Board affirms EIR for 706 Mission Street Mexican Museum and residential tower after lengthy hearing

After more than four hours of testimony and detailed legal and technical argument, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday affirmed the Planning Commission’s certification of the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the 706 Mission Street Mexican Museum and Residential Tower project (Items 19–22). The motion to affirm the EIR (Item 20) passed by unanimous roll call, 11–0.

The hearing was convened as a public appeal of the EIR and followed a structured sequence: appellants (two groups) were allotted up to 20 minutes in total, public comment for appellants followed, Planning Department staff made a presentation, the project sponsor presented, supporters of the project spoke, and appellants were given a short rebuttal.

Appellants’ claims Appellants — including the 765 Market Street Residential Owners Association, Friends of Yerba Buena, TODCO and the Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium, and several individual residents — argued that the EIR was legally inadequate in several areas: - Historic preservation: appellants said the EIR failed to properly analyze the tower’s impact on the Aronson Building and the Montgomery‑Mission‑Second Street Conservation District, and they challenged the EIR’s treatment of Article 11 (the City’s historic‑preservation code)…