University Zoning Exemption Stalls Over Academy of Art History

The San Francisco Land Use and Transportation Committee hit pause on an ordinance that would have freed downtown universities from institutional master plan requirements, after neighborhood groups warned the measure could repeat the Academy of Art University's history of illegally converting housing. In a shorter first item, the committee unanimously advanced a street naming honoring a retired fire captain whose cancer prevention work became a national model.

• University master plan exemption continued after SOMA Filipinas and Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council raise alarms about reduced downtown oversight

• "Tony Stefani Way" street naming advances to the full Board of Supervisors on a 3-0 vote, honoring the SFFD captain who founded a firefighter cancer prevention movement

• Chair Melgar proposes narrowing the university exemption to the Art and Design Special Use District or adding a time limit

The committee's longest and most contested item — an ordinance to exempt post-secondary educational institutions in C3 downtown districts and the Art and Design Educational Special Use District from Institutional Master Plan requirements — was continued to the June 29 meeting after public commenters and the committee chair raised concerns about the scope of the exemption.