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Planning Home > General Plan > South of Market Area Plan
South of Market Area Plan
The South of Market Area Plan contains goals, objectives and policies for the conservation and development of the South of Market area of San Francisco. The Plan is accompanied, in a separate document, by proposed permanent zoning controls (Planning Code amendments) which would set forth the rules for new development. The Plan and implementing Planning Code amendments would guide, well into the next century, the location, intensity and character of new and expanded business and residential activity, the buildings which house those activities, and the public facilities and resources provided within the area covered in the Plan. In addition to recommending development policies and zoning rules, the Plan recommends measures to be undertaken by other city agencies which would improve the physical environment and general neighborhood livability of the South of Market (SOM).
The South of Market Area Plan is the result of a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the physical, social, cultural and economic conditions and forces within the SOM. The study identified both existing community characteristics, problems and amenities as well as the types of development pressures and market forces that may affect the SOM over the next 20 years. The Plan area encompasses about 460 acres representing 70 percent of the total South of Market land area (see Map 1). The area outside the Plan study area, yet within the greater South of Market area (e.g. C-3 office district, Yerba Buena Center, Rincon Point, Rincon Hill, South Beach), has undergone previous planning analyses and is subject to land use controls and development scenarios as described in each of their respective subarea plans. This study looked at the SOM in context of those proposed plans as well as within the context of citywide housing and commercial space demand and resources, and existing and anticipated market pressures affecting peripheral neighborhoods such as the North of Market housing, retail and office districts, Mission Bay, Showplace Square, South Van Ness Avenue, and the Port of San Francisco's development proposals. Issues The South of Market Area Plan recognizes that the SOM functions quite successfully as a healthy, vibrant and stable residential and business community. This is particularly true for the area's low-income residents and location- and rent-sensitive small businesses serving the City's broader resident population and downtown visitor and office industries. The Plan also recognizes the need to provide a mixture of employment opportunities, especially for San Franciscans, while maintaining and facilitating the expansion of a very important segment of the City's overall economic base — the light industrial, home and business service industries. It is important to protect these business activities, and the types of spaces and transport systems they need, in order to maintain the City's economic diversity and to facilitate the kind of entrepreneurial spirit and inventive forces which create new technologies, new services and business opportunities which are essential to the sustained health and vitality of the city and region. The SOM is uniquely qualified to provide this creative environment because of the types of small, attractive and affordable commercial/industrial spaces available in the neighborhood and because of the rich diversity of peoples, cultures, fashion, art and business found within the SOM and the strong sense of community they share. Finally, the Plan recognizes the need to preserve existing housing resources as the primary means of providing low- and moderate-income affordable rental housing units. The primary goals of the South of Market Area Plan are to:
To achieve these goals the Plan proposes policies and recommends implementing actions which would:
The South of Market has functioned as a service center and a home to the city's service workers since it was first settled in the late 1840's. Despite the many changes, the South of Market continues to function as an important element in maintaining the health and stability of the city's broader economic base and cultural diversity. There are over 2,700 businesses located within the industrially-zoned lands south of Folsom Street. Although these businesses are very diverse, many of them do share some similarities. They are generally:
A great many SOM businesses do business with one another — purchasing materials needed to produce their own goods and services, and hiring local businesses to service their own business management, transportation, communication and building and equipment maintenance needs. In some economic sectors, related businesses concentrate and locate in close proximity to one another. Printers, typographers, photographers, film and camera suppliers, graphic artists, and other similar suppliers tend to locate next to one another. Clothing manufacturers tend to locate next to the cutters, wholesale thread outlets, machine repair shops, apparel designers, and wholesale distributors. Some businesses concentrate for the convenience of the customer — comparison shoppers or patrons who wish to have a choice of facilities within walking distance such as the Ninth Street furniture showrooms, the Folsom Street dance halls, bars and restaurants, the Second and Third Streets clothing outlets, and the Eleventh Street auto repair services. Many SOM businesses are specialty manufacture or service activities that serve a broader, citywide and regional market. Some primarily serve the downtown tourist and office industries. Because of the area's proximity to the downtown business center, a number of older SOM businesses have lost their space to new, higher income-generating and rent-paying businesses. These higher rent-paying businesses include architects, designers, lawyers, wholesale distributors without on-site storage of goods, consultants, wholesale showroom businesses, data processors, and other "back office" tenants who are attracted to the SOM environment and to the lower office rents than are found in the downtown high rise district. SOM artists, in particular, have lost a significant amount of loft studio "live/work" space to office conversions. The competition for space, particularly small space (3,000 to 5,000 sq.ft.), by higher intensity and higher rent-paying uses has endangered the unique fabric and function of parts of the SOM as a convenient, low-cost and reliable service center of business activities which service and maintain the rest of the city's major economic and cultural forces. In the area south of Folsom Street numerous industrial buildings have been converted to office use. Over time conversions of industrial space to office activity would be expected to continue unless they are controlled. OBJECTIVE
1 POLICY 1.1 Many commercial office activities pay higher rents than can most SOM industrial or service activities. In addition, they attract a clientele and workers that desire and demand very different kind of building spaces, transit services, parking resources, streetscape environments, and retail service activities than are presently found throughout the SOM. As a result, office uses, and the other uses they attract, tend to displace business service and industrial activities. Priority Master Plan and Planning Code policies call for protection of the industrial and service sectors from displacement due to commercial office development. To carry out these policies, office activities should be concentrated in the eastern and part of the southern edges of the SOM where they are currently the predominant land use. Certain office uses - notably the offices of attorneys and bailbondsmen - require location in close proximity to the Hall of Justice. Their space needs are not so great as to result in significant displacements of existing service and industrial use. They should be permitted there. By restricting the location of commercial office uses in the remainder of the SOM, the existing business service and industrial functions will be protected. Over time, these service/industrial businesses could expand and new such space could be developed on available land. POLICY 1.2 The SOM is home to a large community of performing and visual artists and craftspersons living and working in loft studios in commercial and industrial buildings. In times past North Beach and Northeastern Waterfront industrial areas were home for many of the city's artists. Development pressures have again caught up with the city's live/work artists and SOM rents have become unaffordable to many artists. The live/work artist is the most vulnerable of the SOM commercial tenants principally because the types of small, intimate upper-level loft spaces they require are also the types of spaces which are attractive to higher-rent-paying