255 SEVENTH STREET (WESTBROOK PLAZA) PROJECT Draft Environmental Impact Report Planning Department Case No. 2004.0588E State Clearinghouse No. 2006092050 Draft EIR Publication Date: February 24, 2007 Draft EIR Public Hearing Date: April 5, 2007 Draft EIR Public Comment Period: February 24, 2007 until April 9, 2007 PLANNING DEPARTMENT City and County of San Francisco ● 1660 Mission Street, Suite 500 ● San Francisco, California ● 94103-2414 MAIN NUMBER DIRECTOR'S OFFICE ZONING ADMINISTRATOR PLANNING INFORMATION COMMISSION CALENDAR (415) 558-6378 PHONE: 558-6411 PHONE: 558-6350 PHONE: 558-6377 INFO: 558-6422 4TH FLOOR 5TH FLOOR MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL INTERNET WEB SITE FAX: 558-6426 FAX: 558-6409 FAX: 558-5991 WWW.SFGOV.ORG/PLANNING DATE: February 24, 2007 TO: Distribution List for the 255 Seventh Street (Westbrook Plaza) Project EIR FROM: Paul Maltzer, Environmental Review Officer SUBJECT: Request for the Final Environmental Impact Report for the 255 Seventh Street (Westbrook Plaza) Project (Case No. 2004.0588E) This is the Draft of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the 255 Seventh Street (Westbrook Plaza) Project. A public hearing will be held on the adequacy and accuracy of this document. After the public hearing, our office will prepare and publish a document entitled “Comments and Responses,” which will contain a summary of all relevant comments on this Draft EIR and our responses to those comments, along with copies of the letters received and a transcript of the public hearing. The Comments and Responses document may also specify changes to this Draft EIR. Public agencies and members of the public who testify at the hearing on the Draft EIR will automatically receive a copy of the Comments and Responses document, along with notice of the date reserved for certification; others may receive such copies and notice on request or by visiting our office. This Draft EIR, together with the Comments and Responses document, will be considered by the Planning Commission in an advertised public meeting, and then certified as a Final EIR if deemed adequate. After certification, we will modify the Draft EIR as specified by the Comments and Responses document and print both documents in a single publication called the Final Environmental Impact Report. The Final EIR will add no new information to the combination of the two documents except to reproduce the certification resolution. It will simply provide the information in one rather than two documents. Therefore, if you receive a copy of the Comments and Responses document in addition to this copy of the Draft EIR, you will technically have a copy of the Final EIR. We are aware that many people who receive the Draft EIR and Comments and Responses document have no interest in receiving virtually the same information after the EIR has been certified. To avoid expending money and paper needlessly, we would like to send copies of the Final EIR, in Adobe Acrobat format on a compact disk (CD), to private individuals only if they request them. Therefore, if you would like a copy of the Final EIR, please fill out and mail the postcard provided inside the back cover to the Major Environmental Analysis division of the Planning Department within two weeks after certification of the EIR. Any private party not requesting a Final EIR by that time will not be mailed a copy. Thank you for your interest in this project. 255 SEVENTH STREET (WESTBROOK PLAZA) PROJECT Draft Environmental Impact Report Planning Department Case No. 2004.0588E State Clearinghouse No. 2006092050 Draft EIR Publication Date: February 24, 2007 Draft EIR Public Hearing Date: April 5, 2007 Draft EIR Public Comment Period: February 24, 2007 until April 9, 2007 This document printed on recycled paper. 206306 TABLE OF CONTENTS 255 Seventh Street (Westbrook Plaza) Project Draft Environmental Impact Report Page I. SUMMARY 1 II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 16 A. Site Location and Project Characteristics 16 B. Project Setting 22 C. Project Sponsor’s Objectives 25 D. Approvals Required 27 E. Plans and Policies 28 III. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING AND IMPACTS 39 A. Land Use, Planning, and Population 39 B. Historical Resources 50 C. Growth Inducement 69 IV. MITIGATION MEASURES 71 V. SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS THAT CANNOT BE AVOIDED 77 IF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS IMPLEMENTED VI. