249.23

SEC. 249.23. FOURTH AND FREELON STREETS SPECIAL USE DISTRICT. There shall be a special use district known as the Fourth Street, Freelon Street, Zoe Street and Welsh Street, as designated on Sectional Map No. 1SU of the Zoning Map of the City and County of San Francisco. The following controls shall apply within this Special Use District. (a) Conversion of Previously Approved But Not Yet Constructed Live/Work Units to Market-Rate Housing. The developer of previously approved but not yet constructed live/work units may convert the units to market-rate residential units and construct additional new market-rate residential units on the site provided that (i) the developer, at his, her or its sole expense, constructs affordable housing off-site with square footage equal to 15% of the total residential units proposed to be constructed offsetting the developer's site acquisition costs against the costs of construction, and (ii) the affordable housing is constructed of similar high quality construction to the market rate units on land owned or purchased by the developer and is located in the South of Market Area or the North of Market Residential Special Use District, (iii) the off-site affordable housing building shall contain a minimum of 56 dwellings of no less than 400 square feet each, (iv) the off-site affordable units shall be rental units, (v) the off-site affordable rental units shall be marketed and monitored in accordance with the requirements of the Procedures Manual approved under Section 401 of this Code, except that the owner shall, to the extent permitted by law, give top priority to current Single Room Occupancy tenants and families with low- and very-low income, (vi) the affordable rental units shall remain subject to the affordability requirements of the Procedures Manual for a period of 50 years from their date of initial occupancy, (vii) upon completion, the land title shall be transferred to and the off-site affordable housing building shall be owned, managed and operated by a nonprofit housing organization, and (viii) the deed to the off-site affordable housing building and the associated land shall be transferred to a non-profit affordable housing organization selected by the Mayor's Office of Housing if the original nonprofit housing organization is dissolved. If no such nonprofit housing organization can be found, the off-site affordable housing building and the associated land shall revert to the City. The off-site affordable housing building and the associated land shall not be sold or transferred without the consent of the Mayor's Office of Housing. The nonprofit housing organization shall be responsible for securing all required City approvals and permits for the affordable housing project, with the cost of securing such approvals and permits borne by the developer as its costs of development.

For purposes of this section, "affordable" shall be defined as affordable to low- and lower-income households with income not exceeding 50% of San Francisco's median income. The developer shall pay to the San Francisco School District School Fees for the new market rate units less the amount of school fees already paid to the District for the previously approved live/work units. (b) Principal Permitted Uses. The principal permitted uses in this Special Use District shall be a residential and retail mixed-use development. Office use is not allowed, except for office use accessory to a permitted retail use. Live/work is not permitted in this Special Use District. The construction of market-rate residential units is permitted only if the provisions of Subsection (a) above are met. (c) Dwelling Unit Density. The dwelling unit density shall be governed by the allowable building envelope. (d) Rear Yard. The rear yard requirement shall be 15% of the lot depth. However, the Zoning Administrator may administratively modify the location of the required rear yard, provided that a comparable amount of open space is provided elsewhere in this Special Use District or within the development where it is more accessible to the residents of the development. (e) Usable Open Space. The usable open space shall be 36 square feet per unit for private usable open space, or 48 square feet per unit for common usable open space. (f) Sunlight and Dwelling Unit Exposure Requirements. The Planning Commission may grant an exception to Section 135(g)(2) and Section 140 of this Code pursuant to Subsection (i) of this Section 249.23. (g) Height and Bulk Restrictions. The base height and bulk applicable to this Special Use District is 50-X. An exception to the height requirement up to a maximum of 85 feet may be approved pursuant to Subsection (i) 1 of this Section. (h) Yards. No front or side yard shall be required in this Special Use District. (i) Project Approval. The Planning Commission shall conduct a duly noticed public hearing on the application for an alteration to the previously approved live/work project. Conditional use authorization is required for a project in this Special Use District meeting the requirements set forth in Subsection (a) of this Section. The Planning Commission may grant an exception to the 50 height limit up to 85 feet and may approve the project, provided that the Commission finds that (i) the height of the building or structure does not exceed 85 feet, (ii) the project complies with the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, (iii) the proposed project meets the additional criteria set forth in Section 303(c) of this Code, and (iv) the project sponsor has provided evidence that a mechanism will be in place to assure completion and maintenance of the off-site affordable housing and insurance against construction defects. The creation of this Special Use District shall not limit the discretion vested in the Planning Commission in its review including but not limited to height, building