SANFRANCISCOPUBLICLIBRARY 3 1223 08514 2629 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT Drew School Addition 2901 California Street 1831-1835 / Broderick Street PLANNING DEPARTMENT CASE NO. 2007.0128E STATE CLEARINGHOUSE NO. 2008032039 DraftElRPublicationDate: OCTOBER8,2008 DraftEIRPublicHearingDate: NOVEMBER13,2008 DraftEIRPublicCommentPeriod: OCTOBER8,2008-NOVEMBER23,2008 SPALNAFNRANNCIINSCGO Written comments should be sent to: DEPARTMENT Environmental Review Officer 1650 Mission Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94103 | | D REF DOCUMENTS DEPT 711.4097 D79d OCT - 8 SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY 5/S San Francisco PublicLibrary Government information Center San Francisco Public Library 100 LarkfR Street, 5th Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 REFERENCE BOOK Not to be taken from the Library City and County of San Francisco Planning Department DREW SCHOOL ADDITION 2901 CALIFORNIA STREET/1831-1835 BRODERICK STREET DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT Planning Department Case No. 2007.01 28E State Clearinghouse No. 2008032039 October 2008 8, EIR Publication Date: October 8, 2008 EIR Public Hearing Date: November 13, 2008 EIR Public Comment Period: October 8, 2008 to November 22, 2008 Send written commentson thisdocumentto: Environmental ReviewOfficer San Francisco Planning Department 1650 Mission Street, Suite400 San Francisco, CA94103 3 1223 08514 2629 SAN FRANCISCO PLANNING DEPARTMENT DATE: October 2008 1650 Mission St 8, Suite400 TO: Distribution List for the 2901 California Street - Drew School Addition San Francisco, CA94103-2479 Draft EIR Reception: FROM: Bill Wycko, Acting Environmental Review Officer 415.558.6378 SUBJECT: Request for the Final Environmental Impact Report for the 2901 California Fax: 415.558.6409 Street - Drew School Addition Project (Planning Department File No. 2007.0128E) Planning Information: This is the Draft of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the 2901 California Street 415.558.6377 - Drew School Addition Project. A public hearing will be held on the adequacy and accuracy of this document. After the public hearing, our office will prepare and publish a document titled "Comments and Responses/' which will contain all relevant comments on this Draft EIR and our responses to those comments. It may also specify changes to this Draft EIR. Those who testify at the hearing on the Draft EIR will automatically receive a copy of the Comments and Responses document, along with notice of the date reserved for certification; others may receive a copy of the Comments and Responses and notice by request or by visiting our office. This Draft EIR together with the Comments and Responses document will be considered by the Planning Commission in an advertised public meeting and will be certified as a Final EIR if deemed adequate. After certification, we will modify the Draft EIR as specified by the Comments and Responses document and print both documents in a single publication called the Final EIR. The Final EIR will add no new information to the combination of the two documents except to reproduce the certification resolution. It will simply provide the information in one document, rather than two. Therefore, if you receive a copy of the Comments and Responses document in addition to this copy of the Draft EIR, you will technically have a copy of the Final EIR. We are aware that many people who receive the Draft EIR and Comments and Responses have no interest in receiving virtually the same information after the EIR has been certified. To avoid expending money and paper needlessly, we would like to send copies of the Final EIR [in Adobe Acrobat format on a CD] to private individuals only if they request them. Therefore, if you would like a copy of the Final EIR, please fill out and mail the postcard provided inside the back cover to the Major Environmental Analysis division of the Planning Department within two weeks after certification of the EIR. Any private party not requesting a Final EIR by that time will not be mailed a copy. Public agencies on the distribution list will automatically receive a copy of the Final EIR. Thank you for your interest in this project. www.sfplanning.org Digitized by the Internet Archive 2014 in https://archive.org/details/draftenvironment8200sanf Drew School Addition Draft Environmental Impact Report Table of Contents Page I. Summary 1 A. Introduction 1 B Project Description 1 . C. Main Environmental Effects 3 D. Mitigationand Improvement Measures 5 E. Significant Environmental Effects That Cannot be Avoided ifthe Project is Implemented 7 F. Other CEQA Issues 7 G. Alternatives to the Proposed Project 8 II. ProjectDescription '. 13 A. Project Location 13 B Project Characteristics 13 . C. Project Approval Requirements 26 D. Project Sponsor's Objectives 27 III. Environmental Setting and Impacts 29 A. Land Use 30 B. Aesthetics 36 C. Historical Architectural Resources 41 D. Transportation/Circulation 53 E. Growth Inducement 65 IV. Mitigation and Improvement Measures 67 V. Other CEQA Issues 77 A. Significant Unavoidable Effects 77 B. Areas ofControversy and Issues to be Resolved 78 VI. Alternatives to the Proposed Project 79 A. Alternative A: No Project 80 B. Alternative B: Preservation Alternative 84 C. Alternative C: Partial Preservation Alternative 86 D. Alternative D: Residential Guidelines Alternative 87 VII. EIRAuthors, ProjectSponsor's Team, and Persons Consulted 89 VIII. Appendices 91 A. Initial Study B. 1999 Conditions ofApproval C. Historic Resource Evaluation Response CaseNo. 