Moratorium on Conversion of PDR Uses in Central SoMa Plan Area
The sponsoring elected officials successfully made the case to their colleagues that PDR uses will be displaced by higher paying uses, such as office and residential, before the Plan can be adopted with its own protective measures; and that the booming development in the City is outpacing the City's ability to design and implement new permanent controls for this Plan Area.
The moratorium was put in place for 45 days; however, it is expected to be renewed until the new controls for the Central SoMa Plan Area are adopted. The moratorium revisits the debate over the protection of PDR that many had thought was resolved when the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan was adopted. This Plan rezoned large parts of the eastern portion of the City and was designed in part to protect against the loss of industrial use.
The moratorium prohibits the removal of any PDR use to a non-PDR use; however, certain uses and projects are exempted from this moratorium. Generally, those exceptions include: (i) a property located in a C-3 (downtown) zoning district; (ii) a property that contains a gas station, parking lot, or self-storage; (iii) a project that proposes 100% affordable housing; (iv) a project that is subject to a Development Agreement with the City; and (v) a project that filed an environmental application on or before September 1, 2014 (and received certain Planning Commission approval for office use on or before September 11, 2014).
The draft Environmental Impact Report for the Plan is not expected to be released until early next year. Public debate over the Plan and the approval process will postpone the Plan's adoption at least until the middle to end of 2015.
On October 24, 2015 the Planning Department sent a report to the Board suggesting several ways to address the conditions that led to the moratorium: (i) maintaining the existing SLI and SALI zoning districts for certain properties; (ii) limiting the conversion of PDR space; and (iii) establishing incentives for new PDR uses. The Board adopted this report on October 28.
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