SEC. 124. BASIC FLOOR AREA RATIO.

(See Interpretations related to this Section.)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in provided in1 this Section 124, the basic Floor Area Ratio limits specified in the Zoning Control Table for the district in which the lot is located, or in Table 124 below, shall apply to each building or development in the districts indicated.

TABLE 124

BASIC FLOOR AREA RATIO LIMITS

(b) In R, RC, NC, and Mixed Use Districts, Floor Area Ratio limits shall not apply to Residential Uses. However, projects proposing new construction of a Dwelling Unit that would exceed the maximum dwelling unit size described in Section 207.10 may require Conditional Use authorization by the Planning Commission as set forth in Section 207.10. In Chinatown Mixed Use Districts, the above floor area ratio limits shall not apply to institutions, and mezzanine commercial space shall not be calculated as part of the floor area ratio.

(c) In a C-2 District the basic floor area ratio limit shall be 4.8 to 1 for a lot which is nearer to an RM-4 or RC-4 District than to any other R District, and 10.0 to 1 for a lot which is nearer to a C-3 District than to any R District. The distance to the nearest R District or C-3 District shall be measured from the midpoint of the front line, or from a point directly across the street therefrom, whichever gives the greatest ratio.

rea ratio limit shall be 4.8 to 1 for a lot which is nearer to an RM-4 or RC-4 District than to any other R District, and 10.0 to 1 for a lot which is nearer to a C-3 District than to any R District. The distance to the nearest R District or C-3 District shall be measured from the midpoint of the front line, or from a point directly across the street therefrom, whichever gives the greatest ratio.

(d) In the Van Ness Special Use District, as described in Section 243 of this Code, the basic floor area ratio limit shall be 7.0 to 1 where the height limit is 130 feet and at the hospital site within the Van Ness Medical Use Subdistrict, and 4.8 to 1 where the height limit is 80 feet. Within the Van Ness Medical Use Subdistrict, the basic floor area ratio limit shall be 7.5 to 1 for a medical office building, subject to Conditional Use Authorization for a hospital, medical center or other medical institution.

(e) In the Waterfront Special Use Districts, as described in Sections 240 through 240.3 of this Code, the basic floor area ratio limit in any C District shall be 5.0 to 1.

(f) For buildings in C-3-G and C-3-S Districts, other than those designated as Significant or Contributory pursuant to Article 11 of this Code, additional square footage above that permitted by the base floor area ratio limits set forth above may be approved for construction of dwellings on the site of the building affordable for the Life of the Project, as defined in Section 401, to households whose incomes are within 150 percent of AMI, as defined in Section 401, for ownership units and up to 120% of AMI for rental units, in accordance with the conditional use procedures and criteria as provided in Section 303 of this Code. For buildings in the C-3-G District designated as Significant or Contributory pursuant to Article 11 of this Code, additional square footage above that permitted by the base floor area ratio limits set forth above up to the Gross Floor Area of the existing building may be approved, in accordance with the conditional use procedures and criteria as provided in Section 303 of this Code, where: (1) TDRs (as defined by Section 128(a)(5)) were transferred from the lot containing the Significant or Contributory building prior to the effective date of the amendment to Section 124(f) adding this paragraph when the floor area transferred was occupied by a non profit corporation or institution meeting the requirements for exclusion from Gross Floor Area calculation; (2) the additional square footage includes only the amount necessary to accommodate dwelling units and/or group housing units that are affordable for the Life of the Project to households whose incomes are within 60 percent of AMI as defined herein together with any social, educational, and health service space accessory to such units; and (3) the proposed change in use to dwelling units and accessory space and any construction associated therewith, if it requires any alternation to the exterior or other character defining features of the Significant or Contributory Building, is undertaken pursuant to the duly approved Permit to Alter, pursuant to Section 1110, provided, however, that the procedures otherwise required for a Major Alteration as set forth in Sections 1111.4 and 1111.5 and shall be deemed applicable to any such Permit to Alter.

