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Commission hears Academy of Art master plan as Flower Market sale and dorm conversions spark public outcry
Summary
Planning staff accepted the Academy of Art University’s Institutional Master Plan as meeting reporting requirements but flagged enforcement and building‑permit work needed. Dozens of speakers — including flower‑market vendors, small businesses and neighbors — warned that the Academy’s parcel acquisitions and dorm conversions threaten jobs, neighborhood character and the San Francisco Flower Market.
The Planning Commission held an informational hearing on Dec. 6 on the Academy of Art University’s Institutional Master Plan (IMP), a required summary of the school’s properties, growth projections and foreseeable development. Planning staff told commissioners the IMP met the code’s reporting requirements but said a parallel compliance program is needed because the Academy has a number of nonconforming uses and 14 pending conditional‑use applications.
Scott Sanchez of the Planning Department outlined a four‑phase compliance program that included immediate life‑safety checks, completion of the IMP, the informational hearing and a substantial follow‑up phase to process building permits and conditional uses after the appropriate environmental review. He told the Commission a Notice of Alleged Violation was issued earlier in 2007 and that staff will continue to work with the Academy while reserving the right to issue formal NOVs and pursue enforcement through the city attorney if progress stalls.
Academy counsel Michael Burke said the school had formed a new compliance team, committed to bringing its properties into code compliance and to working with the city; he also highlighted the school’s local hiring, scholarships and a stated contribution to relocate the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Burke said the Academy prefers a dispersed urban campus and argued adaptive reuse of existing buildings preserves resources while providing jobs and training.
The hearing drew strong and sustained neighborhood opposition. Flower Market vendors warned that a proposed sale of the market could displace dozens of family businesses and many employees; Patrick McCann told commissioners the Flower Market is “our livelihood” and said a sale would “adversely affect our businesses.” Neighbors in South Of Market and in Glen Park said the school had moved students into motel and apartment properties without adequate permitting or neighborhood outreach; they described noise, graffiti, safety concerns and a lack of on‑site oversight at some dormitories.
At the same time, students, merchants and civic groups spoke in support of the Academy’s economic role, scholarships and maintenance commitments, and law‑enforcement representatives said the school works with police on campus safety programs.
Next steps: Staff said it will work with the Academy to prioritize the processing of building permits that address life‑safety and immediate code compliance, begin environmental review for the Academy’s consolidated application and bring conditional‑use requests before the Commission. Commissioners asked for clearer maps and a more specific near/mid/long‑term development plan in a revised IMP and instructed staff to coordinate with the Board of Supervisors and the mayor’s office on any interim controls or moratoriums if warranted.
