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Planning Commission grants three-year extension for 201 Folsom entitlement amid EIR concerns
Summary
The commission unanimously approved a three-year extension for the 2003-entitled 201 Folsom/314 Main Street project. Neighborhood groups urged delay, saying the U.S. Postal Service vacancy of adjacent property may alter the project's EIR and parking assumptions; staff and the developer said future design review and return to the commission will be required if conditions change.
The Planning Commission on Sept. 3 voted unanimously to extend the performance period for the previously approved 201 Folsom/314 Main Street project by three years, allowing the project sponsor additional time to assemble financing amid a slow market.
Corey Teague of planning staff summarized the existing entitlements (original approval in 2003 under Motion No. 16647) and told the commission that the department found no new environmental review was required to approve the extension. Carl Shannon of Tishman Speyer told commissioners that the project’s construction cost estimates exceed $700 million and that market conditions require extra time; he reiterated the sponsor’s prior commitments to off-site affordable housing and noted existing obligations such as in-lieu fees.
Speakers from neighborhood groups including the Rincon Hill Residents Association and San Franciscans for Reasonable Growth urged the commission to delay action and consult the U.S. Postal Service after testimony that the USPS planned to vacate the nearby 226 Harrison post office. Petitioners argued that the loss of postal operations would eliminate hundreds of parking spaces and change traffic and circulation assumptions in the project’s certified EIR, and they asked whether a supplemental EIR is required.
Planning staff said there had been no recent direct contact with the USPS about this specific extension but that staff had previously reviewed potential post-office changes and included provisions in the original motion requiring sponsor return and final design review; the sponsor said it controls the parking-lot parcel through a purchase-and-sale agreement and would bring any substantial redesign back to the commission. Commissioners discussed the legal threshold for reopening CEQA review and whether new facts required additional environmental analysis.
On a motion to approve the extension, the commission voted aye unanimously. Commissioners and staff emphasized that the project remains subject to future design reviews and that if the post office site or other conditions change materially, the commission and staff will re-evaluate conformity with the original approval and environmental documentation.
