§ 145.4. REQUIRED GROUND FLOOR COMMERCIAL USES.


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  • (a) Purpose. To support active, pedestrian-oriented commercial uses on important commercial streets.
    (b) Applicability. The requirements of this Section 145.4 apply to the following street frontages.
    (1) Folsom Street for the entirety of the Rincon Hill DTR and Folsom and Main Residential/Commercial Special Use Districts, pursuant to Sections 827 and 249.1;
    (2) The entirety of the C-3-R District, along any block frontage that is entirely within such district or partly in such district and partly in the C-3-O District, where such block frontage faces a street 40 feet or more in width;
    (3) Van Ness Avenue, in the Van Ness & Market Residential Special Use District, from Fell Street to Market Street;
    (4) South Van Ness Avenue, for the entirety of the Van Ness & Market Residential Special Use District;
    (5) Market Street, for the entirety of the Upper Market NCT, NCT-3, and all C-3 Districts;
    (6) Third Street, in the UMU districts for parcel frontages wholly contained within 100 linear feet north or south of Mariposa Street or 100 linear feet north or south of 20th Street;
    (7) Fourth Street, between Folsom and Townsend Streets in the Central SoMa Special Use District;
    (8) Hayes Street, for the entirety of the Hayes-Gough NCT;
    (9) Octavia Boulevard, between Fell Street and Hayes Street, in the Hayes-Gough NCT;
    (10) On building frontages facing Destination Alleyways, as defined in the Downtown Streetscape Plan, in all C-3 Districts;
    (11) Church Street, for the entirety of the NCT-3 and Upper Market NCT Districts;
    (12) 22nd Street, between Third Street and Minnesota Streets within the NCT-2 District;
    (13) Valencia Street, between 15th and 23rd Streets in the Valencia Street NCT District;
    (14) Mission Street, for the entirety of the Mission Street NCT District and Van Ness & Market Residential Special Use District;
    (15) 24th Street, for the entirety of the 24th Street-Mission NCT;
    (16) 16th Street, between Guerrero and Capp Streets;
    (17) 22nd Street, between Valencia and Mission Streets;
    (18) 6th Street for its entirety within the C-3 and SoMa NCT Districts;
    (19) Ocean Avenue, for the entirety of the Ocean Avenue NCT District, except on the north side of Ocean Avenue between Plymouth and Brighton Avenues;
    (20) Geneva Avenue, between I-280 and Delano Avenue within the NCT-1 and NCT-2 Districts;
    (21) Fillmore Street, in the Fillmore Street NCD from Bush Street to McAllister Street;
    (22) Diamond Street, for the entirety of the Glen Park NCT District;
    (23) Chenery Street, for the entirety of the Glen Park NCT District;
    (24) Buchanan Street, between Post Street and Sutter Street;
    (25) Post Street, between Fillmore Street and Laguna Street on the south side and between Webster Street and Laguna Street on the north side;
    (26) Divisadero Street for the entirety of the Divisadero Street NCT District;
    (27) The entirety of the North Beach Neighborhood Commercial District and North Beach Special Use District;
    (28) Any street frontage that is in the Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District;
    (29) Pacific Avenue, between Van Ness Avenue and Jones Street, on lots where the last known ground floor use was a commercial or retail use;
    (30) Folsom Street, between 4th and 6th Streets in the Central SoMa Special Use District;
    (31) Second Street, on the west side, between Dow Place and Townsend Street in the Central SoMa Special Use District;
    (32) Third Street, between Folsom Street and Townsend Street in the Central SoMa Special Use District and C-3-O District;
    (33) Brannan Street, between Third Street and Fourth Street, in the Central SoMa Special Use District;
    (34) Townsend Street, on the north side, between Second Street and Fourth Street; and
    (35) Otis Street, for the entirety of the Van Ness and Market Residential Special Use District.
    (c) Definitions.
    "Active commercial uses" shall include those uses specifically identified below in Table 145.4, and:
    (1) Shall not include Automotive Uses except for Automobile Sale or Rental uses where curb-cuts, garage doors, or loading access are not utilized or proposed, and such sales or rental activity is entirely within an enclosed building and does not encroach on surrounding sidewalks or open spaces;
    (2) Shall include Public Facilities as defined in Section 102 and Public Uses as defined in Section 890.80, except for Utility Installations;
    (3) Shall not include Residential Care Facilities as defined in Sections 102 and 890.50;
    (4) Shall include one or more Designated Child Care Units as defined in Section 102, provided that each such unit meets all applicable criteria set forth in Section 414A.6 of this Code;
    (5) In the Ocean Avenue NCT, shall include Arts Activities, Nighttime Entertainment, and Institutional Community Uses, as those uses are defined in Section 102; and
    (6) On Mission and Otis Street within the Van Ness & Market Residential Special Use District, shall include Light Manufacturing, as that use is defined in Section 102.

