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Planning staff outlines Central SoMa plan; residents, housing advocates clash over heights, jobs-housing balance
Summary
Planning Department presented the Central SoMa plan on Aug. 31, 2017, proposing increased development capacity, $2 billion in public benefits and a 33% affordable housing target; dozens of residents and advocacy groups urged either stronger protections against displacement or more housing, while some business and developer supporters argued for the plan’s jobs‑orientation. The commission asked staff for more analysis on timing, commute assumptions and public‑benefits delivery.
The San Francisco Planning Department on Thursday outlined the Central South of Market (Central SoMa) plan, describing a strategy to increase development capacity in a transit-rich area and to leverage up to $2 billion in public benefits, including a 33 percent affordable‑housing target and roughly $500 million for transit improvements.
Steve Wertheim, project manager for the Planning Department, told the Commission the plan is meant to absorb regional growth in a way that directs development away from already‑stabilized housing and toward larger key sites where the city can secure public benefits, preserve production‑distribution‑repair (PDR) space, fund open‑space improvements and expand transit. Wertheim said staff would use the city’s SF-CHAMP transportation model to project commute patterns and that…
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