Committee amends commercial-to-residential reuse rules, sends original file to full Board and continues substantive changes

Supervisor Mirna Melgar, chair of the Land Use and Transportation Committee, and colleagues on June 12 amended an ordinance governing commercial‑to‑residential adaptive reuse and forwarded the originally amended file to the full Board of Supervisors while directing a duplicated file with substantive edits to remain under committee review.

President Aaron Peskin, working with the mayor’s office and staff, outlined a plan to separate non‑substantive clarifications (to be included in the original file) from substantive policy changes that require further review. Peskin said some edits came from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and from staff, and that Deputy City Attorney Anne Pearson had identified several items requiring referral. “I would like to amend those into the original file,” Peskin said during his presentation.

The committee adopted a non‑substantive change to the definition used for commercial‑to‑residential adaptive reuse—adding language excluding hotel uses from the conversion allowance—and approved the recommended mirror change elsewhere in the code. The committee then voted to duplicate the ordinance and add substantive items to the duplicated file, including partial C2 zoning district sign provisions, off‑street loading and curb‑cut language for vehicular access, and an increase to thresholds affecting commercial‑residential ratios in the C3O district. The amended original file will be forwarded to the full Board with a positive committee recommendation.

Chair Melgar and Deputy City Attorney Anne Pearson confirmed on the record that edits for hotel exclusion and certain drafting clarifications were non‑substantive and could move forward; the committee recorded unanimous support among its three members present (3 ayes). The duplicated file will be continued to the call of the chair to allow fuller review and additional public comment on the substantive proposals.

The committee’s action preserves the immediate clarifications sponsors wanted in place while creating space for deeper review of zoning, loading and sign rules that staff and the city attorney signaled could be substantive. The original file is expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda on June 27, unless otherwise noted; the duplicate will return to committee for further hearings.