(1) Any dwelling approved for construction under this provision shall be deemed a "Designated Unit" as defined below. Prior to the issuance by the Director of the Department of Building Inspection ("Director of Building Inspection") of a First Construction Document to construct any Designated Unit subject to this Section, the permit applicant shall notify the Director of Planning and the Director of MOHCD in writing whether the Designated Unit will be an owned or rental unit as defined in Section 401 of this Code.

(2) Unless specifically stated in this Section 124(f), each designated unit shall be subject to the provisions of Section 415 of this Code. For purposes of this Subsection and the application of Section 415 of this Code to Designated Units constructed pursuant to this Subsection, the definitions set forth in Section 401 of this Code shall apply.

(3) Except as specifically specified herein, Designated Units shall meet all of the procedures, pricing methodology, monitoring obligations and other requirements of the Inclusionary Housing Procedures Manual and either:

(A) Be used to satisfy the requirements of the Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program, Section 415 et seq. , and meet all of the requirements of that Program, including the income limits specified therein; or

(B) Meet the requirements of this subsection (f), including the income limits specified, and be family sized, meaning that each Designated Unit contains at least 2 or 3 bedrooms. In the event that the Designated Unit is not also an On- or Off-site Unit under Section 415, Designated Units shall not be used to determine the required unit size mix for purposes of the Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program.

(4) MOHCD shall update its Procedures Manual if necessary to include any specific provisions related to Designated Units.

(5) Affordable unit gross square footage which is exempted per this section for FAR shall not be exempted for impact fees that are levied on a gross square foot or FAR basis.

(g) The allowable Gross Floor Area on a lot which is the site of an unlawfully demolished building that is governed by the provisions of Article 11 shall be the Gross Floor Area of the demolished building for the period of time set forth in, and in accordance with the provisions of, Section 1116 of this Code, but not to exceed the basic floor area permitted by this Section.

(h) In calculating the permitted floor area of a new structure in a C-3 District, the lot on which an existing structure is located may not be included unless the existing structure and the new structure are made part of a single development complex, the existing structure is or is made architecturally compatible with the new structure, and, if the existing structure is in a Conservation District, the existing structure meets or is made to meet the standards of Section 1109(c), and the existing structure meets or is reinforced to meet the standards for seismic loads and forces of the Building Code. Determinations under this Paragraph shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Section 309.

(i) In calculating allowable Gross Floor Area on a preservation lot from which any TDRs have been transferred pursuant to Section 128, the amount allowed herein shall be decreased by the amount of gross floor area transferred.

(j) For buildings in C-3-G and C-3-S Districts that are not designated as Significant or Contributory pursuant to Article 11 of this Code, additional square footage above that permitted by the base floor area ratio limits set forth above may be approved for construction of a project, or portion thereof, that constitutes a Student Housing project, as defined in Section 102 of this Code. Such approval shall be subject to the conditional use procedures and criteria in Section 303 of this Code.

utory pursuant to Article 11 of this Code, additional square footage above that permitted by the base floor area ratio limits set forth above may be approved for construction of a project, or portion thereof, that constitutes a Student Housing project, as defined in Section 102 of this Code. Such approval shall be subject to the conditional use procedures and criteria in Section 303 of this Code.

(k) In the Cesar Chavez/Valencia Streets Medical Use Special Use District, as described in Section 249.68 of this Code, the basic floor area ratio limit shall be 2.6 to 1, subject to Conditional Use Authorization of a Hospital.

(l) For PDR-1-B, PDR-1-D, PDR-1-G and PDR-2 Districts see Table 210.3.

