608.15

SEC. 608.15. NORTHEAST WATERFRONT SPECIAL SIGN DISTRICT. There shall be a special sign district known as the "Northeast Waterfront Special Sign District." The boundaries of this special sign district shall be coterminous with the boundaries of the Northeast Waterfront Historic District, as established pursuant to Article 10, Appendix D of this Code by Ordinance No. 171-83, and any amendments thereto. A copy of said Ordinance and materials related thereto are on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 031034. (a) Purposes and Findings. (1) In addition to furthering the purposes stated in Sections 101 and 601 of this Code, creation of the Northeast Waterfront Special Sign District is intended to further the purposes of the Northeast Waterfront Historic District created pursuant to Board of Supervisors Ordinance No. 171-83, and any amendments thereto, and to foster the preservation and enhancement of said Historic District. (2) The standards established by these regulations are deemed to be minimum requirements. (b) Regulations within the Special Sign District: (1) No Projection shall exceed a horizontal distance of six feet beyond any Street Property Line. This limitation shall apply to Signs and to all other features, including but not limited to, Marquees and Awnings, with the sole exception of flagpoles for flags. All Signs, Marquees, Awnings, and other features shall be supported entirely by a building. No Canopies shall be permitted. (2) All Signs shall be placed entirely below the level of the lowest cornice or strong horizontal element located above the ground story of the building, and in no event higher than three feet above the top of the ceiling level of the ground story. (3) No Directly Illuminated Sign, as defined in Section 602 of this Code, shall be permitted. (4) Principal Signs. Only one principal sign shall be permitted per establishment per street frontage. In addition, the following provisions shall apply to principal signs: (A) A projecting sign shall not exceed 10 square feet; (B) If a flush sign contains lettering, the lettering shall not exceed 18 inches in height; provided, however, that in no event shall lettering exceed a size that can be read from any farther than across the street;

(C) On a brick surfaces, signs shall be mounted with a minimum number of wall penetrations. (5) Secondary Signs. Only one secondary sign shall be permitted per establishment per street frontage. A secondary sign is intended to be viewable close-up. In addition, the following provisions shall apply to secondary signs: (A) If lettering is placed on a door or window, such lettering may contain only the name and nature of the establishment, hours of operation, and other pertinent information; (B) A projecting secondary sign shall not exceed two square feet in area if used in conjunction with a principal flush sign. (6) The total area of all Signs on a building shall not exceed an area of two square feet for each foot of street frontage occupied by the building; however, in no event shall the total area of all signs on a building’s street frontage exceed 50 square feet. (Added by Ord. 59-08, File No. 031034, App. 4/10/2008; amended by Ord. 217-16, File No. 160424, App. 11/10/2016, Eff. 12/10/2016) AMENDMENT HISTORY Section header amended; former divisions (b)(1)–(b)(3) deleted; former divisions (b)(4)–(b)(6) and (b)(9) amended and redesignated as (b)(1)–(b)(3) and (b)(6); former divisions (b)(7) and (b)(8) redesignated as (b)(4) and (b)(5); Ord. 217-16, Eff. 12/10/2016. SEC. 608.16. CITY CENTER SPECIAL SIGN DISTRICT. (a) General. There shall be a Special Sign District known as the "City Center Special Sign District" in the block bounded by Geary Boulevard on the north, Masonic Avenue on the west, O'Farrell Street on the south and Lyon Street on the east, as designated on Sectional Map SSD of the Zoning Map of the City and County of San Francisco. The original copy of said Sectional Map with this Special Sign District indicated thereon is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors under File No. 110448. Signs in the City Center Special Sign District shall be subject to the provisions of Article 6 except that the controls as provided in this Section 608.16 shall apply in lieu of the sign controls specified in Section 607.1. Further, in the event of a conflict between the provisions of Section 608.16 that authorize specified signs and other provisions of Article 6, the provisions of Section 608.16 shall prevail notwithstanding any provision of the Code to the contrary. (b) Purpose and Findings. In addition to the purposes stated in Sections 101 and 601 of this Code, the following purposes apply to the City Center Special Sign District. These purposes constitute findings that form a basis for these regulations and provide guidance for their application. (1) The City Center was built in 1951 as an approximately seven-acre, single-tenant, multilevel Sears department store on a site spanning four city blocks bounded by Geary Boulevard, Masonic Avenue, Lyon Street, and O'Farrell Street. The Sears store historically maintained projecting signs on the north and south elevations of the building, on a centrally located sign tower, in alcoves below the roofline of the building, and above pedestrian entries. The signs were scaled and located to provide visibility from the wide roadways bordering the City Center. (2) In 1994, the City Center reopened as a multi-tenant shopping center. Signs on the sign towers and in roofline alcoves were removed at that time, limiting the visibility of the City Center and its tenants from Geary Boulevard. (3) The City Center has experienced significant vacancy in recent years since its conversion to multi-tenant use, resulting in a loss of sales tax revenue to the City. Adequate, well- placed signs on both the building and at parking entrances are necessary to ensure that the