Upzoning comes to District 3. San Francisco’s Planning Department has been working on a plan to upzone the city’s west and north sides for almost two years. A majority of District 3 was not included, but now our new supervisor, Danny Sauter, has asked the planning department to include much of our neighborhoods on the upzoning map, including Fisherman’s Wharf, the northeast waterfront, and most of North Beach, and Telegraph Hill.
For generations, the height limit in our neighborhoods has been 40 feet. However, the new zoning increases heights along Bay, Beach, North Point, Jefferson, Francisco, Chestnut, Lombard, Leavenworth, Mason, Powell, Stockton, Grant, Kearny, Columbus Avenue, Taylor, with a base height limit as high as 85 feet. Those height limits can easily triple or go higher with the State’s imposed density bonuses, creating a new wall on the waterfront, cutting off North Beach from the water.
Also, the height limits are moving to 50 feet up through Columbus Avenue to Washington Square, and as far south as Green. In addition, density decontrol occurs throughout much of the rest of North Beach and Telegraph Hill. Again, none of these changes take into account State density bonuses.
Remember that these changes will cause evictions, land speculation, and the destruction of small businesses, and locations like the Verdi Building on Washington Square are just waiting for the right time to propose a massive project.
Given the extreme nature of this plan, Neighborhoods United SF, in conjunction with the North Beach Business Association, is holding an educational forum on upzoning and the impacts we can expect.
June 23, 2025, 6:00 PM
Club Fugazi, 678 Green Street, San Francisco
Upzoning Maps – February 2024 vs. June 2025
The first map is from February 2024. The second map is from June 2025. As can be seen, the maps are radically different. The February 2024 map shows part of Fisherman’s Wharf upzoned and nothing else in North Beach, Northeastern Russian Hill, Columbus Avenue, or Telegraph Hill. Astonishingly and inexplicably, all of Fisherman’s Wharf, North Beach, Columbus Avenue, to Green Street, Northeastern Russian Hill, and Telegraph Hill were added to the upzoning map by the planning department under Supervisor Danny Sauter‘s direction.
Upzoning Map – February 2024
Upzoning Map – June 2025
