Mandelman pushes changes to Upper Market and NCT3 to ease storefront vacancies; liquor‑store and formula‑retail controls proposed

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman told the committee July 8 that Upper Market and the NCT3 corridor face rising retail vacancies and that zoning tweaks can make it easier for neighborhood‑serving businesses to open. His ordinance would principally permit arts activities on ground floors, allow liquor stores selling only wine and beer on ground floors with a Type 20 ABC license under operating conditions (lighting, cleanliness, signage) and apply formula‑retail controls to some ground‑floor health‑service uses while exempting licensed community or free clinics.

Mandelman cited a Budget and Legislative Analyst report showing vacancies in parts of Upper Market rose from about 8.5% to 12.9% from 2015 to 2017 and said permitting delays and restrictive conditional‑use processes were contributing factors. Planning staff and the Planning Commission generally aligned with the approach and proposed technical modifications; Mandelman offered several amendments to reflect Planning’s and community feedback, including removal of a redundant 'philanthropic administrative services' use type and aligning sidewalk‑cleanliness requirements with North‑of‑Market standards.

Tom Radulovich of Livable City urged the committee to adopt the changes to help revitalize storefronts; Planning Department staff again described the Commission’s suggested modifications for liquor‑store standards and other table changes. The committee accepted the sponsor’s amendments (with a minor deletion) and continued the item to July 15 for final action.

Next step: staff will incorporate Planning Commission changes and the sponsor’s amendments and return the item to committee on July 15.