Planning Commission delays vote on mayor's EV charging zoning changes for equity review

San Francisco  The Planning Commission on Thursday voted 4 to 2 to continue Mayor London Breed's proposal to revise the planning code for electric-vehicle charging, giving staff three weeks to return with more analysis on geographic equity and workforce impacts.

Sarah Owens, the mayor's environmental policy advisor, told commissioners the ordinance would create two explicit planning-code uses  public EV charging locations and fleet charging  to speed permitting and make it easier to convert existing automotive sites (gas stations, parking lots) to chargers. "San Francisco needs a total of 1,400 public level 2 chargers and 350 DC fast chargers by 2030," Owens said, adding the city currently has about 1,016 public chargers, of which roughly 104 are fast chargers.

Planning staff described the fine-grained zoning approach in the draft: many residential districts, Chinatown and some eastern neighborhoods would not allow stand-alone EV charging locations; commercial and PDR districts would allow them under either principal or conditional-use rules; fleet charging would be more narrowly permitted because it is an intensive use. Staff also proposed baring fleet charging from certain RC neighborhoods and adding a code section to explicitly allow conversion of existing auto-oriented uses to EV charging.

Public commenters were split. Cruise's government affairs representative Judy Lee urged a continuance, warning that prohibiting fleet charging in RC (neighborhood commercial) zones could concentrate fleet infrastructure in PDR districts in the southeast and "codify geographical inequities" that would force fleet operators to travel farther and could "jeopardize new green jobs for organized labor." Community groups including Young Community Developers and the Mission Economic Development Agency asked for stronger protections for blue-collar jobs and urged retaining conditional-use review in certain areas so community impacts can be weighed.

Environmental advocates and the Commission on the Environment supported the ordinance as a necessary step toward electrifying transportation and cutting greenhouse gases. The Commission on the Environment voted unanimously to urge adoption.

Several commissioners pressed staff for more targeted analysis. Commissioner Fung and others asked for a racial and social equity analysis showing where fleet charging would be concentrated and who would be affected; Commissioner Koppel asked staff to list every district where fleet charging would be prohibited or allowed. Commissioners also pressed staff on operational questions  whether fleet charging refers primarily to autonomous fleets, transit, private institutional fleets or all of the above  and on fire and life-safety input from the Fire Department.

Planning staff and the mayor's office said they had shared the proposal with the Fire Department and that any installations would have to meet building and life-safety codes. The department also said the proposed DRAFT language was intended to lower barriers for conversions of existing auto uses while imposing stricter controls on large-scale fleet facilities.

After debate about the appropriate follow-up, Commissioner Moore moved for a continuance to permit staff to return with more detailed mapping and equity analysis. The motion carried 4 to 2, with Commissioners Diamond and President Tanner dissenting.

Next steps: staff will return to the commission on April 14 with suggested refinements, additional equity and job-impact analysis and clarified zoning language.

Note: direct quotes in this article are taken from the public transcript of the March 24, 2022 Planning Commission hearing; attributions use speakers identified on the record.