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Supervisors advance ordinance to ban laboratory uses, add 'biotechnology' to code definition; planning commission had opposed
Summary
The Land Use and Transportation Committee voted 2–1 to forward an ordinance that would expand the definition of 'laboratory' to include biotechnology and prohibit labs in the urban mixed‑use (UMU) district; the Planning Department and life‑science industry urged disapproval, while neighborhood groups supported the change to protect mixed‑use vibrancy.
Supervisor Dean Walton introduced an ordinance the committee forwarded to the full Board on Dec. 9, 2024 that would amend the Planning Code to explicitly include biotechnology in the definition of laboratory uses and make laboratory uses not permitted in the UMU (urban mixed use) zoning district.
The proposal, Walton said, aims to protect mixed‑use neighborhoods such as Dogpatch and Potrero Hill from what he described as daytime‑only 'dead zones' created when laboratory employees leave at 5 p.m. "This lack of nighttime vibrancy can be detrimental to the social and economic fabric of a community," Walton said during his presentation. He also said staff would seek an exemption for projects with pending entitlements such as 700 Indiana.
The P…
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