scale, required setbacks and street frontage treatments of the projects. (j) Timing of Construction. The project applicant shall insure that the off-site units are constructed, completed, and ready for occupancy no later than the market rate units in the principal project. The off-site inclusionary units requirements shall be met on-site pursuant to the provisions of Section 415.5 of this Code in the event that no off-site project is built by the project applicant. (k) Notice. Upon receipt of an alteration permit application for a residential development meeting the requirements of subsection (a) of this Section, the Planning Department shall provide notice of the development to property owners and occupants within a 300 foot radius of this Special Use District. (Added by Ord. 27-03, File No. 020549, App. 2/28/2003; amended by Ord. 109-11, File No. 101350, App. 6/29/2011, Eff. 7/29/2011; Ord. 56-13 , File No. 130062, App. 3/28/2013, Eff. 4/27/2013) AMENDMENT HISTORY Division (a) amended; former division (g) deleted and former divisions (h) through (l) redesignated as divisions (g) through (k); division (j) amended; Ord. 109-11, Eff. 7/29/2011. Division (f) amended; Ord. 56-13 , Eff. 4/27/2013. CODIFICATION NOTE 1. Reference corrected by the codifier to account for the redesignation of former division (j) by Ord. 109-11, Eff. 7/29/2011. SEC. 249.24. HAIGHT STREET SENIOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING SPECIAL USE DISTRICT. In order to provide for affordable housing for very low and low-income seniors, there shall be a Haight Street Senior Affordable Housing Special Use District, consisting of Lots 11 and 14 of Assessor's Block 1234, as designated on Sectional Map 7SU of the Zoning Map. The following provisions shall apply within such special use district: (a) Any developer of housing who agrees to construct at least (i) 20 percent of the total units of a housing development for lower-income households, or (ii) 10 percent of the total units of a housing development for very low-income households, or (iii) at least 50 percent of the total dwelling units of a housing development for occupancy by at least one person 62 years of age or older shall be entitled to a density bonus to permit the construction of residential units in excess of the number otherwise permitted for the subject property. (b) For purposes of this Section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "Density bonus" shall mean a density increase of six (6) dwelling units over the number of dwelling units otherwise permitted for the subject property. The density bonus shall not be calculated as part of the total units for purposes of determining the percentage of designated units. (2) "Designated unit" shall mean a housing unit identified and reported by the developer of a housing development as a unit that is affordable to households of lower or very low income or occupied by at least one person 62 years of age or older. (3) "Housing development" shall mean thirty-four (34) or more dwelling units. (4) "Lower income households" is defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code. (5) "Very low income households" is defined in Section 50105 of the Health and Safety Code. (c) In this special use district, all applicable provisions of the Planning Code shall continue to apply, except as otherwise provided in this Section 249.24. (d) In this special use district, a modification to or exception from otherwise applicable requirements of this Code may be appropriate in order to further the goal of creating affordable senior housing. A conditional use approval for a development subject to this section may modify or grant the following modifications to or exceptions from otherwise applicable requirements of this Code, if the facts presented are such as to establish that the modification or exception satisfies the criteria of Section 303(c) of this Code. The following modifications to or exceptions from the requirements of this Code are appropriate in order to further the goal of creating affordable senior housing. (1) A modification of or exception to the rear yard requirements of Section 134 of this Code to reduce the rear yard setback to no less than approximately 3 feet 7 inches or such other amount as provided by the current building footprint; (2) A modification of or exception to the dwelling unit exposure requirements of Section 140 of this Code to provide that the required windows specified in Section 140 may face a public alley, public street or side yard which is less than 25 feet in width, as provided by the current building footprint; (3) A modification of or exception to the parking requirements of Section 151.1 of this Code to provide one parking space for each 10 dwelling units; (4) A modification of or exception to the height limitations of Section 260(b)(1)(B) of this Code to permit an average building height of approximately 60 feet based on the slope of the property within this special use district, or such other height as provided by the current building height; (5) A modification of or exception to the open space requirements of Section 135 of this Code to reduce the open space requirements for 40 dwelling units to approximately 820 square feet. (e) In evaluating a conditional use application to grant a density bonus or exceptions to the Planning Code pursuant to this section, the Planning Commission shall consider the extent to which the dwelling units of a proposed housing development would be affordable. (f) In the event that the units as described in Subsection (a) are not constructed as specified by December 31, 2008, the controls of this Section 249.23 shall expire on January 1, 2009. (Added by Ord. 49-03, File No. 030155, App. 4/3/2003; amended by Ord. 245-25, File No. 250701, App. 12/12/2025, Eff. 1/12/2026, Oper. 1/12/2026) AMENDMENT HISTORY Division (d)(3) amended; Ord. 245-25, Eff. 1/12/2026.