By Thomas K. Pendergast

A preview of a proposal to demolish two houses at 641 and 645 48th Avenue was presented to the San Francisco Planning Commission in February, revealing plans for constructing a new 20-unit residential development there.

The houses are located in the Vista Del Mar neighborhood at the intersection with Sutro Heights Avenue and offer a scenic view of Ocean Beach, the Great Highway and the neighborhood surrounding Balboa and La Playa streets.

The developers have not submitted a building application to the San Francisco Planning Department yet, so department staff have not reviewed the proposal.

The hearing before the Commission was required because the developers will be using SB-423, a California law that streamlines approval for urban multifamily housing, bypassing lengthy reviews if a given project meets affordability, labor and location requirements.

SB-423 is for projects in jurisdictions that are not meeting state housing goals, as determined by the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). Projects eligible for this ministerial review do not require any discretionary or subjective decision-making, according to department documents.

Also, they are not approved through a public hearing, nor do they require review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); plus, they do not undergo Neighborhood Notification under Planning Code Section 311.

According to the City, in the previous RHNA cycle, San Francisco successfully met its housing production goal for market-rate housing but fell short in meeting the goal for lower-income units. As a result, generally only 100% affordable housing projects received ministerial review.

More recently, however, San Francisco has failed to meet its housing production goals for both market rate units and units affordable to lower income households.

What is documented about this project is that the existing residential space of 6,800 gross-square-feet will be replaced with 49,340 gross-square-feet from the new development.

The proposed dwelling unit mix will be: six studio apartments, eight two-bedroom units, four three-bedroom units and two with four bedrooms each. There are no one-bedrooms in the proposal.

Two of the units will be “affordable” while the rest will be offered at market rate.

Using the California State Density Bonus Law (SDBL) definition, “affordable” generally means they will be offered at 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) as calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In San Francisco, 100% AMI works out to $97,000 annually for a single person, $110,850 for two people, $124,700 for three and $138,550 for a four-person household.

Three buildings in total will replace the two now standing, each at four stories.

A total of 18 off-street motor vehicle parking spaces will be provided.

Currently the property to be developed consists of five large lots but these will be halved to make 10 smaller lots, only nine of which will actually be built upon, while the other lot will be used for a private access road to reach the parking spaces.

The developers are requesting two waivers: one related to backyard space and the other related to height.

“Because of the topography, which slopes in two directions, and the complexity of the terrain, we need this waiver for these minor areas, 11% essentially of our surface area,” Stanley Saitowitz of the firm Natoma Architects explained to the commission. “The other exception has to do with rear yards. But we exceed the amount of space required for open area. It’s just the way the front yards and rear yards work, it doesn’t quite conform but essentially, we have more open space than required.”

“The context of the area is very much this kind of fabric of simple buildings with typical, square-projected bays and repeated windows,” Saitowitz said. “It’s the kind of architecture that we’ve reinterpreted in a more contemporary way. The other context is these amazing views of the ocean.”

Commission Vice President Kathrin Moore commented that she liked the “yield of 20 units, together with the ability in this particular location to deliver also two affordable units.

“I do appreciate the wide range of unit mixes from studio to four-bedroom,” Moore said. “We do not see many projects with four bedrooms anymore. We mostly see studio and one-bedroom. This, in this particular location, will be very valuable addition to providing the unit mix, including affordable onsite. I’m in support of this project.”