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Commission adopts broad zoning changes on FAR, parking and signs with amendment to bar large advertising in Venice district
Summary
After public comment and debate, the Planning Commission approved a package of planning code amendments clarifying gross floor area, adding public open-space requirements for retail in C3, removing some parking minimums in transit-oriented and RC districts, and limiting animated signage; commissioners added an amendment to prohibit general advertising billboards in the Venice special sign district.
The Planning Commission considered a wide package of proposed planning-code and map amendments on May 10 that touch on floor‑area calculations, public open‑space, parking policy in transit‑oriented areas, Transportation Demand Management, Zoning Administrator authority, and sign‑district changes for Venice and Van Ness corridors.
Key provisions approved or advanced by the commission: • FAR / Gross floor area clarifications for accessory parking and loading in some C3 districts and a proposal to control density by height/bulk rather than lot area in C3 districts. • Publicly accessible open space requirements added for retail‑dominant buildings in C3. • Parking policy: staff and Supervisor Chiu’s letter proposed eliminating minimum parking requirements for several RC/transit districts and setting permitted maximums instead (examples: 0.375–0.5 spaces/unit depending on subdistrict). The commission favored eliminating many minimums but debated appropriate maximums and grandfathering for projects already in pipeline. • Chinatown, North Beach and Broadway: remove minimum nonresidential parking requirements and add maximums consistent with transit‑oriented policy. • Expanded TDM and Zoning Administrator authority to waive exposure, parking and loading requirements in constrained circumstances (protected pedestrian/transit frontages) and credit off‑site public open space toward residential open‑space requirements. • Venice Special Sign District: staff recommended against wholesale deletion of the Venice sign district and instead advised targeted changes. Commissioners added a specific amendment banning new general advertising (large billboards) in the Venice sign district and asked staff to study other Venice sign changes further.
Public commenters urged removal of onerous parking minimums in transit zones (supporters pointed to transit-rich areas), while neighborhood and project proponents raised concerns about permitting sufficient parking for family housing, and about fair treatment of projects in the entitlement pipeline. Commissioners settled on staff recommendations with the billboard ban amendment; the package (as amended) passed (motion recorded: approval with amendment to ban general advertising signs).
