Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Neighborhoods push back on Planning Department draft RET, warn it could “legalize demolitions”
Summary
More than a dozen speakers told the Planning Commission that the Residential Expansion Threshold (RET) proposal removes the city’s demolition definition and uses citywide FARs that would incentivize demolition, displacement and ‘McMansion‑style’ development; they asked the department to fix demolition rules and use contextual FARs by neighborhood.
At the start of the Nov. 2 hearing dozens of residents and neighborhood activists urged the Planning Commission and staff to pause or withdraw the draft Residential Expansion Threshold (RET) proposal until the department revises the demolition definition and the proposed floor‑area‑ratio (FAR) triggers.
Speakers including George Wooding, Paul Webber and Jennifer Feber — representing neighborhood coalitions and tenant groups — argued that removing the Planning Department’s “tantamount to demolition” threshold from section 3.17 of the planning code would…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
