oux: SAN FRANCISCO Letter of Determination (CORRECTED) 1650 Mission St. Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94103-2479 Reception: July 17, 2014 415.558.6378 Mr. Sergio Mendoza Haiyi Hotels 121 7th Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Fax: 415.558.6409 Planning Information: 415.558.6377 Site Address: 940 Sutter Street - dba Hotel Vertigo Assessor s Block/Lot: 0280/009 Zoning District: Residential - Commercial, High Density (RC-4)/80-A Staff Contact: Kanishka Burns, (415) 575-9112 or kanishka.burns@sfgov.org Dear Mr. Mendoza: This letter is in response to your request for a Letter of Determination regarding the property at 940 Sutter Street (dba Hotel Vertigo). The parcel is located in a RC-4 (Residential - Commercial, High Density) Zoning District and 80-A Height and Bulk District. The Letter of Determination request is to resolve whether the addition of 7 tourist hotel rooms to an existing 104-room tourist hotel constitutes a significant expansion to a Permitted Conditional Use and whether such addition requires approval of a Conditional Use Authorization by the Planning Commission. According to your letter, the owners of 940 Sutter Street wish to convert the bar area of the existing restaurant, which is connected to the hotel lobby, into seven new tourist hotel rooms. The hotel lobby abuts Sutter Street and would remain so that there would be no visible change from the street or lobby. The bar and restaurant have not been used for almost 10 years and is no longer viable as a restaurant space. There will be no exterior alterations and no increase to floor area. The proposed reconfiguration will increase the number of tourist hotel rooms from 104 to 111, a 7% increase in guestrooms. Building permit records indicate that the existing building was operating as a hotel with 104 guest rooms in 1946. According to the Assessor s Records, the subject building is 51,657 square feet and the lot is 8,180 square feet, resulting in a FAR of 6.3. The permitted base FAR in the RC-4 Zoning District is 4.8:1. In 1978 the Planning Code was amended by Ordinance number 433-78 to require Conditional Use authorization for hotels with six or more guestrooms or suites in the RC-4 Zoning District. The existing hotel use is considered a Permitted Conditional use pursuant to Planning Code Section 178. Planning Code Section 178(c) states that "A permitted conditional use may not be significantly altered, enlarged or intensified, except upon approval of a new conditional use application;" however, there have been www.sfplanning.org
Mr. Sergio Mendoza July 17, 2014 121 7th Street Letter of Determination San Francisco, CA 94013 940 Sutter Street numerous Planning Code Interpretations which define "significant". An interpretation from December 1998 states that the following expansions are significant: - Expansion of more than 25 percent of the floor area or more than 500 square feet, whichever is less. - Expansion of an extraordinarily large development over 500 square feet, but less than 25 percent of the floor area. The proposed reconfiguration does not result in a change of floor area or change in building square footage. Some hotel provisions, however, are based upon the number of guestrooms, rather than the total floor area of the hotel. Since parking facilities are similarly regulated based on the quantity of spaces rather than the total floor area of the facility, an interpretation regarding parking lots could be similarly applied to the subject tourist hotel. The interpretation of Planning Code Section 178(c) from March 2002 allows the addition of up to 25% of the number of parking spaces without it being considered a "significant" alteration. Building Permit applications and Assessor s Records indicate that 104 hotel rooms are existing. A 25% addition of hotel rooms would result in an additional 26 rooms. Based on the aforementioned interpretations, the existing 104-room tourist hotel may be expanded by 7 guestrooms, for a total of 111 guestrooms, without it being considered a "significant" expansion, either in terms of total floor area or number of guestrooms. Since such an expansion is not considered "significant", it does not require a new Conditional Use Authorization. Any building permit filed for the proposed addition of guestroom must demonstrate no increase in FAR in excess of the base FAR of 4.8:1. An increase in floor area over the base FAR will require the use of TDR. The proposed interior alterations include changes to publically accessible space within a National Register designated building and require Historic Preservation review. APPEAL: If you believe this determination represents an error in interpretation of the Planning Code or abuse in discretion by the Zoning Administrator, an appeal may be filed with the Board of Appeals within 15 days of the date of this letter. For information regarding the appeals process, please contact the Board of Appeals located at 1650 Mission Street, Room 304, San Francisco, or call (415) 575-6880. Sincerely, ScottF.Sanche7 Zoning Administrator cc: Kanishka Burns, Planner Property Owners: APIC Hotel Vertigo LLC, 222 SW Columbia Street Ste. 228, Portland OR, 97201 Neighborhood Groups KB: G:\Documents\ZA\940 Sutter - LoD\940 Sutter - Letter of Determination.doc SAN FRANCISCO 2
