Board upholds CEQA exemption for Mid‑Valencia curbside protected bikeway after contested hearing

Acting as a committee of the whole, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Jan. 28 voted to uphold the Planning Department’s determination that the Municipal Transportation Agency’s Mid Valencia Curbside Protected Bikeway project is statutorily exempt from environmental review under California law. Supervisor Susan Fielder moved to affirm the exemption and table related motions; Supervisor Shamann Walton presided. The motion passed on a roll call after board members voted 10–0 with President Mandelmann excused.

The decision followed a public hearing that included a 10‑minute presentation by the appellant’s counsel, multiple merchants and residents speaking against the curbside design, and presentations from Planning and the SFMTA. Appellant counsel Julio Ramos and merchant David Quimby argued the project could harm Valencia Street’s historic commercial character and cited lost parking and economic hardship. “Valencia Street is a ghost town,” merchant David Quimby told the board, describing merchants’ concerns about visibility and customer access.

Planning Department senior environmental planner Jennifer McKellar summarized the agency’s legal analysis and urged the board to deny the appeal. “The Department respectfully recommends that the Board of Supervisors uphold the Department’s determination that the statutory exemption conforms with the requirements of CEQA and deny the appeal,” McKellar said. She explained the statutory exemption (CEQA section 21080.25/SB 922) applies to pedestrian and bicycle facilities that reduce car dependence and that the legal standard for reviewing a factual finding supporting a statutory exemption is “substantial evidence,” a more deferential standard than the “fair argument” test…