Board backs Central Subway assurance funding and approves temporary construction licenses by eminent domain

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on May 1 adopted a resolution endorsing the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) plan to provide revenue-bond assurance funding, if needed, to help secure federal New Starts funds for the Central Subway project.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, the measure’s floor sponsor, said the resolution does not issue bonds now but signals the city’s future support if cost or schedule contingencies make assurance funds necessary. Wiener described the Central Subway as a key project to improve rapid transit service in the dense northeast sector of the city, including Chinatown and Union Square, and said the SFMTA would use existing revenue-bonding capacity — not create new bonding authority.

The board also held a committee-of-the-whole hearing on resolutions of necessity to acquire four temporary construction licenses by eminent domain for headwall work associated with the Union Square/Market Street station and other Central Subway station construction. The SFMTA said the construction method requires inclined pile walls whose tips will extend roughly 150 feet below street level and encroach about 3 to 4 feet onto adjacent private property, creating the need for temporary licenses.

After public testimony from business and neighborhood groups, labor unions and members of the project's community advisory group — including Chinatown TRIP, the Union Square Business Improvement District, the Operating Engineers, pile drivers and other construction unions — the board adopted the resolutions of necessity. The SFMTA said it has offered compensation to property owners, engaged in negotiations and has had appraisals reviewed consistent with Federal Transit Administration regulations; the agency said it would pursue condemnation only to keep the program schedule on track if negotiations did not conclude.

One property owner’s representative told the board the owner had received a $13,500 offer for a license but provided the city an independent appraisal that valued the license at $37,000; the owner said it had already spent about $2 million relocating a transformer because of Central Subway construction and asked for fair compensation. The board’s action adopted the resolutions of necessity required under state eminent-domain law and included CEQA and general-plan findings; state law requires a two-thirds vote of the board for resolutions of necessity, and the board recorded a final roll call in which the measures passed.

Supervisor Wiener and several public speakers stressed that federal New Starts funds are not fungible: if the city failed to secure the funding now, the award could be redirected to other projects around the nation.

Ending: The resolution endorsing assurance funding and the resolutions of necessity were adopted at the meeting. SFMTA and city staff will continue property negotiations and, if necessary, proceed with condemnation to maintain the project schedule while also addressing construction impacts on nearby businesses and community concerns.