Neighborhood Commercial 20: Looking Back on Twenty Years of Neighborhood Commercial Zoning

Publication Date: December 2009

The zoning controls that apply to San Francisco’s Neighborhood Commercial Districts (NCD’s) took effect in April of 1987. As part of the original legislation establishing the NCD’s, periodic status reports to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors were required. This document satisfies that requirement by providing an examination of the nature and impacts of the NC zoning controls over the previous two decades. Also provided is a preliminary discussion of major outstanding issues in the NC districts and recommended approaches to address those issues. In broad terms, the purpose of this report is to provide a body of information which can help frame future discussions on the continued evolution of Neighborhood Commercial zoning controls in the years to come.