Board upholds tentative map for 70‑unit senior housing at 3333 Mission after Bernal Heights appeal

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Feb. 3 voted to approve the Department of Public Works’ tentative parcel map for a 70‑unit, 100% affordable senior housing project at 3333 Mission Street, ending a contentious appeal brought by Coleridge Street neighbors who asked the city to preserve a larger portion of a privately operated park adjacent to the site.

Don Lucchese, who presented the appeal on behalf of neighborhood speakers, said the action was not intended to block affordable housing but to save open space. “This appeal is specifically about rezoning the park parcel to make it larger,” Lucchese said, urging supervisors to seek a negotiated solution that keeps senior units while restoring more park area.

Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center CEO Gina Dacus, the project sponsor, said the site has been closed since 2020 for safety and maintenance reasons and that the redevelopment would reopen and redesign the park while delivering 70 fully affordable senior units. “Our proposal creates an opportunity to redesign the park that is community based and community driven,” Dacus said, adding the plan maintains a public play area and a 1,000‑square‑foot community room.

City staff framed the appeal narrowly around the subdivision map: Elias French, a public works surveyor, told the board that the tentative map adjusts parcel boundaries and met the standards required under the Subdivision Map Act. Audrey Marloney of the Planning Department said the larger SB 35 ministerial review that approved the project’s entitlements limited the city’s ability to require changes to design or unit counts.

Project counsel Lauren Chang told the board the SB 35 approvals were final and that the tentative map is ministerial and time‑barred for further substantive challenges. “This appeal is incompatible with the streamlined ministerial approval process,” Chang said, and asked the board to deny the appeal.

Neighbors, however, said they had not been able to meaningfully influence the design and presented a petition with roughly 360 signatures. Several residents described the park’s role in neighborhood life and pressed for solutions that could retain more green space without eliminating affordable housing.

Supervisor Fielder, who said she met with both sides and tried to broker resolution, moved to approve the public works decision on the tentative map (item 34) and table related motions that would seek disapproval or findings (items 35 and 36). The motion passed by roll call; the clerk recorded 11 ayes and the board approved item 34 and tabled 35 and 36.

The board’s action leaves intact the ministerial entitlements the planning department approved under state law, while leaving open the possibility of later community engagement on park programming and design. The project sponsor and planning staff said BHNC has committed to further community design steps once funding and entitlements are queued for construction.

Next steps: With the tentative map approved, the sponsor will proceed with recordation and the city will track the subsequent funding and design milestones that govern park construction and the housing timeline.