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Planning Commission Reviews Japantown Better Neighborhoods Plan Presentation
Summary
Planning staff and community leaders presented the Japantown Better Neighborhoods Plan: proposed expanded study boundary, historic and cultural preservation survey of ~500 properties, community priorities including a cultural center, small-business retention programs, and consideration of a 400-foot tower at 1481 Post. A December 1 community workshop was announced.
Planning Department staff updated the Planning Commission on the Japantown Better Neighborhoods Plan and community outreach to date.
Ken Rich and project manager Rosie Dudley summarized a multi-phase planning effort that grew from property ownership changes in the Japan Center area, including the sale of mall properties and the Kabuki Theatre. Staff described a preliminary project boundary (reaching from California to Gough and south of Geary down to O'Farrell, with a jog around Rosa Parks Elementary) and the inclusion of several ongoing projects (Japan Center, Geary Bus Rapid Transit, and a proposed 400-foot tower at 1481 Post/1333 Gough) that must be coordinated within the plan.
Staff outlined outreach work led by a 25-person steering committee and the Japantown Task Force: 14 focus groups and an online/bilingual survey yielding more than 600 responses (about 28% in Japanese), plus targeted outreach to Japanese- and Korean-speaking community members. The consultants engaged include preservation specialists (Donna Graves, Jerry Takano), Page & Turnbull, and BMS Design Group for urban design. Rosie Dudley said staff is surveying roughly 500 properties as part of a historic resource and cultural preservation strategy to inform land-use and design recommendations.
Community priorities emerging from the initial phase include maintaining a historic and cultural heart (including a potential museum or cultural center), ensuring space for small businesses and nonprofit institutions, creating mixed-use housing and retail opportunities, design guidelines to address building heights/bulk/shadowing, and financial programs to help small businesses remain in Japantown.
Bob Hamaguchi of the Japantown Task Force described the outreach and public relations program, reporting more than 200 focus-group participants and over 600 survey respondents; the Task Force emphasized bilingual outreach and targeted meetings in Japanese- and Korean-speaking communities.
Commissioners asked staff to confirm that tall-tower proposals (the referenced 400-foot site) would be considered within the Better Neighborhoods process, and staff confirmed rezoning and height questions will be addressed as part of the plan. Staff said the project will proceed through a second phase of analysis and that an early December community workshop (Dec. 1) will present existing-conditions analysis and consultant work.
No vote was required; the presentation was informational and staff will return with further analyses and draft recommendations.
