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San Francisco planning and preservation commissioners press for clearer CEQA communication and earlier review of preservation alternatives
Summary
At a joint early‑2019 hearing, members of the Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Commission urged earlier, clearer exchange of alternatives and evidence in CEQA reviews, citing cases where preservation options arrived too late in the EIR process. Staff pledged process changes and to present a citywide survey overview.
Planning and Historic Preservation commissioners met in their first joint hearing of 2019 to press planning staff for clearer, earlier communication on CEQA historic‑resource reviews and preservation alternatives. Commissioners said they often receive preservation analysis and staff letters too late in the EIR process to influence design or alternatives.
The meeting opened with a short technical overview from Allison Van der Sluis of the planning department, who summarized the CEQA historic‑resource review steps: determine whether a property is a historic resource, assess whether a project would cause a significant impact, and, where impacts are significant and unavoidable, prepare an EIR and preservation alternatives. “If the impact on the historical resource is significant and unavoidable, then it will require an EIR and preservation alternatives will be developed,” Van der Sluis said.
Commissioners…
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