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City planners outline draft adaptive reuse zoning ordinance to speed residential conversions
Summary
Planning staff presented draft Title 30 zoning amendments to codify commonly approved modifications that would ease conversion of nonresidential buildings into housing, and invited Architectural Board of Review input on State Street ground-floor activation requirements and other details.
City planning staff on March 17 gave the Architectural Board of Review an update on a draft adaptive reuse ordinance intended to encourage conversions of existing nonresidential buildings to residential units without changing the board's review role.
Dana Falk, a long-range project planner in the Planning Division, told the board the proposed ordinance would "codify some commonly approved zoning modifications to facilitate the conversion of nonresidential buildings to residential units." Falk said the effort follows the housing element the city adopted in December 2023 and certified by the state in February 2024, and is intended to reduce the planning process for conversions that already often receive similar relief.
The draft ordinance would create four applicability categories that independently make a project eligible for incentives: properties in the Central Business District; hotels citywide converting to housing; conversions of designated historic resources; and projects that deed-restrict 50% of new units at moderate, low, or very low incomes. Eligible projects would also have to meet a set of additional eligibility criteria described in the staff report, Falk said.
Among the incentives described, Falk said "no maximum residential density will apply" to qualifying adaptive-reuse projects, and that existing parking and open-yard requirements would not be increased when a building changes use to residential. She also said the ordinance would not alter ABR's exterior-review role: "There will be no change to your purview as ABR or the review process you go through."
Board members asked detailed questions about two discretionary items staff is still debating: limits on adding new floor area and a requirement that projects fronting on State Street retain nonresidential ground-floor uses to "activate State Street." Falk said Planning Commission members supported the idea of a minimum depth for required ground-floor nonresidential space but also suggested a percentage-based alternative; staff has been considering an "either/or" approach to provide flexibility.
Board members raised operational concerns about the State Street requirement, including service access for businesses, trash and utility deliveries, and emergency egress. Several members suggested staff study whether minimum depth, percentage of frontage, or a combined standard would best achieve activation without creating back-of-house congestion on State Street.
Falk said the draft ordinance will return to Planning Commission for further discussion in May, then for a formal recommendation before it goes to City Council. She noted the housing element calls for completion of this program by the end of 2025. Falk invited ABR members to provide additional comments and contact planning staff.
The presentation also noted coordination with other city requirements, including stormwater management (SWMP) and an ongoing, separate staff effort on inclusionary housing that is not part of the adaptive reuse draft.
Board members did not take formal action at the hearing; the item was presented for information and input.
