The city of San Francisco is not the only player in plans for the run down southern edge of the Financial District. The Land Use Committee of the Board of Supervisors yesterday considered amendments to the city's General Plan, Planning Code and Zoning Map which would bring them into line with the Redevelopment Agency's (RDA) plan for the area around the future Trans-Bay Terminal, just south of Mission street between Second and Main. The RDA's General Counsel James Morales and South of Market Project Manager Mike Grisso presented the plan. Supervisors Maxwell, Sandoval and McGoldrick aggressively questioned representatives of the Redevelopment Agency on the plan's provisions for affordable housing, local job creation and its fiscal impact on the city.


The center of the project area is the decrepit 65 year-old trans-bay bus terminal, which sits atop a "blighted" area; a patchwork of state owned land, irregularly shaped lots, derelict buildings and remnants of the Embarcadero freeway. Caltrans plans to demolish the current terminal and build a new terminal for a variety of transit services, including an extended Caltrain line. In the process, Caltrans will sell off the extra land it owns and open much of the area to create a whole new, high density and transit friendly neighborhood. The RDA plan will create 750,000 sq. ft. of office space, 600,000 sq. ft. of retail space and 450,000 sq. ft. of housing in a "smart planning" setting, with widely spaced towers, underground parking and pedestrian friendly sidewalks.

According to state laws governing the plan, 25% of units must be affordable to 60% or less of Area Median Income (AMI) and 10% must be affordable to 120% or less of AMI, making a total of 1200, or 35%, of the project's 3400 units affordable. About 400 of those units will be included in market rate developments and the remaining 800 will be in stand-alone, all-affordable buildings in the project area and will be slated for "very-low income" tenants. The RDA project will be funded largely by taxes on the sale of (mostly state owned) land, 20% of which will go to fund the affordable housing initiatives.

Supervisor Sandoval bluntly asked the RDA why the plan didn't cut the affordability for for-sale units to 100% and asked how the RDA planned to market those units to those who would need them. Morales reminded him that the units built on city administered portion of the would be priced at 100% of AMI and said that the rest could be negotiated down on a project-by-project basis. Supervisor Maxwell asked why the portion of the tax increment for affordable housing was only 20% when she had thought that RDA policy aimed for 50% and also asked what the RDA was doing to create jobs in the area. Morales said that the RDA predicted that the 20% would satisfy the housing provisions of the plan and said that there is a "strong agency policy and history for job growth."

Though each of the committee members was interested in taking a more hands on role with the plan, it was eventually decided that the specific nature of the planning code amendments before the committee did not allow action at the time. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to review the Trans-Bay next Tuesday, although two supervisors (including Daly) are expected to be absent. The Land Use Committee passed the amendments under their consideration without making changes, but definitely wanted a more active role. "You're taking a lot out of our hands" said Supervisor Sandoval earlier in the meeting. The board will certainly want to take more into its hands over the course of the next few weeks.

An on-going hearing on San Francisco's cable contract with Comcast was scheduled for the same meeting, but was delayed. Sandoval asked that the committee continue the hearing until a bill addressing customer service, sponsored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, can be heard at the same time.