office tenants. These spaces are not generally used by the area's other industrial, business service and retail businesses. Consequently, the artists find themselves competing for space with the higher rent-paying office businesses. In recent years, SOM artists have been reluctantly leaving the city in large numbers, moving to less expensive industrial space in the East Bay. As artists leave the city, the city loses an important element of its rich cultural and economic diversity. It is worthwhile and important to provide resources and develop land use policies and programs which would facilitate the retention and strengthening of the City's artist community. The "legalization" of existing live/work units should be encouraged and facilitated and the development of new live/work units promoted by establishing flexible parking, density and open space standards for this use and permitting live/work use throughout the South of Market. As a means of encouraging the creation of live/work units, live/work units provided within the allowable commercial Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of a commercial, industrial or mixed use building should be considered a commercial, rather than residential, occupancy and should not be subject to the limitation on the conversion of dwelling units to non-residential use should the tenant or landlord wish to convert or revert the live/work space to wholly commercial use. Live/work units should not be permitted in excess of the commercial FAR which is allowed only for housing, except as a conditional use. POLICY 1.3 Numerous nighttime entertainment activities such as nightclubs and discotheques have been operating in the SOM for many years, serving primarily small, local clientele. In recent years, most of these clubs have changed ownership and now attract a much larger and noisier crowd. Many patrons do not respect the quiet, safety and cleanliness of the adjacent residential enclaves. Proper management of individual establishments can reduce noise, litter and parking problems and can improve crowd control. Proper location of new clubs can avoid these problems. New nighttime entertainment activities should be limited to areas with few residential neighbors and should be allowed only as a conditional use so that solutions to potential noise, litter, parking, crowd control and/or other problems can be incorporated into the project design and operating practices of the establishment. Existing clubs should be allowed to expand in residential neighborhoods as a conditional use when such expansion would result in the adherence to "good neighbor" operating procedures by club management designed by the City to improve the livability of the neighborhood. POLICY 1.4 The average existing density of all development, including housing, within the industrially zoned areas of the SOM is a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 2.5 to 1. Existing building heights are typically 20 to 50 feet with only a few buildings above that height. Allowable building heights and densities should be set at levels that are respectful of the existing scale of development while at the same time allow sufficient building area to accommodate growth and expansion of permitted uses. In combination, the land use, building height and density policies of this Plan allow substantial land and building area to accommodate the reasonable growth and expansion of light industrial, artisan, home and business service, nighttime entertainment, office, residential, and neighborhood-serving retail and personal service activities while at the same time preserving the existing scale and character of the area. POLICY 1.5
POLICY 1.6 The SOM business community is very diverse. The oddest assortment of businesses share space or are neighbors. It is not uncommon, for example, to find artists, metal fabricators, bakeries, wholesale beauty suppliers, musical instrument repair shops, and restaurants sharing space in the same building. Over time, a more coherent land use pattern may evolve through attrition, particularly in areas where a concentration of similar activities makes it more efficient to do business. New zoning controls should redirect certain activities to specific SOM use districts as these business activities expand and look for new space in the SOM. However, there is no need to force such redirection as long as these nonconforming uses wish to remain in their present location. Therefore, the City should facilitate the preservation of these activities in their present location by allowing them to remain in their present location as nonconforming uses. The SOM remains a valuable source of sound, low-cost rental housing for many of the city's low-income immigrants, service workers, and unemployed and under-employed residents. In addition to the 10,000 plus people residing in 5,000 dwelling units (apartments, hotels and flats), there is a large number of artists living and working in industrial buildings, and a large and unknown number of "street people" who reside in various forms of spontaneous shelters throughout the SOM. Most of the area's housing consists of small individual units located in two to four story wood-frame apartment buildings or flats which line the narrow side streets bisecting many of the large SOM blocks. Two-thirds of the units are small—comprised of studios or residential hotel rooms. SOM units are generally smaller, without parking or rear yards. Less than 15% of the units have two or more bedrooms, the unit size generally considered suitable for family housing. Overall, the SOM housing stock matches the space needs and housing affordability levels of the existing SOM residents. Seventy percent of the residents live alone. Only 15% percent of the population are in households containing three or more persons. The small percentage of large size households in the SOM are overcrowded. There is twice as much overcrowding in the SOM than in the city as a whole. This suggests a need for larger family housing in the SOM. Most of the SOM residents are tenants. Rent levels in the SOM are considerably lower than those for the city as a whole. The median rent paid in the SOM in 1980 was about half the citywide rent level for a similar type of unit. Similarly, the median income for SOM households is less than half the citywide median income level. OBJECTIVE
2 Affordable rental housing is a valuable resource to the city and to the South of Market population in particular. Because of high land, labor, materials and financing costs, most new housing is out of the financial reach of most San Franciscans. Increasingly, the only low- or moderate-income housing resources are found within the existing housing stock. It is extremely important that existing affordable rental housing be preserved and maintained as long as possible. POLICY 2.1 Most of the existing SOM housing is in low-scale, moderately high density residential enclaves along the side streets which divide the large SOM blocks from Minna to Harrison Streets, west of Sixth Street, as well as in low scale, moderately high density flats and apartments above storefronts which line the major thoroughfares west of Sixth Street. These concentrated housing areas, which contain approximately 60 percent of the existing SOM housing units, should be zoned residential. This will protect them from conversion or demolition and their replacement by new commercial or industrial development. Approximately 40% of SOM housing units are so scattered within service/industrial areas that it is difficult to protect them through designation of residential zoning districts making them vulnerable to conversion to non-residential use or to demolition to make way for new commercial or industrial development. Between 1979 and 1984, several hundred SOM dwelling units were lost due to conversion or demolition. The remaining units in generally sound condition are of an attractive scale and architectural character, and represents one of the city's few remaining low-income affordable rental housing neighborhoods. The loss of these units should be controlled by making their demolition or conversion a conditional use. While there should be a strong presumption in favor of preserving existing housing, occasionally special circumstances may arise that could justify its loss. For example:
