Dear Pat:

I would like to thank you for the hard work both you and your staff have put into Amendment D to address the neighborhoods' concerns. The IDO proposed almost doubling commercial building heights in Nob Hill and Highland. Amendment D represents a vast improvement over these proposed changes, but the Neighborhood Edges provision in the IDO, which replaces the "step-back" requirement in our current sector plan could still be improved. 

Commercial building heights in Amendment D are much closer to what is in our current sector plan, but they are still being increased from 39 to 42 ft. in lower Nob Hill (Girard to Aliso), 54 to 57 ft. in upper Nob Hill (Aliso to Graceland), 26 to 30 ft. in MX-T zones in Nob Hill and Highland (Girard to San Mateo) and 67 to 89 ft. in Nob Hill and Highland (Graceland to San Mateo). This means that zoning is becoming less restrictive in Nob Hill and Highland yet again. 

In addition, the Neighborhood Edges provision in the IDO falls far short of the gradual transitions provided for by the "step-back" requirements in the 2014 Nob Hill-Highland Sector Development Plan. The "step-back" requirement (page 89) allows a maximum building height of 26 ft. at the property line in commercial zones (CCR-1, CCR-2, CCR-3, SU-1) located adjacent to residential zones, regardless of zoning (SFHD, MFHD, R-1, R-2, R-3, C-1, C-2, O-1, OR-1, OR-2, P-R, SU-1, SU-2). Commercial buildings are then required to step-back 15 ft. for every 1-story increase in building height. The purpose of this provision is to facilitate a gradual transition between residential and commercial zones, which is imperative for maintaining the human scale and walkability of our neighborhood.

The Neighborhood Edges provision does not afford these same protections. This is because current zones such as R-3, C-1, O-1, OR-1, OR-2, P-R, SU-1, SU-2 located adjacent to residential zones north of Copper and south of Silver have been mapped to R-ML, R-MH, MX-T and MX-L zones in the IDO. However, the Neighborhood Edges provision in the IDO only applies to R-A, R-1, R-T and R-MC, which means those properties zoned R-ML, R-MH, MX-T and MX-L are no longer protected under the Neighborhood Edges provision in the IDO (see https://www.abc-zone.com/ido-zoning-conversion-map).

I request that you please keep the standard maximum building heights in Highland of 45 ft. with the allowance of two 1-story bonuses because this is most consistent with the current 67 ft. maximum. I also request that you extend the Neighborhood Edges provision to include R-ML, R-MH, MX-T and MX-L along Copper between Carlisle and San Mateo and along Silver between Girard and Montclaire.

Thank you,

Veronica Salinas