As San Francisco moves towards meeting the goals of the Housing Element, the city is re-assessing its zoning plan to ensure that it can meet the state’s requirements. 

Zoning maps proposed in 2023 focused on high-density corridors along major arteries such as Geary, Van Ness, and Market. Our neighborhood’s excellent Muni connections made Duboce Triangle stand out as an area of particular focus with rezoning to 6-to-8-story buildings, leading us to work closely with SF Planning to ensure that the neighborhood’s voice was heard in the development of updated zoning maps. 

In April, Mayor Breed requested that the Planning Department rezone much of the city to allow for 6-to-8-story buildings, as those are more likely to be constructed in the current economic environment than the skyscrapers emphasized by the earlier plans.  We are currently waiting for a new set of zoning maps which reflect this new directive.  Once new maps are published, we will work to engage neighbors and provide feedback to SF Planning to chart an equitable path to increased density throughout the city.

While waiting for the next stage of the rezoning process, the Land Use Committee has turned its attention to other ways of improving the neighborhood’s vibrancy.  To fight blight from empty storefronts, we are launching an initiative to report to the SF Treasurer any storefronts which are not paying the Commercial Vacancy Tax, while we also work with the Castro Merchants and Castro CBD to fill vacancies through their “I’m Available!” program.

We are also looking for more ways to activate the neighborhood’s public spaces- particularly underutilized bulbout plazas, empty storefronts, and the Noe & Market Commons. We want to hear from you what we can do to help community-building initiatives and new small businesses take advantage of these resources!