Board advances Western SoMa cleanup to allow larger schools and restore nighttime entertainment at some sites

The Board of Supervisors on Sept. 23, 2014 passed on first reading an ordinance amending the planning code to make specific "cleanup" changes to the Western SoMa plan.

Sponsor Supervisor Kim said the ordinance corrects oversights in the 2013 Western SoMa plan. The changes would allow elementary and secondary schools and childcare uses that exceed 25,000 square feet in the regional commercial district and would authorize nighttime entertainment in the Western SoMa Mixed Use Office zoning district within 200 feet of residential enclaves where a nighttime entertainment use had lawfully operated within five years before an application to reestablish it.

Kim said the amendments would allow a growing k-8 Mandarin immersion school (identified in remarks as a site on Tenth Street) to expand to the size needed, and would enable longstanding nightlife venues to resume operation on parcels where entertainment historically existed. Supervisor Wiener, a cosponsor, said nightlife "plays a huge role in our city" and argued zoning should preserve historically active entertainment venues. Supervisor Campos also spoke in support and was listed as a cosponsor.

The board adopted the ordinance on first reading "without objection." The item was introduced by the Land Use and Economic Development Committee and described as cleanup legislation to implement earlier Western SoMa planning decisions.

Why it matters: The change affects allowable uses in a downtown neighborhood undergoing rapid growth, balancing school expansion and neighborhood-serving institutions with protections for existing nightlife uses that sponsors said are culturally and economically significant.