FILE NO. 240903
AMENDED IN COMMITTE
1/13/2025
ORDINANCE NO. 2-25
[Planning Code - Health Service Uses in West Portal Neighborhood Commercial District]
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to permit certain Health Service Uses up
to 5,000 gross square feet without a conditional use permit in the West Portal
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 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 strikethrough italics Times ]'tkw 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. 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. 240903 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board affirms
this determination.
(b) On December 5, 2025, the Planning Commission, in Resolution No. 21655,
adopted findings that the actions contemplated in this ordinance are consistent, on balance,
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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. 240903, 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. 21655, 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. 240903.
Section 2. General Findings.
(a) As part of the 2023 Housing Element Update, the City studied its housing patterns
and planned for increasing the number of residents in the areas of the City where residential
construction has lagged over the last several decades.
(b) Increasing the numbers of residents in the western portion of the City, including in
the West Portal Neighborhood Commercial District, will cause an increase in the demand for
neighborhood-serving retail uses. This demand could be met by increasing the number of
locations or allowing larger sized locations for many uses, including health services uses.
(c) The West Portal Avenue Neighborhood Commercial District limits retail uses to
4,000 square feet. It is possible that in certain neighborhood commercial districts, this size
limitation could be an impediment to locating larger neighborhood-serving retail businesses in
districts to meet this anticipated increased demand.
(d) Recently, medical health service businesses have sought to open locations greater
than 4,000 square feet because with a larger area it is possible to provide more services on
site.
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(e) In the West Portal neighborhood, there is an existing strong demand for health
services. It could be beneficial for the residents of West Portal and the surrounding areas to
have integrated medical services in the district. Larger spaces could enable existing and
future customers of the City's west side to obtain integrated health services without going
downtown or other long distances, and make it easier for West Portal residents to access
health services without having to go outside of the neighborhood.
(f) The West Portal Avenue Neighborhood Commercial District (NCD) sets forth
controls for various uses within the NCD. It is reasonable to amend the code to avoid
unnecessary verbiage by deleting the entries in the Zoning Table that are duplicative of other
existing controls.
Section 3. Articles 1.2 and 7 of the Planning Code are hereby amended by revising
Sections 121.2 and 729, 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
North Beach
2,000 sq. ft.
Pacific Avenue
Polk Street*
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24th Street-Mission
24th Street-Noe Valley
Haight Street
Inner Clement Street
Inner Sunset
Japantown
2,500 sq. ft.
Outer Clement Street
Sacramento Street
Union Street
Upper Fillmore Street
West Portal Avenue_:
* * * *
* 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, or any Health Service use in the West Portal Avenue
Neighborhood Commercial District located at Assessor's Parcel Block No. 2989!;!, Lot 17.
*
* * *
(b) In order to protect and maintain a scale of development appropriate to each
district, Non-Residential uses that exceed the square footage stated in the table below shall
not be permitted, except in the following circumstances:
(1) In the Castro Street Neighborhood Commercial District, a Child Care
Facility, School, Post-Secondary Educational Institution, Religious Institution, Social Service
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or Philanthropic Facility, Community Facility, or a Residential Care Facility as defined in
Section 102 of this Code that is operated by a non-profit and is neighborhood-serving may
exceed this &§'.ubsection 121.2(b) with Conditional Use authorization.
(2) In the Regional Commercial District, Schools and Childcare Facilities as
defined in Section 102 may exceed this &§'.ubsection 121.2(b) with Conditional Use
authorization.
(3) In the Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District, this subsection
121.2(b) shall not apply to a Movie Theater use, or the expansion of an existing General
Grocery Use, as defined in Section 102 of this Code, and pursuant to the controls of Section
723.
(4)
In the West Portal Neighborhood Commercial District, Health Services Uses
located at Assessor's Parcel Block No. 2989B, Lot 17 may exceed the limit in the table below, but shall
not have a Gross Floor Area great than 5,000 square feet.
The use area shall be measured as the Gross Floor Area for each individual Non-
Residential use.
District
Use Size Limits
West Portal Avenue
North Beach
Castro Street
4,000 square feet
Polk Street
Pacific Avenue
Regional Commercial District
25,000 square feet
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SEC. 729. WEST PORTAL AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL DISTRICT.
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Table 729. WEST PORTAL AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL DISTRICT
ZONING CONTROL TABLE
West Portal Avenue NCO
Zoning Category
§ References
Controls
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NON-RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS AND USES
Development Standards
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Controls by Story
1st
2nd
3rd+
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Sales and Service Use Category
Retail Sales and
§ § 102, 121.2,
p
p
NP
Service Uses*
202.2(a),
202.3
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Animel Hespifflt
f-J{)J
/l
/l
NP-
*
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*
Resfflurent
§§ 102,
/l
/l
NP-
202.2(€,)
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Rcsteurant, Limited
§§ 102,
.p.
.p.
NP-
202.2(€1)
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&n1-iecs, Health
§-/-OJ
.p.
.p.
NP-
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Section 4. 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 5. 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\2400487\01811431.docx
Supervisor Melgar
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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:
240903
Date Passed: February 04, 2025
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to permit certain Health Service Uses up to 5,000 gross
square feet without a conditional use permit in the West Portal 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 pursuant to Planning
Code, Section 302.
January 13, 2025 Land Use and Transportation Committee - AMENDED, AN AMENDMENT
OF THE WHOLE BEARING SAME TITLE
January 13, 2025 Land Use and Transportation Committee - RECOMMENDED AS
AMENDED
January 28, 2025 Board of Supervisors - PASSED ON FIRST READING
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Chen, Dorsey, Engardio, Fielder, Mahmood, Mandelman, Melgar,
Sauter, Sherrill and Walton
February 04, 2025 Board of Supervisors - Fl NALLY PASSED
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Chen, Dorsey, Engardio, Fielder, Mahmood, Mandelman, Melgar,
Sauter, Sherrill and Walton
File No. 240903
I hereby certify that the foregoing
Ordinance was FINALLY PASSED on
2/4/2025 by the Board of Supervisors of the
City and County of San Francisco.
City and County of San Francisco
Daniel Lurie
Mayor
Page I
Angela Calvillo
Clerk of the Board
Date Approved
Priflted at 8: 17 am on 2/5/25
