SEC. 121.7. RESTRICTION OF LOT MERGERS IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS, ON PEDESTRIANORIENTED…

San Francisco County Zoning Code · 2026-06 edition · updated 2026-07-25 · San Francisco County

(a) Purpose: In order to promote, protect, and maintain a fine-grain scale of development in residential districts and on important pedestrian-oriented commercial streets that is appropriate to each district; compatible with adjacent buildings; provide for a diverse streetscape; ensure the maintenance and creation of multiple unique buildings and building frontages rather than large single structures superficially treated; promote diversity and multiplicity of land ownership and discourage consolidation of property under single ownership, merger of lots is regulated in accordance with this Section 121.7.

(b) Controls. Merger of lots is regulated as follows:

(1) RTO Districts. In RTO Districts within the Priority Equity Geographies Special Use District established under Section 249.97, merger of lots creating a lot greater than 5,000 square feet shall not be permitted except according to the procedures and criteria in subsection (d) below.

(2) NCT, NC, and Mixed-Use Districts. In those NCT, NC, and Mixed Use Districts listed below, merger of lots resulting in a lot with a single street frontage greater than that stated in the table below on the specified streets or in the specified Districts is prohibited except according to the procedures and criteria in subsections (c) and (d) below.

(3) WMUO District. Merger of lots in the WMUO zoning district resulting in a lot with a street frontage between 100 and 200 feet along Townsend Street is permitted so long as a publicly-accessible through-block pedestrian alley at least 20 feet in width and generally conforming to the design standards of Section 270.2(e)(5)-(12) of this Code is provided as a result of such merger.

(4) Mission Street NCT District. In the Mission Street NCT District, projects that propose lot mergers resulting in street frontages on Mission Street greater than 50 feet shall provide at least one non-residential space of no more than 2,500 square feet on the ground floor fronting Mission Street.

(5) Ocean Avenue NCT District. In the Ocean Avenue NCT District, projects that propose lot mergers resulting in street frontages greater than 50 feet are permitted to create corner lots only, and shall require a conditional use authorization.

Street or District	Lot Frontage Limit
Hayes, from Franklin to Laguna	50 feet
RED and RED-MX	50 feet
Church Street, from Duboce to 16th Street	100 feet
Divisadero Street NCT except for the east and west blocks between Oak and Fell, Fillmore Street NCT, Folsom Street NCT, RCD, WMUG, WMUO, and SALI	100 feet for WMUO District (see subsection (b)(3))
Mission Street, within the Mission Street NCT	100 feet; see subsection (b)(4)
Market, from Octavia to Noe	150 feet
Ocean Avenue in the Ocean Avenue NCT	50 feet; see subsection(b)(5)
Inner and Outer Clement NCDs	50 feet
North Beach NCD and SUD, Telegraph Hill-North Beach Residential SUD, Polk Street NCD, and Pacific Avenue NCD*	25 feet*
NC-2 districts on Balboa Street between 2nd Avenue and 8th Avenue, and between 32nd Avenue and 38th Avenue	50 feet

For lots that do not have street frontage, the merger would not result in a lot with a width greater than 25 feet.

(c) Administrative Exceptions. The Zoning Administrator may administratively waive certain lot mergers from the restrictions of subsection (b) only when one or more of the following conditions is present:

(1) One of the lots to be merged has total street frontage on the restricted street of less than 20 feet; or

(2) The project sponsor is a government agency or institution subject to Section 304.5 of this Code, and the purpose of the project is for a public facility, public building, or institutional building; or

(3) The project involves normalizing substandard or irregular lots that are publicly owned or are being transferred from public to private ownership, including lots of the former Central Freeway; or

(4) The lots to be merged contain a pre-existing single building spanning multiple lots; or

(5) The lot merger will enable a specific residential project in which a majority of the units on-site will be affordable as defined by Section 402.

