San Francisco's Massive 'Central SoMa Plan' Faces Litigation

The Central SoMa Plan took more than seven years of planning and debate to approve. A new lawsuit, expected to be just the first of many, threatens to erase all that work.

January 30, 2019, 2pm PST | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

ben bryant

Shutterstock

"A nonprofit housing group has filed the first of what is expected to be several lawsuits challenging the rezoning of San Francisco’s Central South of Market area," reports J.K. Dineen.

San Francisco approved the Central SoMa Plan in November and again in December, laying the groundwork for 7,000 housing units and 6 million square feet of office uses, enough space for about 39,000 jobs.

The lawsuit by the Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium alleges that the plan's environmental review "didn’t take into account the impact the neighborhood changes would have on public services such as police, fire and recreation," explains Dineen. "In addition, the lawsuit claims that the environmental study neglected to analyze the potential 'grave earthquake dangers' that exist in the Central SoMa neighborhood, much of which is built on fill."

Full Story:

Lawsuit filed challenging San Francisco’s new Central SoMa zoning plan

Published on Monday, January 14, 2019 in San Francisco Chronicle