Committee backs special-use district to enable new Southeast Community Facility at 1550 Evans

The Transportation Committee moved forward an ordinance to create the 1550 Evans Avenue Special Use District, clearing a key zoning step for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's (SFPUC) planned Southeast Community Facility in Bayview Hunters Point.

Supervisor Tamalia Cohen described the project as a long-promised mitigation measure tied to past Southeast Treatment Plant expansion and expressed support for delivering community benefits including childcare space, public art, meeting rooms, a workforce training building and parking. Planning staff and SFPUC representatives presented a multi-year community engagement effort that included knocking on 2,400 doors, hosting focus groups with 16 Bayview organizations, 20 community events and online outreach; they reported that survey and outreach outcomes strongly favored building a new center at the PUC-owned site, 1550 Evans Avenue.

David Gray, SFPUC deputy director of community benefits, said the current Southeast Treatment Plant processes roughly 80% of the city's combined rainwater and sewage and that the agency concluded renovations at the existing 1800 Oakdale facility would not adequately address programming and building deficiencies. The SFPUC described a phased plan: a community center to be delivered by 2021 and a workforce building to follow. Staff noted Civic Design Review Phase 1 and 2 approvals had been completed. Dozens of Bayview residents and neighborhood leaders gave oral testimony in support, citing lack of green space, historic mitigation promises dating to the 1980s, childcare and workforce needs, and the project's potential to deliver community benefits and jobs.

With no substantive committee opposition recorded and broad public support at the hearing, a supervisor moved to forward the item with a recommendation to the full Board. The committee carried the motion without objection.