Land Use and Transportation Committee Meeting - October 23, 2023
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Land Use and Transportation Committee Meeting - October 23, 2023
The Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on October 23, 2023, to consider two items: an ordinance to amend zoning controls in the Castro Street Neighborhood Commercial District to allow nighttime entertainment with conditional use authorization, and an ordinance to create a Non-Profit Arts Education Special Use District. The committee voted to send the first item to the full board without recommendation and continued the second item to November 6, 2023.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 1 (Castro Street NCD): Andrea Ayello, Executive Director of the Castro Community Benefit District, expressed support for the ordinance, stating it is critically important to align the Castro NCD with the rest of the neighborhood and for the success of the Castro Theater. Ralph Hibbs, a Castro resident and treasurer of the Castro CBD, also voiced support.
- Item 2 (Non-Profit Arts Education SUD): Eileen Bocan spoke in support of the legislation, noting that the proposed SUD is more restrictive and consistent with the Zoning Administrator's criteria for the Burnal Heights SUD. She also raised questions about other proposed SUDs.
Discussion Items
- Item 1 (Castro Street NCD): Chair Melgar introduced the ordinance from Supervisor Mandelman’s office. The committee discussed the motion. Vice Chair Preston requested to send the item to the full board without recommendation to preserve his previous position on the Castro Theater. The chair withdrew her original motion for a positive recommendation and moved to send without recommendation.
- Item 2 (Non-Profit Arts Education SUD): Supervisor Peskin moved to continue the item to November 6, 2023, due to a lack of quorum at the Historic Preservation Commission. The committee accepted the motion.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1 (Castro Street NCD): The committee voted unanimously (3-0) to send the ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors as a committee report without recommendation. The motion passed with Vice Chair Preston, Member Peskin, and Chair Melgar all voting aye.
- Item 2 (Non-Profit Arts Education SUD): The committee voted unanimously (3-0) to continue the item to the regular meeting of November 6, 2023. The motion passed with all members voting aye.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the October 23rd meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I am Supervisor Mirna Melgar, Chair of the Committee, joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Dean Preston and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. The committee clerk today is John Carroll. I would like to acknowledge the folks at SFGup TV for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Please ensure that you silence your cell phone and other electronic devices you may have with you in the chamber. If you have any documents to be included as part of any of today's files, you should submit them to me. And items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of October 31st, 2023, unless otherwise stated. Okay. It's nice that it's short. Will you please call item number one? Agenda item number one is an ordinance amending the planning code to change the zoning controls in the Castro Street Neighborhood Commercial District to exclude Article 10 landmark buildings from use size limitation and allow nighttime entertainment with a conditional use authorization on the second floor, affirming the planning department's CEQ determination and making findings of consistency with the general plan and the eight priority policies. Okay. We have uh Adam Thong Savan here from uh Supervisor Mandelman's office of sponsor of the legislation and also Mr. Aaron Start from the planning commission from the planning department if anyone has any questions or comments. Um and if not, uh let's go to public comment on this item, Mr. Clerk. Thank you. If you have a if you have public comment on agenda item number one, please come forward to lectern. Good afternoon, supervisors. Um I'm Andrea Ayello, executive director for the Castro Community Benefit District. And I was here last week, but I just wanted to come again to just reaffirm the CBD board's support for this ordinance and this zoning change, and we feel it's critically important to bring the Castro NCD into alignment with the rest of the neighborhood as far as zoning is concerned, and also critically important for the success of the Castro Theater. Thank you. Thank you, Andrea Ayello, for sharing your comments. Can we have the next speaker, please? I'm Ralph Hibbs, and I talked last week. I'm a Castor resident and treasure of the Castro CBD, and I'm here to support what Andrea said, and I'll keep it short. Thank you. Could you uh say your name one more time on the mic? I did I did miss that. Yeah, it's Ralph uh Hibbs, H I B B S. Thank you so much. Do we have anyone else who has public comment on agenda item number one? Madam Chair. Okay. With that public comment on this item is closed. I'd like to uh make a motion that we send this to the full board with a positive recommendation as a committee report. On the motion offered by the chair that this ordinance be recommended to the board of supervisors as a committee report. Vice Chair Preston. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mr. Carroll. I'm gonna clarify the motion because there's been a question. The motion uh was to send it out with a positive recommendation as a committee report. Madam Chair, uh, in order to stay consistent with my I don't want to hold this up in committee, but to stay consistent with my previous positions as it relates to the Castro Theater. I would prefer if we send it without recommendation to preserve my position.
openpublica.com