(m) Floor Area Ratio limits shall not apply to any new Gross Floor Area created in a C-3 District through a change of use on the ground floor of space that was devoted to uses previously excluded from Gross Floor Area per Section 102. (Amended by Ord. 414-85, App. 9/17/85; Ord. 69-87, App. 3/13/87; Ord. 131-87, App. 4/24/87; Ord. 445-87, App. 11/12/87; Ord. 537-88, App. 12/16/88; Ord. 115-90, App. 4/6/90; Ord. 15-98, App. 1/16/98; Ord. 262-00, File No. 001426, App. 11/17/2000; Ord. 275-03, File no. 021577, App. 12/10/2003; Ord. 87-07, File No. 061688, App. 4/27/2007; Ord. 7208, File No. 071157, App. 4/3/2008; Ord. 298-08, File No. 081153, App. 12/19/2008; Ord. 61-09, File No. 090181, App. 4/17/2009; Ord. 63-11, File No. 101053, App. 4/7/2011, Eff. 5/7/2011; Ord. 35-12 , File No. 111305, App. 2/21/2012, Eff. 3/22/2012; Ord. 188-12 , File No. 111374, App. 9/11/2012, Eff. 10/11/2012; Ord. 42-13 , File No. 130002, App. 3/28/2013, Eff. 4/27/2013; Ord. 131-13 , File No. 120357, App. 7/11/2013, Eff. 8/10/2013, Oper. 9/9/2013; Ord. 132-13 , File No. 120358, App. 7/11/2013, Eff. 8/10/2013, Oper. 9/9/2013; Ord. 22-15, File No. 141253, App. 2/20/2015, Eff. 3/22/2015; Ord. 164-15 , File No. 150348, App. 9/23/2015, Eff. 10/23/2015, Retro. 5/20/2015; Ord. 188-15 , File No. 150871, App. 11/4/2015, Eff. 12/4/2015; Ord. 26-18, File No. 171193, App. 2/23/2018, Eff. 3/26/2018; Ord. 296-18, File No. 180184, App. 12/12/2018, Eff. 1/12/2019; Ord. 70-23, File No. 220340, App. 5/3/2023, Eff. 6/3/2023; Ord. 33-24, File No. 231144, App. 2/21/2024, Eff. 3/23/2024; Ord. 124-25, File No. 250542, App. 8/1/2025, Eff. 9/1/2025; Ord. 24525, File No. 250701, App. 12/12/2025, Eff. 1/12/2026, Oper. 1/12/2026)

AMENDMENT HISTORY

Divisions (b), (d), (f), (f)(1), and (f)(3) amended; Ord. 63-11, Eff. 5/7/2011. [Former] Table 124 amended; Ord. 35-12 , Eff. 3/22/2012. Division (k) added; Ord. 188-12 , Eff. 10/11/2012. [Former] Table 124 amended; Ord. 42-13 , Eff. 4/27/2013. Division (d) amended; Ord. 131-13 , Oper. 9/9/2013. Division (a) amended; division (l) added; Ord. 132-13 , Oper. 9/9/2013. Division (a) amended and former Table 124 deleted; divisions (f), (g), (h), (j), (k), and (l) amended; Ord. 22-15, Eff. 3/22/2015. Divisions (f)-(f)(3) amended; new divisions (f)(4) and (5) added; Ord. 164-15 , Eff. 10/23/2015. Division (a) amended; new Table 124 added; Ord. 188-15 , Eff. 12/4/2015. Division (f)(1) amended; Ord. 26-18, Eff. 3/26/2018. Division (a), Table 124, and divisions (j)-(j)(1) amended; Ord. 296-18, Eff. 1/12/2019. Division (i) amended; divisions (j)-(j)(2) deleted; divisions (k) and (l) redesignated as (j) and (k); Ord. 70-23, Eff. 6/3/2023. Table 124 amended; division (l) added; Ord. 33-24, Eff. 3/23/2024. Division (a) amended; division (m) added; Ord. 124-25, Eff. 9/1/2025. Table 124 and division (b) amended; Ord. 245-25, Eff. 1/12/2026.

CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. 124-25.

Editor's Note:

Ordinance 155-15 (File No. 150348, App. 8/6/2015, Eff. 9/5/2015) purported to amend this section. At the direction of the Office of the City Attorney, Ord. 155-15 was never codified (and accordingly is not referenced in the history notes above). Its provisions effectively were superseded by Ord. 164-15 (File No. 150348, App. 9/23/2015, Eff. 10/23/2015, Retro. 5/20/2015).