Planning Commission urges approval of 555 Ninth Street special sign district, asks Board to consider illumination hours

The San Francisco Planning Commission on July 18 recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve an ordinance establishing a special sign district for 555 Ninth Street to support the new owner’s revitalization of a large South of Market shopping center. The commission voted unanimously, 6-0, to forward the amended resolution with commission comments for the board’s consideration.

The ordinance, introduced by staff on behalf of Supervisor Dorsey, would model signage rules on the city’s C-3 zoning district with two exceptions for the center: allow additional wall signs on the second story facing the internal parking structure and permit tenant-specific video signs up to 10 feet inside pedestrian entrances with on/off and copy-change limits. "This legislation would establish a special signage district for 555 Ninth Street, which is a shopping center, a large shopping center in the South Of Market," said Madison Tam of Supervisor Dorsey's office during the staff presentation.

Staff and the supervisor’s representative said the goal is to help the property attract and retain tenants in a center that currently has many vacancies. Audrey Marloney of the planning department said the changes "directly support the new owner of the 555 Ninth Street shopping center with their revitalization efforts," and noted the proposed video signs would only display content related to the business and may change copy no more than once per hour.

Commissioners largely voiced support for efforts to help struggling retail but pressed for safeguards to protect neighborhood livability and pedestrian experience. Vice President Moore described the site as "a maze of conflicting" circulation patterns and said signage changes should be coupled with improvements that invite pedestrian access rather than simply catering to freeway visibility. Commissioner Soh moved that the commission’s recommendation include a comment asking the Board to consider requiring illuminated signs to be turned off when a business is closed; she said she supported the ordinance "with a condition of any signage that is glowing, that is illuminating, shall be turned off when the business is off."

The property-owner representative said the owner could study illumination-hour limits but that imposing strict rules without a technical study could be costly; staff counsel Dan Snyder explained the commission is transmitting advisory comments and that the legislative authority to change the code rests with the Board of Supervisors.

The commission’s recommendation is advisory; the ordinance will next go to the Board of Supervisors and its Land Use Committee, where the supervisors can receive the commission’s comments, consider technical feasibility, and amend the legislation before any final action. Commissioners asked staff to forward the discussion points on pedestrian activation and illumination hours to the supervisors.