Commission approves Van Ness temple rebuild and targeted planning-code exemption with conditions to bar short‑term rentals

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve a package of actions (planning‑code amendment, conditional use authorization and variance) to allow reconstruction and expansion of a longstanding Buddhist cultural society at 1750 Van Ness Avenue. Staff framed the proposal as an institutional project that would replace an outdated one‑story temple, retain a community institution on the site and add programming; the proposal requires an exemption from the Van Ness Special Use District’s 3:1 residential/nonresidential ratio, a curb‑cut retention on Clay Street and several other discretionary approvals.

Craig Hartman of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill described a design that breaks the building mass into pavilions, opens a central landscaped terrace, minimizes glazing on dormitory facades and shifts program elements to reduce shadows on adjacent St. Luke’s Church and north‑facing windows of the 1776 Sacramento condominiums. Hartman said the design uses about 41,000 of an allowable 64,000 square feet and prioritized minimizing impacts on neighboring windows and stained‑glass windows at the church.

More than two dozen callers participated in public comment; nearby condominium residents pressed for additional light studies and criticized the project’s outreach, while many supporters — including neighborhood and cultural advocates — described the existing temple as dilapidated and said the new building would bring cultural and economic benefits. Commissioners pressed staff and the sponsor on whether dormitory rooms could be used as short‑term rentals; staff and the City Attorney said religious‑institution dormitories are permitted only to house persons associated with the institution and do not allow hotels or short‑term rentals. The commission added a condition of approval, circulated in advance and vetted by the City Attorney, that the dormitory be used exclusively for temple patrons and supportive persons at no cost and that it not be rented, used as a hotel or offered for short‑term or intermediate‑length occupancy.

Commissioners praised the project’s sensitivity to neighbors while noting community concerns; the motion to approve the code amendment, CUA and variance with the added dormitory condition passed unanimously.