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Neighborhoods United SF

Advocating for Community-Centered Housing Solutions

New Legal Challenge to Stop Toxic Marina Safeway Project

Last week underscored exactly why NUSF was formed. We take on complex challenges like this by bringing residents together, building alliances, and ensuring our communities have a stronger, unified voice.

Thank you to the more than 550 residents who responded to our call-to-action and contacted elected officials to express serious concerns about the proposed Marina Safeway project.

That outreach was an important first step in getting attention at City Hall. However, as the May 2 deadline to challenge the project’s “conditional approval” approached, we were not seeing the level of response or action we had hoped for. Compounding this, the City’s public notice did not include key deadlines, and it required direct outreach to the Planning Department to determine what actions were needed and by when.

In response, Lori Brooke, CHA president, worked with Erin Roach, MCA president, and other neighborhood leaders to organize broader community participation, retain legal counsel, and submit a formal objection to the Marina Safeway project before the deadline. See press release below.

Throughout this process, we also urged Supervisor Sherrill to take similar action and provided the information and analysis we had compiled. He has since submitted a separate letter requesting additional information and clarification from City and state agencies. Our filing, by contrast, formally challenges the project’s eligibility for streamlined approval under state law.

This experience highlights what happens when traditional neighborhood notification and avenues for input are limited, and when Senator Wiener's state housing policies override local zoning and reduce the role of residents in the planning process.

It also shows what is possible when communities come together and take action.

NUSF Press Release sent on 5/4:

San Francisco, CA — On the final day to file objections, a coalition of local neighborhood association leaders submitted a formal legal challenge to the San Francisco Planning Department opposing the proposed fast track approval of the Marina Safeway redevelopment at 11 and 15 Marina Boulevard.

The objection argues that the project does not qualify for streamlined approval under state law and must instead undergo full environmental review and public hearings. At issue is the site’s confirmed listing on California’s Cortese List of contaminated properties, which disqualifies projects from fast track approval under AB 2011.

The filing raises several additional concerns that, taken together, make expedited approval inappropriate:

• The site sits on documented toxic contamination from a former manufactured gas plant and remains in an active remediation zone
• The project is proposed in a high risk liquefaction area, one of the most well documented in California
• The neighborhood is already experiencing flooding and sewer infrastructure strain, raising capacity concerns for hundreds of new units
• The proposed 20 and 25 story towers would far exceed the site’s 40 foot zoning, raising compatibility and scale issues

The filing also highlights a significant discrepancy. The project had been publicly described by the developer and City Planning as not being located on a Cortese List site. The coalition’s review, supported by legal analysis, confirmed that the parcel is in fact listed, raising concerns about whether proper due diligence was conducted before advancing the project for streamlined approval.

“This is not a close call. State law is explicit. Contaminated sites do not qualify for fast track approval,” said Erin Roach, President of the Marina Community Association.

“We need more housing, but it has to be done responsibly,” said Lori Brooke, President of the Cow Hollow Association. “You cannot fast track a project of this scale on a toxic, flood prone, liquefaction site without full review.”

Legal counsel Richard Toshiyuki Drury of Lozeau Drury LLP emphasized that the law requires a full environmental process.

“The Cortese List disqualifier exists for situations exactly like this,” Drury said. “This project must undergo full CEQA review.”

To view the full legal challenge, click here.

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About the Coalition

The filing was submitted by a coalition of San Francisco neighborhood and community organizations, including the Marina Community Association (MCA), Cow Hollow Association (CHA), Golden Gate Valley Neighborhood Association (GGVNA), Marina-Cow Hollow Neighbors and Merchants (MCHNM), and Neighborhoods United SF (NUSF).

Press Contacts

Lori Brooke, Cow Hollow Association President | 415-519-7807

Erin Roach, Marina Community Association President | 415-244-0666

Richard Drury, Legal Counsel, Lozeau Drury LLP | 510-836-4200

ABOUT NEIGHBORHOODS UNITED SF

Neighborhoods United SF (NUSF) has rapidly mobilized over 60 neighborhoods across San Francisco to resist extreme state-mandated, locally-implemented height and density increases.

NUSF champions community-led planning to protect vulnerable residents and small businesses from gentrification while ensuring the livability of San Francisco's neighborhoods.