San Francisco planning commissioners continue review of large planning-code omnibus amid outreach, parking and Chinatown concerns

The San Francisco Planning Commission on Feb. 9 (date of next hearing not yet finalized in the record) continued consideration of an omnibus set of planning-code amendments introduced from Supervisor David Chu's office, after robust public comment and staff requests for more outreach and technical fixes.

Justin True, representing Supervisor David Chu's office (District 3), told the commission that the sponsor and staff have held multiple meetings with stakeholders but that "there is more outreach needed," and asked the commission to continue the item "one more time" to late January or early February so opponents and affected parties can be consulted further.

The package includes dozens of changes across the planning code, with staff grouping recommendations into clerical fixes, parking changes, clarifications, limited corner commercial uses (LCUs/LCCUs), port and waterfront provisions, and other items. Planning Department staff told the commission they had added two amendments: a clerical correction and a clarified code citation that fixes an incorrect section reference.

Major policy elements that drew public comment include:

- Parking controls: Staff said the ordinance as drafted would prohibit surface parking lots in the C2 district; the department instead recommended allowing surface lots under conditional use so existing lots can continue to operate, and extending temporary-use renewals for nonconforming C3 lots from…