DZLU MEETING DATE: January 19, 2021 (via Zoom)
1.ONGOING PROJECT UPDATES
a. 2424 POLK (at Filbert)–Cannabis Retail
DZLU representatives attended a Pre-Application meeting on 12/22/20. There were approximately 30 attendees. The sponsor anticipates a volume of 200-300 customers per day. As required by the City’s Office of Cannabis and Planning code requirements, the outlet cannot be within 600 feet of a school or another cannabis retail business and must comply with a Good Neighbor Policy, including provisions for security, lighting, ventilation, prohibition of double parking, and many other requirements outlined on their website.
According to the sponsor, this facility will be modeled after their other facility in San Francisco, the Mission Cannabis Club (formerly Shambala) on 2441 Mission St. with high-end finishes and a design similar to that of a contemporary art gallery. As with the Mission facility, this is proposed to also include a smoking and vaping lounge, which is subject to additional permitting and a separate ventilation system and filtration.
A number of pre-application meeting participants spoke favorably about the proposal, citing the Mission facility’s well-controlled operation and good neighbor relations. Several participants expressed concerns about proximity to Galileo High, and compatibility with a neighborhood with a growing number of families and children.
The proposal is subject to Conditional Use approval with a public hearing anticipated for mid-year.
The owner relayed that he welcomes questions and concerns, as well as a visit to the Mission outlet. His contact information is Edwin Galley, egalley@yahoo.com. The city’s Planner assigned to the project is Claudine Asbagh, claudine.asbagh@sfgov.org.
b. 1964 LARKIN (at Broadway) – Greening strip
DPW has approved proceeding with planting in an effort promoted by the RHN Board. The property owner proposes to plant podocarpus, a low-maintenance evergreen hedge to mitigate graffiti and to install a low fence and bark ground cover to deter depositing of litter and pet waste.
2. ONGOING POLICY UPDATES
a. HOUSING–ECONOMIC RECOVERY STRATEGIES BY SF PLANNING
This report was presented to the Planning Commission for information on 12/3/20. Pages 7-9 of the document linked below summarizes several potential housing strategies.
https://commissions.sfplanning.org/cpcpackets/2020-008417CWP_120320.pdf
These include “supporting construction of small multi-family buildings, including streamlined permitting for projects that expand to meet density or expand with ADUs; reducing minimum lot sizes, increasing density in low-density, high-resource neighborhoods; targeting additional housing density at corner-lots and along transit corridors to support vulnerable populations access to transit and services.”
Several planning commissioners last year had raised the question of whether an increase in density should be considered on parcels currently zoned for single-family residences. In part, this was a response to State legislative initiatives, including a bill proposed by Assembly member David Chiu to incentivize cities to allow up to a fourplex on parcels zoned for a single-family home. The bill did not advance last year. Recently the city of Sacramento enacted similar modifications to its single-family zoning as did Portland and Minneapolis last year.
In San Francisco, most RH-1 single-family parcels lie within the western and southern districts. There are far fewer RH-1 parcels in already denser districts such as Russian Hill. State law currently allows up to two Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to be added to a single-family house.
DZLU will continue to follow this as discussions at the Planning Commission continue and as any zoning modifications are proposed.
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