, '~ ~ ~ ` ~ ~ ~~ .., ., ,~ ~ ,~, r :. ~~~~ — . , ~ ~. .' ~ r E VAN N ESS e z z rn to cn V AN NESS Final Environmental imp ~~~ port VAN NESS AVENUE PLAN 82.3~92E187.58bE DRAFT EIR PUS~ICATIO~I U~TE: A ~u g u s ~ ~ 1 ~ ~ 9~ 7 DRAFT EIR PUBliC HFARIfVG DATE: Oeto~~r ~, ~~87 DRAFT EfR PUBLIC CC)MMENT' P~R~OD: Au~us¢ ~1-~~~ob~r 9, 1987 FINAL EIF. CERTIFIC~'TI~N [7ATE. De~~~m~~~ 17, 197 ~ . C11~Y AND BOUNTY OF SAW fRARi~~~C~~ DEP.~~~Iv1ENT OF C9YY PLANNING VAN NESS AVENUE PLAN EIR REPLACEMENT PAGES Accompanying this memo is a set of replacement pages, which, when integrated i nto a copy of the Van Ness Avenue Plan Draft EIR, will produce the final language for the EIR. The new pages are in order, and have the same numbers as the pages they replace. Where additional text has been added, more insert pages than pages removed may be needed. In such cases, the additional pages have lower case letter designations and blank pages may be required to preserve overall page order. The Comments and Responses document, published December, 1987, also comprises part of the Final EIR. The EIR has a new cover and title- page to showthat the document is a copy of the final, certified EIR. Text changes are marked with a black dot in the left-hand margin of the page. Where an entire page is new, the dot appears by the page number. If you have any questions about the EIR, please call Paul Deutsch at 558-6383. REPLACE CRAFT EIR PAGES: WITH INSERT PAGES: Cover and Title Page Cover and Title Page 1 - 111 1 - 111 3 -8 3-8 1 3 - 16 13 - 16 19-24 19-24 29-30 29-30 35 - 40 35 - 40 57 - 62 57 - 62 67 - 68 67 - 68 81 - 84 81 - 84 95-96 95-96 103 - 106 103 - 106 141 - 144 141 - 144 157 - 158 157 - 158 161 - 162 161 - 162 167 - 170 167 - 170 A-24 - A-25 A-24 - A-25 PSD:117 VAN NESS AVENUE PLAN DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Summary ............................................... 1 II. Project Description ................................... 13 General Background .................................... 13 Location ..... ....................................... 13 Project Description ................................... 14 Required Approvals .................................... 24 III. Environmental Setting ................................. 26 A. Land Use and Zoning ... ...................... 26 B. Visual Quality and Urban~Design .................... 33 C. Cultural and Historic Resources ................. 35 D. Population, Housing and Employment. ... ... ... 38 E. Transportation (Traffic/Transit/Parking/Pedestrian). 40 F. Air Quality ........................................ 50 G. Noise .... .. ..................................... 54 H. Geology/Seismicity ................................. 55 IV. Environmental Impacts ................................. 57 A. Land Use ........................................... 57 Introduction .................................... 57 Methodology ..................................... 58 Impacts .... ... ......................... 60 B. Visual Quality and~Urban Design .................... 66 C. Cultural and Historic Resources .................... 81 D. Population, Housing and Employment ................. 83 Growth Inducement .... ..... ................... 87 E. Transportation (Traffic/Transit/Parking/Pedestrian). 90 F. Air Quality ....................................... 119 G. Noise ............................................. 125 H. Energy Resources .................................. 130 I. Geology/Seismicity ................................ 135 Y. Mitigation Measures .................................. 137 ` ~ VI. Significant Envirorniental Effects that Cannot be Avoided if the Proposed Project is Implemented ....... 153 VII. Alternatives to the Project .......................... 154 A. No project; Retention of existing zoning .......... 154 B. Incremental Housing Requirement Alternative ....... 159 C. RC-4 Zoning Alternative ........................... 164 D. No Change ......................................... 168 i TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) VIII. Short-term vs. Long-Term Consequences of Adopting the Proposed Van Ness Area Plan ...................... 170 IX. Irreversible Environmental Changes ................... 171 X. EIR Authors, Organizations and Persons Consulted ..... 172 XI. Distribution List .................................... 173 XII. Appendices Appendix I: Transportation Methodology .............. A-1 Appendix II: Air duality .......................... A-24 Appendix III: Initial Study ......................... A-26 LIST OF FIGURES Page 1. Regional Location Map ................................. 15 2. Van Ness Plan Area .................................. 15 3. Base Map and Proposed Subareas ........................ 17 4. Proposed Use Districts (Zoning) ....................... 