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 Switzky told the commission, arguing the cleanup would not reduce housing capacity when measured against the statutory SB 330 (Housing Crisis Act) baseline. "So the baseline before you today is essentially 5,500 units less than what the zoning allowed today," he said.

The most contested element was a staff-proposed correction that would apply a $20-per-square-foot infrastructure fee to smaller 'Tier B' nonresidential projects. Developers and land-use attorneys told the commission during a lengthy public-comment period that the fee had been intentionally excluded for smaller projects during plan adoption and that adding it now — particularly during an economic downturn precipitated by the pandemic — could render projects infeasible. Ruben, Junius & Rose partner Dan Fratton cited an earlier feasibility study that found many office prototypes were not economically viable and urged the commission to strike the Tier B amendment.

Housing advocates and tenant groups challenged staff on different grounds, saying the public needs a clear analysis of whether any part of the cleanup would reduce actual housing units, and citing state demolitions rules (SB 330) and local demolition-calculation practices as relevant. Tenant advocates raised multiple cases in which long-term residents were displaced during redevelopment and urged commissioners not to approve policies that encourage displacement.

Commissioners expressed sympathy for both viewpoints. Several members said they were comfortable forwarding the cleanup package with staff modifications while removing the Tier B fee from the ordinance and recommended further study of the fee's legality and economic effects. The commission called for additional review by staff and the city attorney and voted to continue the Tier B fee discussion for one week. The clerk announced the motion passed unanimously '7 to 0'; a subsequent correction in the record noted the proper tally was '6 to 0.'

Why it matters: The cleanup touches technical code language that can change how the city calculates capacity, lot coverage and required public benefits. Advocates warn such adjustments can have material consequences for how many housing units get permitted, while developers say retroactive fee changes can undermine projects already designed to meet an earlier fee package.

What happens next: The commission forwarded the cleanup ordinance to the Board of Supervisors without the Tier B fee and scheduled further consideration of that fee for the Sept. 24 meeting. If the Board or staff revise the fee's application, projects currently in design could face changed economics for public benefits and infrastructure funding.

Authorities and citations: The hearing record included repeated references to SB 330 (Housing Crisis Act of 2019) and to the Central SoMa implementation documents and planning-code sections cited by staff; counsel and public-commenters relied on tracking sheets and implementation-plan tables from the Board of Supervisors' 2018 files.

Action: The commission forwarded the Central SoMa cleanup ordinance as amended and continued only the Tier B fee portion to 09/24/2020 for further staff and city-attorney review.