Board sides with Planning on 2500 Folsom appeal, adopts planning findings

The Board of Appeals reviewed an appeal concerning 2500 Folsom Street, where the appellant sought to preserve the ability to operate restaurant-style uses (including daytime patio seating and limited late-night hours) and to use a garage area for restaurant storage or deliveries.

Appellant counsel Bert Gladstone urged the board not to prejudge any future alteration-permit applications and asked that the findings not preclude limited daytime patio seating or garage usage for deliveries. Gladstone said his client intended daytime patio seating only (through 2 p.m.) and sought the right to pursue an alteration permit and neighborhood notification if a patio was proposed.

Planning Department staff (Scott Sanchez) told the board that the property most closely fit the Planning Code’s limited commercial use (LCU) rules under section 186 and that an LCU does not permit patio seating at the rear because that would represent an expansion of commercial activity into the required rear yard. Sanchez recommended conditions limiting hours and restricting alcohol license types (to prevent conversion to a full bar), noting the department’s concerns about potential neighborhood impacts from later hours or rear patio use.

After discussion and public questioning about the garage/parking and patio configuration, the board voted to adopt the Planning Department version of findings and conditions by voice roll call (5–0). The findings emphasize limiting hours, restricting certain alcohol license types, and preserving the residential character of surrounding lots; the board recorded that any future alteration permits would be subject to the Planning Department’s review and neighborhood-notification processes.