An anonymous reader quotes a report from the San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco leaders have been scrambling for years to figure out how to deal with a glut of vacant offices, shuttered retail stores and public safety concerns plaguing a once-vibrant downtown. Now California lawmakers are trying a radical plan to revitalize urban cores that could speed up development by months, even years, by exempting most new real estate projects from environmental review. It is said that State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) filed SB1227 on Friday, a proposal to exempt downtown projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for 10 years. A landmark 1970 law requires projects to study the expected impacts on air, water, noise and other areas, but Wiener said the law does not allow for landfill development near public transportation. He said it has been exploited to delay or cancel events.
“Downtown San Francisco is important to the future of our city, and it is struggling. To bring people back, we must make big changes and be open-minded,” Wiener said in a statement. . “It starts with retrofitting, converting or even replacing buildings that are outdated and may not be successful in the future.” Eligible projects include academic institutions, sports facilities, housing, and biotechnology laboratories. , mixed-use projects that include offices, public works, and even minor changes such as altering the exterior of an existing building. The city's existing zoning and permitting requirements will remain in place. “We're not going to take away local control,” Wiener said in an interview with the Chronicle on Friday.
California Sen. Scott Wiener said he is proposing a bill that would make San Francisco's downtown area easier to recover from the pandemic. However, it is unclear how much of an impact this bill will have if it is ultimately passed, as other factors are at play. Since the pandemic, new construction in San Francisco has been largely frozen due to persistently high labor costs, rising interest rates and weak demand for apartments and commercial space. The major developer reiterated that it has no plans to break ground on any significant new projects anytime soon. soon. Kilroy Realty, which last week approved a major 2.3 million-square-foot redevelopment of the South of Market Flower Mart, said it has no plans to break ground anywhere this year.
