Planning commission signals intent to certify Market and Octavia EIR amid preservation and housing disputes

The San Francisco Planning Commission voted to register its intent to certify the final environmental impact report (EIR) for the Market and Octavia Neighborhood Plan and to move forward with related general plan and zoning amendments, signaling a 4–1 outcome on a nonbinding motion of intent.

Planning department staff recommended certification, saying the draft EIR, the comments-and-responses document and subsequent edits together constitute a final EIR adequate for a program-level decision. "The draft EIR for the project was published on 06/25/2005 ... the comments and responses document was published and circulated on 09/26/2006," Planning Department staffer Rana Amadi told commissioners during her presentation of the recommendation. She also identified two significant unavoidable, program-level impacts — shadows and traffic — that would require a statement of overriding considerations if the commission approves the plan.

The hearing focused on three recurring public concerns. Preservation advocates, including the Landmarks Board and allied neighborhood groups, urged the commission to postpone certification until an ongoing historic-resource survey is complete and its DPR forms incorporated into the EIR. "If the department had done its work right,…