Supervisor sponsor moves amendments to Geary‑Masonic Special Use District; item continued for one week

Supervisor (Stephanie), sponsor of an ordinance to establish the Geary‑Masonic Special Use District, presented sponsor amendments and a timeline for next steps and public outreach.

Sponsor summary and amendments: "This SUD allows a housing development to go from 21 units to 95 units while the building remains the same size," Supervisor Stephanie said, and described amendments that increase the on‑site affordability rate from 18% to 23%, broken down as 10% at 55% AMI, 5% at 80% AMI, 4% at 110% AMI and 5% at 120% AMI. She also said, on the advice of the city attorney, the findings were revised to require four of the project's 16 parking spaces be reserved for car‑share use.

Staff and neighbor input: Planning staff Chris May summarized the Planning Commission’s conditional approvals (demolition of the existing one‑story building and construction of an eight‑story mixed‑use building with 95 residential units, ~1,700 sq ft ground‑floor commercial space, 16 off‑street parking spaces and 120 bicycle parking spaces) and confirmed the commission’s recommendation to raise the on‑site affordability requirement to 23%. Public commenters from the Laurel Heights Improvement Association, nearby property owners and labor unions testified in support; neighbors thanked staff and the developer for outreach while noting traffic and noticing concerns.

Committee action: The committee moved to adopt the sponsor’s amendments and then to continue the item for one week to finalize the amendments and related paperwork. The motion to amend and to continue carried without objection.

Next steps: The item will return to committee or the Board after the one‑week continuation to complete formal paperwork and any technical changes.