    Table 145.4
    Reference for Commercial, Neighborhood Commercial, and Residential- Commercial Districts
    Reference for Mixed Use Districts
    Use
    N/A
    Amusement Game Arcade
    Animal Hospital
    Automobile Sale or Rental (see qualification, above)
    Bar
    N/A
    Business Goods and Equipment Sales and Repair Service
    Cannabis Retail
    N/A
    Chair and Foot Massage
    N/A
    Child Care Facility
    N/A
    Community Facility
    N/A
    Designated Child Care Unit that meets the applicable criteria of Planning Code Section 414A.6
    Eating and Drinking Use
    N/A
    Entertainment, General
    N/A
    Entertainment, Other
    N/A
    Grocery, General
    N/A
    Grocery, Specialty
    Gift Store-Tourist Oriented
    N/A
    Gym
    N/A
    Institutions, Other (see qualification, above)
    Jewelry Store
    Medical Cannabis Dispensary
    Neighborhood-Serving Business
    Non-Auto Vehicle Sales or Rental (see qualification, above)
    N/A
    Pharmacy
    N/A
    Post-Secondary Educational Institution
    N/A
    Public Facility
    N/A
    Public Use (see qualification, above)
    N/A
    Religious Institution
    Restaurant
    Restaurant, Limited
    N/A
    Sales and Services, General Retail
    N/A
    Sales and Services, Other Retail
    N/A
    Sales and Services, Retail
    N/A
    School
    Service, Financial
    N/A
    Service, Health
    N/A
    Services, Instructional
    Service, Limited Financial
    N/A
    Service, Medical
    Service, Personal
    N/A
    Service, Retail Professional
    N/A
    Social Service or Philanthropic Facility
    Tobacco Paraphernalia Establishment
    Trade Shop
    Walk-Up Facility
    (d) Controls.
    (1) Active commercial uses which are permitted by the specific district in which they are located are required on the ground floor of all street frontages listed in Subsection (b) above.
    (2) Active commercial uses shall comply with the standards applicable to active uses as set forth in Section 145.1(c)(3) and shall further be consistent with any applicable design guidelines.
    (3) On those street frontages listed in Subsection (b), an individual ground floor nonresidential use may not occupy more than 75 contiguous linear feet for the first 25 feet of depth along a street-facing facade. Separate individual storefronts shall wrap large ground floor uses for the first 25 feet of depth, as illustrated in Figure 145.4.
    (4) In the Central SoMa SUD, a project whose street frontage is subject to this Section 145.4 may locate a Privately-Owned Public Open Spaces (POPOS) along such street frontage, provided that the ground floor portion of the building facing the POPOS is lined with active commercial uses.
    Figure 145.4
    (e) Modifications. Modifications to the requirements of this Section are not permitted in DTR Districts. In Neighborhood Commercial and Commercial Districts, modifications to the requirements of this Section may be granted through the Conditional Use process, as set forth in Section 303. In the Eastern Neighborhoods Mixed Use Districts, modifications to the requirements of this Section may be granted through the procedures of Section 329 for projects subject to that Section or through an Administrative Modification from the Zoning Administrator for other projects, as set forth in Section 307(g).
    (Added by Ord. 217-05, File No. 050865, App. 8/19/2005; amended by Ord. 72-08, 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. , File No. 101464, App. 2/24/2011; Ord. , File No. 110010, App. 4/7/2011, Eff. 5/7/2011; Ord. , File No. 111305, App. 2/21/2012, Eff. 3/22/2012; Ord. , File No. 120084, App. 4/23/2012, Eff. 5/23/2012; Ord. , File No. 130062, App. 3/28/2013, Eff. 4/27/2013; Ord. , File No. 141253, App. 2/20/2015, Eff. 3/22/2015; Ord. , File No. 150871, App. 11/4/2015, Eff. 12/4/2015; Ord. , File No. 151126, App. 12/22/2015, Eff. 1/21/2016; Ord. , File No. 170203, App. 6/30/2017, Eff. 7/30/2017; Ord. , File No. 170418, App. 11/3/2017, Eff. 12/3/2017; Ord. , File No. 171041, App. 12/6/2017, Eff. 1/5/2018; Ord. , File No. 180557, App. 8/10/2018, Eff. 9/10/2018; Ord. , File No. 180184, App. 12/12/2018, Eff. 1/12/2019; Ord. , File No. 180917, App. 1/25/2019, Eff. 2/25/2019; Ord. , File No. 181211, App. 9/11/2019, Eff. 10/12/2019; Ord. , File No. 191285, App. 5/1/2020, Eff. 6/1/2020; Ord. , File No. 200559, App. 7/31/2020, Eff. 8/31/2020)
    AMENDMENT HISTORY
    Division (b)(21) added; Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 5/7/2011. Divisions (b)(22) and (23) added; Ord. , Eff. 3/22/2012. Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 5/23/2012. [Former] division (b)(24) added; Ord. , Eff. 4/27/2013. Divisions (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(5), (b)(10), (b)(18), (b)(20), and (b)(21) amended; former division (b)(24) deleted; division (c)(3) and Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 3/22/2015. Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 12/4/2015. Divisions (b)(24) and (25) added; Ord. , Eff. 1/21/2016. Divisions (b)(24) and (b)(25) amended; divisions (b)(26) and (b)(27) added; divisions (c)-(c)(3) and Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 7/30/2017. Divisions (b), (b)(25)–(27), and (c)(2) amended; divisions (b)(28) and (b)(29) added; Ord. , Eff. 12/3/2017. Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 1/5/2018. Table 145.4 and division (e) amended; Ord. , Eff. 9/10/2018. Division (b)(7) amended; divisions (b)(30)-(34) and (d)(4) added; Ord. , Eff. 1/12/2019. Division (c)(4) added; Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 2/25/2019. Table 145.4 amended; Ord. , Eff. 10/12/2019. Division (c)(5) added; Ord. , Eff. 6/1/2020. Divisions (b)(3), (4), (14), (33), and (34) amended; division (b)(35) added; divisions (c)(3)-(5) amended; division (c)(6) added; Ord. , Eff. 8/31/2020.