CityPlace Wins at Board of Supes

CityPlace, a 250,000 square foot value-based retail project on Market Street between Fifth and Sixth streets, passed a major hurdle today when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors upheld the projects environmental impact report.

The vote was unanimous, with both moderate and progressives voting to uphold the project’s environmental report.

The Planning Commission had approved the certification of the project environmental study July 8th by a vote of 5-2, with a 6-1 approval on one of the related motions. But not everyone was happy. Nonprofits Livable City and Walk San Francisco appealed the EIR certification on the grounds that the project has too much parking. The development proposes 167 parking spaces.

The developer, Urban Realty, argued that the type of retail it is proposing -- cost-sensitive value-based retailers -- specialize in the sort of bulky household items most San Franciscans currently drive to the suburbs to buy. And the amount of parking it is proposing, less than one spot per 1,000 square feet of retail space, is 20 to 25 percent of what most suburban retail malls offer.

In a last-minute compromise, the developer agreed to implement a parking surcharge that would help pay for $1.8 million in bike and pedestrian safety improvements.