Board of Supervisors Land Use and Transportation Committee Regular Meeting - September 14, 2026

The Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on Monday, September 14, 2026, beginning at 9:45 AM, with Chair Melgar presiding. The clerk announced that public comment would be taken on each agenda item and that written comments could be submitted to the clerk's office. The committee considered three items: signage allowances in mixed-use districts, commercial-to-residential adaptive reuse code amendments, and the Transbay Under Ramp Park project involving the Oscar Alley street vacation and conveyance. Items acted upon during the meeting are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors Agenda of September 22, 2026, unless otherwise stated.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public offered comment on Item 1 (Signs in Mixed Use Districts) or Item 3 (Transbay Under Ramp Park).
• Mark Babson, representing Emerald Fund, San Francisco Housing Developers, expressed support for the adaptive reuse legislation (Item 2). He stated that Emerald Fund converted 100 Van Ness Avenue into 418 apartments in 2015 and has worked with the planning department and other city departments to create incentives to bring projects into financial feasibility. He noted the planning department had been forward-looking but additional adjustments were needed, and he supported the modifications to the legislation.

Discussion Items

Item 1 (File 260679): Planning Code - Signs in Mixed Use Districts

Supervisor Dorsey (District 6) presented the ordinance amending the Planning Code to increase the allowable number and size of signs in mixed-use districts on lots over one half acre and in the mixed-use office district south of Townsend Street, affirming the Planning Department's CEQA determination and making required findings. Dorsey expressed support for the legislation, stating that Mission Bay is leading San Francisco's economic recovery and that good signage is part of what makes a commercial area work, particularly in mixed-use areas still working to attract tenants and visitors in the post-pandemic recovery. He acknowledged the committee was taking a narrow approach and noted the city will adapt the code's existing assumptions around signage as new residential districts are created. Planning staff presented the item. The Planning Commission heard the item on July 30, 2026 and unanimously adopted a recommendation of approval. The committee voted by roll call to send the item to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.

Item 2 (File 260771): Planning Code - Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse

Supervisor Dorsey presented the ordinance, which builds on prior board actions to facilitate converting underutilized office and commercial space into housing. Dorsey stated that existing code obligations may be incompatible with the physical layout of buildings being converted, and satisfying them can be the difference between a project penciling out and a project never happening. He noted that several new adaptive reuse applications have been submitted and that his office supported the staff recommendations, which were incorporated into version two of the legislation before the committee. The recommended modifications included: waiving the bike parking requirement only where a project does not provide accessory off-street automobile parking; waiving the street frontage requirement for any project providing ground floor accessory off-street parking; and providing that off-street parking and loading requirements in Section 155S shall not apply to any existing off-street parking and loading retained to serve the new residential uses as long as the parking is located within or... (the remainder of the sentence and one additional modification were not captured in the transcript). Staff referenced included Jake Jacob Bentleff of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and Lily Langwa of the Planning Department. The committee voted to send the item to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.

Item 3 (File 260873): Transbay Under Ramp Park Project - Oscar Alley Street Vacation and Conveyance

Supervisor Dorsey presented the ordinance on behalf of Public Works, the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII), and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) to facilitate construction of the Under Ramp Park (East Cut Sports and Dog Park), an approximately two-and-a-half-acre public open space planned beneath and around the elevated bus ramp connecting the Salesforce Transit Center to I-80, spanning the blocks between the Transit Center and Folsom Street. The park is a long-planned public amenity identified in multiple city-approved frameworks and essential to the neighborhood's open space network. Planned amenities include multi-sport courts for pickleball, basketball, and soccer; a roughly 20,000-square-foot dog park; a pavilion and amphitheater with retail space; a lawn; and an outdoor fitness area. The ordinance requests: vacation and conveyance of Oscar Alley, a small paper street above the Transbay bus off-ramp, to the TJPA for a nominal fee, with the area found not necessary for city use, containing no utilities, and exempt surplus property under the California Surplus Lands Act; waiver of the Administrative Code Chapter 23 appraisal requirement; sidewalk width changes on Folsom Street between Essex and Second Streets and on Clementina Street between First and Second Streets, including narrowing the sidewalk to create an ADA-accessible passenger loading zone with curb ramps and cutting back the Folsom Street sidewalk to create a 'jog handle' so eastbound bicyclists can turn north into the park when the traffic signal changes; acceptance of a public sidewalk easement from the TJPA; and acceptance of traffic signal infrastructure. Dorsey noted that the board previously vacated the airspace rights over Oscar Alley for the ramp's construction several years ago, and that continued discussions and negotiations with the TJPA since introduction prompted additional amendments circulated in revised legislation, but the overall concept remained unchanged. A motion was made to amend the legislation as described in the revised legislation and continue the item to the September 21, 2026 committee meeting.

Key Outcomes

• Item 1 (Signs in Mixed Use Districts): Forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation following a roll call vote.
• Item 2 (Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse): Forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.
• Item 3 (Transbay Under Ramp Park): Amended as described in the revised legislation and continued to the September 21, 2026 Land Use and Transportation Committee meeting.
• Items acted upon are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors Agenda of September 22, 2026, unless otherwise stated.

Note: The agenda also listed numerous items under 'Legislation Under the 30-Day Rule,' including landmark designation ordinances for properties such as the Transamerica Pyramid, Presidio Theatre, Vesuvio Cafe, Finocchio's, and the First AME Zion Church, as well as an item on noncomplying unpermitted residential yard structures. These items were not addressed in the portion of the meeting captured by the available transcript.