Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Planning Commission reviews Academy of Art existing-sites memo amid neighborhood outrage over conversions
Summary
Planning staff presented an existing-sites technical memorandum (ESTM) on May 19, 2016 that evaluates 34 Academy of Art University properties and recommends preliminary disapproval for 11 sites; public speakers accused the university of years of illegal conversions and called for enforcement, new housing construction, and stronger mitigation. The Commission asked staff to return with the EIR certification and focused analyses in July.
Planning staff presented a comprehensive Existing Sites Technical Memorandum (ESTM) for the Academy of Art University (AAU) on May 19 and outlined preliminary policy recommendations for the 34 existing sites the department reviewed. The ESTM analyzes past unpermitted conversions, recommends conditions of approval and transportation-demand measures, and identifies 11 sites where staff is currently inclined to recommend disapproval of legalization requests.
Staff said enforcement actions are already underway: the zoning administrator issued notice-of-violation and penalty decisions for 22 properties that AAU has appealed; failure to publish environmental responses by July 1 could trigger penalties that staff summarized on the record. Chelsea Fordham (Planning Department coordinator for the ESTM) explained the ESTM’s scope: it assesses environmental effects of past nonpermitted work, recommends conditions (historic preservation repairs, window and awning…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
