San Francisco — Conditional Use

Conditions of Approval

The Planning Commission—or the Board of Supervisors on appeal—may impose conditions beyond the Code’s baseline requirements when it considers them necessary to secure the Code’s objectives (§ 303(d)). Conditions may address matters such as operating practices, physical improvements, or a deadline for exercising the authorization, provided they serve that statutory purpose.

Once any portion of the authorization is used, all conditions pertaining to it become immediately operative. Violating a condition is a Planning Code violation and may support revocation of the CUA (§ 303(d)).

If the Commission does not set a specific exercise deadline, the authorization must still be exercised within a reasonable time (§ 303(d)). The Code excerpt does not define that phrase numerically, so the approval resolution and project record should be checked.

For development of “dwellings” governed by Administrative Code Chapter 87, the Commission may not base its decision on information that may discriminate against a member of a protected class (§ 303(d)).

Modification, Enforcement, and Discontinuance

Changing an Existing Approval

Changing a previously imposed CUA condition generally requires the same procedures as a new Conditional Use. The same rule applies to a proposed modification or waiver of qualifying conditions contained in earlier stipulations and covenants preserved by § 174 (§ 303(e)).

An applicant should not assume that a revised operating plan, expanded use, changed hours, or physical redesign can be approved administratively. Whether a revision changes a condition or remains within the existing authorization is parcel- and approval-specific; verify with the jurisdiction.

Abatement and Revocation

The Planning Commission may consider revocation, modification, or additional conditions when substantial evidence shows that:

• The applicant submitted materially false or misleading information that could reasonably have substantially affected the decision.
• The use violates a condition of approval.
• The use violates a law within the Commission’s subject-matter jurisdiction.
• The operation creates hazardous, noxious, or offensive conditions identified in § 202(c) and those conditions have not been abated administratively.

Abatement consideration requires a public hearing, and no fee is charged to the applicant or operator for that proceeding (§ 303(f)). Evidence of materially false application information must be received within one year after the authorization’s effective date, while evidence of condition violations, qualifying legal violations, or hazardous, noxious, or offensive operation may be received while the authorization remains effective (§ 303(f)(1)).

Separately, no use is permitted in an R, C, PDR-1, or M-1 district if its nature or operation creates hazardous, noxious, or offensive conditions through odor, fumes, smoke, cinders, dust, gas, vibration, glare, refuse, water-carried waste, or excessive noise (§ 202(c)).

Discontinued Conditional Uses

A permitted conditional use discontinued for three years, or otherwise abandoned, may not be restored without a new conditional-use application. The discontinuance period is instead 18 months in the Castro Street Neighborhood Commercial District and Jackson Square Special Use District (§ 178(d)).

A discontinued conditional Formula Retail use is also subject to an 18-month period under § 178(d). Because the supplied text ends before the complete restoration clause for that category, the full consequence is not found in source materials.

District-by-District Application

The following districts illustrate how § 303 operates when another Code provision supplies a “C” designation or an express CUA requirement. They are the districts for which decision-relevant controls appear in the source materials; a complete citywide matrix is not found in source materials.

M-1 — Light Industrial

The M-1 Light Industrial District is intended for smaller industries that depend on truck transportation. Most industrial uses are permitted, but particularly noxious activities are excluded, and permitted industries may face enclosure, screening, and separation requirements relative to residential districts (§ 210.4).

Representative principally permitted uses include light manufacturing, Automobile Assembly, Agricultural and Beverage Processing 1, Metal Workshop, many retail and non-retail sales and services, and general utility and infrastructure uses. Representative conditional uses include drive-up facilities, private or public parking garages, public parking lots, parcel-delivery service, auto wrecking, Manufacturing 2 Heavy, truck terminals, child care facilities, hospitals, hotels, massage establishments, and motels (§ 210.4).

Key standards include:

• Nonresidential FAR: 5:1.
• Residential rear yard: 25% of total lot depth, but never less than 15 ft.
• Residential usable open space: at least 36 sq ft per dwelling unit if private or 48 sq ft per dwelling unit if public.
• Ground-floor clear ceiling height: 15 ft.
• Height and bulk: varies by the applicable Height and Bulk District Map.