POLICY 2.2 Many SOM residents cannot afford to pay higher rents. On average, SOM residents pay one-half their annual income on rent. If outbid for existing housing by higher income households, it would be difficult for displaced SOM households to find affordable replacement housing elsewhere in the city because approximately three-fourths of SOM households cannot afford to pay citywide median market rents. Current neighborhood conditions make most of the SOM housing unattractive to higher-income households. However, the SOM may become attractive to some higher-income households who wish to live close to the city's major cultural and employment centers. Preservation of the existing housing stock through zoning controls will not, in itself, insure the lower-income affordability of the units over the long run, nor will it insure the tenancy of the units. Tenant counseling should be provided to existing residents to inform them of proper leasing and eviction procedures and other tenant rights and to assist in home finding, particularly for family and live/work households. Additional measures should be taken to facilitate the purchase of residential property by individuals or non-profit corporations which would contractually agree to maintain them as safe, sanitary and permanently affordable low- and moderate-income rental housing or live/work units. The City should facilitate the rehabilitation and proper management of a number of residential hotels along Sixth Street for permanent housing for low-income residents. The proportion of permanent residents to transient residents along Sixth Street should be high enough to provide a sense of community, safety and security within their homes, their buildings and their neighborhood. The City should encourage and facilitate the provision of social service programs for building and neighborhood residents within the ground floor space of these rehabilitated residential hotels. This would facilitate the stabilization of Sixth Street as a safe, clean and affordable residential community. POLICY 2.3 South Park is an attractive, affordable mixed use neighborhood. The commercial spaces are occupied by small retail, wholesale, artisan, office and service businesses. A number of artists have established live/work studios in commercial buildings. In addition, a number of residential hotels and apartments are being rehabilitated as low- and moderate-income affordable rental housing. This should continue and when possible, in-fill development should be compatible in scale and mixture of use with the existing neighborhood. A mix of retail, office, service, light industrial and residential uses should be maintained while allowing new live/work units. Building heights for new in-fill housing should be limited to 40 feet in order to maintain the small scale character of the enclave and to preserve sun exposure to the park. OBJECTIVE
3 Within the portion of the SOM where housing is clustered, generally west of Sixth Street, there are a number of vacant parcels, parking lots, and other parcels in open storage use. These parcels are undeveloped or underdeveloped and can be viewed as opportunity sites for new residential development. However, because most of these housing opportunity sites are small, are surrounded by active industrial businesses, and are adjoined by older industrial buildings and/or flats without parking or rear yards, new housing development west of Sixth Street is expected to be small, "in-fill" housing within the predominantly residential enclaves, and above commercial/light industrial storefronts along the major thoroughfares. POLICY 3.1 The City should facilitate the development of affordable, in-fill mixed use projects which would provide adequate on-site residential amenities while maintaining the existing scale of the neighborhood.
The South of Market has always featured living space in flats and apartments above ground floor shops and storefronts, providing convenient and affordable living and work space for small craftspersons, start-up businesses, and neighborhood-serving mom and pop-type business operators. The Howard, Folsom and Bryant Street thoroughfares, as well as many of the narrow side streets, are characterized by this type of small, mixed use development. This type of living space above ground floor work space remains a very popular form of development, and is particularly well-suited to the size of parcels and mixture of uses which characterize the SOM. There are a number of vacant and underdeveloped parcels within the SOM that could be developed as moderately high density housing over low or moderate density commercial/industrial space. SOM retail or industrial activity generally does not need or use space above the ground level. The development of housing above ground floor retail, service or industrial space would make more efficient use of the parcel's allowable building area, would produce additional revenues to the developer/property owner, and thus may induce development of new industrial and residential space. To encourage this type of development within South of Market mixed use districts, housing should not be counted against the base Floor Area Ratio (FAR) limit. Properties should be allowed to build up to the FAR limit in wholly commercial or industrial space and should be allowed to develop housing above the base FAR up to the maximum building envelope limits established by relevant district height, parking, open space, rear yard/setback, and other urban design zoning controls. POLICY 3.2 Approximately 20% of the SOM housing stock lies within the six predominantly residential side streets or residential enclaves west of Sixth Street and north of Harrison Street. Within these enclaves approximately 40 vacant parcels or lots are devoted to surface parking or storage use. Many of them are small and/or irregularly shaped and are often adjoined on two or three sides by flats, apartments or warehouses built to the property line without rear yards. Under present residential density, parking and rear yard zoning standards, these parcels could not accommodate enough units to make the per-unit development and operation costs economic as moderate-income affordable in-fill housing. These enclaves should be designated as moderate-density residential enclave districts in order to encourage in-fill housing and artist live/work units, to strengthen the residential character of the neighborhood and, over time, to improve the residential amenities within these neighborhoods. New zoning controls tailored to the design needs and neighborhood characteristics of these parcels, and sensitive to the economics of affordable in-fill housing should be developed to induce attractive, compatible and economic in-fill housing while providing adequate residential amenities, including usable on-site open space and adequate parking resources. POLICY 3.3 Sixth Street is a potentially valuable resource of low-income rental housing. There are more than thirty residential hotel buildings from Minna to Harrison Streets. Several of these residential hotels are vacant and subject to condemnation proceedings due to Code violations. Should it prove to be infeasible to rehabilitate these units, these parcels, along with some older one- or two-story commercial buildings which front on Sixth Street, should be considered "in-fill" housing opportunity sites. The City should facilitate development of low-income affordable in-fill residential hotels and other high density housing along Sixth Street which would both provide adequate amenities on-site and improve the quality of streetscapes and commercial activities within the neighborhood. Establishments selling alcohol should be discouraged, and limited, along Sixth Street. POLICY 3.4 There should be a high density, predominantly residential mixed use district from Fourth to Sixth Streets and from Stevenson to Harrison Streets to allow vacant parcels to develop in predominantly residential use with ground floor commercial, service or light industrial uses. Rear yard, open space and parking standards should be flexible to encourage in-fill residential development. Continuation and expansion of existing service, retail and light industrial activities within the residential mixed use district should be encouraged. POLICY 3.5 A substantial number of housing units are planned or proposed for development in areas on the eastern edge of the SOM, including Yerba Buena Center, Rincon Point, Rincon Hill, South Beach and Mission Bay. The majority of these units are expected to be affordable only to middle- to upper-income households who likely to be attracted to live in these areas because the new development features close proximity to the waterfront and downtown office district; the units offer views; the development provides nearby convenience retail stores, and there are similar household types in the project or neighborhood. It is less likely that these kinds of households will be attracted to the SOM west of Sixth Street because of its rather diverse mixture of uses, parking congestion, and untidy environment. The introduction of middle- to upper-income housing in major developments, even if economically feasible, would make vulnerable the existing smaller scale, more affordable rental housing. Therefore this type of housing project should be discouraged west of Sixth Street. Smaller in-fill rental projects with lower cost wood frame construction for more moderate income tenancies should be encouraged.
