SAN FRANCISCO
PLANNING COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Commission Chambers - Room 400
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Thursday, November 1, 2012
12:00 PM
Regular Meeting
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Borden, Hillis
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY PRESIDENT FONG AT 12:05 PM.
STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: John Rahaim – Director of Planning, Anmarie Rodgers, Corey Teague, Kirsten Dischinger, and Jonas P. Ionin – Acting Commission Secretary.
A. CONSIDERATION OF ITEMS PROPOSED FOR CONTINUANCE
The Commission will consider a request for continuance to a later date. The Commission may choose to continue the item to the date proposed below, to continue the item to another date, or to hear the item on this calendar.
1. 2011.0430E (D. LEWIS: (415) 575-9095)
480 POTRERO AVENUE - northwest corner of Potrero Avenue and Mariposa Street; Lot 2C in Assessor’s Block 3973 - Appeal of a Preliminary Mitigated Negative Declaration - The proposed project involves construction of a six-story, 58-foot-tall, residential building approximately 89,600 square feet in size on a vacant lot. The building would contain 84 residential units (26 one-bedroom and 58 two-bedroom) and 38 parking spaces in a one-level basement parking garage accessed from Mariposa Street. The project site is within the Urban Mixed Use Zoning District, a 58-X Height and Bulk District, and in the Mission Area Plan area of the Eastern Neighborhoods. (LEWIS)
Preliminary Recommendation: Uphold the Preliminary Mitigated Negative Declaration
(Proposed for Continuance to January 17, 2013)
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Continued as proposed
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden, Hillis
B. CONSENT CALENDAR
All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Calendar, are considered to be routine by the Planning Commission, and will be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission, the public, or staff so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Calendar and considered as a separate item at this or a future hearing
2a. 2012.1046BC (C. TEAGUE: (415) 575-9081)
1550 BRYANT STREET - between Division Street and 15th Street; Lot 006 in Assessor’s Block 3923 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization pursuant to Planning Code Sections 181(i) and 303 to enlarge the existing 80,000 gross square feet of legal nonconforming office use in the building by an additional 15,646 gross square feet of office space in a PDR-1-G (Production, Distribution, and Repair - General) Zoning District and 68-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with conditions
(Continued from Regular Meeting of October 25, 2012)
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved with Conditions
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden, Hillis
MOTION: 18731
2b. 2012.1046BC (C. TEAGUE: (415) 575-9081)
1550 BRYANT STREET - between Division Street and 15th Street; Lot 006 in Assessor’s Block 3923 - Request for Office Development Authorization pursuant to Planning Code Sections 179.1, 321, and 322 to establish 108,399 gross square feet of legal office use in a PDR-1-G (Production, Distribution, and Repair - General) Zoning District and 68-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with conditions
(Continued from Regular Meeting of October 25, 2012)
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved with Conditions
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden, Hillis
MOTION: 18732
C. COMMISSIONERS’ QUESTIONS AND MATTERS
Adoption of Commission Minutes – Charter Section 4.104 requires all commissioners to vote yes or no on all matters unless that commissioner is excused by a vote of the Commission. Commissioners may not be automatically excluded from a vote on the minutes because they did not attend the meeting.
3. Consideration of Adoption:
· Draft Minutes of Special Meeting of October 11, 2012, as corrected
· Draft Minutes of Regular Meeting of October 18, 2012
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved with corrections to the Special Meeting of October 11, 2012
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden, Hillis
4. Commission Comments/Questions
· Inquiries/Announcements. Without discussion, at this time Commissioners may make announcements or inquiries of staff regarding various matters of interest to the Commissioner(s).
· Future Meetings/Agendas. At this time, the Commission may discuss and take action to set the date of a Special Meeting and/or determine those items that could be placed on the agenda of the next meeting and other future meetings of the Planning Commission.
Commissioner Antonini:
First of all, happy to report that the Subcommittee for the Commissions Secretary search has been meeting in smaller groups, and I think we are moving closer to a situation where we may be seeing a job application issued, thanks to the cooperation of the Department of Human Resources and others. We will continue meeting, and the Subcommittee will be meeting in another week to continue the process. You get out what you put into it and we feel that we've put in the necessary hours to make sure the product that comes out will help us to try to find as close a replacement as we can for Linda, which is a very difficult thing to do, but we want it to be as good as it possibly can be.