All are established in § 210.4. The mapped locations of individual M-1 parcels are not found in source materials.

M-2 — Heavy Industrial

The M-2 Heavy Industrial District is San Francisco’s least-restricted industrial district. It is located along the City’s eastern edge, separated from residential and commercial areas, and most M-2 land is controlled by the Port of San Francisco (§ 210.4).

Typical principally permitted uses include Agricultural and Beverage Processing 2, grain elevators, junkyards, Manufacturing 2 Heavy, Manufacturing 3 Heavy, shipyards, and many lighter industrial activities. Conditional uses include hazardous-waste facilities, Livestock Processing 2, volatile-material storage, truck terminals, public and private parking facilities, parcel-delivery service, hotels, massage establishments, and motels (§ 210.4).

The principal dimensional standards supplied for M-2 mirror those listed for M-1:

• Nonresidential FAR: 5:1.
• Residential rear yard: 25% of lot depth, with a 15 ft minimum.
• Residential usable open space: 36 sq ft per unit if private or 48 sq ft per unit if public.
• Ground-floor clear ceiling height: 15 ft.
• Height and bulk limits: parcel-specific and map-controlled.

These standards are in § 210.4. The fact that a heavier use is principally permitted in M-2 does not remove § 202(c) controls against hazardous, noxious, or offensive operation where that subsection applies.

P — Public Districts

For a P District, § 211.2 makes specified uses conditional unless they are otherwise permitted under § 211.1. Conditional uses include Social Service and Philanthropic Facilities, Schools, Post-Secondary Educational Institutions, Religious Institutions, Community Facilities, Open Recreation Areas, Passive Outdoor Recreation, specified Neighborhood Agriculture, and commercial Wireless Telecommunications Services Facilities (§ 211.2(a)).

On P-zoned highway rights-of-way, conditional uses can include certain parking lots or garages adjacent to an Eastern Neighborhoods Mixed Use District or within the Market and Octavia Plan Area. Certain ground-floor retail and personal-service uses may also qualify if they serve commuters or nearby workers and residents, occupy a publicly accessible parking garage, do not exceed 2,500 sq ft per establishment, front a major thoroughfare, and provide adequate fenestration and lighting (§ 211.2(b)).

On City-owned P property, a use not otherwise principally permitted may generally seek a CUA, but this route excludes residential uses, uses first permitted in M-2, and Formula Retail within ¼ mile of a district prohibiting Formula Retail (§ 211.2(c)).

The source materials do not establish the general purpose, mapped extent, height, FAR, yards, or other dimensional standards for P Districts. Not found in source materials; verify with the jurisdiction.

Fifth and Mission Special Use District

The Fifth and Mission Special Use District covers the boundaries shown on Zoning Map SU01. It implements the Fifth and Mission Project Development Agreement, coordinates reuse of underutilized downtown sites including the Chronicle, Camelline, and Dempster Buildings, and supports integrated residential, commercial, cultural, open-space, transit, affordable-housing, employment, and streetscape benefits (§ 249.74(a)–(b)).

The underlying district identified by the SUD is C-3-S. In addition to uses allowed there, qualifying ground-floor retail, office, education, and cultural uses may be permitted if they satisfy transparency and frontage requirements. At least 25% of applicable ground-floor linear frontage must contain active commercial uses within the first 25 ft of building depth, subject to stated street and historic-building exceptions (§ 249.74(d)(1)).

Conditional-use triggers include:

• Uses cross-referenced in § 249.40A(c)(1)(A), except restaurants; the complete cross-referenced list is not found in source materials.
• Formula Retail, subject to § 303.1.
• Development applications within the SUD, which are reviewed under § 303 instead of § 309, subject to stated exclusions for certain alterations and internal work (§ 249.74(d)(2), (e)).