2007.0128E DrewSchool Addition j TasleofContents List of Figures Page Figure 1 Proposed Project Location 14 Figure 2 Existing Site Plan 15 Figure 3 Proposed Drew School Expansion Site Plan 17 Figure 4 Proposed Drew School Expansion Site Photos 18 Figure 5 Proposed Drew School Expansion Courtyard Level Floor Plan 19 Figure 6 Proposed Drew School Expansion Second Floor Plan 20 Figure 7 Proposed Drew School Expansion Third Floor Plan 21 Figure 8 Proposed Drew School Expansion Green Roof Plan 22 Figure 9 Proposed Drew School Expansion Basement Floor Plan 23 Figure 10 Proposed Drew School Expansion Project Elevations 24 Figure 11 Proposed Drew School Expansion Project Sections 25 Figure 12 Existing Zoning Map 32 Figure 13 View of 1831-1835 Broderick Street 44 Figure 14 Existing Transit Networks and Stop Locations 55 Figure 15 Drew School Massing Diagrams 81 Figure 16 Drew School Massing Diagrams 82 Figure 17 Drew School Massing Diagrams 83 Case No. 2007.0128E ii DrewSchoolAddition SUMMARY I. A. INTRODUCTION This document is a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)1 for the Drew School Addition project (the "proposed project"). This EIR has been prepared by Planning Department as Lead Agency,2 pursuant to all relevant sections of the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). Under the San Francisco Administrative Code, Chapter 31, theSan Francisco Planning Department is responsible for CEQA review for all City and County ofSan Francisco projects and therefore serves as the Lead Agency. The EIR is intended to serve as a public disclosure document that informs the San Francisco Board of Supervisors ("Board of Supervisors"), Planning Commission, other Responsible Agencies,3 and the general public of the potential environmental consequences of the proposed project and to present mitigation measures and feasible alternatives to avoid, eliminate, or reduce the environmental effects of that project prior to consideration for approval. An application for an environmental evaluation for the Drew School Addition project was filed with the San Francisco Planning Department (Department) on January 18, 2007. On the basis of the Initial Study published on March 8, 2008, the Department determined that an EIR is required (see AppendixA: Initial Study). B. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The project sponsor, Drew School, proposes to demolish an existing 45-foot-tall, three-story-over- basement residential building at 1831-1835 Broderick Street (Assessor's Block 1029, Lot 3), and construct a three-story-over-basement, 40-foot-tall addition to the existing Drew School building at 2901 California 1 CaliforniaPublicResourcesCodeSection21000etseq. 2 CEQAGuidelines definethe"Lead Agency"as the publicagency that has the principal responsibility for carryingoutorapprovingaproject. The Planning Departmentwould be responsible forcarrying out the proposed project, includingmakingvarious specific future implementationdecisions. 3 UnderCEQAGuidelines, theterm "ResponsibleAgency" includes all publicagencies, otherthan the Lead Agency, whichhavediscretionary approval poweroveraspectsoftheproject for whichthe Lead Agency has preparedanEIR. Case No. 2007.0128E 1 DrewSchoolAddition SlMy*RY I Street (Assessor's Block 1029, Lot 95). The purpose of the project is to develop an approximately 15,600- square-foot addition to the existing Drew School building that would provide state-of-the-art space for an assembly room/theater, rehearsal space, and classrooms that is of a size sufficient to support Drew School's program in drama, music and the arts. The objectives of the project sponsor are listed on page 27. The proposed project site is in San Francisco's Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood on the west side of Broderick Street near California Street (see Figure 1, page 14). 1831-1835 Broderick Street contains a three- story residential building (acquired by the school in 2004) on a 2,269-square-foot (0.05 acre) lot on the southern end of the site. The 5,225-square-foot residential building at 1831-1835 Broderick Street was constructed in 1891 and is considered an historic resource. The 2901 California Street lot to the north contains the existing Drew School building, courtyard, and basement parking garage on a 15,732-square- foot (0.36 acre) parcel. The site slopes gently downward to the south and east. The site is within the Residential, Mixed, Low Density (RM-1) zoning district and the 40-X height and bulk district. The approximately 15,604-square-foot addition to the existing 26,470 gsf Drew School4 would be constructed on the Broderick lot and on part of the existing school courtyard. The addition would contain additional classrooms, assembly room/theater, rehearsal space, tech gallery, scenery loft, green room (staging/rehearsal room), restrooms, and circulation space. After completion of the proposed project, Drew School would contain a total of approximately 42,074 square feet. The existing 21-space basement/underground parking garage would not change. The main entrance to the school would continue to be on California Street, with secondary entrance on Broderick Street. The proposed addition would incorporate a green "living wall" facing Broderick Street, covered with vegetation to enhance the habitat value of the site. The project would include a roof design that utilizes vegetation and surfaces with high solar reflectance to reduce urban heat island effects. The project development team would apply for certification that the new facility meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System criteria for New Construction (LEED NC). The design would also incorporate several strategies which are part of the pilot version of LEED for Schools, a new standard being developed by the US Green Building Council. The existing enrollment of about 243 students and 52 full and part-time faculty would increase to a maximum of 280 students and add three staff persons (an increase of about 15 percent). The project would require a new Conditional Use authorization, a variance from the rear yard requirement, and mandatory discretionary review for demolition ofa residential building. 4 TheConditional UseAuthorization motion indicates that theexistingschool is22,500squarefeet, and doesnot include basement parking orbuilding services. Case No. 2007.0128E 2 DrewSchoolAddition