On another subject, I think we were all really thrilled by the Giants' win and the parade yesterday, and I had the good fortune to see the entire thing. I thought some of the remarks by some of the speakers, players and others, rose above what you usually get. I was particularly impressed by the remarks of Manager Bruce Bochy. He talked about the life lessons that can be learned from a victory. Perseverance, cooperation, humility are all important lessons. Team members doing things that they don't usually do to help the team win. Starters pitching in middle relief, pitchers being called upon to deliver big hits and sluggers having to bunt and all those sort of things are good lessons for us because sometimes we have to do things in our lives that we're not accustomed to doing and may not be our job, but we have to do the best we can. I was very happy to hear an analogy drawn by Sergio Romo talking about the Giants being a lot like the City of San Francisco. I'm paraphrasing his remarks, but he basically talked about the diverse group that comes from all over the world speaking different languages, but collectively they can do great things. He sort of made an analogy to our City. So, I thought that was really good, and finally, Buster Posy talking about the fact that a win like this is more than just a win, but it has the ability to lift municipal spirits. This theory has been brought forward in the past, but I think there is some validity to that. Certainly the only admonishment is that even though it's fine to live vicariously through the team, it never gives anyone the license to destroy property or assault someone just because there's been a victory. We don't want to be classified with some of the things that have been said about some cities in the past where they have riots whether they win or lose. Glad yesterday seemed to go very well from what I've heard as far as that was concerned. So, it's great to win, but it's even greater to see good things come out of it for the entire City.
Commissioner Moore:
As a follow-up to what Commissioner Antonini was saying, the City looked extremely photogenic in general when you see the area photo of the Civic Center area. When you looked, literally everyone was wearing black and orange, overall it was spectacular. So, I think everybody who participated made it happening. We all can pat each other on the shoulder that this came about in a wonderful way.
D. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
5. Director’s Announcements
Director Rahaim:
I ask just wanted to thank those of you who attended the Board hearing on Tuesday in honor of Linda Avery-Herbert. It was a resolution that was proposed by Supervisor Olague to honor Linda for her 32 years of service and named Tuesday as Linda Avery-Herbert Day in the City. Several staff attended as well and I think it was an appropriate honor for Linda for all of her service to the City. So, thank you all for attending
6. Review of Past Week’s Events at the Board of Supervisors, Board of Appeals, and Historic Preservation Commission.
LAND USE COMMITTEE:
- 120816 Admin Code: Port Pre-Payment of Jobs-Housing Linkage. This is a proposed Ordinance that would amend the Administrative Code to encourage the development of affordable housing on Port properties. The Planning Commission did not hold a hearing on this item, but instead requested an informational memo. This week staff from the legislative sponsor, Supervisor Kim, explained with City staff that this ordinance would allow the Port & MOH to enter an MOU whereby the Port would receive credits towards their obligations to pay the Jobs-Housing Linkage Fee in exchange for sale/lease of port property to MOH that is under market rate and where affordable housing would be developed on the site.
- 120059 Hearing: Octavia Blvd Project & Ancillary Projects (not staffed)
- 120894 Hearing: City Car-Sharing Programs. The Director of MTA made a presentation about the importance of car-sharing as a part of the City’s Transit-First program. Also in attendance at the hearing was the Director of the Environment and some of the local car-sharing organizations. The presentation covered the Transportation Code definition of car-sharing, the benefits of car-sharing; and the fact that it’s largely a private-sector form of transportation that does not require city financing. That said, SFMTA said that the City can help by making parking available for this use: both on-street and off-street. As presented the off-street spaces don’t always match the demand. There are 281, 000 on-street spaces and SFMTA has started an on-street pilot program. They found that in some places, people illegally parked in the on-street space and that taking street space for this use can sometimes be contentious. SFMTA will be expanding this program in the coming year in an equitable manner.
FULL BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
- Supervisor Olague’s other Ordinance that would amend the Administrative Code to ensure the “Right to Return to Revitalized Public Housing” was also heard on Tuesday. The Planning Commission heard this item on Sept 27. Since your hearing the Supervisor continued to work with City agencies. This week the ordinance was unanimously approved on FINAL reading.
- Supervisor Olague’s ordinance requiring Housing Production and Reports Ordinance was again continued. This time it was continued to November 20, 2012.
- The Board heard the POPOS Signage Ordinance, sponsored by Supervisor Chiu. This item was heard and approved with modifications by this Commission on June 7th. Supervisor Chiu adopted all Planning Commission’s modifications. After the Planning Commission hearing, the Supervisor’s Office and Planning Staff worked closely with MOD staff to make sure that the ZA bulletin’s dimension and graphic requirements reflect the ADA standards. This week the Board passed the Ordinance on First Reading.
