Planning staff ask commissioners to deny Van Ness Care Center permit after inspection finds lost care units

Planning staff told the San Francisco Planning Commission May 17 that a building‑permit application to legalize unpermitted work at 1015–1033 Van Ness Avenue would improperly reduce specialized residential‑care capacity at the site and should be denied.

The planning department reported a June 2017 inspection — conducted with MOCD and the Department of Building Inspection — that documented new interior partitions, merged units and conversions that reduced the facilityfrom the originally approved 122 residential care units to 105 care units, a shortfall relative to the disposition and development agreement (DDA) requirement for 112 care units and a contractual obligation to reserve 25 affordable care units.

Mike McClune of the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development said MOCD has pursued the matter as an asset‑management and contract‑compliance issue: the agency issued a notice of default and, after the breach went uncured, filed a complaint seeking injunctive relief. Project representatives asked the commission for a continuance but staff said the sponsor had not followed the formal continuance procedure.

After public testimony from aging‑and‑disability advocates urging protection of care units, Commissioner Melgar moved to deny the building‑permit legalization and the commission voted unanimously to do so. In findings and directions, staff said any permit that would result in a breach of the DDA should be denied unless the property owner works with MOCD to amend the DDA and demonstrate how affordable care units will be restored or replaced.