FILE NO. 240228
ORDINANCE NO. 111-24
[Planning Code, Local Coastal Program Amendment - Wawona Street and 45th Avenue
Cultural Center Special Use District]
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to clarify the Wawona Street and 45th Avenue
Special Use District's height limit and principal permitted use for purposes of the Local
Coastal Program; amending the Local Coastal Program to add the Wawona Street
and 45th Avenue Cultural Center Special Use District; amending the Local Coastal
Program to designate the principal permitted use within the City's Coastal Zone for
purposes of appeal to the California Coastal Commission; affirming the Planning
Department's determination under the California Environmental Quality Act; and
making findings of consistency with the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of
Planning Code, Section 101.1, and 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 strikethrough italics Times l'lew Roman 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. CEQA 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. 240228 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board affirms
this determination.
Supervisors Engardio; Peskin, Mandelman
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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(b) On May 2, 2024, the Planning Commission, in Resolution No. 21554, 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. 240228, and is incorporated herein by reference.
(c) Pursuant to Planning Code Section 302, this Board finds that these Planning Code
amendments will serve the public necessity, convenience, and welfare for the reasons set
forth in Planning Commission Resolution No. 21554, and the Board adopts such reasons as
its own. A copy of said resolution is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File
No. 240228 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Section 2. Background and Findings.
(a) On December 12, 2023, the Board of Supervisors passed the Wawona Street and
45th Avenue Cultural Center Special Use District ("SUD") (Ordinance No. 241-23, on file with
the Clerk of the Board in File No. 230505) to facilitate the redevelopment of the Irish Cultural
Center, subject to certification by the California Coastal Commission ("Coastal Commission").
That ordinance, which amended the Planning Code, Zoning Map, and Local Coastal Program
("LCP"), having been signed by the Mayor on December 13, 2023, is now effective, but is not
operative because it has not been certified by the Coastal Commission. See Section 5 of
Ordinance No. 241-23.
(b) On December 12, 2023, the Board of Supervisors also adopted Resolution
No. 571-23, on file with the Clerk of the Board in File No. 231137. That resolution, which was
signed by the Mayor on December 13, 2023, authorized the Director of the Planning
Department to transmit Ordinance No. 241-23 to the Coastal Commission for certification.
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(c) Coastal Commission staff have recommended that the City define the principal
permitted use ("PPU") under the City's LCP for both the SUD and all other zoning districts
within the City's Coastal Zone to specify whether certain coastal development permitting
decisions are appealable to the California Coastal Commission. The City will continue to
evaluate the PPUs identified in this ordinance within the City's Coastal Zone, and may seek to
amend those PPUs in the future.
(d) The existing 100-foot height limit for the SUD (Assessor's Parcel Block No. 2513,
Lot No. 026) has been in effect since 1970 (see Ordinance No. 177-70, on file with the Clerk
of the Board in File No. 240228), 16 years before the Coastal Commission's certification of the
City's LCP in 1986. That height limit is depicted on the Zoning Map in Sectional Map No.
HT13. The City's Coastal Zone Issue Papers (on file with the Clerk of the Board in File
No. 240228) discussed the 100-foot height limit in the years leading up to the certification of
the LCP. However, neither the City nor the Coastal Commission can locate a certified copy of
Sectional Map No. HT13. As such, out of an abundance of caution, the controls of this SUD
also reaffirm the 100-foot height limit for the purposes of this LCP amendment. This
amendment does not modify height limits in the SUD, but instead clarifies the height limit for
the purposes of the LCP.
(e) Because Ordinance No. 241-23 is now effective, although not yet operative and
thus not published in the Planning Code, the ordinance in this Board File No. 240228 shows in
"existing text" font (plain Arial) Planning Code Section 249.96, which established the SUD in
Ordinance No. 241-23. The ordinance shows the amendments clarifying the maximum height
in the SUD and principal permitted use in "addition to Code" font (single-underline italics
Times New Roman) or "deletion to Code" font (strikethrough italics Times New Roman), as
applicable.
