Planning Code, Zoning Map - Non-Profit Arts Education Special Use District
Ord. No. 0238-23
in effectFILE NO. 230924
ORDINANCE NO. 238-23
[Planning Code, Zoning Map - Non-Profit Arts Education Special Use District]
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to create the Non-Profit Arts Education Special
Use District (Assessor's Parcel Block No. 49, Lot No. 1, generally bounded by
Francisco Street, Jones Street, Chestnut Street, and Leavenworth Street, and
numbered as 800 Chestnut Street); amending the Zoning Map to show the Non-Profit
Arts Education Special Use 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; and
making findings of public necessity, convenience, and welfare pursuant to 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 strikefhrohlgh ite,lics Times Ne,v Rowu1n font.
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. 230924 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board affirms
this determination.
Supervisor Peskin
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Page 1
(b) On November 9, 2023, the Planning Commission, in Resolution No. 21436,
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 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. 230924, and is incorporated herein by reference.
(c) Pursuant to Planning Code Section 302, the Board finds that this Planning Code
amendment will serve the public necessity, convenience, and welfare for the reasons set forth
in Planning Commission Resolution No. 21436, and the Board incorporates such reasons
herein by reference. A copy of said resolution is on file with the Clerk of the Board of
Supervisors in File No. 230924.
Section 2. Additional Findings.
(a) Founded in 1871, the San Francisco Art Institute ("SFAI") was one of the oldest
arts institutions in the country.
(b) In 1926, the SFAI moved to 800 Chestnut Street. The approximately 93,000-
square-foot art campus was designed by the architectural firm Bakewell & Brown, which
designed many classic structures in the Bay Area, including the iconic San Francisco City
Hall. The art campus includes a bell tower, interior courtyard, library, terrace, rooftop
amphitheater, galleries, studios and beautiful bay views.
(c) Several years later, Diego Rivera was hired to paint The Making of a Fresco
Showing the Building of a City. The mural was painted using the buon fresco technique,
meaning it was painted directly on fresh lime plaster using water-based tempera pigments.
The mural is a trompe l'ceil, depicting Rivera and assistants on a scaffold painting their fresco
mural.
Supervisor Peskin
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Page2
(d) For many years, the SFAI nurtured the creative arts, and provided arts education to
thousands of San Franciscans. Notable teachers included Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Ad
Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still. Notable alumni include Richard Diebenkorn, Sam
Francis, Michael Heizer, Annie Leibowitz, Paul McCarthy, Catherine Opie, and Kehinde Wiley.
(e) In 1977, with the enactment of Ordinance No. 208-77, the original 1926 building at
800 Chestnut Street was designated as Historical Landmark No. 85.
(f) In 2016, the 800 Chestnut Street location was nominated for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places under Criterion A (events). That same year, the Historic
Preservation Commission concurred with the assessment based on the SFAl's role in the
development of American art and for its contributions to art education in the United States.
(g) On October 15, 2021, the City enacted Ordinance No. 169-21, finding that The
Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City has a special character and special
historical, architectural, and aesthetic interest and value, and that its designation as a
Landmark would further the purposes of and conform to the standards set forth in Article 10 of
the Planning Code. The mural was designated as Historical Landmark No. 294. Ordinance
No. 169-21 found that, notwithstanding the designation of SFAI as Landmark No. 85, pursuant
to Ordinance No. 208-77, the addition of a compatible entryway to the Diego Rivera Gallery
from the public right-of-way on Chestnut Street, on the south side of the Diego Rivera Gallery,
to provide and maintain public visibility of, and enhance access to, the fresco from the public
right-of-way, could be considered, subject to approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness by
the Historic Preservation Commission.
(h) In 2020, the SFAI announced that it would stop accepting students due to declining
enrollment, high real estate costs, and financial constraints. The SFAI closed permanently in
2022. On April 26, 2023, the SFAI filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Supervisor Peskin
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Page 3
Section 3. Article 2 of the Planning Code is hereby amended by adding Section 249.8,
to read as follows:
SEC. 249.8. NON-PROFIT ARTS EDUCATION SPECIAL USE DISTRICT.
