Planning Commission forwards Central SoMa cleanup but pauses $20-per-sq-ft Tier B fee for more study

The San Francisco Planning Commission on Sept. 17 voted to forward a broadly scoped Central SoMa planning-code cleanup to the Board of Supervisors while excluding a contested $20-per-square-foot Tier B infrastructure fee and continuing consideration of that fee for further study.

Planning department staff told commissioners the cleanup package corrects drafting errors and clarifies elements of the Central SoMa plan including an operations strategy requirement, how the PDR (production, distribution, repair) requirement applies to additions, an 80% lot-coverage clarification, reorganized solar-plane and sky-plane rules, and changes allowing some off-site open space up to about a half-mile from projects adjacent to I‑80. Staff also said the package would allow a key site at 598 Brandon/Bridal Street to provide up to 15,000 gross square feet of neighborhood-serving retail in lieu of a portion of required PDR on that site.

"The Central SoMa plan added approximately 5,500 units above the zoning that was in place on 01/01/2018," planning staffer Josh…