Supervisors Engardio; Peskin, Mandelman
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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(f) The Board of Supervisors finds that the Planning Code amendments in this
ordinance will fulfill a public purpose and serve the public convenience and general welfare by
facilitating the continued operation and expansion of the Cultural Center, a longstanding San
Francisco community center. The continuation of this use is important to retain existing
neighborhood character and will benefit area residents, visitors, and the broader community
for years to come. The Board of Supervisors also finds that specifying PPUs for purposes of
potential appeal to the Coastal Commission is consistent with the Coastal Act's intent, and will
help to ensure that only the types of coastal development permitting decisions that are
specified in the Coastal Act are appealable to the Coastal Commission.
(g) The Board of Supervisors finds that the Wawona Street and 45th Avenue Cultural
Center Special Use District and its controls, as shown in Section 3 of this ordinance,
constitute an amendment to the City's LCP. The Board of Supervisors finds that the LCP
amendment conforms with the applicable provisions of the Coastal Act of 1976, and that the
amendment is consistent with and adequate to carry out the provisions of the City's certified
LCP Land Use Plan - the Western Shoreline Area Plan. The Board further finds that the
amendment will be implemented in full conformance with the Coastal Act's provisions.
Section 3. The Local Coastal Program and Articles 2 and 3 of the Planning Code are
hereby amended by revising Sections 249.96, 330.9, and 330. 10 to read as follows:
SEC. 249.96. WAWONA STREET AND 45TH AVENUE CULTURAL CENTER
SPECIAL USE DISTRICT.
(a) General. A special use district entitled the "Wawona Street and 45th Avenue
Cultural Center Special Use District" consisting of Assessor's Parcel Block No. 2513, Lot No.
026, is hereby established for the purposes set forth below. The boundaries of the Wawona
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Street and 45th Avenue Cultural Center Special Use District are designated on Sectional Map
No. SU13 of the Zoning Map.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this special use district is to provide for the development
of a community center with related educational, cultural, social, entertainment, recreational,
and retail uses to serve both the immediate neighborhood and the larger San Francisco
community.
( c) Development Controls. Applicable provisions of the Planning Code shall control
except as otherwise provided in this Section 249.96. If there is a conflict between other
provisions of the Planning Code and this Section 249.96, this Section 249.96 shall prevail.
(1) The following uses and use categories shall be permitted as principal uses
on all floors: General Office, Institutional, Retail Sales and Service, Wireless
Telecommunications Facility, and Nighttime Entertainment.
(2) The provisions of Planning Code Sections 121.1 (Development of Large
Lots, Neighborhood Commercial Districts) and 121.2 (Non-Residential Use Size Limits in
Neighborhood Commercial and Neighborhood Commercial Transit Districts) shall not apply.
(3) For the purposes of compliance with Planning Code Section 169
(Transportation Demand Management Program), development projects shall be subject to
30% of the applicable target. All other provisions of Section 169 shall apply.
(4) The applicable height limit shall be 100 feet.
( d) Cenditienal Use AuthorizationAdditional Exceptions. The following eExceptions from
otherwise applicable requirements of th~is- Planning Code may be appropriate to further the
purpose of the Wawona Street and 45th Avenue Cultural Center Special Use District. The
Planning Commission may authorize the following exceptions from the fellowingPlanning Code
requirements through a Conditional Use Authorization:
(1) Floor Area Ratio. The maximum Floor Area Ratio shall be 7.0:1.
Supervisors Engardio; Peskin, Mandelman
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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(2) Rear Yard Setbacks. The provisions of Section 134 do not apply. and thus
there shall be no required rear yard.
(3) Bulk. The applicable Bulk limits shall be a maximum length of 130 feet and
a maximum diagonal of 176 feet, applying at a height of 40 feet and above.
