RESTRICTION OF LOT MERGERS IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS, ON PEDESTRIAN-

SF Planning Code § 121.7

in effect

SEC. 121.7. RESTRICTION OF LOT MERGERS IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS, ON PEDESTRIAN-

ORIENTED STREETS, AND FOR LOTS WITH HISTORIC BUILDINGS. (a) Purpose: In order to promote, protect, and maintain a fine-grain scale of development in residential districts and on important pedestrian-oriented commercial streets that is appropriate to each district; compatible with adjacent buildings; provide for a diverse streetscape; ensure the maintenance and creation of multiple unique buildings and building frontages rather than large single structures superficially treated; promote diversity and multiplicity of land ownership and discourage consolidation of property under single ownership, merger of lots is regulated in accordance with this Section 121.7. (b) Controls. Merger of lots is regulated as follows: (1) RTO Districts. In RTO Districts within the Priority Equity Geographies Special Use District established under Section 249.97, merger of lots creating a lot greater than 5,000 square feet shall not be permitted except according to the procedures and criteria in subsection (d) below. (2) NCT, NC, and Mixed-Use Districts. In those NCT, NC, and Mixed Use Districts listed below, merger of lots resulting in a lot with a single street frontage greater than that stated in the table below on the specified streets or in the specified Districts is prohibited except according to the procedures and criteria in subsections (c) and (d) below. (3) WMUO District. Merger of lots in the WMUO zoning district resulting in a lot with a street frontage between 100 and 200 feet along Townsend Street is permitted so long as a publicly-accessible through-block pedestrian alley at least 20 feet in width and generally conforming to the design standards of Section 270.2(e)(5)-(12) of this Code is provided as a result of such merger. (4) Mission Street NCT District. In the Mission Street NCT District, projects that propose lot mergers resulting in street frontages on Mission Street greater than 50 feet shall provide at least one non-residential space of no more than 2,500 square feet on the ground floor fronting Mission Street. (5) Ocean Avenue NCT District. In the Ocean Avenue NCT District, projects that propose lot mergers resulting in street frontages greater than 50 feet are permitted to create corner lots only, and shall require a conditional use authorization. Street or District Lot Frontage Limit Hayes, from Franklin to Laguna 50 feet RED and RED-MX 50 feet Church Street, from Duboce to 16th Street 100 feet Divisadero Street NCT except for the east and west blocks between Oak and Fell, Fillmore Street NCT, Folsom Street NCT, RCD, WMUG, WMUO, and SALI 100 feet for WMUO District (see subsection (b)(3)) Mission Street, within the Mission Street NCT 100 feet; see subsection (b)(4) Market, from Octavia to Noe 150 feet Ocean Avenue in the Ocean Avenue NCT 50 feet; see subsection (b)(5) Inner and Outer Clement NCDs 50 feet North Beach NCD and SUD, Telegraph Hill-North Beach Residential SUD, Polk Street NCD, and Pacific Avenue NCD* 25 feet* NC-2 districts on Balboa Street between 2nd Avenue and 8th Avenue, and between 32nd Avenue and 38th Avenue 50 feet * For lots that do not have street frontage, the merger would not result in a lot with a width greater than 25 feet. (c) Administrative Exceptions. The Zoning Administrator may administratively waive certain lot mergers from the restrictions of subsection (b) only when one or more of the following conditions is present: (1) One of the lots to be merged has total street frontage on the restricted street of less than 20 feet; or (2) The project sponsor is a government agency or institution subject to Section 304.5 of this Code, and the purpose of the project is for a public facility, public building, or institutional