Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use And Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board of Appeals continues Empress of China appeal to allow community outreach and talks
Summary
The board continued the appeal over whether the Empress of China's Fifth Floor banquet use was abandoned to Jan. 27 so the project sponsor and community can pursue outreach and report back; commissioners debated legal consequences if the appeal were granted.
The Board of Appeals voted on Dec. 16 to continue an appeal about 838 Grant Ave (the Empress of China) to Jan. 27 to give the project sponsor and community one more opportunity to meet and report back on outreach and possible agreements over the Fifth Floor banquet use.
The appeal, filed by Malcolm Young, challenges a zoning administrator letter of determination that the Fifth and Sixth Floors function together as one restaurant/banquet use. Appellant counsel argued the Fifth Floor has been abandoned and that documents submitted to the record do not show sufficient concrete work or use to prevent abandonment under Planning Code §183A. The property owner’s counsel and planning/DBI staff said permits (including a October 2017 tenant-improvement permit) were pulled within the three‑year window and a site visit by Planning and DBI reinforced the zoning administrator’s finding that the two floors operate together.
A large number of community organizations and leaders — including the Chinese Culture Center, the Chinese Historical Society and neighborhood advocates — urged the board to grant the appeal or otherwise preserve community access to a remaining banquet hall in Chinatown, saying the space is culturally and economically important and that COVID‑era shutdowns make the future of affordable community banquet space uncertain.
Commissioners debated legal vs. equity considerations: several members said the law and administrative precedent favor the zoning administrator’s determination (and warned that finding abandonment would remove the nonconforming banquet-use entitlement unless the Board of Supervisors and mayor enacted legislation), while others emphasized the community impact and urged a path toward negotiations. Vice President Daryl Honda initially moved to grant the appeal (to create leverage for community negotiation) but ultimately changed the motion to a continuance to Jan. 27, asking the parties to meet and submit a one‑page letter summarizing discussions a week before the hearing. The motion carried; the board specified that if the parties reach a written compromise they should notify the board before the continued hearing and that each party would have three minutes to summarize any outcome at the Jan. 27 hearing if no withdrawal is filed.
The continuation preserves the status quo — the zoning administrator’s determination remains in place pending further action — and gives community organizations a structured chance to pursue written agreements with the project sponsor without immediately triggering the legal consequences that a finding of abandonment would carry.
