The "unique" and "boutique" condos slated for the site of the old burned down church at 200 Dolores went to the Planning Commission yesterday seeking project approval, including a number of variances. The owner's looking to shift the lot line a bit, which would end up killing three offstreet parking spaces — but those would all be made up for (and more!) with a total of 16 parking spaces for the project's 13 condos. The commission ended up not biting, and sent the proposal away for another couple weeks to cut down on the parking. The issue, according to a department staff member, had already been the "subject of lengthy discussions internally" — not surprisingly, it also also ended up getting some heat at the hearing last night.
While the department recommended requiring the developer to further refine the design — one commish said it looked like it was "flying in from another suburban community" — the main point of contention was over the one-to-one parking ratio. Despite support from the Planning Department and even stronger support from the Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association (they probably couldn't love it more), some commissioners weren't buying the idea that the lack of parking in the area, and its high traffic, made it necessary for so much parking in the project.
Given that the site falls within the newly minted Market Octavia Plan, which emphasizes transit use over cars, they wondered aloud whether there was a point to all that zoning if they were just going to flip and make an exception for a single small-ish development. Said one: "I think that largely policies need to be executed in a consistent way that speak to also to changing economics and a real shift in car ownership," referring to more car-sharing, rather than car owning. Anyway, the commission collectively agreed, mostly, voting 4 to 3 against all that parking, in favor of cutting it down to .75 ratio. Approval pending...
· Dolores Blight Den Is Going All 'Unique' and 'Boutique' This Year [Curbed SF]
· Dolores' Favorite Blighted Den Is Getting a Makeover and a Friend [Curbed SF]
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