The wide variety of land uses and business activities ranging from low-intensity storage and warehousing to high intensity office and retail uses results in a similar variety of transportation needs and impacts. Some businesses maintain primarily regional markets and rely heavily on the regional transport system to move goods. Other businesses provide services to the downtown core and are more reliant upon the local street system. The SOM as a whole is well served by major transportation facilities. Freeways, rail tracks, maritime facilities, regional mass transit facilities, and local transit service are located within and along the periphery of the SOM. However, levels of service, particularly for transit, are not consistent throughout SOM. (For example, the area between Second and Fourth Streets has considerably better transit service than the areas west of Fourth Street.) Major streets of the SOM are generally wide (82 feet) and were designed to carry heavy truck traffic associated with the area's industrial activity. The street system is adequate for local travel demand. Daily traffic on streets south of Mission generally flows freely in the non-peak period. In the peak evening commute period, cumulative travel demands from both the SOM and the greater downtown core exceed the capacity of certain street intersections leading to the freeway on-ramps. Traffic speeds along the narrow side streets are generally slow due to difficulty in maneuvering around parked cars and delivery trucks and stacked goods. These side streets can be hazardous when the general clutter of parked vehicles, dumpsters and stacked pallets of delivery goods on both the street and sidewalks reduce the motorist's line of sight and force the pedestrian to walk within the street space to get by. SOM major streets can also be dangerous when service vehicles and delivery trucks are parked within the sidewalk space forcing pedestrians to enter the street space to get by. Most of the commercial buildings in the SOM were built in the early 1900's and were designed to accommodate low intensity industrial activity with few employees per building. Most of the residential buildings were built in the early 1900s and were designed as four to six unit flats and family-sized apartments. At that time, employees did not drive to work and residents did not own cars. Consequently, most buildings were constructed with full lot coverage and without on-site parking. Freight loading docks were provided along the street frontage property line; streets were wide, cars were few and on-street freight loading activity did not pose a major inconvenience for local travel. Over the years the nature of the SOM business activities have changed substantially. During and after World War II, many of the heavy industrial businesses relocated out of the SOM to larger, more efficient spaces and were replaced by smaller, more intensive commercial and light industrial activities. Many of the larger flats and apartments were cut up into smaller units to accommodate the returning soldiers and merchant marines. The intensification of commercial activity and increased resident population, coinciding with a growing dependency upon auto rather than transit travel, resulted in a substantial increase in traffic and parking demand generated by SOM businesses and residents. In addition to increased local travel, the proximity of the area to the financial district results in some downtown commuters parking in the South of Market. Consequently, adequate on-street parking is not readily available in much of the SOM. Residents, downtown and SOM employees, and service and delivery vehicles compete for limited on-street parking spaces. This is particularly problematic in many of the side streets throughout the SOM. OBJECTIVE
4 Continued growth in the Downtown and SOM cannot be accommodated by the private automobile. The Bay Bridge and Highway 101 are at capacity in the peak period, while the Golden Gate Bridge and I-280 are approaching capacity. Further increases in street traffic would only serve to exacerbate existing congested conditions at many freeway ramps and nearby intersections and would further block local street traffic and transit vehicles. The "transit first" policy of the City must be carried out in the South of Market. POLICY 4.1 Most existing transit service in the South of Market is designed to provide access through the SOM to and from the downtown area (the source of the majority of peak travel demand). There is a need for improved transit service and access from the South of Market to other local and regional transit facilities. This is particularly true in the area west of Fourth Street and south of Mission Street. MUNI-Metro is to be extended to connect with Caltrain/SP service and to Mission Bay. Consideration should be given to a further extension to Showplace Square. Direct transit service is necessary from these developing commercial and commercial/ residential areas to the downtown and other South of Market areas. The City should also consider extension of MUNI-Metro to the Van Ness/Civic Center area from the proposed Showplace extension. This would further expand one-transfer access from portions of the SOM to MUNI trunkline service on and near Market Street. The City should examine possible new local transit lines in the north-south direction between Fifth and Eighth Streets. The South of Market area west of Fourth Street has the most limited transit service of the greater downtown. New north-south transit lines between Fifth and Eighth Streets would greatly enhance transit travel opportunities for residents and employees in the core of the western SOM. In order to encourage an increasing use of transit by South of Market employees and a shift away from automobile travel, MUNI frequencies should be increased for all South of Market-serving lines, particularly during the commute peak periods of SOM workers. OBJECTIVE
5 Increasing automobile traffic results in more environmental harm and greater inconvenience. A desirable living and working environment and a prosperous business environment cannot be maintained if traffic levels continue to increase without limits. Various methods should be used to control and reshape the effect of automobiles on the city, and to promote other means of transportation to improve the environment. POLICY 5.1 The alternatives to expanding automobile facilities are to make existing facilities serve more people and to use other ways of getting people to their destination. Single-occupancy automobile use is incompatible with the need to conserve energy and land, the need to reduce congestion on thoroughfares, and the need to reduce auto emissions. Employers should be encouraged to provide incentives for transit use and carpooling by employees. A transit subsidy, such as the provision of a transit "fast-pass," could be an alternative to the provision of free employee parking. Where an employer already has parking spaces available for employees, drivers who carpool should have priority of use of these spaces. The City should require transportation brokers to be employed by each major new office development or by groups of smaller office projects within the SOM. The function of transportation brokers would be to promote and coordinate the use of carpools and vanpools by project and other SOM employees, manage project-related preferential parking rates and spaces for carpools and vanpools, organize "commuter club" bus routes, develop and coordinate employer-subsidized transit pass sales, distribute transit and car/vanpool schedules