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Board upholds Planning Commission on downtown height exceptions for 300 Grant Avenue appeal
Summary
The Board of Appeals denied an appeal challenging Planning Commission exceptions under Section 309 for a proposed downtown building at 300 Grant Avenue, concluding the Commission did not abuse discretion on shadow, transition, and street wall findings; the vote was 4'to—.
San Francisco ' The Board of Appeals on Oct. 1, 2008 denied an appeal of the Planning Commission's Section 309 exceptions for a proposed building at 300 Grant Avenue, upholding the Commission's findings by a 4'to— vote.
Appellant counsel Sue Hester argued the Commission misapplied the term "adjacent" and inadequately analyzed shadow impacts; planning project counsel and staff (Steve Atkinson and Craig Nikkides) defended the Commission's judgment that additional height would not cause "significant" shadows and that the design provided an appropriate street wall and transition. Nikkides said the project is on the north side of the street and any increased shadow impacts would be limited to early morning hours.
Commissioners acknowledged the tension between design goals and conservation district criteria but concluded the record supported the Planning Commission's discretionary findings on height, transition and street wall composition. On the motion to deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission, the board voted 4'to— in favor of upholding the adoption of findings.