18 5. Proposed Height and Bulk Districts .............. 19 5a. Kedevelopment Area within Van Ness Plan~Area .......... 29a o. Existing Zoning Districts ........................ 31 7. Existing Height and Bulk Districts .................... 32 8. Future Streetscape Under Van Ness Plan ................ 70 9. Siring Equinox Shadow Diagrams, Sites I 8. II .......... 73 10. Spying Equinox Shadow Diagrams, Sites III & IV ........ 74 11. Summer Solstice Shadow Diagrams, Sites I & II ......... 75 12. Summer Solstice Shadow Diagrams, Sites III & IV ....... 76 13. Fall Equinox Shadow Diagrams, Sites I & II ............ 77 14. Fall Equinox Shadow Diagrams, Sites III & IV .......... 78 15. winter Solstice Shadow Diagrams, Sites I & II ......... 79 16. Winter Solstice Shadow Diagrams, Sites III & IV ....... 80 16a. Proposed Significant Buildings ..... .................. 82 17. San Francisco Transportation Study Areas and Regional Screenlines ... ....... .. ..... ... .......... 91 18. Location of MUNI Cumulative Transit Screenlines ....... 93 i i LIST OF TABLES Page 1. Van Ness Existing Resident and Employment Population ................ 39 2. Van Ness Avenue Project Area Street Characteristics ................. 42 3. Existing and Estimated Development Under Van Ness Avenue Plan ....... 61 4. Relationship Between Applicable Urban Design Policies of the Master Plan & Proposed Van Ness Avenue Plan Objectives ...... 68 4a. Significant Buildings ....... ................................... 81a 5. Net Change in Projected~Employment Pc 'ation in Van Ness Avenue Plan Area ... .................... 85 6. -Net Cr~~ in Daily Person Trip Ends (PTE) for Van Ness Avenue ...... 97 7. P.M. Pei emulative Traffic Volumes and Arterial Levels of srvice for Streets in Van Ness rjvenue Plan Area .......... 100 8. Outbound F.r~. Peak Hour and P.M. Peak Pe: ~d Traffic Volumes and Capacities at Regional Screenlines .......... 101 9. Fund P.M. Peak Hour Transit Ridership, Passengers Per Seat ~tios, & Levels of Service at Regional & C-3 Screenlines........ 105 10. ~.. _.nd P.M. Peak Period Transit Ridership, Passengers Per Seat p atios, & Levels of Service at Regional & C-3 Screenlines ....... 106 1 1. Projected Daily Pollutant Emissions .. .... ...................... 119 12. Existing and Projected Curbside Carbon~Monoxide Concentrations at Selected Intersections ... .... .... ....... 121 13. Land Use Compatibility Requirements for Cortmunity Noise Levels ...... 125 14. Estimated Van Ness Avenue Plan Energy Demand in Relation to City and Regional Demand ...... .. ... .................. 131 15. Transportation Energy Consumption~Related~to~Development Under the Van Ness Avenue Plan ...... ....... ... ...... ... ....... 134 16. Existing and Estimated Development Under Alternative A: No Project .. 155 17. Ne' ~~~^qe in Projected Employment Population Alternative A: No Project .. ..... .. .............. 157 18. Ne: .~ u;,ge in Person Trip Ends, Alternative~A: No Project ........... 158 19. Existing and Estimated Development Under A lternative B: Incremental Housing Requirement .................. 161 20. Net Change in Projected Employment Population Under Alternative 6: Incremental Housing Requirement ............ 162 21. Net Change in Person Trip Ends Under Alternative B: Incremental Housing Requirement .................. 163 22. Existing & Estimated Development Under Alternative C: RC-4 Zoning ... 165 23. Net Change in Projected Employment Population Under Alternative C: RC~4 Zoning ... .. ...... ....... ............ 166 24. Net Change in Person Trip Ends, Alternative C: RC-4 Zoning ~.......... 167 i ii VAN NESS AVENUE PLAN DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT I. SUMMARY A. Project Description The Department of City Planning is proposing a Van Ness Avenue Area Plan covering 54 blocks or portions thereof, extending the length of Van Ness Avenue from McAllister Street north to the Bay shoreline. The project area encompasses 279 parcels. The majority of these parcels front on Uan Ness Avenue, while about 30% front on intersecting east-west streets. T1ie r~roposed project is a plan which would establish policies and guidelines for future development along Van Ness Avenue. The land use objective is to create a new residential neighborhood close to downtown which would contribute to the City's housing supply. In addition, there are proposed policies that would permit development of commercial uses to serve both the new housing population as well as the regional market. The Plan would be implemented through a rezoning of the Plan area. Neither the Plan itself nor the rezoning would produce the actual buildout of the Van Ness corridor. Together, they would set forth the enabling land use legislation which would require new construction between McAllister St, and Broadway to: Provide