Board upholds SFPUC's demolition and remediation coastal permit at Lake Merced West

The San Francisco Board of Appeals on May 8 denied an appeal by SPEAK (Sunset Parkside Education & Action Committee) of a coastal permit for Phase 1 remedial work at the Lake Merced West site (520 John Muir Drive). The board concluded the permit's narrow scope — demolition of seven existing structures and follow‑up soil remediation for remaining contamination — is consistent with the city's certified local coastal program and the Coastal Act.

SPEAK argued the planning department had inconsistent descriptions for the same permit number across records, conflated CEQA and Coastal Act requirements in its packet, and that the city's locally adopted LCP (largely unchanged since 1986) does not align with current planning code language. SPEAK asked the board to scrutinize whether the Planning Commission had properly made the required consistency finding.

SFPUC groundwater program manager Obiagilin Zewi (PUC) described the Phase 1 work as a limited follow‑up remediation and demolition after a 2015–16 cleanup that removed roughly 88,000 tons of contaminated soil; the present permit removes the remaining contamination buffered around buildings and eliminates hazardous material risks under the buildings. Zewi said no new structures or change in use are proposed in this phase.

Planning staff explained the Phase 1 permit is a discrete, "child" record of a larger Lake Merced West project whose EIR was previously certified; they said the City is working with the Coastal Commission to harmonize local and certified program language but that minor mismatches do not make the permit inconsistent with the certified program. The board denied the appeal 5–0 and upheld the permit.

The PUC said it intends to proceed quickly with the limited remediation and demolition work to obtain regional oversight sign‑off; Rec and Park will lead later phases and must return for separate permits.