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
