Board hears hours of testimony on 555 Washington EIR; appeal sent back for further review

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday conducted a lengthy de novo hearing on an appeal of the Planning Commission’s March 18 certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for a proposed project at 555 Washington Street. Appellants, neighborhood groups and dozens of residents urged the board to find the EIR inadequate on multiple grounds; the board did not finalize certification and directed additional review and continuation of the matter for further analysis.

Appellants including the Telegraph Hill Dwellers and San Francisco For Reasonable Growth told the board the FEIR failed to meet CEQA’s requirements for adequacy, accuracy and completeness. Their primary complaints included that the document did not: analyze the proposal’s cumulative shadow impacts on nearby parks under Proposition K (San Francisco Planning Code section 2.95); provide a genuinely code-compliant alternative; fully model wind hazards; or adequately study transportation, parking and pedestrian impacts associated with a project that proposes far more parking than would ordinarily be permitted.

Telegraph Hill Dwellers spokesperson Susan Brandt Holly said the EIR contained "judgmental, subjective statements" rather than the clear,…