Planning Commission reviews Eastern Neighborhoods rezoning, inclusionary proposals and PDR protections

Planning Department staff presented a detailed rezoning proposal for the Eastern Neighborhoods at a special San Francisco Planning Commission meeting Sept. 6, 2007, outlining new residential, PDR and mixed‑use districts alongside proposed affordable‑housing requirements and parking and bedroom‑mix controls. Ken Rich, senior planning staff, told the commission the presentation would cover zoning, proposed heights and urban‑design policies and follow a schedule that aims to release draft area plans in October and bring formal actions to the commission in December and January.

The staff proposal retains a substantial portion of the city’s industrially zoned land as PDR while allowing other parcels to convert to mixed use. Rich said the department’s analysis began from roughly 1,900 acres of industrially zoned land and that option B of staff’s framework would retain about 1,500 acres of PDR while allowing housing and mixed uses on the remainder. Jennifer Matz of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development told the commission that PDR businesses “provide good jobs, that average above average salaries at every education level,” and that the mayor’s office is pursuing targeted retention and outreach through an industrial retention manager.

Key proposed controls

Staff proposed replacing…