and information, and assist employers with programs to implement and manage flextime. SOM employers should offer flexible work schedules, should provide preferential parking spaces and rates for carpools and vanpools and should offer transit passes to employees. Certain establishments may provide taxi service to clients. More Caltrans lots should be developed to provide preferential spaces and rates for vanpools. Similarly, where parking spaces are provided in new development, such preferential parking rates and spaces should be established. POLICY 5.2 The lack of parking resources near businesses and housing is a major problem for SOM residents and employers. Most businesses and residential units were constructed when there was no requirement and little demand for parking space. Through the years, there has developed a deficiency in supply and a high demand for parking at existing curb space. This problem is aggravated by limited enforcement of short-term parking controls which results in curb space on major streets and side streets being used for long-term parking by commuters and residents. Since the problem is an existing one, planning policies for the SOM must address the more efficient allocation and management of existing, limited parking resources as well as adequate provision of parking and loading spaces in new development. Parking rates should be designed to meet short-term business travel demand. Consistent with the City's "transit first" policy, long-term commuter parking should be discouraged. SOM commuter parking demand can be diminished over time by increasing use of transit and ridesharing. However, convenient alternative means of travel to and throughout the SOM are generally not available for mid-day or nighttime business travel. The City should encourage the shared use of existing parking facilities by area for day and nighttime activities. A number of existing parking lots and garages are heavily used during the daytime hours and are unoccupied during the evening and weekend hours. Most of the existing nighttime activities are located in buildings without parking. Operators of nighttime activities such as cultural arts performance spaces, restaurants, bars and nightclubs should be allowed to satisfy their off-street parking demand and requirement by joint use of these parking resources. Daytime business operators should be encouraged to make their underutilized parking spaces available to the public for nighttime uses. POLICY 5.3 South of Market residents should not be forced to compete with area employees and downtown district commuters for on-street parking space. A residential preferential parking program should be established within the side streets bounded by Mission and Harrison Streets and Fourth and Division Streets, and around the South Park neighborhood. For neighborhoods in close proximity to clusters of restaurants, the hours of the preferential parking program should be extended to 10:00 PM. For neighborhoods in close proximity to nighttime entertainment activity, the hours should be extended to 2:00 AM or 6:00 AM where there are "after hours" nighttime entertainment activities. Effective implementation of a parking permit program would require increased enforcement of parking controls throughout the area. POLICY 5.4 New development should not exacerbate existing parking congestion. New commercial and industrial or mixed use developments should provide adequate off-street parking and freight loading resources, while encouraging transit use by workers whose businesses are within walking distance from major transit corridors such as Market and Mission Streets. The City should encourage the construction of new short-term public parking lots and garages to serve local day and nighttime customers and visitors. Given the planned extension of MUNI Metro to the Caltrain station, and potentially beyond, and the relative ease of expanding transit service along Second Street, the parking requirement for office use in the Second and Townsend Streets area office districts should be reduced to reflect these transit improvements. New residential development should provide off-street parking resources as necessary to accommodate the anticipated demand by prospective residents. Where possible, residential parking should be minimized as a means of encouraging transit use by residents and reducing per-unit development costs and rental rates for new housing. Local businesses should be allowed to satisfy their off-street parking demand and requirement by contributing to the construction of a nearby publicly-accessible parking garage or lot. Some SOM commuting workers may not be able to divert to public transit and, if preferential parking were instituted, would no longer be able to park within the residential side streets. In addition, an increase in on-street, curbside freight loading spaces along the major thoroughfares may further reduce some existing long-term parking resources. Parking resources of SOM workers which are lost should be replaced by construction of parking garages under the elevated freeway between Fifth and Seventh Streets and Harrison and Bryant Streets. The City should encourage private sector development of joint or congregate parking structures to meet off-street parking requirements of new development that would otherwise be provided on-site. Development of joint parking structures can achieve a better allocation of space available in the SOM and can reduce curb cuts and thereby better control potential conflicts between autos and pedestrians, transit, and/or delivery/service vehicles. POLICY 5.5 A significant share of deliveries to South of Market businesses is performed within the street space. Where curbside freight loading space is not available, delivery vehicles double-park, blocking major thoroughfare and side-street traffic and creating potential hazards for pedestrians and automobiles. Along Folsom, Harrison and Bryant Streets and where appropriate along the side streets, adequate curbside freight loading zones should be established and enforced. The City should evaluate the existing on-street curb-designation for delivery vehicles and improve daytime enforcement to increase turnover. Where necessary, curbside freight loading spaces should be increased. During evenings and weekends, curbside freight loading spaces should be made available for visitor and customer parking. POLICY 5.6 While the City maintains the policy of discouraging the addition of new long-term parking spaces in and around the downtown, it may be appropriate to replace lost commuter parking resources with short-term parking facilities in areas which are well served by transit to and from the downtown core. Again, these spaces should not add to the long-term parking supply in order to prevent unacceptable congestion, and should be provided in garages, not on lots. Land under the elevated freeways should be designated for parking use. In particular, the City should encourage short-term parking over long-term parking under the elevated freeway in the area bounded by Third and Fourth Streets and Harrison and Bryant Streets. OBJECTIVE