building; or (3) The project involves normalizing substandard or irregular lots that are publicly owned or are being transferred from public to private ownership, including lots of the former Central Freeway; or (4) The lots to be merged contain a pre-existing single building spanning multiple lots; or (5) The lot merger will enable a specific residential project in which a majority of the units on-site will be affordable as defined by Section 402. (d) Conditionally Permitted Exceptions. The Planning Commission may approve, as a Conditional Use according to the procedures of Section 303, mergers exceeding the restrictions of subsections (b) and (c) only when one or more of the following findings can affirmatively be made and the project meets the intent of this Section 121.7: (1) The lot merger will enable a specific residential project that provides housing on-site at affordability levels significantly exceeding the requirements of Section 415; or (2) The lot merger will facilitate development of an underutilized site historically used as a single use and the new project is comprised of multiple individual buildings; or (3) The lot merger serves a unique public interest that cannot be met by building a project on a smaller lot. (e) Lots with Certain Historic Buildings. For projects meeting the definition of a housing development project, as that term is defined in Government Code Section 65589.5(h)(2), as may be amended, Lot Mergers are not permitted, unless the Project maintains the Historic Building in compliance with the Preservation Design Standards and modified standards under Section 206.10(d) for the life of the project, and the requirement is recorded in a Notice of Special Restrictions. (Added by Ord. 72-08, File No. 071157, App. 4/3/2008; amended by Ord. 61-09, File No. 090181, App. 4/17/2009; Ord. 92-12 , File No. 111247, App. 5/21/12, Eff. 6/20/12; Ord. 42-13 , File No. 130002, App. 3/28/2013, Eff. 4/27/2013; Ord. 62-13 , File No. 121162, App. 4/10/2013, Eff. 5/10/2013; Ord. 126-15 , File No. 150081, App. 7/17/2015, Eff. 8/16/2015; Ord. 127-15 , File No. 150082, App. 7/17/2015, Eff. 8/16/2015; Ord. 188-15 , File No. 150871, App. 11/4/2015, Eff. 12/4/2015; Ord. 129-17, File No. 170203, App. 6/30/2017, Eff. 7/30/2017; Ord. 205-17, File No. 170418, App. 11/3/2017, Eff. 12/3/2017; Ord. 17-18, File No. 171173, App. 2/9/2018, Eff. 3/12/2018; Ord. 71-20, File No. 191285, App. 5/1/2020, Eff. 6/1/2020; Ord. 248-23, File No. 230446, App. 12/14/2023, Eff. 1/14/2024; Ord. 245-25, File No. 250701, App. 12/12/2025, Eff. 1/12/2026, Oper. 1/12/2026) AMENDMENT HISTORY Division (b) amended; Ord. 92-12 , Eff. 6/20/12. Section header, introductory paragraph, and division (b) amended; Ord. 42-13 , Eff. 4/27/2013. Division (d)(1) reference corrected; Ord. 62-13 , Eff. 5/10/2013. Division (b) amended; Ord. 126-15 , Eff. 8/16/2015. Division (b) amended; Ord. 127-15 , Eff. 8/16/2015. Introductory paragraph amended; Ord. 188-15 , Eff. 12/4/2015. Table amended; Ord. 129-17, Eff. 7/30/2017. Table amended; Ord. 205-17, Eff. 12/3/2017. Introductory paragraph and table amended; division (f) added; Ord. 17-18, Eff. 3/12/2018. Introductory paragraph and former divisions (a) and (b) redesignated as divisions (a), (b)(1), and (b)(2), and amended; new divisions (b) and (b)(3)-(5) added; table amended; undesignated paragraph following table deleted; divisions (c), (c)(2), (c)(3), (c)(5), and (d)-(d)(2) amended; divisions (e) and (f) deleted; Ord. 71-20, Eff. 6/1/2020. Division (b)(1) amended; Ord. 248-23, Eff. 1/14/2024. Section header amended; division (e) added; Ord. 245-25, Eff. 1/12/2026. Editor's Note: This Section 121.7 was originally designated 121.6 when enacted by Ord. 72-08. The section was redesignated by the editor in order to avoid conflicting with previously existing material. This section subsequently has been amended under its current number by multiple ordinances, as documented in the history note above.

