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Board affirms Planning Department’s mitigated negative declaration for 700 Valencia after public hearing; appellants asked for a continuance
Summary
After a public hearing and public comment, the Board of Supervisors voted 7–3 to affirm the Planning Department’s final mitigated negative declaration for a proposed development at 700 Valencia Street. Appellants asked for a continuance and said the appeal filing had procedural issues; the board proceeded to vote.
At the 4 p.m. special order on Oct. 23 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on an appeal of the Planning Department’s adoption of a final mitigated negative declaration (MND) for a proposed development at 700 Valencia Street.
Appellants informed the board that they had submitted a letter seeking to withdraw the appeal and later said they needed time to retain pro bono counsel; the appellants explained that a lawyer had filed the appeal under their name without authorization and that they wished to regroup and file a more complete environmental appeal. The city’s deputy attorney advised the board that once an appeal is filed it remains before the board and the board must dispose of it.
Neighbors and community members spoke at the hearing in opposition to the project and in support of a continuance; project representatives urged the board to act, saying the project had been in the Planning Department pipeline since February and had been heard multiple times by the Planning Commission. After public testimony the board considered two competing procedural motions: a motion by Supervisor Dufty (seconded by Supervisor Sandoval) to affirm the Planning Department’s adoption of the final MND and table motions seeking to reverse that adoption; and a later request by appellants (and by Supervisor Ammiano as a counterproposal) to continue the matter for several weeks to allow appellants to secure counsel and prepare a fuller appeal.
The board voted to affirm the Planning Department’s MND for 700 Valencia (motion approved 7–3). The motion’s passage rendered related reversing motions moot or tabled. Several board members had urged caution about excessive continuances, citing the project’s long Planning Department history; others expressed sympathy for appellants’ procedural concerns but concurred that the appeal record had been in process for months.
Why it matters: Affirming the MND clears a significant procedural hurdle for the proposed 700 Valencia development and allows subsequent permitting steps to proceed. The hearing highlighted tensions between neighborhood appellants seeking more time and project proponents pressing to resolve long-pending approvals.
Speakers (selected): - Supervisor Jake Dufty (mover of the motion to affirm the MND). - Elaine Warren (Deputy City Attorney, advised the board on procedural implications of withdrawal requests). - Ledbetter (appellant, asked for continuance and said the appeal had been filed without their authorization by an attorney). - John Connor (project sponsor, urged the board to act and noted long Planning Department review history). - Several neighborhood speakers, including Robert Koller and Sean Kegrin, testified at the hearing.
Action taken: Motion to affirm the Planning Department’s adoption of the final mitigated negative declaration for 700 Valencia Street was approved on roll call (7 ayes, 3 noes); related reversal items were tabled or became moot.
Provenance: public hearing and roll-call vote for 700 Valencia are in the Oct. 23 transcript and recorded in the board minutes (public hearing and motions approximately in transcript timecodes 7,163–8,418).
