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Planning commission backs special sign district to let Chinese American International School update campus signage
Summary
The Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of an ordinance creating the 3250 Nineteenth Avenue Special Sign District, allowing larger, site-appropriate signage for the Chinese American International School and clarifying permitted illumination.
The San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of an ordinance establishing the 3250 Nineteenth Avenue Special Sign District, which would allow the Chinese American International School to install campus signage larger and more visible than current residential-district sign rules permit.
The proposal, introduced by Supervisor Melgar and presented by planning staff Joseph Sacchi, applies to an approximately 5.5-acre campus at 3250 Nineteenth Avenue, a site that had previously operated as Mercy High School. Sacchi told commissioners the sign controls in residential zoning are the strictest in the city and would prevent the school from replacing the former Mercy signage even if the copy and placement were substantially the same.
The department recommended the overlay because the site is far larger than a typical residential lot and faces a commercial node across the street from the Stonestown Galleria. Sacchi said the Special Sign District would calculate allowable sign area by the length of the street frontage from which a sign would be visible, and noted existing nonconforming signs become new signs if copy changes.
Supervisor Melgar described the school’s consolidation of multiple campuses into the Nineteenth Avenue site and the school’s engagement with neighbors, and asked commissioners for support. Commissioners praised staff analysis and asked for a clarification about lighting. Sacchi recommended and the commission accepted a staff modification specifying permitted signs may be indirectly illuminated to avoid ambiguity in the draft ordinance.
Commissioner Campbell moved to adopt a recommendation for approval with that modification; the motion passed on a roll call with each commissioner voting “aye.” The vote was recorded as unanimous, 7 to 0.
The decision sends the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors for final action; staff said the change is intended to allow the school to install signage that reflects its identity while remaining scaled to the site and consistent with the corridor.
Evidence in the public record includes the staff presentation and supervisor remarks, and the commission’s recorded roll call vote.