(e) Principal Permitted Use Under the Local Coastal Program. Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this Code or the City and County's Local Coastal Program Implementation Plan that
identifY principal permitted, conditional, and other types of uses, within the Wawona Street and 45th
Avenue Cultural Center Special Use District, the principal permitted use for the purposes of California
Public Resources Code Section 30603(a)(4) shall be Commercial, where, solely for the purposes of this
Special Use District, that shall be understood to mean a community center with related educational,
cultural, social, o(fice, entertainment. recreational, wireless telecommunications services, and retail
uses. The designation of the principal permitted use for the purpose of the Local Coastal Program
does not alter the uses permitted on the site under the Planning Code or applicable requirements under
the Planning Code to establish such uses.
SEC. 330.9. APPEAL PROCEDURES.
(a) All Coastal Zone Permit Applications may be appealed to the Board of Appeals as
described in Section 308.2 of this Code. Local appeal of a Coastal Zone Permit is not subject
to the aggrieved party provisions in Section 330.2(a) of this Code, but must comply with the
appeal review procedures of Section 330.5.1 (b) and Section 330.5.2 of this Code.
(b) Appeal to the California Coastal Commission is available only for approved projects
in the appealable area of the Coastal Zone, as designated in Sectional Maps CZ4, CZ5 and
CZ13 of the Zoning Map; under California Public Resources Code Section 30603(a)(4), for
approved projects that involve a use that is not the principal permitted use designated in Planning
Code Section 330.9(c); and under California Public Resources Code Section 30603(a)(5), for approved
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or:- :9disapproved proiects that involve a maior public works proiect or a maior energy facility, all as
further described in Section 330.JOCoestal Zone PermitApplicetions ere not appeeleble to the
Celifernie Coestal Commission.
(c) Principal Permitted Use Under the Local Coastal Program. Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this Code or the City and County's Local Coastal Program Implementation Plan that
identi[yprincipal permitted, conditional, and other types of uses, the principal permitted use for the
purposes of California Public Resources Code Section 30603(a)(4) shall be as described in this
subsection (c). The designation of the principal permitted use for the purpose of the Local Coastal
Program does not alter the uses permitted on any site under the Planning Code or applicable
requirements under the Planning Code.
(A) Residential Districts: Residential Uses.
(BJ Parkmerced Residential District: Residential Uses.
(C) Neighborhood Commercial Districts: Commercial Uses.
(D) Public Districts: Public Uses, where that shall be understood to mean a
Public Facility, Open Recreation Area, or Passive Outdoor Recreation.
(E) Wawona Street and 45th Avenue Cultural Center Special Use District:
Commercial Uses, as defined in Section 249.96(e).
(cd) A Coastal Zone Permit decision which may be appealed to the California Coastal
Commission can be appealed by filing with the California Coastal Commission within 10
working days after the California Coastal Commission receives notice of final action from the
Planning Department. Appeals to the California Coastal Commission are subject to the
aggrieved party provisions in Section 330.2(a).
(df) An applicant is required to exhaust local appeals before appealing to the
California Coastal Commission.
Supervisors Engardio; Peskin, Mandelman
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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(e.i) Major public works and energy facilities within the Coastal Zone may be appealed
to the California Coastal Commission whether approved or not by the local government.
SEC. 330.10. APPEALABLE PROJECTS
The following projects may be appealed to the California Coastal Commission:
(a) Projects approved between the sea and the first public road paralleling the sea or
within 300 feet of the inland extent of any beach or of the mean high tide line of the sea where
there is no beach, or as otherwise indicated in Sectional Maps CZ4, CZS, and CZ13 of the
Zoning Map.
(b) Projects approved and located on tidelands, submerged lands, public trust lands,
within 100 feet of any wetland, estuary, stream or within 300 feet of the top of the seaward
face of any coastal bluff.
(c) Any project which constitutes a major public works project or a major energy
facility, including the following:
(1) All production, storage, transmission, and recovery facilities for water,
sewerage, telephone, and other similar utilities owned or operated by any public agency or by
any utility subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission, except for energy
facilities.
(2) All public transportation facilities, including streets, roads, highways, public
parking lots and structures, ports, harbors, airports, railroads, and mass transit facilities and
stations, bridges, trolley wires, and other related facilities. A railroad whose primary business
is the transportation of passengers shall not be considered public works nor a development if
at least 90 percent of its routes located within the coastal zone utilize existing rail or highway
rights-of-way.
