It's a Go: San Jose's Planning Commission voted 6-0...

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, February 23, 2012, by Sally Kuchar

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? Previous: Exploring Alameda's Historic Park Street; Battling Over Affordable Housing In the Mission; More!

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Development Watch: "Sister" Project to Infinity Towers Back Before Planning Commission

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, February 8, 2012, by Alex Bevk

[Super old rendering of 201 Folsom, seen here with Infinity design pre-Arquitectonica intervention, via SF New Developments]

Tomorrow the Planning Commission will hear an informational presentation on the "sister" project to the Infinity Towers. Approved back in 2003, the project is for two residential towers, 350 and 400 feet above an 80-foot podium, at 201 Folsom Street across the street from the Infinity I & II. The original approval motion recognized the potential for design of the project to change before construction and included a condition of approval that the Planning Director approve the final design after an informational hearing at the Planning Commission. The new design reduces the number of parking spots in the podium section, originally included for the neighboring US Post Office sorting facility that's now defunct, so the podium has been redesigned. There will be less dwelling units than originally planned, but more commercial spaces and open space. And oh yeah, the project architect is totally new (from Heller Manus to Arquitectonica). The agenda didn't include the new plans, so we'll fill you in after the hearing tomorrow.
· Memo for Informational Hearing on 201 Folsom St [Curbed SF]
· Hope Yet for Rincon Hill's 201 Folsom St [Curbed SF]
· Infinity's Cousin Still Coming, One Day [Curbed SF]
· Past Coverage of The Infinity [Curbed SF Archives]

201 Folsom Street, San Francisco CA

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Master Planning: Ocean Beach Master Plan Seeking Major Moolah from the State

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, January 20, 2012, by Alex Bevk [All images via SPUR]

The long term planning of Ocean Beach could get a boost today, as the California Coastal Commission is considering a funding request for $400,000. SPUR has been leading a master planning effort for Ocean Beach over the past year and a half with funding from federal, state and local sources. The current draft of the plan includes, among many other things, closing the Great Highway south of Sloat Boulevard, rerouting traffic to Sloat and to Skyline Boulevard east of the San Francisco Zoo, plus narrowing the Great Highway to one lane in each direction.

That pretty chunk of change could be used for a traffic study on the impacts of closing down part of the Great Highway, plus the creation of agreements for various agencies to manage Ocean Beach under a single unified vision. It won't cover all the work, with the remaining funds coming from the National Park Service and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who own the wastewater treatment plant near the zoo.

The Draft Ocean Beach Master Plan will be available for public review on on the SPUR website on January 31, 2012. The public will have until February 20 to provide comments and feedback on the draft plan. The Final Plan will be available on March 5.
· Ocean Beach: SPUR Takes a Long Look Into The Future [Curbed SF]
· SPUR Ocean Beach Master Plan Draft Recommendations [SPUR]
· California Coastal Conservancy staff report - Jan. 19, 2012 funding request for San Francisco Ocean Beach Master Plan [California Coastal Commmission]
· Ocean Beach Master Plan drafts big changes for Ocean Beach [Ocean Beach Bulletin]

Great Highway and Lincoln Way San Francisco, CA 94122

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Turf Wars: Mud-Slinging Expected at Planning Commission Over Noe Valley Addition

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, November 30, 2011, by Alex Bevk

[Image via SF Planning]

This Thursday’s Planning Commission hearing will feature some NIMBY rage in Noe Valley. The owners of 4366 26th Street want to construct a rear addition to their house, but a neighbor claims it will be an “invasion of privacy” and block light, so the neighbor filed for discretionary review, the ultimate "addition block." But Noe Valley SF points out that the DR requester has existing non-conforming stairs, bedroom and some sort of shed that occupy the same rough footprint of the requested addition and “the applicants moved into their home in 2010 with one child and are expecting twins." Expect an update from us on the ongoing Noe Valley addition saga on Friday.
· This Week at the Planning Commission [Noe Valley SF]
· Opposed To The Proposed Expansion Below Over In Noe Valley [SocketSite]
· 4366 26th Street Discretionary Review Analysis [SF Planning]

4366 26th Street, San Francisco CA

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SFMOMA Expansion : Planning Commission approves SFMOMA Expansion

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, November 10, 2011, by Alex Bevk

[Rendering via Snøhetta]

This afternoon the Planning Commission debated the Certification of Final Environmental Impact Report for the SFMOMA Expansion by Norwegian firm Snøhetta. The project expands the existing SFMOMA (with a 200-foot-tall, 230,000-square-foot addition) and demos-and-relocates Fire Station No. 1 from 676 Howard Street to a new building at 935 Folsom Street. First up, since it was the final certification of the (very long) EIR, public comment was kept short, and it was certified.

Next, the commish had to approve a thousand technical bits, including adopting the findings under CEQA, find the project consistent with the General Plan, amend the General Plan, and rezone the sites. Public comment was all super positive for the project. Even Commissioner Moore commented on how unusual it was that there wasn't opposition. The only real beef was from the owners of the W Hotel, who are concerned about vehicle and maintenance access to their building. Commissioners said too bad to the W, the museum is going to be a major thumbs-up for the nabe and the city, and unanimously approved all the items, sending the project on to the Board of Supes for final approval.
· SFMOMA: The Shape of Things to Come on Third Street [Curbed SF]
· San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Expansion / Fire Station Relocation and Housing Project [SF Planning Dept]
· SFMOMA Picks Snøhetta for $250M Expansion Design [Curbed SF]

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Welcome, ROSE: The Planning Department just launched...

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, May 26, 2011, by Philip Ferrato

The Planning Department just launched its massive- and long-awaited- open spaces and parks document, the Recreation & Open Space Element. It's a big one. ROSE weighs in forty-seven pages of .pdf, and we recommend printing it out regardless of how much one dislikes using paper instead pixels, worthy of a leisurely read over a long weekend. Some of the points are basic, but two proposals jumped off the pages. One is improving the relationship between Golden Gate Park and the neighborhoods along its length, now effectively shut out by traffic, dense shrubbery and walls. The second is the creation of a cross-town hiker's trail from The Presidio to Candlestick Park. Precise route to be determined, but it would connect existing open areas and could involve daylighting long-covered stream beds. It's that wide brown swath in the map, which will enlarge in another window if you click on it. [SF Planning]
[Update, 8:15PM: Our enthusiasm got the better of us. The link is to a revised but 2009-vintage draft. We're still excited, and the new ROSE will debut June 8. -PF]

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