SAN FRANCISCO Letter of Determination 1650 Mission St. Suite 400 San Francisco, July 10, 2014 CA 94103-2479 Mr. Sergio Mendoza Haiyi Hotels 121 7th Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Site Address: Assessor s Block/Lot: Zoning District: Staff Contact: Dear Mr. Mendoza: 940 Sutter Street - dba Hotel Vertigo 0280/009 Residential - Commercial, High Density (RC-4)/80-A Kanishka Bums, (415) 575-9112 or kanishka.burns@sfgov.org Reception: 415.558.6378 Fax: 415.558.6409 Planning Information: 415.558.6377 This letter is in response to your request for a Letter of Determination regarding the property at 940 Sutter Street (dba Hotel Vertigo). The parcel is located in a RC-4 (Residential - Commercial, High Density) Zoning District and 80-A Height and Bulk District. The Letter of Determination request is to resolve whether the addition of 7 tourist hotel rooms to an existing 104-room tourist hotel constitutes a significant expansion to a Permitted Conditional Use and whether such addition requires approval of a Conditional Use Authorization by the Planning Commission. According to your letter, the owners of 940 Sutter Street wish to convert the bar area of the existing restaurant, which is connected to the hotel lobby, into seven new tourist hotel rooms. The hotel lobby abuts Sutter Street and would remain so that there would be no visible change from the street or lobby. The bar and restaurant have not been used for almost 10 years and is no longer viable as a restaurant space. There will be no exterior alterations and no increase to floor area. The proposed reconfiguration will increase the number of tourist hotel rooms from 104 to 111, a 7% increase in guestrooms. Building permit records indicate that the existing building was operating as a hotel with 104 guest rooms in 1946. According to the Assessor s Records, the subject building is 51,657 square feet and the lot is 8,180 square feet, resulting in a FAR of 6.3. The permitted base FAR in the RC-4 Zoning District is 4.8:1. In 1978 the Planning Code was amended by Ordinance number 433-78 to require Conditional Use authorization for hotels with six or more guestrooms or suites in the RC-4 Zoning District. The existing hotel use is considered a Permitted Conditional use pursuant to Planning Code Section 178. Planning Code Section 178(c) states that "A permitted conditional use may not be significantly altered, enlarged or intensified, except upon approval of a new conditional use application;" however, there have been numerous Planning Code Interpretations which define "significant". An interpretation from December 1998 states that the following expansions are significant: www.sfptanning.org
Mr. Sergio Mendoza July 10, 2014 121 7th Street Letter of Determination San Francisco, CA 94013 940 Sutter Street - Expansion of more than 25 percent of the floor area or more than 500 square feet, whichever is less. Expansion of an extraordinarily large development over 500 square feet, but less than 25 percent of the floor area. The proposed reconfiguration does not result in a change of floor area or change in building square footage. Some hotel provisions, however, are based upon the number of guestrooms, rather than the total floor area of the hotel. Since parking facilities are similarly regulated based on the quantity of spaces rather than the total floor area of the facility, an interpretation regarding parking lots could be similarly applied to the subject tourist hotel. The interpretation of Planning Code Section 178(c) from March 2002 allows the addition of up to 25% of the number of parking spaces without it being considered a "significant" alteration. Building Permit applications and Assessor s Records indicate that 104 hotel rooms are existing. A 25% addition of hotel rooms would result in an additional 26 rooms. Based on the aforementioned interpretations, the existing 104-room tourist hotel may be expanded by 7 guestrooms, for a total of 111 guestrooms, without it being considered a "significant" expansion, either in terms of total floor area or number of guestrooms. Since such an expansion is not considered "significant", it does require a new Conditional Use Authorization. Any building permit filed for the proposed addition of guestroom must demonstrate no increase in FAR in excess of the base FAR of 4.8:1. An increase in floor area over the base FAR will require the use of TDR. The proposed interior alterations include changes to publically accessible space within a National Register designated building and require Historic Preservation review. APPEAL: If you believe this determination represents an error in interpretation of the Planning Code or abuse in discretion by the Zoning Administrator, an appeal may be filed with the Board of Appeals within 15 days of the date of this letter. For information regarding the appeals process, please contact the Board of Appeals located at 1650 Mission Street, Room 304, San Francisco, or call (415) 575-6880. Sincerely, Scott ~F.nc Zoning Administrator cc: Kanishka Burns, Planner Property Owners: APIC Hotel Vertigo LLC, 222 SW Columbia Street Ste. 228, Portland OR, 97201 Neighborhood Groups KB: G:\ Documents \ ZA \ 940 Sutter - LoD \ 940 Sutter - Letter of Determinntion.doc SAN FRANCISCO 2
I HAW! HOTELS 15t,111hplo MOO- 1isIu 1h.r!_r May29, 2014 Office of Zoning Administrator 1650 Mission Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94103 (p (/ < 712- (N) /t. L-1, EA t Referring: Subject: 940 Sutter Street, Hotel Vertigo Block 0280 Lot 009 Letter of Determination Request Proposed Change of Restaurant Space to Hotel Rooms Dear Zoning Administrator, As the owners of the Vertigo Hotel, we are requesting to convert a portion of an existing ground floor restaurant space at the hotel into additional hotel rooms. The bar area of the existing restaurant, which is connected to the hotel lobby and is the only portion of the restaurant that abuts street front, would remain so that there would be no visible change from the street or lobby. Currently the building has 104 rooms, and we are requesting to add seven rooms with this change. The bar and restaurant have been dormant for almost 10 years as it is no longer a viable restaurant space due to many factors. Attached ijj..piar yout for this partial conversion. Tha ou for your Rpectfully, \t L\ - Mendoza \Lt \rl e.. &- Lo r-7
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