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT 79 A. No Project 79 B. Use of 227 Seventh Street in the Project (Preservation Alternative 1) 80 C. Separate Reuse of 227 Seventh Street (Preservation Alternative 2) 82 D. PDR-Related Development on Project Site (PDR Construction Alternative) 83 E. Partial Preservation Alternative 85 VII. DRAFT EIR DISTRIBUTION LIST 88 VIII. APPENDICES A. Initial Study B. Historical Resources Background Reports IX. EIR AUTHORS AND CONSULTANTS Case No. 2004.0588E ii 255 Seventh Street TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES 1. Project Location 17 2. Site Plan 18 3. Seventh Street Building Third Floor Plan 20 4. Seventh Street Building Elevation 21 5. Moss Street Building Third Floor Plan 23 6. Moss Street Building Elevation 24 7. Land Use 41 8. Potential SoMa Historic District (approximate boundary) 57 9. Buildings on the Project Site 61 10. Sketch Plan of Alternative E 85 Page LIST OF TABLES 1. Westbrook Plaza Development Program 19 2. Projects That Could Affect the Potential SoMa Historic District 68 Case No. 2004.0588E iii 255 Seventh Street CHAPTER I Summary A. Project Description (p. 16) Project sponsors, Mercy Housing California (MHC), a non-profit developer, and South of Market Health Center (SMHC), a private non-profit ambulatory health center, propose to develop, in conjunction with its development consultant, the Westbrook Plaza Project, to be located at 255 Seventh Street (Assessor’s Block 3731, Lots 126 and 154). The existing site includes a one-story, approximately 18-foot high commercial building totaling about 2,000 square feet and a one-story, approximately 18-foot high building totaling about 960 square feet. Both buildings are located in the northwest corner of the project site and front Seventh Street. The rest of the lot is occupied by a surface parking lot. The proposed project would result in the construction of two new buildings containing, in combination, 49 affordable housing units and a health clinic, the South of Market Health Center (SMHC). A five-story, 50-foot building with three levels of residential above a two-level health center would front Seventh Street (the Seventh Street Building). A four-story, 40-foot residential building would front Moss Street (the Moss Street Building). The two buildings would share a mid-block courtyard (see Figure 2 on page 18). The proposed project would also include a subsurface parking lot under the entire parcel. The subsurface lot would accommodate about 45 parking spaces. The project sponsor is proposing to merge lots 126 and 154. The project site is currently comprised of two lots, both of which have portions within the SLR (Service/Light Industrial/Residential Mixed Use) and RED (Residential Enclave) zoning districts and within the 50-X/40-X height and bulk districts. The Seventh Street building would be sited within the 50- X height and bulk district and the Moss Street building would be sited within the 40-X height and bulk district. The project would comply with the requirements of the SLR/RED zoning districts and the 50- X/40-X height and bulk districts. B. Main Environmental Effects Land Use, Planning, and Population (p. 39) The project area is characterized by a mix of uses, with PDR, residential, and retail uses predominating. The proposed project would change the character of the project site and immediate vicinity, but would not Case No. 2004.0588E 1 255 Seventh Street I. SUMMARY fundamentally alter this mix of uses: the neighborhood currently contains both large-scale, supportive and affordable residential development (on Sixth Street between Mission and Market Streets) and smaller- scale, mostly older, market-rate residential units (principally along mid-block alleys, such as Moss, Rausch, Harriet, Langton, and Sumner Streets). The proposed new buildings, at four and five stories and approximately 40 and 50 feet in height, would be taller and more massive than the two one-story structures and the surface parking lot presently on the project site. However, the new buildings would be comparable in height to other buildings in the project area. Also, the proposed project would be of a contemporary design, elements of which are intended to relate to the predominately industrial architectural vernacular and visual mix of the larger South of Market neighborhood. Together, the proposed project and the recently completed residential and mixed-use buildings, such as the 1101 Howard Street and 190 Seventh Street buildings within one block of the project site, would constitute a small concentration of larger-scale, modern residential construction. The proposed project would (1) replace an existing surface parking lot with modern buildings that would include street landscaping; (2) be comparable in height and bulk with other buildings in the project vicinity; and (3) create a continuous street wall along Seventh and Moss Streets. Therefore, the two buildings would not present a psychological or visual barrier substantial enough to divide the neighborhood or to adversely affect the character of the neighborhood. The proposed project would increase the residential population on the project site as well as the number of employed persons working at the site, compared to existing conditions, displacing the 11 employees of the current businesses on the project site (a surface parking lot and a computer-related business). Moreover, the types of jobs available on the site would change. However, the loss of 11 jobs would not be considered displacement of “a large number of people.” The project would not displace any existing residents, as no residential uses currently exist on the site.