Location: San Francisco, California
Client: Prado Group/Potrero Partners and City and County of San Francisco
Scope: Environmental Analysis
Project
The project is a mixed-use development on a 3.5-acre site located on 16th Street at the foot of Potrero Hill. The project involves demolition of metal storage sheds on the property, retention and adaptive reuse of a 2-story historic brick building and construction of a 395-unit condominium project and a 6-story retail commercial/office building.
Assignment
Lamphier-Gregory was selected by the project sponsor from the City’s list of pre-qualified environmental consultants. We prepared an Initial Study in support of a Community Plan Exemption (CPE) and a focused Environmental Impact Report (EIR) which was necessary because of a significant and unavoidable environmental impact (traffic).
Outcome
The project was approved and the CPE and EIR were certified by the Planning Commission and sustained by the Board of Supervisors following an appeal filed by Potrero Hill-based opponents to the project. A legal challenge was subsequently filed in Superior Court against the project by the same project opponents. The legal challenge raised a host of issues, one of which was whether the City’s use of a CPE was legal under CEQA. Lamphier-Gregory was not named or involved in defending the lawsuit. The Court found that the legal challenge was not properly filed, as a procedural matter, but nevertheless determined that even if it had been properly filed, all arguments raised in the challenge were rejected for lack of merit, thereby sustaining the CEQA document and the City’s approval of the project.
Images courtesy of Prado Group/Potrero Partners
