Draft Stonestown EIR finds demolition of 1970 United Artists Theater would be significant and unavoidable; alternatives examined

City planning staff briefed the Historic Preservation Commission on Jan. 18 on the draft environmental impact report for the Stonestown redevelopment (3251 Twentieth Avenue). The presentation identified the 1970 United Artists Stonestown Theater as the only on-site historic resource and concluded that the proposed project’s demolition of the theater would constitute a significant and unavoidable impact under CEQA.

Staff described character-defining features of the theater — its new formalist exterior, groin-vaulted lobby, chandeliers and sunken plaza — and outlined mitigation measures that could reduce but not eliminate the significance of demolition impacts. The draft EIR evaluates three alternatives: a no-project alternative that would retain the theater but meet none of the project objectives; a full-preservation alternative that retains the theater and shifts housing to two new buildings to recoup lost units (projected to deliver about 2,870 units overall, 60 fewer than the proposed project); and a partial-preservation alternative that retains the lobby and entry plaza while demolishing the auditoriums (projected to deliver 2,890 units, 40 fewer than the proposed project) with mitigation requirements of documentation, salvage, and interpretation.

Commissioners debated the trade-offs between large-scale housing production and preserving the theater’s significant interior spaces. Some commissioners favored the partial-preservation alternative as a compromise that preserves the foyer and lobby character while allowing near-proposed levels of housing. Staff emphasized that the draft EIR incorporated prior HPC comments and that final public testimony on the draft EIR is scheduled at the Planning Commission hearing on Feb. 9, with written comments due by Feb. 13 to the EIR coordinator.

No formal vote by the HPC was recorded on the EIR adequacy; staff requested the commission’s review and comment for incorporation into the planning commission record.