Staff Recommendation

The staff recommends that the Commission: (1) adopt the attached Brief Descriptive Notice to initiate the process of considering a possible amendment to San Francisco Bay Plan Map 5 and San Francisco Waterfront Special Area Plan Map 7 to modify the waterfront park Priority Use Area designation at India Basin; and (2) schedule a public hearing for October 3, 2019 to consider the proposed amendment.

Staff Report

Build, Inc./India Basin LLC (the “Applicant”) has applied to the Commission to amend the San Francisco Bay Plan (Bay Plan) and the San Francisco Waterfront Special Area Plan (SAP), an element of the Bay Plan, to change the boundary of the waterfront park Priority Use Area (PUA) on Bay Plan Map 5 and SAP Map 7 to remove approximately 18 acres of the designation from the 700 Innes Avenue project area at India Basin (see Figure 1 for the approximate project area on Bay Plan Map 5; see Figure 2 for the area proposed to be removed from the waterfront park PUA designation). SAP Map 7 is proposed to be modified to reflect the change in the waterfront park PUA boundary outside the Port’s jurisdiction (see Figure 3 for SAP Map 7).The 700 Innes Avenue Project is a proposed mixed-use development, located outside of BCDC’s 100-foot shoreline band jurisdiction. The existing uses on the project site are industrial, including truck and construction equipment storage, and consistent with its former City of San Francisco zoning designation as Light Industrial.

The remaining portion of the PUA is proposed to be retained for enhancement and expansion of the existing India Basin Open Space (IBOS) (See Figure 2 for the proposed IBOS project area boundary). The IBOS improvement project will include public amenities such as a new recreational beach, a public boat launch, wetland habitat enhancement, stormwater retention features that serve the proposed mixed-use development at 700 Innes Avenue, and a network of trails and gathering spaces, including connections to the existing India Basin Shoreline Park to the north and to the San Francisco Shipyard development via Innes Avenue to the south. The Applicant, the Port of San Francisco and the City of San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department will seek a BCDC permit for the IBOS improvement project.

Bay Plan maps are an integral part of the Bay Plan and they show the Commission how to apply Bay Plan policies to specific areas. The maps also identify the shoreline PUAs, which reserve shoreline areas for water-oriented uses to minimize the need to fill the Bay in the future for such uses. Commission Resolution No. 16, adopted on November 18, 1971, describes the southern boundary of the waterfront park PUA at India Basin as “a line perpendicular to the shoreline 1100 feet west of the U.S. Naval Recreation boundary (Earl Street) and 400 feet north of the north line of Innes Avenue,” and the north boundary as “a line parallel to and 950 feet southeasterly of the southeast line of Jennings Street.” Bay Plan Map 5 shows the waterfront park PUA at India Basin extending inland from the bay shoreline beyond Innes Avenue.

Prior to reducing or eliminating a PUA that had been designated because of contemplated acquisition necessary to implement the priority use, Section 66611 of the McAteer-Petris Act requires that the Commission must first make a finding that there is no substantial probability that a public agency will be committed to acquiring the PUA within a three-year period commencing January 1 of the year following the year in which such a finding was made. In 2008, BCDC staff inquired if the City of San Francisco intended to purchase the property comprising the 700 Innes Avenue project site and to build a waterfront park extending inland from the shoreline to Innes Avenue. In response, City staff confirmed that the City had no intention of acquiring the property at 700 Innes Avenue and implementing the waterfront park PUA designation. The City’s General Plan, in effect in 2008, showed an open space designation approximately following BCDC’s 100-foot shoreline band, which was owned and operated by the City as India Basin Open Space, but the interior of the site was zoned for light industrial uses.

If the Commission votes to consider the amendment application, the amendment request will be reviewed for consistency with the McAteer-Petris Act. Consistent with the Commission’s Regulations (California Code of Regulations §11008), the Applicant is not required to pay for the cost of processing this proposed amendment to the Bay Plan and SAP to delete a waterfront park PUA designation from private property based on the assertion that there is no substantial probability that a public entity will be committed to the acquisition of the property.

