1,100-Unit Balboa Reservoir Development Project Clears Two Supervisor Committees

The 1,100-unit Balboa Reservoir development project plan passed two legislative hurdles this week.

Alex Mullaney Jul 31, 2020

Drawing of Balboa Reservoir housing development — An artist’s rendering of the proposed Balboa Reservoir development project. Image courtesy of Reservoir Community Partners

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Two committees of the city’s legislative body ushered the 1,100-unit Balboa Reservoir development project toward a final approval vote.

On Monday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee moved forward without recommendation changing the general plan, planning code and zoning map to accommodate the proposed 8-year construction project.

On Wednesday, the Budget and Finance Committee moved forward approval of the project’s development agreement and sale of the property, which is under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, for $11.4 million.

Board President Supervisor Norman Yee submitted three pages of amendments to be considered for the development agreement, including a $1 monthly rent for a childcare center and a use-it-or-lose-it clause for building the housing.

Last week, Public Lands for Public Good, a group of City College of San Francisco stakeholders, announced that its appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of the project’s environmental impact report will go before the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 11. (The agenda will be posted here when ready.)

City College of San Francisco is working to establish a MOU, or memorandum of understanding, and easement agreement for public roads built on its property.

At the July 30 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Trustee Tom Temprano described the college as “asleep at the wheel” in regard to negotiating an MOU in a timely manner, suggesting it should have been completed in 2018. The trustees gave direction to a committee of college staff who will negotiate on behalf of the institution. A follow up meeting was organized.

Trustee Shanell Williams said she asked Yee to delay the Aug. 11 meeting to approve the development agreement but was denied. The trustees vowed to ask again as a group.

The Balboa Reservoir Community Advisory Committee, which Yee in April extended to sunset in July 2021, will meet on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. (The agenda will be posted here when ready.)