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Board denies then rescinds on Corovan developer EIR appeal; full rehearing scheduled for Aug. 2
Summary
After a lengthy contested hearing on the environmental impact report for the Corovan/901 Sixteenth Street project, the board initially denied an appeal and upheld the Planning Commission's certification but later rescinded that vote and continued the item to Aug. 2 to allow additional public participation and review.
The Board of Supervisors held a marathon hearing July 26 on an appeal of the EIR prepared for a proposed 395‑unit mixed‑use project at 901 Sixteenth Street and 1200 Seventeenth Street in Potrero Hill. The project would demolish metal-clad warehouses and build two new mixed-use buildings while restoring an on-site brick office building.
Appellants — neighborhood advocates and preservationists grouped under Save the Hill and Grow Potrero Responsibly — urged the board to overturn the Planning Commission’s certification, arguing the EIR did not adequately assess cumulative development in the Eastern Neighborhoods, underestimated traffic and transit impacts, and unfairly dismissed an arts- and maker-focused “metal‑shed reuse” alternative as economically infeasible. They submitted detailed economic and historical analysis and said the city’s development trajectory was outpacing the assumptions in the area plan EIR.
Planning Department staff and the project sponsor countered that the final EIR followed CEQA standards, used current data where required, and properly relied on the programmatic Eastern Neighborhoods EIR for issues previously analyzed at the plan level. The Planning Commission certified the final EIR on May 12 and approved the project. The sponsor and supporters, including neighborhood merchants and community groups, said the project would produce family-friendly housing, on-site affordable units, neighborhood-serving retail, and a donation for Jackson Playground.
After about three hours of testimony from both sides and from nearly three dozen public speakers, the board voted 9–1 to deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission’s certification. Supervisor Peskin voted no and several supervisors voiced concerns about the economic replacement analysis for the metal‑shed alternative and about the pace of area development.
Later in the meeting, however, several appellants and members of the public said they had been blocked from entering the chamber earlier and asked for reconsideration. The board rescinded its earlier vote and agreed to continue the appeal as a Committee of the Whole on Aug. 2 to allow further public testimony and give staff and the parties time to respond to technical questions raised at the hearing. The board’s clerk will re-notice the Aug. 2 Committee of the Whole hearing.
Why it matters: The decision — and the order for more review — matters for how San Francisco balances new housing production with protection of production, distribution and repair (PDR) uses, historic industrial fabric, and neighborhood traffic and open-space needs. The case highlighted friction between citywide housing goals and long‑standing neighborhood preservation priorities.
Votes and formal actions: The board initially voted 9–1 to deny the appeal and uphold certification, then later voted to rescind that vote and continue the item to Aug. 2, 2016, as a Committee of the Whole for rehearing.