SEC. 121.8. [REPEALED.]

(Added as Sec. 121.5 by Ord. 99-08, File No. 080339, App. 6/11/2008; redesignated and amended by Ord. 298-08, File No. 081153, App. 12/19/2008; amended by Ord. 196-11 , File No. 110786, App. 10/4/2011, Eff. 11/3/2011; repealed by Ord. 22-15, File No. 141253, App. 2/20/2015, Eff. 3/22/2015)

SEC. 121.9. SUBDIVISION OF LARGE LOTS, PDR DISTRICTS.

In order to promote, protect, and maintain viable space for a wide range of light industrial uses in PDR Districts, in furtherance of Objective 4 of the Commerce and Industry Element and Policies 1.5 and 8.1 of the Bayview Hunters Point Area Plan, any proposal to subdivide, resubdivide, or perform a lot line adjustment to a parcel that is equal to or greater than 10,000 square feet, into one or more smaller parcels, shall be permitted only with Conditional Use authorization. Additionally, all proposals for the subdivision, resubdivision, or lot line adjustments of parcels in PDR Districts shall be evaluated in consideration of the following criteria in order to further Objective 4 of the Commerce and Industry Element and Policies 1.5 and 8.1 of the Bayview Hunters Point Area Plan: (a) The proposed parcelization will support light industrial activities in the district. (b) If the resulting parcelization will require demolition of a structure, the demolition of the structure complies with the Industrial Uses replacement requirement per Section 202.7. (c) The uses proposed for the parcels, if any, comply with the cumulative use size limits detailed in the PDR Zoning Control Table. (Added as Sec. 121.7 by Ord. 99-08, File No. 080339, App. 6/11/2008; redesignated and amended by Ord. 298-08, File No. 081153, App. 12/19/2008; amended by Ord. 22-15, File No. 141253, App. 2/20/2015, Eff. 3/22/2015; Ord. 202-18, File No. 180557, App. 8/10/2018, Eff. 9/10/2018) AMENDMENT HISTORY Former divisions (1)-(3) redesignated as (a)-(c); current division (c) amended; Ord. 22-15, Eff. 3/22/2015. Undesignated introductory paragraph and division (b) amended; Ord. 202-18, Eff. 9/10/2018.

SEC. 122. HEIGHT AND BULK LIMITATIONS.

Buildings and structures shall be subject to the height and bulk limits established by Article 2.5 of this Code for use districts and for height and bulk districts. (Amended by Ord. 443-78, App. 10/6/78)

SEC. 123. MAXIMUM FLOOR AREA RATIO.

(a) The limits upon the floor area ratio of buildings, as defined by this Code, shall be as stated in this Section and Sections 124 through 128.1. The maximum floor area ratio for any building or development shall be equal to the sum of the basic floor area ratio for the district, as set forth in Section 124, plus any premiums and floor area transfers which are applicable to such building or development under Sections 125, 127, 128 and 128.1 and as restricted by the provisions of Sections 123(c) and (d) and 124(b) and (j). (b) No building or structure or part thereof shall be permitted to exceed, except as stated in Sections 172 and 188 of this Code, the floor area ratio limits herein set forth for the district in which it is located. (c) In the C-3 Districts, the amount of TDR that may be transferred to a development lot, as allowed by Section 128, is limited as follows: (1) The gross floor area of a structure on a lot in the C-3-O District may not exceed a floor area ratio of 18 to 1; (2) The gross floor area of a structure on a lot in the C-3-R, C-3-G and C-3-S Districts may not exceed a floor area ratio that is 1½ times the basic floor area limit for the district as provided in Section 124. This section shall not apply to the C-3-S (SU) District. (d) The gross floor area of a structure on a lot on which is or has been located a Significant or Contributory Building may not exceed the basic floor area ratio limits stated in Section 124 except as provided in Sections 128(c)(2) and 124(f). (e) C-3-O(SD) District. To exceed the basic floor area ratio limit of 6.0:1 up to a ratio of 9.0:1, TDR must be transferred to the development lot as described in Section 128 . The use of TDR to exceed a floor area ratio of 9.0:1 shall not be allowed in the C-3-O(SD) district. In order to exceed a floor area ratio of 9.0:1, all projects must participate in the Transit Center District Mello-Roos Community Facilities District as described in Section 424.8. The gross floor area of a structure on a lot in the C-3-O(SD) District shall not otherwise be limited. (f) A project subject to the TDR requirements of Section 249.78 is subject to the floor area ratio restrictions contained in that Section. (Amended by Ord. 414-85, App. 9/17/85; Ord. 275-03, File No. 021577, App. 12/10/2003; Ord. 87-07, File No. 061688, App. 4/27/2007 ; Ord. 182-12 , File No. 120665, App. 8/8/2012, Eff. 9/7/2012; Ord. 296-18, File No. 180184, App. 12/12/2018, Eff. 1/12/2019) AMENDMENT HISTORY Division (c)(1) amended; division (e) added; Ord. 182-12 , Eff. 9/7/2012. Divisions (a) and (c) amended; division (f) added; Ord. 296-18, Eff. 1/12/2019.

SEC. 124. BASIC FLOOR AREA RATIO.

(See Interpretations related to this Section.) (a) Except as otherwise provided in provided in1 this Section 124, the basic Floor Area Ratio limits specified in the Zoning Control Table for the district in which the lot is located, or in Table 124 below, shall apply to each building or development in the districts indicated. TABLE 124 BASIC FLOOR AREA RATIO LIMITS District Basic Floor Area Ratio Limit RED, RED-MX 1.0 to 1

Source: SF Municipal Code PDF (amlegal)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/san_francisco/latest/sf_planning/0-0-0-1Fetched: 7/4/2026