SF neighbors appeal 10-story condo project on Telegraph Hill

A 10-story condominium project at the bottom of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco has drawn fire for allegedly exceeding city height limits.

The 61-unit building proposed by Aralon Properties at 955 Sansome Street has been appealed by neighbors who formed the nonprofit Waterfront Action Committee, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The appeal will be heard this week.

The developer, based in the city, won approval from the Planning Commission under the HOME-SF program, which streamlines processing and adds density and height in exchange for more affordable units.

Aralon seeks to exceed local height limits by one floor.

Neighbors aim to force a redesign of what they deem to be an “outsized” project by challenging its eligibility for the local density bonus program and height exemption, according to the newspaper.

The group alleges the Planning Department erred in calculations to determine whether the program applies to the property, and that Zoning Administrator Corey Teague “abused his discretion” last October when reinforcing the department’s findings.

A committee of the Historic Preservation Commission this summer also deemed the project too tall and questioned its “overall contextual relationship with the building design and the neighborhood.”

“It appears that those involved in making the eligibility determination have gone to great lengths to manipulate the facts, choosing different approaches for their calculations, to reach a conclusion favorable to the developer,” said Telegraph Hill resident Frances Schreiberg in an email to the Board of Appeals. “In so doing, the administrative finding stretches the boundaries of credibility.”

Telegraph Hill was one of the first neighborhoods in San Francisco to reduce height limits for buildings in a district with warehouses dating back to the Gold Rush.

The proposed project would replace a two-story parking garage at the corner of Sansome and Vallejo streets, and qualify for the 85-foot-high zoning allowed for Sansome, while towering 60 feet over the rest of Vallejo Street.

The neighbors’ appeal rests on specifications for the city’s HOME-SF program. To qualify, projects must be built on lots where existing buildings are less than 20 percent of the lot’s developable area.

At 955 Sansome, Teague determined the parking garage takes up 18.3 percent of the property. The Waterfront Action Committee contends the calculation was flawed, arguing it assumes 8-foot, 1-inch floor-to-floor heights, which the group argues are “not buildable.”

Teague said the city’s planning code doesn’t set a minimum ceiling height “above or below the ground.” His methodology, he said, is based on the “plain text of the code and standard practices.”

Opponents of the project have cited a potential loss of views of San Francisco Bay. While the condos would obscure views for local residents, they would be enjoyed by those in penthouses overlooking the historic buildings on Sansome.

The upper floors of the building will cost $3,000 per square foot, while those without a bay view will cost half of that.

A rejection of the project by San Francisco could draw scrutiny from state housing officials now investigating the city’s glacial housing approval process.

— Dana Bartholomew

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