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Planners say 500 Turk project would replace historic auto shop and cause unavoidable historic-resource impacts
Summary
Planning staff told the commission the 500 Turk Street Draft EIR finds demolition of a historic auto service building would be a significant and unavoidable impact; three mitigation measures and three alternatives (no project, full preservation, partial preservation) are analyzed; full preservation would yield 32 units vs. 108 in the proposed project.
Jeannie Poling, the EIR coordinator for the 500 Turk Street project, told the Historic Preservation Commission the draft EIR analyzes an eight‑story project proposing 108 affordable dwelling units and concludes demolition of the existing 1–2 story, 7,315-square-foot automobile service building would cause "a significant and unavoidable impact on the individual historic architectural resource at 500 Turk Street." The draft EIR identifies three mitigation measures — documentation prior to demolition, a permanent interpretive display on site, and incorporation or salvage of character-defining signage — but staff said none would reduce that particular impact to less-than-significant.
Preservation planner Yoan Kleeman presented three alternatives reviewed in the draft EIR. He said the full preservation alternative would yield 32 units, the partial preservation alternative 56 units, compared with 108 units in the proposed design. Commissioners asked whether a future city ballot measure to make certain housing approvals ministerial could change the CEQA process for a 100% affordable project; staff said it would depend on the specific language of the measure and on whether the action still involves discretionary review under CEQA.
Poling reminded commissioners that comments made today are not part of the formal EIR comment–response and that the Planning Commission will hold the public hearing on the draft EIR on Jan. 11, 2018, with written comments accepted through Jan. 16, 2018.
