Supervisors send Folsom/Russ development back to planning after critics say shadow will hurt Victoria Manalo Draves Park

After more than four hours of public testimony and expert comment, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted on April 9 to send the conditional use authorization for a proposed seven‑story, 63‑unit mixed‑use building at 1052–1060 Folsom Street and 190–194 Russ Street back to the Planning Department for further review.

The board first voted 8–2 to uphold the Planning Department’s community plan evaluation (CPE) that the project did not require additional environmental review under CEQA. Supervisors London Breed and Matt Haney were among those who said the CPE met state review requirements; Supervisors Ahsha Safaí and Katie Peskin dissented. After a separate, quasi‑judicial review of the Planning Commission’s conditional use authorization, the board voted 10–0 to withhold final project approval and return the matter to Planning for further analysis tied to park impacts and other local concerns.

The bulk of testimony focused on Victoria Manalo Draves Park (VMD Park), a 2.1‑acre community park adjacent to the site that residents say is one of the neighborhood’s few publicly accessible open‑spaces. Appellants, led by the nonprofit South of Market Community Action Network (SomCan), argued the project would cast new evening shadow on heavily used parts of…