(a) General. A special use district entitled the "Non-Profit Arts Education Special Use
District" consisting of Assessor's Parcel Block No. 49, Lot No. l, which is generally bounded by
Francisco Street, Jones Street, Chestnut Street, and Leavenworth Street, and is numbered as 800
Chestnut Street, is hereby established for the purposes set forth below. The boundaries of the Non-
Profit Arts Education Special Use District are designated on Sectional Map No. SUOJ o{the Zoning
(b) Purpose. The purpose of the special use district is to continue the tradition of arts
education at the site of the former San Francisco Art Institute and facilitate the establishment of a Non-
Profit Arts Education Institutional Use.
(c) Definition. For purposes of this special use district, a Non-Profit Arts Education
Institutional Use shall mean an Institutional use in which the chief activity is not carried on as a
gainful business and whose chief.function is to operate as a post-secondary educational institution that
gathers persons for the purposes of offering arts education. A Non-Profit Arts Education Institutional
Use shall not be required to be certified by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Such
institution may include employee or student dormitories and other housing operated by and a(filiated
with the institution.
(d) Controls. All provisions of the Planning Code applicable to the RH-3 District shall apply;
provided that a Non-Profit Arts Education Institutional Use is principally permitted and shall not be
obligated to comply with Section 304.5 concerning institutional master plans.
Section 4. Pursuant to Sections 106 and 302(c) of the Planning Code, Sheet SU 01 of
the Zoning Map of the City and County of San Francisco is hereby amended, as follows:
Supervisor Peskin
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Page4
Assessor's Parcels (Block/Lot
Special Use District Hereby Approved
Numbers)
49/01
Non-Profit Arts Education Special Use
District
Section 5. Effective Date; Operative Date.
(a) 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.
(b) This ordinance shall become operative upon the later of the effective date of this
ordinance or the recordation of a grant deed for the sale of Assessor's Block 49, Lot 1.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DAVID CHIU, City Attorney
By:
/s/ Austin M. Yang
AUSTIN M. YANG
Deputy City Attorney
n:\legana\as2023\2400056\01702662.docx
Supervisor Peskin
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Page 5
City and County of San Francisco
Tails
Ordinance
City Hall
I Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
File Number:
230924
Date Passed: November 28, 2023
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to create the Non-Profit Arts Education Special Use District
(Assessor's Parcel Block No. 49, Lot No. 1, generally bounded by Francisco Street, Jones Street,
Chestnut Street, and Leavenworth Street, and numbered as 800 Chestnut Street); amending the Zoning
Map to show the Non-Profit Arts Education Special Use 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; and making findings of
public necessity, convenience, and welfare pursuant to Planning Code, Section 302.
October 23, 2023 Land Use and Transportation Committee - CONTINUED
November 06, 2023 Land Use and Transportation Committee - CONTINUED
November 13, 2023 Land Use and Transportation Committee - RECOMMENDED AS
COMMITTEE REPORT
November 14, 2023 Board of Supervisors - PASSED ON FIRST READING
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen,
Safai, Stefani and Walton
November 28, 2023 Board of Supervisors - FINALLY PASSED
City and County of San Francisco
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen,
Safai, Stefani and Walton
Pagel
Printed at 10:59 am on 11129123
. '
~
File No. 230924
London N. Breed
Mayor
City and County of San Francisco
Page2
I hereby certify that the foregoing
Ordinance was FINALLY PASSED on
11/28/2023 by the Board of Supervisors of
the City and County of San Francisco.
Angela Calvillo
Clerk of the Board
Date Approved
Printed at 10: 59 am on 11129/23
References
amendsSec. 249.7
amendsSec. 249.8
amendsSec. 249.9
Source: sf_ordinance_pdfURL: http://sfbos.archive.sf.gov/sites/default/files/o0238-23.pdfFetched: 7/4/2026