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Planning staff proposes citywide policy to curb garage additions to older buildings
Summary
Planning staff presented a citywide policy to standardize review of garage additions to existing buildings, identifying factors that would weigh toward approval or disapproval, and invited MTA and DPW coordination; community groups urged clearer standards, mandatory neighbor notice, and stronger preservation protections.
Planning Department staff told the San Francisco Planning Commission on Dec. 17 that it will bring a draft citywide policy for reviewing proposals to add new garages to existing buildings. Anne Marie Rogers, the department—s presenter, said the measure is meant to provide consistent review tools across neighborhoods and to help the department and the Commission respond to Supervisor Carmen Chu—s ordinance proposal.
The policy as presented would not ban garage additions outright, but would list factors that “strongly contribute toward disapproval,” including the loss of an existing dwelling unit, demonstrable adverse impacts on a historic resource, proposals that require an encroachment permit where sidewalks are narrower than nine feet, or projects that make sidewalks inaccessible to people with disabilities. Lesser factors that would count against approval include proposals that replace public on-street parking with private off-street spaces. Factors favoring approval included minimal loss of on-street parking, consistency with the General Plan and Transit-First policy, garage openings no greater than eight feet, and provision of streetscape or tree-planting improvements.
The Municipal Transportation Agency and the Department of Public Works attended and expressed willingness to coordinate. MTA Senior Engineer Ricardo Olalla said the agency is interested in reviewing private proposals when they affect transit or safety but would need to be compensated for staff time. Barbara Moyer of DPW—s Bureau of Urban Forestry asked that coordination on street trees and encroachment permits be built into the policy review process.
Neighborhood and preservation groups urged stronger language and clearer procedures. Tom Radulovich of Livable City said the draft creates ambiguity about how factors will be weighted and urged mandatory 30-day neighbor notice for garage-addition proposals. Robin Levitt and other public commenters said the policy should be more explicit about corner setbacks and potential negative effects on walkability, and suggested examples and illustrations to show what would be allowed. Several commissioners asked staff to provide more concrete forms or checklists for front-line staff and applicants so the public can understand the likely outcome in advance.
Staff said the policy would be discretionary, applied only to existing buildings, and would not automatically trigger an ordinance; staff proposed to refine the draft after public comment and return it to the Commission prior to any action on Supervisor Chu—s ordinance. Commissioners urged additional outreach to neighborhood merchants, construction firms that commonly build garages, and the Historic Preservation Commission before the policy returns for formal consideration.
