The report has 18 “required actions with implementation timeframes,” as well as an extra 10 “recommended actions.” Among the imperatives is this one: SF must “eliminate the use of ‘neighborhood character’ and ‘neighborhood compatibility’ terminology in case report findings,” the state says, and within a year we must also scrub these terms from citywide design guidelines.
For years, San Francisco has effectively had two sets of rules for new buildings: Developments must of course adhere to planning codes and zoning, but even after that, bodies like the seven-member Planning Commission and 11-member Board of Supervisors can sometimes alter or even block a development based on, well, vibes.