(d) Conditionally Permitted Exceptions. The Planning Commission may approve, as a Conditional Use according to the procedures of Section 303, mergers exceeding the restrictions of subsections (b) and (c) only when one or more of the following findings can affirmatively be made and the project meets the intent of this Section 121.7:

(1) The lot merger will enable a specific residential project that provides housing on-site at affordability levels significantly exceeding the requirements of Section 415; or

(2) The lot merger will facilitate development of an underutilized site historically used as a single use and the new project is comprised of multiple individual buildings; or

(3) The lot merger serves a unique public interest that cannot be met by building a project on a smaller lot.

(e) Lots with Certain Historic Buildings. For projects meeting the definition of a housing development project, as that term is defined in Government Code Section 65589.5(h)(2), as may be amended, Lot Mergers are not permitted, unless the Project maintains the Historic Building in compliance with the Preservation Design Standards and modified standards under Section 206.10(d) for the life of the project, and the requirement is recorded in a Notice of Special Restrictions.

(Added by Ord. 72-08, File No. 071157, App. 4/3/2008; amended by Ord. 61-09, File No. 090181, App. 4/17/2009; Ord. 92-12 , File No. 111247, App. 5/21/12, Eff. 6/20/12; Ord. 42-13 , File No. 130002, App. 3/28/2013, Eff. 4/27/2013; Ord. 62-13 , File No. 121162, App. 4/10/2013, Eff. 5/10/2013; Ord. 126-15 , File No. 150081, App. 7/17/2015, Eff. 8/16/2015; Ord. 127-15 , File No. 150082, App. 7/17/2015, Eff. 8/16/2015; Ord. 188-15 , File No. 150871, App. 11/4/2015, Eff.

12/4/2015; Ord. 129-17, File No. 170203, App. 6/30/2017, Eff. 7/30/2017; Ord. 205-17, File No. 170418, App. 11/3/2017, Eff. 12/3/2017; Ord. 17-18, File No. 171173, App. 2/9/2018, Eff. 3/12/2018; Ord. 71-20, File No. 191285, App. 5/1/2020, Eff. 6/1/2020; Ord. 248-23, File No. 230446, App. 12/14/2023, Eff. 1/14/2024; Ord. 245-25, File No. 250701, App. 12/12/2025, Eff. 1/12/2026, Oper. 1/12/2026)

AMENDMENT HISTORY

Division (b) amended; Ord. 92-12 , Eff. 6/20/12. Section header, introductory paragraph, and division (b) amended; Ord. 42-13 , Eff. 4/27/2013. Division (d)(1) reference corrected; Ord. 62-13 , Eff. 5/10/2013. Division (b) amended; Ord. 12615 , Eff. 8/16/2015. Division (b) amended; Ord. 127-15 , Eff. 8/16/2015. Introductory paragraph amended; Ord. 188-15 , Eff. 12/4/2015. Table amended; Ord. 129-17, Eff. 7/30/2017. Table amended; Ord. 205-17, Eff. 12/3/2017. Introductory paragraph and table amended; division (f) added; Ord. 17-18, Eff. 3/12/2018. Introductory paragraph and former divisions (a) and (b) redesignated as divisions (a), (b)(1), and (b)(2), and amended; new divisions (b) and (b)(3)-(5) added; table amended; undesignated paragraph following table deleted; divisions (c), (c)(2), (c)(3), (c)(5), and (d)-(d)(2) amended; divisions (e) and (f) deleted; Ord. 71-20, Eff. 6/1/2020. Division (b)(1) amended; Ord. 248-23, Eff. 1/14/2024. Section header amended; division (e) added; Ord. 245-25, Eff. 1/12/2026.

Editor's Note:

This Section 121.7 was originally designated 121.6 when enacted by Ord. 72-08. The section was redesignated by the

editor in order to avoid conflicting with previously existing material. This section subsequently has been amended under its current number by multiple ordinances, as documented in the history note above.

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