Planning commission pushes outreach, extends housing‑element EIR comment period to July 12

Commissioner Diamond pressed planning staff on June 16 for clearer notice and broader outreach after she said that Westside neighborhood groups appeared unaware the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) for the city’s housing element proposes substantial height increases in some locations. "I was astonished that none of the Westside neighborhood groups showed up," Diamond said during commission comments, adding that the notice language did not make clear that increases “to 55, 65, 85, in some cases, 240 feet” could be implicated on side streets.

Planning Director Hillis and Lisa Gibson, the Planning Department’s environmental review officer, responded that the DEIR’s project description does not itself rezone land and that the department had used its standard outreach lists and supervisor briefings. Gibson agreed to evaluate additional outreach steps and told the commission, "So with the 3 week extension, the comment period will end on Tuesday, July 12 at 5PM," and provided the department’s dedicated email for DEIR comments: cpc.housingelementupdateeir@sfgov.org.

The exchange centered on whether the DEIR packet and mailed notices sufficiently conveyed the magnitude and distribution of possible future zoning changes; Diamond urged staff to reach out specifically to Westside groups and to consider adding alternative distributions of height and density in the final EIR to better inform decision‑makers.

What happens next: the Planning Department will pursue outreach and accept written comments through July 12, 2022, at 5 p.m.; any subsequent zoning actions would require separate legislative processes and additional public hearings before the commission and the Board of Supervisors.