Decision-relevant standards include:

• District-wide maximum 11:1 FAR.
• No more than two buildings above 220 ft on parcels zoned 365-X or 450-S.
• At least 25 ft of height difference between those buildings.
• Base heights of 103 ft for parcels M2 and N1, each with a 10% allowable deviation.
• Base height of 145 ft for parcel H1, with 0% deviation.
• Above 145 ft, average tower separation of at least 75 ft, with specified minimum point-to-point or point-to-face distances.
• At least 100 ft separation above 145 ft between applicable Fifth Street frontages.
• No ordinary rear-yard requirement under § 134, but dwelling units must face a right-of-way at least 20 ft wide or a qualifying open area at least 25 ft in every horizontal dimension.

These controls come from § 249.74(d)(4). The incorporated Design for Development supplies additional San Francisco Design Standards, and the SUD controls if it conflicts with another Planning Code provision or that design document (§ 249.74(c)–(d)).

After the Commission grants the CUA, later site and building permits undergo Planning Department consistency review. The Director may not approve an application that lacks substantial conformance or that reduces required open space or bicycle parking, increases maximum floor plates, or reduces minimum tower separation (§ 249.74(e)(1)–(4)).

India Basin Special Use District

The India Basin Special Use District lies generally along Innes Avenue between Griffith and Earl Streets on the southeast San Francisco shoreline, with exact boundaries on Zoning Map SU09. It implements the India Basin Mixed-Use Project Development Agreement and is intended to produce housing, commercial space, public shoreline access, open space, infrastructure, affordable housing, and employment (§ 249.84(a)).

The SUD contains Mixed Use, Residential Mixed-Use, Multi-Family Residential, Public Market/Town Triangle, and Privately-Owned Open Space land-use areas. Residential uses are permitted in the first three; the accompanying use table allows differing combinations of agriculture, entertainment, institutional, retail, non-retail, and industrial uses (§ 249.84(g)(1)).

Specific CUA triggers include:

• A Cannabis Dispensary in the Mixed Use area.
• A qualifying Wireless Telecommunications Services Facility within the SUD.
• New development, other than replacement of development built under the Development Agreement, after expiration or termination of that agreement for the affected property (§ 249.84(e), (g)(1)).

Key district-wide standards include:

• No residential density limit.
• No FAR limit.
• No building dimension greater than 270 ft along a public right-of-way or public open space.
• No building dimension above 80 ft greater than 130 ft.
• No rear-yard requirement.
• Residential open space of at least 36 sq ft per unit if private or 48 sq ft per unit if common, subject to the Cove exemption.
• Required dwelling-unit windows and openings facing an open area with at least 25 ft of horizontal clearance.
• Maximum residential off-street parking of 1 space per unit, with other use-specific ratios and an overall SUD cap of 1,800 spaces.

These standards are established by § 249.84(h). Building heights are controlled by Zoning Map HT09, the SUD figures, and the India Basin Design Standards and Guidelines rather than by a single district-wide height number (§ 249.84(h)(3)–(6)).

Neighborhood Notice, Hearing, and Appeal Limits

Section 303(a) incorporates the procedures in § 306 through § 306.6, and § 306.3 is identified as the Code’s notice-of-hearings provision. However, the general CUA mailing radius, posting method, notice period, hearing scheduling rules, and neighborhood-notification contents are not found in source materials.

The source materials also identify § 308.1 as governing appeals of Planning Code amendments and conditional uses, while § 303(d) expressly contemplates conditions imposed by the Board of Supervisors on appeal. The appeal deadline, filing requirements, voting threshold, and standard of review are not found in source materials.

Applicants should verify current notice and appeal requirements rather than borrowing the 300 ft notice rule from the separate Eastern Neighborhoods legitimization program in § 179.1. That distance is tied to that program and is not established here as the general CUA radius.

Special Procedural Interactions

A qualifying HOME-SF project is generally exempt from other Planning Commission discretionary approvals, including a CUA, unless the requirement was adopted by San Francisco voters. If the project would otherwise require a CUA because of its use type or size, the Commission must still make the findings or apply the criteria attached to that conditional-use requirement (§ 328(g)).

In Mission Bay Use Districts, the zoning tables use “C” to mean permitted as a conditional use (§ 905(c)). Rules in § 178 concerning continuation and modification of conditional uses apply in Mission Bay through § 984.

