Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Discretionary Review topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission continues discretionary review of proposed 12-unit project at 1900 Mission after community concerns
Summary
The commission accepted a discretionary review request (Doctor) for a 12-unit, seven-story project at 1900 Mission Street after neighbors and community groups raised cumulative displacement, design, and ground-floor use concerns. Commissioners directed design revisions and continued the review to April 13.
The Planning Commission accepted and then continued a discretionary review request Feb. 23 for a proposed seven-story, 12-unit mixed-use project at 1900 Mission Street. The applicant seeks to replace an existing automotive repair shop with a seven-story, 12-unit residential building with ground-floor retail and a basement garage-level service area removed; the sponsor revised an earlier proposal to add units and include a permanently affordable two-bedroom unit on-site.
Mission-based groups, including the Mission Economic Development Agency and allied tenant organizations, filed the Doctor and spoke at the hearing, saying the site sits in a corridor experiencing a wave of development and that the cumulative impact of many small projects can accelerate displacement and retail turnover. They urged the commission to use its discretionary authority to seek a larger set of community benefits, stronger affordable-housing contributions, and retention or relocation support for the auto shop's workers.
The Planning Department recommended the commission deny discretionary review and approve the permit in its current form, noting the project meets zoning (NCT) standards, removes a nonconforming use, provides an on-site affordable unit, eliminates on-site parking to support transit-first policy, and gained an earlier rear-yard variance. The project sponsor described outreach and design iterations, removal of parking, addition of small units and a mission-serving retail frontage, and a letter-of-intent with a local business (a juice bar) to operate the ground floor and hire neighborhood youth.
Commissioners raised design concerns about light wells and roof-deck geometry that could reduce light to an adjacent Edwardian building, asked for facade and material revisions to make the building more contextual and less fully glazed, requested a clear approach to the ADA unit and mezzanine retail layout, and asked staff and the sponsor to eliminate any roof-deck penetration that would block a matching light well. The commission continued the discretionary review with direction to return with revised plans on April 13, focusing on: a full matching light well, pulled-back roof decks and reduced penthouse massing, clarified ADA unit and retail/mezzanine details, and material/fenestration adjustments to reduce excessive glazing.