City Center remains a viable retail center providing goods and services to residents, while generating sales tax revenue for the City. (4) The City Center has six separate surface parking lots with separate entrances accessible from Geary Boulevard, Masonic Avenue and O'Farrell Street, which are built at different grades and cannot feasibly be connected. Directional signs at parking lot entrances are necessary to direct motorists to the lot adjacent to the store they intend to visit and to minimize traffic congestion on surrounding streets. (5) The City Center has multiple entrances and levels, with commercial units on the lower and upper stories with access to stores from streets or from one of the six separate surface parking lots. Signs and other advertising devices for on-site businesses are essential to the general quality and economic stability of the City Center. Current sign regulations, which are tailored to smaller storefronts typical of the City's neighborhood commercial districts, do not provide sufficient visibility for businesses located in the City Center, a large-scale development with a building height, bulk, appearance and site configuration that differs from that of other neighborhood commercial districts. (6) Sign sizes, number, height and placement should take into account the configuration of the site development and the adjacent wide streets and an expressway, in order to provide visual relief to the large area of the building, visibility for its businesses and identity for the City Center as a whole. (7) Additional projecting signs, wall signs, and directional signs at parking lot entrances would improve the visual appeal, identity, and long-term viability of the City Center, while improving access to its parking facilities and minimizing traffic congestion. (c) Definitions. Within the City Center Special Sign District, the following definitions shall apply in addition to the applicable definitions in Section 602: (1) Copy Area. On a directional sign, projecting sign, or sign tower, copy area shall refer to the entire area within a single continuous rectangular perimeter formed by extending lines around the extreme limits of writing, representation, emblem, or any figure of similar character. (2) Directional Sign. A directional sign shall mean a sign identifying the location of a parking lot entry and the names of the businesses accessible from such lot. A directional sign may also identify the number of parking spaces available in the adjacent parking lot and the name of the shopping center. (3) Internal Wayfinding Signs. Internal wayfinding signs shall mean signs located entirely on private property which are intended to direct vehicles and pedestrians within the site. Internal wayfinding signs shall be designed to be minimally visible from any public right of way. (d) Controls Generally. The sign controls applicable in the City Center Special Sign District are specified in this Section 608.16. All signs or sign features not otherwise specifically authorized in this Section 608.16 or exempted in Sections 603 or 604 shall be prohibited. (e) Illumination. All signs may be non-illuminated, indirectly or directly illuminated. Signs may not be flashing, blinking, fluctuating or otherwise animated light. (f) Business Signs. Business signs, as defined in Section 602, shall be permitted subject to the limits set forth below. (1) Wall Signs. Wall signs, as defined in Section 602, shall be permitted as follows: (A) Wall Signs Above Pedestrian Entries from a Parking Lot. For a business occupying 8,000 square feet or more, one wall sign up to 200 square feet in area shall be permitted above each pedestrian entry to the business from a parking lot. For a business occupying less than 8,000 square feet, one wall sign up to 75 square feet in area shall be permitted above each pedestrian entry to the business from a parking lot. The height of any parking lot entry wall sign shall not exceed 28 feet. (B) Wall Signs Above Pedestrian Entries from a Public Sidewalk. The area of all wall signs located above pedestrian entries from a public sidewalk shall not exceed three square feet per foot of street frontage occupied by the use measured along the wall to which the signs are attached, or 150 feet for each street frontage, whichever is less. The height of any street entry wall sign shall not exceed 24 feet. (C) Other Wall Signs. The following additional wall signs shall be permitted: (i) Up to three additional wall signs shall be permitted on each of the Masonic Avenue and Geary Boulevard frontages. The area of each sign shall be limited to a maximum of 115 square feet. The height of such wall signs shall not exceed 48 feet. (ii) At the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Lyon Street, up to 500 square feet of wall signs shall be permitted, provided that no wall sign for a single use shall occupy more than 80 square feet. The height of such wall signs shall not exceed the height of the wall on which they are located. (iii) One wall sign shall be permitted in each of the two existing sign alcoves located below the roofline of the building on the primary west and east building elevations perpendicular to Geary Boulevard, subject to the following conditions: wall signs shall be no higher than the wall to which they are attached, shall have a maximum area of 170 square feet, and shall be identifying signs, as defined in Section 602, for the shopping center. (2) Window Signs. The total area of all window signs, as defined in Section 602, shall not exceed 1/3 the area of the window on or in which the signs are located. (3) Projecting Signs. A total of six projecting signs shall be permitted within the Special Sign District, subject to the following limitations, provided, however, that the limits on the number of projecting signs per business and size of projecting signs set forth elsewhere in this Code shall not apply.