Image credit of Flickr user J.G. in S.F.
The landmark Eastern Neighborhoods Plan (ENP) rezoning was formally adopted in January 2009 after more than a decade of public process that included hundreds of community meetings and public hearings. SFHAC participated in its development and strongly supports its vision. We believe it provides a useful framework for how development should be managed in San Francisco’s former industrial and now under-utilized areas. It lays out sensible goals for growth and contemplates building livable neighborhoods that will be integrated with effective transit and other public amenities.
The ENP includes five distinct neighborhoods that got rolled into a single large area plan. These are the Mission District, Eastern SoMa, Showplace Square/Potrero Hill and Central Waterfront (Dogpatch).
A central premise of the ENP was that, while should it provide ample room for new housing, it should also provide land for future light industrial uses, known as “production, distribution and repair” (PDR). The SFHAC agrees that making land available for new job growth is necessary to the City’s economy. But, we generally favor making land use controls as flexible as possible. It is important to not try to plan for the industrial uses of the past that are gone and unlikely to return.
It is important that as the ENP is put into action that we not backtrack on its basic premise – that planning for future growth is a good idea. We put over 10 years into creating the plan – let’s use it.