A CUA regulates land use under the Planning Code; it does not itself establish compliance with the California Building Standards Code or replace building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, housing, or fire approvals. The distinction is explicit for India Basin building standards (§ 249.84(f)), and separate construction review should be confirmed through San Francisco Permits & Inspections.

Information Gaps

The following details cannot be confirmed from the source materials:

• The complete current text of § 303(f) after the supplied abatement-hearing provision.
• General CUA neighborhood-notice radius, posting rules, mailing recipients, and minimum notice period under § 306 through § 306.6.
• Application fees, deposit requirements, hearing timelines, and required application forms.
• Full appeal procedures under § 308.1.
• The complete use-specific criteria contained in § 303(g) et seq.
• A citywide district-by-district list of every use marked “C” in Articles 2, 7, 8, and 9.
• Purpose and dimensional controls for P Districts.
• Mapped locations of individual M-1 parcels.
• The complete cross-referenced list of additional conditional uses in the Fifth and Mission Special Use District.

For each item, verify with the jurisdiction before filing or relying on a project conclusion.

Checklist

• Confirm the parcel’s base use district, height and bulk district, and every applicable Special Use District.
• Identify the exact zoning-table entry or Code provision marking the proposed use, size, or feature “C” (§ 202.1(d)).
• Confirm the use is not NP or blank; a CUA cannot authorize a use that the applicable controls prohibit (§ 202.1(d)).
• Obtain authorization from the property owner if the applicant is acting as the owner’s agent (§ 303(b)).
• Describe the proposed location, floor area, intensity, hours, occupancy, deliveries, and operating characteristics.
• Support the finding that the project is necessary or desirable and compatible with the neighborhood or community (§ 303(c)(1)).
• If the project exceeds a nonresidential use-size limit, address all three larger-use considerations (§ 303(c)(1)(A)–(C)).
• Analyze site configuration, access, traffic, loading, parking alternatives, emissions, lighting, signs, screening, landscaping, and service areas (§ 303(c)(2)).
• Demonstrate compliance with the Planning Code and lack of adverse effect on the General Plan (§ 303(c)(3)).
• Explain how the project conforms to the applicable district’s stated purpose (§ 303(c)(4)).
• Address every applicable use-specific criterion under § 303(g) et seq. (§ 303(c)(5)).
• Verify current notice, posting, hearing, filing, and appeal requirements under § 306 through § 306.6 and § 308.1.
• Review proposed conditions carefully; once any portion of the authorization is used, applicable conditions become operative (§ 303(d)).
• Confirm whether any later project revision would change an imposed condition and require a new CUA procedure (§ 303(e)).
• Obtain all separate construction and operational approvals required outside the Planning Code.

Risks & Ambiguities

Plain-English Summary

If your San Francisco zoning table marks a proposal “C,” you need discretionary approval from the Planning Commission, not merely a routine permit. You must show that the use fits its location, will not create harmful traffic, noise, odor, design, or servicing effects, complies with the Planning Code and General Plan, and matches the district’s purpose; the Commission may add enforceable conditions (§ 303(c)–(d)).

Source References

• San Francisco Planning Code § 303 — Conditional Uses; initiation, findings, conditions, modification, and abatement.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 202 — Permitted-use categories and prohibition on hazardous, noxious, or offensive uses.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 202.1 — Zoning control tables and the meanings of P, C, DR, and NP.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 210.4 — M-1 and M-2 purposes, uses, and development standards.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 211.2 — Conditional uses in P Districts.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 249.74 — Fifth and Mission Special Use District controls and CUA review.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 249.84 — India Basin Special Use District controls and CUA triggers.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 178 — Discontinuance and abandonment of conditional uses.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 204.5 — Accessory parking and loading classification.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 328 — HOME-SF interaction with conditional-use requirements.
• San Francisco Planning Code § 905 and § 984 — Mission Bay conditional-use symbols and continuation rules.
• San Francisco Planning Code, Article 3 — Zoning Procedures — Index of CUA hearing, notice, and appeal provisions.