Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Institutional Master Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission closes hearing on Academy of Art University IMP after months of negotiation; acceptance starts 3‑month clock
Summary
The commission closed public comment and accepted the Academy of Art University Institutional Master Plan as complete for informational purposes, initiating a 90‑day clock before related development agreement and conditional use authorizations may return. The draft IMP includes consolidation of properties, student housing requirements and a settlement package that includes roughly $40 million for affordable housing.
The Planning Commission accepted the Academy of Art University’s institutional master plan (IMP) as complete at the July 25 hearing, a procedural step that closes the public record and starts the 90‑day clock before the commission may consider related development agreements or conditional use applications.
Scott Sanchez and other planning staff summarized the long enforcement history with the Academy and explained that acceptance of the IMP does not itself approve any land‑use changes or projects; any subsequent development agreements (DA) or conditional use authorizations will return to the commission after the statutorily required waiting period.
Jim Abrams, land‑use counsel for the Academy, told the commission the institution had prepared 34 detailed plan sets for the buildings the Academy intends to retain and described a program of consolidation onto Van Ness and a schedule for DA hearings in early November and board of supervisors consideration late 2019/early 2020.
Key commitments in the draft settlement described in the IMP include: consolidation of Academy operations away from selected properties (Academy to withdraw from nine properties and to add three buildings on Van Ness), a housing metering requirement that would require the Academy to house progressively larger shares of its full‑time students (starting at 32% at DA signing, rising to 36% by 2022 and 38% by 2023, with good‑faith efforts toward higher thresholds), and a monetary settlement described at the hearing as approximately $40 million for affordable housing. Staff noted the document also explains a reduction in shuttle routes, plan sets to legalize remaining campus uses, and a housing‑metering trigger structure tied to 90% occupancy of beds.
The commission heard both praise and criticism in public comment. Supporters said the Academy had preserved historic buildings and invested in facilities across the city; critics pressed for stronger guarantees that lost rent‑controlled housing would be replaced and asked for greater transparency about management and enforcement. Several commissioners asked for an FTE (full‑time‑equivalent) accounting of the student body to make the housing‑metering standard comparable with other IMPs; staff and the Academy said they would refine metrics as the DA package is prepared.
By informal agreement and then a commission vote, the public hearing was closed and the IMP accepted as complete; commissioners clarified that acceptance begins the statutory waiting period before a DA and CU may proceed. The commission will see the DA and related conditional use authorizations in a later hearing cycle; staff indicated the DA is currently scheduled for early November.