Commission Procedures

Circulating a descriptive notice is the first step in the process of amending the Bay Plan. The McAteer-Petris Act (Government Code Section 66652) and Section 11001 of the Commission’s regulations (California Administrative Code, Title 14, Division 5) require a notice of the proposed amendment. If the attached proposed descriptive notice is approved by the Commission, on August 1, 2019, it will then be mailed to Commissioners and Alternates, and all agencies organizations and individuals with an interest or jurisdiction over the matter. A public hearing on proposed Bay Plan Amendment No. 4-19 regarding the proposed changes to Bay Plan Map 5 and SAP Map 7 will be held October 3, 2019.
The staff will distribute a report on the proposed amendment with the staff’s preliminary recommendation and environmental assessment for the specific changes to the Bay Plan to all Commissioners, Alternates, and interested parties at least 30 days prior to the public hearing as required by the Commission’s regulations (California Administrative Code, Title 14, Division 5, Section 11003). Upon conclusion of the public hearing, and after submission of the Executive Director’s final recommendation, the Commission can vote upon the proposed map changes.

Figure 1. Bay Plan Map 5, showing the approximate project area

Figure 2.  Proposed site plan showing the area proposed to be removed from the Waterfront Park Priority Use Area designation

Figure 3: Special Area Plan Map 7 showing the Port’s jurisdiction at India Basin

Descriptive Notice

August 2, 2019
Proposed San Francisco Bay Plan Amendment No. 4-19
Hearing Concerning Amendment of Bay Plan Map 5 and San Francisco Waterfront Special Area Plan Map 7 to Change the Boundary of the Waterfront Park Priority Use Designation at India Basin in San Francisco

Notice is hereby given that the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission will consider an amendment to the San Francisco Bay Plan (Bay Plan) and the San Francisco Waterfront Special Area Plan (SAP). The proposed amendment would modify the waterfront park priority use designation at India Basin shown on Bay Plan Map 5 and SAP Map 7.

A Public Hearing on the possible amendment is scheduled to be held October 3, 2019 at 375 Beale Street in San Francisco, California, starting at 1:00 P.M. At least thirty days prior to the initial public hearing, the staff will prepare and mail a staff report and preliminary recommendation on the proposed amendment. Interested parties may request the staff report and present written comments on or before October 3, 2019. Oral comments may be presented at the October 3, 2019 Commission public hearing or thereafter as directed by the Commission.

This Notice is prepared in Conformance with Section 66652 of the California Government Code, Section 11001 of Title 14, Division 5 of the California Code of Regulations, and Section 312 of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. If, after the hearing, the Commission adopts an amendment to the San Francisco Bay Plan described in this notice and subsequent staff report, such amendment will be processed as a routine program change of the Commission’s federally-approved Coastal Management Program for San Francisco Bay. Any federal agency interested should, therefore, comment to the Commission on or before October 3, 2019. Any written comment received subsequent to the close of the public hearing and public comment period will be distributed to the Commission; however, the staff will not provide a response to the comment in its staff recommendation, but will advise the Commission whether it believes the comment raises a new, substantial issue. If the Commission determines that the comment raises a new, substantial issue, the Commission may reopen the public hearing, and the staff would prepare and distribute a new planning report.
Whether the Bay Plan should be amended as described above, and in what manner, will be the subject of the public hearing and Commission deliberation.

Further information concerning the proposed amendment can be obtained by contacting Ms. Cody Aichele-Rothman by telephone at (415) 352-3641, or by e-mail at cody.aichele@bcdc.ca.gov, or at the Commission’s office, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 10600, San Francisco, California 94102. Please note that the Commission’s office will change on August 18, 2019 to 375 Beale Street, San Francisco, California, 94105.