Commission adopts intent to approve Bank of the West branch with neighborhood conditions and a 5-year formula-retail restriction
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Summary
Planning staff supported a conditional-use approval for a Bank of the West branch at 2299 Market Street after the bank and neighborhood groups agreed to carve three small retail spaces and a five-year restriction on formula retail in those carve-outs; the commission took an intent-to-approve and scheduled final action for Oct. 4.
The Planning Commission took an intent-to-approve action on a conditional-use request for a Bank of the West branch at 2299 Market Street, following a negotiated agreement with neighborhood groups to reserve three smaller storefronts facing Noe Street and to restrict formula retail in those spaces for five years.
Planning staff described the site as an irregular, non-rectangular storefront that the department had initially been cautious about approving at more than the 3,000-square-foot typical neighborhood-commercial limit. Sponsor counsel said the configuration makes conventional retail programming difficult and that the request exceeded the 3,000-square-foot limit by only about 300 square feet; the sponsor agreed to carve smaller spaces and to a neighborhood condition that those three spaces not be leased to formula retail for five years.
Neighborhood associations (DTNA and EVNA) supported the compromise with two principal conditions: that the five-year restriction be triggered by the building's certificate of final occupancy (the neighborhood's preferred start date) and that final signage be coordinated with the neighborhood and reviewed by staff. Planning staff noted limits on discretionary control over sign copy under the First Amendment but said size and height can be enforced; the commission discussed using a temporary certificate of occupancy as a workable trigger if final certificate timing is uncertain.
The commission voted to take an intent-to-approve the conditional use on those terms and asked staff to return with a final motion on October 4.
Why it matters: The decision balances neighborhood goals for smaller ground-floor retail and livability with a bank tenant that proponents say will occupy a long-vacant site; the five-year formula-retail restriction and the carved retail bays are intended to encourage local, smaller businesses during the building's early years.
Next steps: Planning staff to prepare final motion for Oct. 4 that records the carve-out, the five-year restriction start date (certificate-of-occupancy or temporary CO per the commission's direction), and signage coordination.
