Board Affirms Eastern Neighborhoods EIR after Appeals on Displacement, Traffic and Housing

SAN FRANCISCO The Board of Supervisors on Sept. 23, 2008 affirmed the Planning Commissioncertification of the Final Environmental Impact Report for the Eastern Neighborhoods rezoning and area plan, rejecting appeals that had argued the EIR fails to analyze likely displacement, traffic and other cumulative impacts.

The boardvote came after more than two hours of appellant presentations and public testimony from neighborhood groups, planning advocates and city staff. The motion to affirm the EIR passed by a 7 ye to 1 No tally, moving the rezoning process forward while leaving unresolved calls from several neighborhood organizations for tighter protections for low-income and family housing.

Why it matters: The Eastern Neighborhoods plan proposes rezoning and new development rules for large swaths of the cityincluding the South of Market, the Mission, Showplace Square and the Central Waterfrontand is projected to shape housing, jobs and land use across the city through 2025. Appellants warned the document does not adequately analyze how new market-rate development will affect existing renters, neighborhood services and transit capacity.

What the appellants said

Attorneys and community representatives speaking for neighborhood coalitions argued that the EIR did not analyze the current baseline conditions and therefore failed to disclose or mitigate major, foreseeable effects.

Sue Hester, attorney for the South of Market Community Action Network (SomCan), told the supervisors: "If the protection and enhancement of low-income family housing doesn't occur the environmental analysis will be legally insufficient because the EIR doesn't measure the inevitable and continuing displacement that's occurring." Hester and other SomCan witnesses pressed the board to require stronger zoning and mitigation measures, including a proposed "Youth and Family Zone" for parts of South of Market.

Appellants and neighborhood witnesses also flagged transportation and pedestrian-safety concerns. Multiple speakers said the EIR understates cumulative traffic impacts when combined with other large projects such as Market-Octavia, and expressed worry that Muni cannot absorb large increases in ridership without targeted investment and mitigation. One community speaker said pedestrian crossing times and bike-lane conflicts in South of Market are an immediate safety issue that the EIR does not resolve.

What planning staff and supporters said

Planning department staff defended the document as a programmatic EIR that analyzed a range of alternatives and identified significant impacts and mitigation measures. In testimony, a planning staff member summarized the department"this is a programmatic EIR," he saidnoting staff had prepared a separate socioeconomic impact assessment and had coordinated with the Department of Public Health on community-level impacts such as air quality and noise.

Supporters of the EIRincluding housing and development stakeholders who testifiedsaid the documents provide sufficient information for the board to make the policy decisions now before it and that the plan strikes a balance between retaining industrial uses and adding new housing.

The vote and what it does (and does not do)

The board vote affirms certification of the Final EIR, which completes an important legal step under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The board did not adopt all of the neighborhood-recommended zoning changes at the same time; multiple appellants and several supervisors signaled continued interest in pursuing amendments to the rezoning and measures to expand protections for low-income renters and families.

Board response and next steps

Supervisor comments during the floor debate acknowledged the depth of neighborhood concerns while indicating that certification of the EIR does not foreclose later changes to the rezoning proposals. The planning department and board staff said monitoring and mitigation measures set out in the EIR will be tracked via a mitigation monitoring and reporting program.

The board's action permits the planning department and the board to proceed with the rezoning legislation and policy work tied to the Eastern Neighborhoods plan. Advocates for tighter affordability and anti-displacement protections said they will continue to press supervisors for targeted amendments and implementation commitments.

Ending

The Eastern Neighborhoods plan remains the subject of active negotiation between neighborhood groups, the planning department and the board. While the EIR affirmation moves the process forward procedurally, appellants said their substantive concerns particularly displacement, cumulative transit impacts and the scale of market-rate development must be addressed in subsequent legislative actions and implementation steps.