Board continues 75 Howard planning appeal to Jan. 27 after split vote

The Board of Appeals on Dec. 9 voted to continue the appeal of the Planning Commission’s Section 309 determination for 75 Howard Street to Jan. 27, 2016 after a tie among commissioners on whether to overturn the Planning Commission. The proposal under appeal would build a roughly 20‑story residential tower on a Transit Center District site, and opponents raised objections about rear‑yard exceptions, upper‑tower extensions, added height and shadow impacts on Rincon Park.

Appellant David Osgood and neighborhood speakers argued the project exceeded the area’s 200‑foot height limit, improperly used screening and 10% upper‑tower allowances, failed to preserve a step‑down to the Embarcadero and would cast new shadows on Rincon Park. Project counsel and the architect (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) said the design used setbacks and reduced bulk to achieve a slimmer massing and noted the planning staff and commission concluded the requested exceptions would improve the building form compared with a code‑only alternative; the EIR and OCII findings were discussed at length.

After robust public comment and a long deliberation, a motion to deny the appeal (i.e., uphold the Planning Commission’s 3‑0 decision granting exceptions) produced a 2–2 split among present commissioners, with one commissioner absent; the board voted to continue the item so the full panel could participate on Jan. 27, 2016. Commissioners noted the legal standards for a Section 309 review differ from the standards on variances and asked parties to be prepared to address both sets of findings at the continuation.

The continuance preserves the Planning Commission’s findings pending a full‑panel decision; the board requested clear written findings from both sides on the standards for exceptions, bulk, setbacks and shadow analysis for the January hearing.