Land Use Committee backs amended plan for Irish Cultural Center site, sends ordinance to full board

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee on Nov. 27 recommended, as amended, an ordinance to create the Wawona Street and 40 Fifth Avenue Cultural Center Special Use District (SUD) for the parcel at 2740 Fifth Avenue and forwarded a companion local coastal program amendment to the full Board for subsequent review and certification by the California Coastal Commission.

Supervisor Joel Engardia, the item sponsor, said the legislation would facilitate redevelopment of the United Irish Cultural Center and asked the committee to allow a second reading of several non‑substantive changes to comply with Coastal Act notice requirements. Carol Pantoja of the Planning Department described the proposal as a six‑story-over-basement mixed‑use building with community facilities, nonprofit office space, classrooms, an aquatic center, theater and neighborhood‑serving retail. Pantoja said the local coastal program (LCP) amendment is required because parts of the site lie within the coastal zone and the ordinance will become operative only after Coastal Commission certification.

The proposal drew sharply divided public comment. Eileen Bogan, speaking with environmental advocates, urged the committee to table the matter, citing what she described as “procedural irregularities” and concerns that a 509‑page LCP amendment bundle extended beyond the single site and referenced the adjacent 2700 Sloat parcel. By contrast, multiple members and supporters of the Irish Cultural Center — including Kathleen Dowling McDonough, Ivor Collins and Jean Connolly — described the center’s library, youth programs and cultural events and asked supervisors to approve the project in its neighborhood location.

President Darren Peskin raised technical questions about the transmittal resolution’s dates and whether the board could correctly represent the ordinance as having two readings without coordinating the resolution’s language. Deputy City Attorneys Anne Pearson and Julia Guaco Nelson advised staff that Coastal Act transmittal language must include the actual dates on which the Board acts; staff and counsel agreed to coordinate second reading and resolution transmittal so the record accurately reflects the legislative timeline.

Chair Mirna Melgar moved to adopt the read amendments and to recommend the ordinance, as amended, to the full Board for consideration on Dec. 5; the companion LCP transmittal was scheduled to be read concurrently with second reading on Dec. 12 for Coastal Commission submission. The committee recorded unanimous aye votes from Peskin, Preston and Melgar and noted no opposition.

The committee’s action is a positive recommendation to the full Board and does not itself certify the LCP; the ordinance will only be effective upon Coastal Commission certification of the local coastal program amendment.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider the measure at its upcoming meeting, where the remaining procedural details and the ordinance’s final text will be on the record.