- The Housing Trust Fund Monitoring Ordinance, sponsored by Supervisor Chiu was heard next. This Commission approved this item with modifications two weeks ago. Supervisor Chiu adopted all of the Commission modifications. Mayor’s Office of Housing proposed another modification asking that the monitoring reports also evaluate programs that provide assistance to household earning 120% or more of AMI to capture a HTF program that provides assistance to this income category. The Board approved the Ordinance with Planning Commission and Mayor’s office of Housing’s modifications on first reading.
- Next up was an Ordinance that grew out of Supervisor Chiu’s NE Legislation. This part is now titled “Limited Commercial uses in RTO-Mission”. This Ordinance would expand the allowable floor area for Limited Corner Commercial Uses, or LCCUs, from 1200 sq. ft. to 2500 sq. ft. and to allow them within 100’ of a corner instead of 50’ from a corner within RTO-M Districts. The Board already voted to expand this provision in the RM-3 and RM-4 Districts, and that change has been made in the Planning Code, however there was a desire by one of the cosponsor of the legislation, Supervisor Campos, to expand the provision to include Mission RTO District. This week the Ordinance was passed on first reading.
- The Board honored a few folks including the SF Poet Laureate, the Junior Welterweight Champion and Linda Avery-Herbert, for her 30+ years of service to the City. Tuesday was also proclaimed Linda Avery-Herbert day. The HPC and PC Commission president, the Director and other commissioners (though not a quorum) attend the event.
INTRODUCTIONS:
This week:
- 121065 Polk Street Alcohol and Tobacco Paraphernalia Restricts. This proposed Ordinance would amend the Planning Code to extend the restriction on Tobacco Paraphernalia Establishments in the Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District (NCD) for an additional three years and apply it to an area within one-quarter mile of the boundaries of the NCD. It would also establish the Lower Polk Street Alcohol Restricted Use District for the properties located on Polk Street between California and O’Farrell Streets, and associated side streets.
BOARD OF APPEALS
No meeting
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION:
No meeting
E. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT – 15 MINUTES
At this time, members of the public may address the Commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission except agenda items. With respect to agenda items, your opportunity to address the Commission will be afforded when the item is reached in the meeting. Each member of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes.
SPEAKERS: Christy Lefster, Dino Adelfio, Linda Chapman
F. REGULAR CALENDAR
7. (C. TEAGUE: (415) 575-9081)
WESTERN SOMA COMMUNITY PLAN - Informational presentation - including background information about the impetus for the plan, the process in which it was developed, and the key principles included in the Plan. A timeline for future informational presentations and public hearings will also be discussed.
SPEAKERS: Jim Meko, Peter Cohen, Chris Schaffer, Toby Levy, Tom Radulovich, John Eberling, Paul Wermer, Bernadette Ziam, Sue Hestor
ACTION: Informational. No action required
8. (K. DISCHINGER: (415) 558-6284)
AREA PLAN IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE AND INTER-DEPARTMENT PLAN IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE (IPIC) REPORT - Informational presentation on the activities of the Department's Plan Implementation Group, including overview of progress toward funding infrastructure projects called for in adopted area plans and coordination with CACs (Citizens Advisory Committee). Presentation of 2012 Inter-Department Plan Implementation Committee (IPIC) Report, which includes capital planning accomplishments and recommendations for each plan area.
SPEAKERS: Tom Radulovich, Sue Hestor
ACTION: Informational. No action required
G. PUBLIC COMMENT
At this time, members of the public may address the Commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission except agenda items. With respect to agenda items, your opportunity to address the Commission will be afforded when the item is reached in the meeting with one exception. When the agenda item has already been reviewed in a public hearing at which members of the public were allowed to testify and the Commission has closed the public hearing, your opportunity to address the Commission must be exercised during the Public Comment portion of the Calendar. Each member of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes.
The Brown Act forbids a commission from taking action or discussing any item not appearing on the posted agenda, including those items raised at public comment. In response to public comment, the commission is limited to:
(1) responding to statements made or questions posed by members of the public; or
(2) requesting staff to report back on a matter at a subsequent meeting; or
(3) directing staff to place the item on a future agenda. (Government Code Section 54954.2(a))
SPEAKERS: Sue Hestor
Adjournment: 2:55 PM
Adopted on November 29, 2012
