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FILE NO. 240411 ORDINANCE NO. 169-24 [Planning Code - Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District] Ordinance amending the Planning Code to create an exception to allow storefront mergers and large uses for certain Limited Restaurant Uses designated as Legacy Businesses in the Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District; affirming the Planning Department's determination under the California Environmental Quality Act; making findings of consistency with the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of Planning Code, Section 101.1; and making findings of public necessity, convenience, and welfare under Planning Code, Section 302. NOTE: Unchanged Code text and uncodified text are in plain Arial font. Additions to Codes are in single-underline italics Times New Roman font. Deletions to Codes are in slrikethr'fYugh i1€1lics Times New Renumfent. Board amendment additions are in double-underlined Arial font. Board amendment deletions are in strikethrough Arial font. Asterisks (* * * *) indicate the omission of unchanged Code subsections or parts of tables. Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco: Section 1. Environmental and Land Use Findings. (a) The Planning Department has determined that the actions contemplated in this ordinance comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources Code Sections 21000 et seq.). Said determination is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 240411 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board affirms this determination. (b) On June 13, 2024, the Planning Commission, in Resolution No. 21572, adopted findings that the actions contemplated in this ordinance are consistent, on balance, with the City's General Plan and eight priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1. The Board Supervisor Peskin BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 1 adopts these findings as its own. A copy of said Resolution is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 240411, and is incorporated herein by reference. (c) Pursuant to Planning Code Section 302, this Board finds that the Planning Code amendments in this ordinance will serve the public necessity, convenience, and welfare for the reasons set forth in Planning Commission Resolution No. 21572 and the Board incorporates such reasons herein by reference. (d) The Polk Street NC District (District) has an active, pedestrian-oriented, and continuous commercial frontage along Polk Street that features small-scale commercial business. (e) The District has remained largely vibrant during a time when many brick and mortar businesses have been impacted by economic difficulties. (f) The Legacy Business Program helps preserve local small businesses by providing assistance to businesses that have been long-standing pillars of our community through marketing, business assistance, and specialized grants. Legacy Businesses do not need to remain in their original location. (g) It is reasonable to facilitate relocation of certain Legacy Businesses within the District. Allowing certain Legacy Businesses allows the businesses to move to more advantageous locations, and potentially expand their operations. Relaxing certain zoning standards to permit the relocation of certain Legacy Businesses within the District also provides assistance during challenging economic times. (h) The District generally prohibits merging storefronts, and places limitations on use sizes to preserve the district's small-scale, fine grain storefronts, however several narrowly defined exemptions exist. (i) This legislation adds an additional narrow exemption to the controls in the District to facilitate the relocation of a Legacy Business. The exemption will allow a limited restaurant Supervisor Peskin BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 2 Legacy Business to relocate and merge a storefront to continue as a neighborhood serving business. Section 2. Articles 1.2 and 7 of the Planning Code are hereby amended by revising Sections 121 .2 and 723, to read as follows: SEC. 121.2. NON-RESIDENTIAL USE SIZE LIMITS IN NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL AND NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL TRANSIT DISTRICTS. (a) In order to protect and maintain a scale of development appropriate to each district, Non-Residential Uses of the same size or larger than the square footage stated in the table below may be permitted only as Conditional Uses. The use area shall be measured as the Gross Floor Area for each individual Non-Residential Use. District Use Size Limits Castro Street 2,000 sq. ft. North Beach Pacific Avenue Polk Street_'.'.'. * * * * * Conditional Use not required for any Limited Restaurant use that relocates within the Polk Street NCD, and is designated as a Legacy Business as of the effective date of the ordinance in Board File No. 240411. SEC. 723. POLK STREET NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. (a) Background. Sitting in the gulch between Nob and Russian Hills and Pacific Heights, the Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District extends for a mile as a north- south linear strip, and includes a portion of Larkin Street between Post and California Streets. Polk Street's dense mixed-use character consists of buildings with residential units above Supervisor Peskin BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 3 ground-story commercial use. The district has an active, pedestrian-oriented, and continuous commercial frontage along Polk Street for almost all of its length. Larkin Street and side streets in the district have a greater proportion of