6 POLICY 6.1 Working with local rail carriers, the Port, and other city and state agencies, the City should develop a rail service program for San Francisco. Should certain routes through the SOM be deemed unnecessary, the City should identify which rail tracks should be removed and should develop a program for removal of these tracks and use of the right-of-way as pedestrian pathways. The South of Market is home to over 10,000 residents, over 2,700 businesses and over 27,000 workers. Neighborhoods should be safe, clean, quiet and comfortable environments, providing adequate shelter, open space, transit, parking, and neighborhood services for its residents, workers and visitors. The extent to which a neighborhood provides these services, resources and amenities is a measure of its neighborhood livability. The South of Market physical environment is generally pleasant, featuring low-scale, pedestrian-oriented building forms; a warm and wind- and fog-free climate; close proximity to the city's major cultural and employment centers and the Bay waterfront; and features attractive architecture and sound housing and commercial building stock. The South of Market is, however, deficient in a number of important community services and resources. Some densely populated areas of the SOM are severely deficient in both private and public open space resources, and are deficient in private maintenance activities such as cosmetic improvements and painting of apartments and flats, rodent control, and trash removal. These deficiencies are striking enough to mask the area's attractive features to most of the city's residents and visitors. Consequently, the South of Market has a rather poor image as an attractive area and is, undeniably, a high need area for physical improvements. Nonetheless, the SOM works well for its residents, workers and business operators who, in surveys, scored SOM low in cleanliness and safety standards and high in identity/sense of community, comfort, quiet and affordability standards. Those surveyed universally expressed a desire to remain in the area permanently. The area's environmental deficiencies can be ameliorated over time by both public and private investments in maintenance of street and sidewalk space and building stock; increased greenery and park spaces; increased transit, parking and improved pedestrian circulation systems; and improved neighborhood services. This, along with maintenance of the area's positive features - lower scale, lower-density development, view corridors, sun exposure, quiet at night and on weekends, rich architectural character, diversity of activities and population--can improve neighborhood livability for SOM residents, workers and visitors. OBJECTIVE
7 POLICY 7.1 The South of Market offers some of the most pleasant weather conditions in the City. Because of its low lying topography, its distance from clusters of tall buildings or hills, its proximity to the Bay and, most importantly, its generally low scale built environment, the SOM is sunny and warm, is protected from strong winds, and is fog free. Because the SOM is deficient in private and public
parks and open space resources, front stoops and sidewalks are used by
area residents and workers as sitting, socializing and play areas. The
street and sidewalk rights-of-way and the generous sunlight and air exposure
provided by low scale development serve as valuable open space resources
and contribute tremendously to the area's sense of openness and comfort.
SOM streets provide views of distant open space and natural land forms
and bodies of water which create focal points, give visual orientation
to the pedestrian and motorist, provide a sense of openness and sensual
relief from the immediate environment, and provide a visual/psychological
link with regional open space resources. Views act as psychological open
space. Based on these goals, a building height limit of 50 feet would be appropriate throughout most of the SOM area. Lower building heights should be maintained in areas bordering public open space and the elevated freeway in order to preserve sun exposure to parks, and to protect views of the water, open space and cityscape from the elevated roadway. Within residential enclaves, a maximum height limit of 40 feet would be appropriate. East of Sixth Street facing properties and north of Harrison Street, building height limits should be flexible in order to facilitate the development of affordable housing as well as to encourage an appropriate transition in building heights from existing taller buildings and adjacent or nearby park, open space and view corridor resources.
POLICY 7.2 The SOM is endowed with a number of architecturally attractive residential, commercial and industrial buildings as well as a pleasant, pedestrian-oriented scale of development from which to view these buildings. These resources add interest and excitement to the SOM, create neighborhood identification, and provide orientation points in an area with few prominent natural features. Many of the commercial buildings share a common industrial architectural character. The style of the buildings range from pre-20th Century simple brick and timber industrial style to 1930's and 40's Art Deco stylized buildings which often have more elaborate detailing and articulation of building surfaces than their predecessors. Although the mixture of SOM business activities through the years has resulted in a wide variety of commercial and industrial building types, the designers of these buildings were sensitive to the architectural character of the area. Most of the SOM's commercial/industrial buildings are linked by common architectural elements, including scale and proportion, texture, coloring, materials and patterns of facade and window treatments. The legacy of these buildings is a reminder of San Francisco's rich industrial and commercial heritage. Residential buildings, likewise, provide rich scale, texture, architectural character and visual interest for the SOM. Most of the residential structures are three-story flats and apartments grouped in enclaves along the interior side streets. They are generally built in the Edwardian style, and their lack of pretension reflects the working class population which occupied the area after the fire. Very few buildings are out of scale or conflict in style with one another. The area's prevailing scale and continuity of architectural style is a positive feature and imparts a distinct visual character and identity for the area. The City should encourage the architectural design of new SOM development and major rehabilitation of existing buildings to complement and enhance the architectural character of the area and, in particular, to be compatible in scale, style, texture, color and materials with nearby handsome older buildings. POLICY 7.3 In some areas of the SOM, there are grouping of buildings with similar physical characteristics or historical background. These areas take on a unique quality which is traceable to the prevailing style or the history of the buildings. Some buildings are, individually, of landmark quality. The buildings which are not of individual architectural or historical importance often provide a complementary setting and context within which to view the individual landmark quality buildings. These contributory buildings create a visually distinctive environment and impart a sense of place and identity for the district. They aid in defining and maintaining the character of the district and, as such, their preservation takes on an increased importance. In many cases, the loss of any one of the contributory buildings, although not of individual landmark quality, would diminish the visual prominence of the landmark buildings within the grouping, and may substantially alter the contextual setting and special character of the district. Whenever possible, these contributory buildings should be preserved. The area shown on Map 6, p. 23, contains clusters of important structures. This area should be made an Historic District.
