Board Overrules Zoning Administrator on 850 Greenwich, Directs Appellant to Draft Findings

The San Francisco Board of Appeals voted 4–1 to overrule a zoning administrator determination that the commercial use at 850 Greenwich Street had been terminated. The appellant, Gail Elston, presented title‑search materials and an additional letter from a title company arguing that a 1982 notice of termination was recorded under a different name and therefore would not have been found in a conventional title search.

Scott Sanchez of the Planning Department explained the department’s records show a notice of termination and summarized the nonconforming‑use rules: “if a nonconforming use is terminated for a period of 3 years or more, that use is considered abandoned,” he told the board. Planning staff said their survey of city records and the assessor’s data did not establish continuous commercial activity in recent decades.

Neighbors testified they remembered residential use at the site since the 1970s and raised concerns about how any reintroduced retail use would affect the block. Commissioners discussed whether the evidence met the legal tests under sections of the City Planning Code governing termination and limited neighborhood commercial uses (sections discussed in hearing: 183, 185, 186). Several commissioners said they were sympathetic to a narrowly tailored, neighborhood‑serving commercial use such as an art gallery but that findings and permissible conditions would have to be drafted carefully.

Commissioner Holland moved to overrule the zoning administrator with findings to be adopted later; the motion passed 4–1. The board directed that findings be prepared by the winning appellant and submitted to the city attorney for review at least one week before the adoption date; the board set a hearing to review findings on June 20.