Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Affordable Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
After heated public debate, Planning Commission certifies EIR and approves Booker T. Washington community center and affordable housing project
Summary
The commission certified the final EIR and approved rezoning and a plan-unit development to rebuild the Booker T. Washington Community Center with a new community center, gym and up to 50 affordable units (24 set aside for transition-age youth). The decision followed extensive public testimony both supporting the project's social goals and urging reduced height, with the commission instructing staff to work on final design and mitigation conditions.
The Planning Commission on April 28 certified the final environmental impact report (EIR) and approved zoning and conditional-use entitlements for the Booker T. Washington Community Center mixed-use project at 800 Presidio Avenue.
Staff framed the proposal as demolition of the existing 12,000 sq ft community center and construction of a new facility including a gymnasium and up to 50 housing units, 24 of which would be set aside for transition-age youth (youth aging out of foster care). The project includes 21 parking spaces in a basement garage and would require a height exception under a new Presidio-Sutter Special Use District (SUD) to allow up to 55 feet where 40 feet currently applies.
Pat Scott, executive director of Booker T. Washington, and partners (John Stewart Company as affordable-housing developer and First Place for Youth as supportive-services partner) presented the project’s social objectives. Pat Scott emphasized the center’s historic role and need for on-site housing and supports for youth transitioning out of foster care. First Place for Youth and youth advocates described the program’s outcomes and urged approval.
Hundreds of residents and neighborhood groups testified. Supporters included youth-service providers, former users of Booker T., and affordable-housing advocates; opponents and nearby homeowners expressed concerns about scale, shadows, noise from a larger gym, parking pressure and the building’s visual fit on a low-rise block. Several commissioners and the public referenced an alternative compromise negotiated by Supervisor Mark Farrell that would slightly reduce the top floor; some neighborhood organizations indicated they would not oppose that compromise.
The commission first certified the EIR, finding that revisions in the final document did not require recirculation, and that unavoidable impacts (including historic-resource impacts related to demolition of the existing community center) would require a statement of overriding considerations if the project were approved. On motions to adopt the SUD text/map amendments and to grant conditional-use/PUD approval, the commission approved the project with CEQA findings, a mitigation monitoring program and instructions that sponsors continue to work with staff on final design materials and measures to reduce visual and noise impacts. The combined action passed 5–1 with one commissioner voting no on the package.
The approval commits the city and sponsors to advance supportive housing for transition-age youth and to finalize design details and mitigation measures in the permit phase.