POLICY 7.4 Approximately 30 structures outside the proposed Historic District have been identified and rated through a comprehensive and systematic review process as buildings of particular architectural and/or historical significance. These structures are listed in the following Table. These structures should be considered for designation as City landmarks. See Significant and Contributory Buildings, p. 22. POLICY 7.5 Adaptive reuse of landmark and contributory buildings should be encouraged as a means of facilitating the retention and sensitive rehabilitation of these structures, particularly the more vulnerable and costly to rehabilitate unreinforced brick buildings. To facilitate retention of these structures and their seismic upgrading, these buildings should be permitted to be converted to office use. In addition, when it is concluded that it is economically necessary to insure the preservation of the building, and when deemed appropriate to the preservation of the qualities which make the building important, the onsite parking and/or freight loading requirements should be permitted to be reduced. OBJECTIVE
8 South of Market community services and resources have been a neighborhood concern for many years. Previous studies and current inventories of neighborhood-serving human service providers reveal underserved segments of the South of Market population. The diversity of the 10,000+ South of Market residents pose difficulties in conveniently, effectively and affordably meeting their varied community service needs. The multicultural nature, low incomes, age characteristics and homeless segments of this neighborhood often require community services to be tailored to specific population groups. Accessible primary health case and other community services should be available throughout the South of Market. The location of community services tailored to specific in-need populations should be carefully evaluated in order to maintain and improve neighborhood livability. POLICY 8.1 Location of human service activities, such as health and day care centers, recreation programs, cultural centers, employment and tenant counseling programs, information and referral programs, senior escort and transportation services, and other essential services required of the area's residents including the elderly, frail, homeless and medically needy individuals should be encouraged in the SOM. The City should facilitate the careful location and expansion of essential substance abuse, mental health or temporary shelter programs while limiting the concentration of such activities within any one neighborhood. Within the residential enclaves, some human service activities should be allowed in existing non-residential, nonconforming buildings with conditional use authorization. Certain human service activities, such as "homeless" shelter programs, food programs, substance abuse programs and mental health and other board and care facilities, should be carefully sited within the SOM and should be permitted only as a conditional use within the SOM, exclusive of the residential enclaves where they should not be permitted. Adequate police, street cleaning and other such services should be provided to the area when these human service programs are located within the SOM. POLICY 8.2 Although neighborhood-serving retail activities have been permitted as a principal use throughout the SOM under present zoning controls, the area remains conspicuously deficient in convenience retail and personal service activities such as Laundromats, a supermarket, late hour and weekend low-cost restaurants, automatic teller machines, shoe repair and the like. The City should actively encourage the location of these activities throughout the SOM and particularly within the densely residential areas Additionally, non-profit community service programs serving SOM residents are in need of larger, more conveniently located space and should be encouraged to locate within the area. POLICY 8.3 The South of Market is deficient in private open space resources such as rear yards, decks or balconies. Public open space and recreation facilities in the South of Market area are also very limited. Therefore it is very important that existing facilities and programs be maintained. The Recreation and Park Department has an agreement with the Board of Education to share in the use and maintenance of Bessie Carmichael School as a children's play area. This cooperation needs to be maintained and, if possible, extended to increase the play areas, equipment and hours of operation. Nearly one-third of the seniors (over 65 years of age) living in the Yerba Buena Center (YBC) area regularly use the undeveloped open space on top of the Moscone Center. At present this open space consists of a paved walkway which widens into a large gravel-covered rooftop area containing planters with seasonal flowers and curved concrete walls defining planting areas. In its present form it is a rather sparse, unattractive and uncomfortable rooftop open space and seems ill-equipped to serve the nearby senior population. It is, however, the only public open space in the immediate area, and has the potential of serving a very large number of area residents, workers and visitors. The City should work with the designers of the proposed Yerba Buena Gardens (YBG) project to encourage the redesign and improvement of existing open space resources within the YBC area including the provision of adequate safe, clean, quiet, and sun lit seating and resting areas and passive recreation programs to serve the various nearby population groups, particularly the large concentration of elderly residents. Community gardens around YBC have proven very successful in providing outdoor passive recreation, siting and gathering spaces for the area's senior citizens. These resources should be further encouraged. POLICY 8.4 Presently, only four public open spaces exist in the South of Market area: South Park, an oval-shaped open space of less than one acre surrounded by residential and commercial development; landscaped areas on top of the Moscone Center; and a .22 acre minipark at Langton and Howard Streets, consisting of a children's play area, grassy areas, and sitting facilities and a 1.9 acre park and recreation facility at the corner of Sixth and Folsom Streets. In addition, there are two paved playground facilities, one at Bessie Carmichael School located at Folsom and Columbia Streets and another at the Filipino Education Center located at Fourth and Harrison Streets. The proposed 5 to 7 acre Rincon Point Park to be located on the waterfront, south of the Ferry Building; and the 5 acre South Beach Park to be developed southeast of Second and King Streets will serve the eastern portion of the SOM area, far distant from the major concentrations of existing SOM residents. Additionally, a variety of open spaces totalling 6.25 acres are planned for the central block of the Yerba Buena Gardens bounded by Mission, Third, Howard and Fourth Streets. Since this project is located in close proximity to major concentrations of senior housing, these spaces should be designed with the special needs of this population in mind. Acquire a large park site. Even after these proposed parks have been built, the western SOM, which has a sizable residential population, will remain deficient in open space. New open space should be created within this area. Residents of the area overwhelmingly favor one large park with grass, trees, and flowers over several mini-parks. The City should acquire a major open space/park site within the western SOM and develop it as a large soft surface and informal park with enough space for active turf sports, play areas for pre-school and school age children, and green landscaped spaces for teens, adults, and seniors in different social groupings. The park and park use program should be developed according to the stated preferences of residents and should complement the uses of the Sixth/Folsom Street park and recreation facility. Establish an open space requirement for new commercial/industrial developments and conversion of space to office use. Publicly accessible open space resources should be required to be included in the project design of new commercial, institutional, service, industrial or mixed use developments. New office development and conversions of space to office use should provide publicly accessible open space