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Preservation commission urges interpretive displays, asks to retain community elements in Potrero HOPE SF review
Summary
The Historic Preservation Commission reviewed the Potrero HOPE SF draft EIR/EIS and agreed to send a letter urging the project sponsor and Planning Department to consider interpretive displays and retaining portions of community buildings amid demolition of existing public housing.
The San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission on Dec. 3 reviewed the draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement for the Potrero HOPE SF redevelopment and asked staff to include requests for interpretive measures in the commission’s comment letter to the Planning Department and Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
Rachel Judd, environmental coordinator for the Potrero HOPE SF EIR/EIS, told the commission the project site on the south slope of Potrero Hill currently contains 620 public housing units (Potrero Terrace and Potrero Annex) and that the proposed project would demolish those units and could include development of up to 1,700 residential units across a mix of incomes, "including replacement public housing and market rate housing." She said historic‑resources evaluations determined the existing developments are not individually eligible for the California Register and that the draft EIR/EIS concluded the project would not result in project‑level or cumulative significant unavoidable impacts to historic resources.
Commissioner Hyland, noting the commission’s recent work on the preservation element of the general plan, asked for documentation of "what this site represented" and urged the project sponsor to explore measures that keep community memory intact. "I would like to offer or ask for some documentation of what this site represented, at least the original site," Hyland said, adding that the commission had discussed retaining part of a building "as part of a clubhouse" so people can see what it was before.
Department staff said the commission’s letter can request interpretive displays and retention or adaptive reuse of character‑defining elements even when a resource is not found to meet the threshold of historic integrity. The commission indicated consensus to include such recommendations in its comment letter to the Planning Department and to highlight the preservation concerns when the project proceeds to the Planning Commission public hearing.
The Planning Department’s public comment period on the draft EIR/EIS runs through Jan. 7, 2015; the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Dec. 11, 2014. The Historic Preservation Commission indicated it will draft and transmit its letter of comment in advance of the Planning Commission hearing.