residences than Polk Street itself. California Street and Hyde Street also have active, pedestrian-oriented, and commercial frontage that is small-scale. The district is well served by transit and includes the historic California Cable Car. To preserve and maintain the district's small-scale, fine grain storefronts, the consolidation or merger of existing retail or commercial spaces or storefronts is generally prohibited and lot mergers are controlled. The district provides convenience goods and services to the residential communities in the Polk Gulch neighborhood and to the residents on the west slopes of Nob and Russian Hills. It has many apparel and specialty stores, as well as some automobile uses, which serve a broader trade area. Commercial uses also include offices, as well as movie theaters, restaurants, and bars which keep the district active into the evening. (b) Controls. * * * * (3) Merger of Storefronts Prohibited. To preserve and maintain the district's small-scale, fine grain storefronts, the consolidation or merger of existing ground floor retail or commercial spaces or storefronts shall be prohibited, except that two adjacent storefronts may be consolidated or merged if: (A) the storefronts are for a Legacy Business on a corner lot within the same building and Block and Lot number, and provided that the consolidation or merger of storefronts would not result in a use size in excess of the principally permitted use size within the Polk Street NCO, eF-(B) the storefronts are merged by a General Grocery use in association with the replacement of a Legacy Business that is also a General Grocery use, and the expansion of the General Grocery use is within a building on the same Lot, and is consistent with the size limitations in Section 121.2, or (C) the storefronts are merged by a Limited Supervisor Peskin BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 4 Restaurant use that relocates within the Polk Street NCD, and is designated as a Legacy Business as of the effective date o[the ordinance in Board File No. 240411. * * * * Table 723. POLK STREET NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL DISTRICT ZONING CONTROL TABLE [ Polk Street NCO Zoning Category § References [ Controls NON-RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS AND USES (7) * * * * Controls by Story 1st 2nd 3rd+ * * * * Sales and Service Use Category Retail Sales and Service Uses* §§ 102, p p NP 202.2(a), 202.3 * * * * Restaurant, Limited §§ 102, pm_ p NP 121.2, 202.2(a) * * * * (2) USE SIZE EXEMPTION: Per Planning Code Section 121.2(a), a Conditional Use Authorization is not required for any Limited Restaurant use that relocates within the Polk Street NCD, and is designated as a Legacy Business as of the effective date o(the ordinance in Board File No. 240411. Per Planning Code Section 121.2(b), Use Size shall generally not exceed 4,000 Supervisor Peskin BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 5 square feet except that a Movie Theater as defined in Section 102 may exceed 4,000 square feet. In addition, the enlargement of an existing General Grocery use on the same Lot, and in association with the replacement of a Legacy Business that is also a General Grocery use, may exceed 4,000 square feet. * * * * Section 3. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective 30 days after enactment. Enactment occurs when the Mayor signs the ordinance, the Mayor returns the ordinance unsigned or does not sign the ordinance within ten days of receiving it, or the Board of Supervisors overrides the Mayor's veto of the ordinance. Section 4. Scope of Ordinance. In enacting this ordinance, the Board of Supervisors intends to amend only those words, phrases, paragraphs, subsections, sections, articles, numbers, punctuation marks, charts, diagrams, or any other constituent parts of the Municipal Code that are explicitly shown in this ordinance as additions, deletions, Board amendment additions, and Board amendment deletions in accordance with the "Note" that appears under the official title of the ordinance. APPROVED AS TO FORM: DAVID CHIU, City Attorney By: /s./ AUSTIN M. YANG Deputy City Attorney n:\legana\as2024\2400371\01752814.docx Supervisor Peskin BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 6 City and County of San Francisco Tails Ordinance City Hall 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place San Francisco, CA 94102-4689 File Number: 240411 Date Passed: July 02, 2024 Ordinance amending the Planning Code to create an exception to allow storefront mergers and large uses for certain Limited Restaurant Uses designated as Legacy Businesses in the Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District; affirming the Planning Department's determination under the California Environmental Quality Act; making findings of consistency with the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of Planning Code, Section 101.1; and making findings of public necessity, convenience, and welfare under Planning Code, Section 302. June 17, 2024 Land Use and Transportation Committee - RECOMMENDED June 25, 2024 Board of Supervisors - PASSED ON FIRST READING Ayes: 11 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen, Safai, Stefani and Walton July 02, 2024 Board of Supervisors - Fl NALLY PASSED Ayes: 9 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen and Walton Excused: 1 - Stefani Absent: 1 - Safai File No. 240411 London N. Breed Mayor City and County of San Francisco Page I I hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was FINALLY PASSED on 7/2/2024 by the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco. Angela Calvillo Clerk of the Board Date Approved Printed at 9:01 am 011 713/24