resources. This open space should be designed to be accessible to area workers during weekday hours and to area residents during both weekday and weekend day and early evening hours. It is envisioned that small, landscaped areas could be designed within the project site to provide attractive table and sitting areas for lunch time eating and socializing by area workers. These same spaces could be used by area residents on the weekends. Small tot-lots could be used by area residents throughout the weekday and weekend daylight hours. Blank building walls could double as handball or tennis backboards. A wide variety of simple and inexpensive passive recreational elements should be incorporated into the project design to provide essential open space resources to area workers and residents. The private development would be responsible for costs associated with the design, development, insurance, regular maintenance and safe operation of this open space. This requirement should be allowed to be satisfied on public property and could be used to improve and maintain the Townsend, Bluxome, Ritch and Second Streets pedestrian network, any appropriate abandoned rail rights-of-ways, and any other open space/pedestrian walkway facilities serving SOM workers and visitors. Businesses operating exclusively during nighttime hours should b e exempt from an open space requirement when it is infeasible to provide public access to such an open space during daytime hours. Establish onsite open space requirements for all new residential development. New residential development should provide adequate usable, unenclosed private or common open space resources (or solaria) easily accessible to project residents. Open space standards for each type of residential use should incorporate adequate flexibility in design, character and location of these open spaces in order to facilitate affordable in-fill housing development. In new mixed use developments, common, unenclosed residential open space areas should be provided as a rear yard, rooftop garden, or elsewhere on the lot or within the development where it is clearly accessible to and for the exclusive use by the residents. POLICY 8.5 South of Market sidewalks are frequently blocked by parked vehicles, stacked delivery goods, garbage bins, and piles of discarded trash. Pedestrians are often forced by these obstacles to use the street space for travel. This is especially dangerous along the higher speed thoroughfares where double-parked vehicles further reduce the line-of-sight of passing motorists and force pedestrians further into the street space to pass by the sidewalk obstructions. The SOM is home to a significant number of children and senior citizens who are particularly vulnerable to potential safety hazards and are inconvenienced by the lack of effective pedestrian circulation space. In an area as deficient in private and public open space as the SOM is, the sidewalk space is especially important as a means of experiencing a sense of open space, of enjoying sunlight exposure, of sitting, relaxing and people-watching,, and as a play area for small children. POLICY 8.6
Restoration of the sidewalks in the South of Market as pedestrian circulation spaces will require establishing a preferential parking program for residents, improving transit service for workers, and maintaining regular enforcement of area parking controls. These measures should be included within the annual work program and budgets of the appropriate implementing city agencies. A visually prominent pedestrian circulation network should be created. It should incorporate pedestrian-only walkways and selected pedestrian-oriented streets which would link major SOM activity centers, open space resources, and view corridors to the waterfront. Pedestrian-oriented streets(similar to the popular European "WOONERFS") incorporating exclusive pedestrian walkways, landscaped sitting and play areas, and limited vehicular access should be created within some selected predominantly residential side streets. Pedestrian network. The City should build on the pedestrian network established in the Downtown Plan (which includes the United Nations Plaza to Bessie Carmichael School linkage) by adding Howard, Folsom, Townsend, and Ninth Streets as pedestrian-oriented streets. The feasibility of creating pedestrian-dominated streets (like the popular European WOONERFS), incorporating sitting and play areas, within some residential enclaves should be explored. Pedestrian-dominated side streets consist of carefully designed combinations of parking, vehicular access, landscaped open space, pedestrian circulation and play areas sharing the public right-of-way. Through traffic is limited to pedestrians and vehicles serving adjacent residential or commercial/industrial uses. Some SOM side streets, such as the stub end of Natoma Street, would work very well as a pedestrian-oriented street, providing adequate parking and vehicular access to neighboring uses while creating safe and attractive open space and play areas in an area severely deficient in these resources. One or two small mid-block parcels should be identified for development as attractive open space pedestrian through-ways serving as extensions of the pedestrian network in the area bound by Howard and Harrison, Fourth and Fifth Streets. These pedestrian corridors should be designed to provide safe, clean, quiet and sunny sitting areas and other socializing spaces within comfortable walking distance to and from the large concentrations of senior housing. The location of pedestrian-oriented retail activity along the ground floor frontage of buildings lining the pedestrian network should be encouraged. Concentration of pedestrian-oriented or cultural arts/entertainment activities would enhance and strengthen the prominence of the pedestrian network and would improve the safety, security and convenience of the pathway to its users. Rail rights of way Where rail tracks are no longer needed the abandoned rail rights-of-way along Townsend, Bluxome, Ritch and Second Streets should be connected to safe and attractive pedestrian ways. Street landscaping program. A landscaping program for the South of Market, including the residential side streets and abandoned rail rights-of-way, should be developed. The installation of street trees should be required of new development and major renovation or conversions of buildings. POLICY 8.7 A major environmental problem in the SOM is the presence of rodents, pests and discarded trash throughout the densely populated residential neighborhoods. A thorough and regular rodent eradication, trash removal and sidewalk cleaning program would improve the quality of life within the SOM immeasurably. The City should implement a comprehensive rodent and pest eradication program throughout the SOM and particularly within the residential enclaves. The City should implement a comprehensive trash removal
program throughout the SOM and particularly within the residential enclaves. POLICY 8.8 The SOM is heavily traveled by pedestrian visitors, residents and workers. This foot traffic is expected to increase in the near future as pedestrian networks are established, day and nighttime retail activity is increased, and major open space resources are developed. It is important to provide convenience and litter control facilities to users of these resources as a means of improving and maintaining neighborhood livability standards, and simply facilitating and improving the enjoyment of these facilities by their users. Public toilet facilities should be incorporated into all new public park or public recreation facilities along with sufficient funding for adequate staff, materials and programming resources in order to adequately accommodate the clean, safe, orderly, and convenient access to these facilities by area residents, workers and visitors. Public trash receptacles should be installed and maintained throughout the SOM business and residential districts, particularly along pedestrian pathways. Adequate street furniture, such as benches, street lighting, drinking water facilities, public phone booths, and trash receptacles, should be incorporated into pedestrian pathway landscape plans and programs. In addition, location plans and density controls for newsracks and advertising signs should be developed for the South of Market area.
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