Committee approves amended recommendation to expand allowable commercial restaurant and retail uses; size limits set for residential districts

The Land Use & Transportation Committee on March 25 amended and recommended to the Board of Supervisors a Planning Code ordinance to facilitate citywide expansion of allowable commercial restaurant and retail uses, with clarified use-size limitations.

President Aaron Peskin described recently circulated staff-and-attorney edits standardizing use-size limits. Peskin read the amendment language that sets a maximum of 1,200 square feet of occupied commercial floor area in RH, RH-1, RM1 and RM2 districts where uses are within a quarter-mile of a neighborhood commercial or special use district; a maximum of 2,500 square feet in RM3 and RM4 districts; and clarifying distance-based rules where different limits apply.

Planning staff (Carrie Bernbach) was present for questions but did not present a formal slide deck. Veronica Flores confirmed a planning cleanup edit replacing the phrase "not at front of building" with the simpler "elsewhere" for consistency across code sections and said that this change is clarifying rather than substantive.

There were no public speakers on the item. President Peskin moved to amend the item as stated and send the amended file to the full Board with a positive recommendation; the committee recorded three ayes and the motion passed.

Next steps: the amended ordinance will be transmitted to the full Board of Supervisors for consideration.