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(3) All publicly financed recreational facilities, all projects of the State Coastal
Conservancy, and any development by a special district.
(4) All community college facilities.
(5) Major public works or energy facility with an estimated cost of $100,000 or
more.
(6) Energy facilities is any public or private processing, producing, generating,
storing, transmitting, or recovering facility for electricity, natural gas, petroleum, coal, or other
source of energy.
(d) Proiects proposing a use that is not designated as the principal permitted use in the
applicable Zoning District in subsection 330.9(c).
Section 4. Ordinance No. 241-23 included, pursuant to Sections 106 and 302(c) of the
Planning Code, an amendment of Sheet SU 13 of the Zoning Map of the City and County of
San Francisco. The Zoning Map amendment is hereby reprinted:
Assessor's Parcel (Block/Lot Numbers)
Special Use District Hereby Approved
2513/026
Wawona Street and 45th Avenue Cultural
Center Special Use District
Section 5. Local Coastal Program. The Local Coastal Program is hereby amended to
add Planning Code Section 249.96 and to modify Planning Code Sections 330.9 and 330.10,
as set forth above in Section 3, including the Zoning Map amendment as reprinted above in
Section 4.
Section 6. Effective Date; Operative Date.
Supervisors Engardio; Peskin, Mandelman
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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(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) Upon enactment pursuant to this Section 6, the Director of the Planning
Department shall submit this ordinance to the California Coastal Commission for certification
as a Local Coastal Program Amendment. This ordinance, which constitutes both the
unamended and amended text of Planning Code Section 249.96 in Section 3 and the
reprinted Zoning Map amendment in Section 4, shall be operative upon final certification by
the California Coastal Commission. If the California Coastal Commission certifies this
ordinance subject to modifications, this ordinance, as so modified, shall become operative 30
days after enactment of the modifications.
Section 6. Transmittal of Ordinance. Upon certification by the California Coastal
Commission, the Director of the Planning Department shall transmit a copy of the certified
Local Coastal Program Amendment to the Clerk of the Board for inclusion in File No. 240228.
The Planning Department shall also retain a copy of the certified Local Coastal Program
Amendment in its Local Coastal Program files.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DAVID CHIU, City Attorney
By:
/s/ Peter R. Miljanich
PETER R. MILJANICH
Deputy City Attorney
n:\legana\as2024\2400320\017 43120.docx
Supervisors Engardio; Peskin, Mandelman
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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City and County of San Francisco
Tails
Ordinance
City Hall
I Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
File Number:
240228
Date Passed:
June 11, 2024
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to clarify the Wawona Street and 45th Avenue Special Use
District's height limit and principal permitted use for purposes of the Local Coastal Program; amending
the Local Coastal Program to add the Wawona Street and 45th Avenue Cultural Center Special Use
District; amending the Local Coastal Program to designate the principal permitted use within the City's
Coastal Zone for purposes of appeal to the California Coastal Commission; affirming the Planning
Department's determination under the California Environmental Quality Act; and making findings of
consistency with the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of Planning Code, Section 101.1, and
findings of public necessity, convenience, and welfare under Planning Code, Section 302.
June 03, 2024 Land Use and Transportation Committee - RECOMMENDED AS COMMITTEE
REPORT
June 04, 2024 Board of Supervisors - PASSED ON FIRST READING
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen,
Safai, Stefani and Walton
June 11, 2024 Board of Supervisors - Fl NALLY PASSED
Ayes: 10 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen,
Stefani and Walton
Excused: 1 - Safai
File No. 240228
London N. Breed
Mayor
City and County of San Francisco
Pagel
I hereby certify that the foregoing
Ordinance was FINALLY PASSED on
6/11/2024 by the Board of Supervisors of the
City and County of San Francisco.
Angela Calvillo
Clerk of the Board
Date Approved
Printed at 1:41 pm 011 6/12/24
