residential enclaves.

Planning staff said the change would not alter the underlying zoning where nighttime entertainment is already prohibited, but would remove an extra layer that currently overrides those base zoning rules. "The 200-foot buffer in Western SoMa has obviously been chipped away so many times that it's become very confusing and essentially ineffective," Planning Department staff said during the presentation.

The proposal would also principally permit general and nighttime entertainment at a single parcel at 655 Folsom Street. Staff and a representative of Supervisor Matt Dorsey's office told commissioners that the revision aims to simplify the code, support small businesses, and respond to…