Planning staff lays out 18-month work plan for Central Corridor, flags displacement and Flower Mart as priorities

Planning Department staff presented an update on the Central Corridor Plan on June 20, saying the project has entered Phase 2, an 18-month period that will run the environmental review and refine policy details. Joshua Switzky told the Planning Commission the draft plan published in April will now be analyzed in depth, with staff developing policy working papers and public workshops on topics including land use (transferable development rights and the office/residential mix), neighborhood-serving uses and commercial-displacement strategies, parcel consolidation limits, and design guidelines for major development sites such as the Flower Mart.

Switzky said the EIR notice of preparation has been published and the environmental review will likely require about a year before a draft is released; in the meantime staff intends to keep issues "on the front burner" by seeking technical input and community feedback on topics that need more detail than the Phase 1 vision provided.

Commissioners pressed staff about several priorities: Commissioner Hillis asked whether an approach to limiting parcel consolidation had been drafted; Switzky said the plan proposes, at minimum, a conditional-use process with specific design criteria but that detailed mechanisms remain to be developed in collaboration with stakeholders. Commissioners also emphasized pedestrian conditions around Moscone and Caltrain/King Street, calling for coordination with the Moscone expansion EIR. Several commissioners and public speakers urged staff to develop a mid-range zoning alternative between existing zoning and the high-end proposals, arguing the plan should model demand and avoid overbuilding office capacity at the expense of other citywide public projects.

Public commenters raised concerns about the plan’s office floor-area assumptions and commercial-displacement risks. John Elberling (Taco Group) urged staff to include an explicit mid-range alternative that limits total new office supply; other speakers called for the EIR to include an analysis of small-business displacement and options to mitigate it. Switzky acknowledged these concerns, noting staff will explore displacement strategies and geographic allocation of impact fees as part of implementation work.

Staff described additional parallel tasks that will inform the plan: work with the Port and other agencies on sea-level rise and climate adaptation for low-lying areas, coordination on streets and circulation proposals with MTA, and engagement with a separate EcoDistrict task force. The department said it will publish a series of policy working papers, convene focused public meetings, and develop implementation measures and ordinances that will be brought back to the commission as the EIR and Phase 3 steps proceed.