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Committee advances Central SoMa plan with several amendments, defers one key change
Summary
The Land Use Committee moved forward the Central South of Market area plan and accompanying ordinances with 17 of 18 proposed amendments adopted and one (a ground-floor PDR height/affordability trade) deferred for further negotiation. Public commenters urged stronger anti-displacement measures and a supplemental EIR to study ride-hail traffic impacts.
The committee on Oct. 22 advanced the Central South of Market (Central SoMa) plan and related ordinances after Supervisor Jane Kim introduced 18 proposed amendments addressing technical code fixes, transfer-of-development-rights (TDR) calculations, and community-benefit funding. Planning staff and advocates described the package as a comprehensive framework to guide future development in a large part of downtown and adjacent neighborhoods.
Public comment included a request from neighborhood groups for a supplemental environmental impact report to analyze new data on ride-hailing impacts (a report by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority showed ride-hailing was contributing to traffic delays in parts of the city), calls for stronger displacement protections and higher affordable-housing requirements in the Housing Sustainability District, and discussion about funding for restoration of the Old Mint.
Supervisor Kim said she would keep the Old Mint allocation at $15 million (the Planning Commission had recommended $20 million) while continuing negotiations with the Old Mint intermediary and community stakeholders. Several supervisors asked that if committee members wanted to increase the Old Mint allocation they do so at the full Board, or consider modest redistributions across mitigation buckets.
Planning staff noted certain clarifying edits are needed in the implementation documents (implementation schedules and fee tables) so planning can conform the implementation document to the ordinance; staff will make those conforming edits.
One amendment (No. 11), which would have allowed a reduction in required PDR ground-floor floor-to-floor height from 17 to 14 feet in exchange for dedicated land for affordable housing on a specific key site, was deferred for another week to allow the project sponsor and neighborhood groups to continue negotiations. The committee otherwise approved the plan and a set of implementing ordinances as amended and set the package to proceed to the full Board after the continuing technical work.
Next steps: Planning will incorporate conforming edits to the implementation documents and the sponsor will continue negotiations on the deferred amendment; the project returns to Land Use the following week as part of the agreed schedule.
