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Planning staff unveils draft retained‑elements guidelines to guide façade‑retention projects
Summary
Planning staff presented draft retained‑elements (façade‑retention) design guidelines that would sit atop the Urban Design Guidelines and provide tests for public benefit, volumetric relationships, materials, and ground‑floor activation; commissioners broadly praised the draft and asked for clarity on applicability and mitigation pathways.
Planning Department staff presented a draft set of retained‑elements design guidelines intended to guide projects that retain portions of existing buildings as part of larger new development. The guidelines are framed as a special‑topic layer above the city’s Urban Design Guidelines and are not intended to replace historic design guidance for formally designated resources.
Tim Frey introduced the item and noted the topic has been discussed at the Historic Preservation Commission since 2015; staff worked with San Francisco Heritage and produced examples from local and out‑of‑town projects to illustrate outcomes and pitfalls. “We should be giving the public stronger direction on what would constitute a successful project retaining certain elements of a property,” Frey said.
Maya Small of the planning department…
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