The $400 million Transbay Transit Center
The developer of one of the five “modest sized” towers planned for the area surrounding the new Transbay Transit Center is holding a community meeting on Wednesday night, November 30 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Courtyard Marriott, 299 Second St. (at Folsom Street). 41 Tehama Street is expected to rise 32 stories, scaled back from the original proposal to build 54 floors, on the block bounded by 1st and 2nd Streets between Mission and Howard Streets.
Filed under meetings, open space, planning
Some dramatic changes are in store for MUNI if and when the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) ever sees the light of day. With the announcement that preparation of an Environmental Impact Report is about to begin, that possibility becomes more real. The TEP has not been without controversy since the initial recommendations were released in 2008. MUNI had not taken a comprehensive look at the effectiveness of existing routes since the late 1970s. Beginning in 2006, the city collected comprehensive data on when and where transit is used in San Francisco and where the expected growth will be. Continue reading
Filed under planning
Reuben & Junius, the local land use powerhouse, released this analysis of the Planning Code amendments for the Western SoMa area plan:
West SOMA Planning Code Amendments Released
At long last, the proposed Planning Code amendments for the Western SoMa area plan were released earlier this month. Planning Code amendments are where the policies of the plan get translated in to cold, hard zoning rules that apply to properties within the plan area.
The rezoning map remains the same as previous versions. New commercial districts will run along 9th and 10th Streets from just below Mission Street to Harrison Street. A new neighborhood commercial district will run along Folsom Street, the new “main street” of Western SoMa, from 7th Street to 10th Street. Remaining properties north of Harrison Street in the Western SoMa area will be rezoned to residential and mixed use districts. Most of the area below Harrison Street will be rezoned to SALI – an extremely restrictive zoning district similar to the PDR districts of the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan. The north side of Townsend Street from 4th to 7th Streets will be rezoned to an office mixed-use district. Continue reading
Filed under planning
At this afternoon’s Planning Commission presentation of the Western SoMa Community Plan, it was suggested during public comment that the light industrial zoning south of Harrison Street be extended into the 11th Street area because, under that new zoning category, entertainment would become a permitted use. The Task Force liberalized the zoning because new housing in the SALI (Service, Arts and Light Industrial) district would not be allowed.
That would be an interesting switcheroo. Housing, currently as-of-right, would suddenly find itself a non-permitted use and entertainment, grandfathered in as a legal, nonconforming use, would become a fully permitted use. The Planning Commissioners, often sympathetic to fun sounding notions — particularly if they are not personally impacted — might very well consider making the swap. Continue reading
Filed under art, community services, entertainment, meetings, planning, politics, quality of life
The long awaited skate park under the Central Freeway touch-down ramp is one step closer to reality. The Planning Department recently issued a “Notification of Project Receiving Environmental Review” for the proposal, which includes the skate park and a mini-park, with basketball courts, play areas, a dog run, lighting, plantings and a pedestrian walkway. The construction is being managed by the Department of Public Works (Frank Filice, 558-4011, is the project manager), with funding coming from the sale of parcels along Octavia Boulevard. South of Market is finally getting something positive out of all those years of demolition and freeway construction.
Filed under community services, entertainment, open space, planning, quality of life
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) invites you to join fellow residents and business owners to discuss concepts for the Eastern Neighborhoods Transportation Implementation Planning Study (ENTRIPS) priority corridors on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 from 6-8:00 p.m. at the SoMa Gene Friend Recreation Center (270 Sixth Street at Folsom St). Continue reading
You have the right to request notification of all applications for the new Limited Live Performance permit within your neighborhood. The stated purpose of the legislation is to allow principally permitted uses such as cafes and restaurants to supplement their current business model with accessory entertainment. Supervisor Mark Farrell amended the ordinance to require that the Entertainment Commission “provide a copy of all Limited Live Performance Permit applications and the corresponding public hearing notices within a specified geographic area to any Person who, in writing or by email, requests such and identifies the area. Continue reading
Filed under entertainment, planning, politics, quality of life
The Western SoMa Citizens Planning Task Force is preparing to introduce the Proposal for Adoption of the Western SoMa Community Plan to the Planning Commission. This is the beginning of the final stage in the adoption process. The Task Force is scheduled to make informational presentations to the Planning Commission on September 8 and October 13. The first presentation will focus on the Community Plan itself, along with public benefits policies and implementation measures. The October 13th presentation will concentrate on the Design Standards, Community Stabilization Policy, Social Heritage Districts and Planning Code changes. Continue reading
Filed under art, entertainment, planning, politics
The beautiful St. Joseph’s church at 10th and Howard Streets has sat vacant since the Archdiocese abandoned it after the 1989 earthquake. The stained glass has been stripped from the windows and a population of pigeons numbering in the tens of thousands has called the place home for much of the time since then. Continue reading
Filed under art, community services, open space, planning, quality of life
How much housing can we build and how many jobs will we lose in the process? That was always the guiding principle behind the Eastern Neighborhoods rezoning process and it’s about to be manifest in the first mega-project to be approved under the recently adopted Eastern Neighborhoods Plan. It remains to be seen whether the Project Sponsors are building an actual neighborhood or just another bedroom community. Continue reading
Filed under community services, meetings, open space, planning
soma leadership council 