Variance Activity in San Francisco

The San Francisco Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, and Zoning Administrator are all tracked by ZoneWire for CUA (Conditional Use Authorization) applications, discretionary review requests, 309 exceptions, housing density bonus projects, and rezoning across all San Francisco neighborhoods.

San Francisco has approximately 10 zoning-related meetings per month across the Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, and various hearing bodies. The Planning Commission meets weekly, while the Board of Supervisors meets twice per month.

A CUA (Conditional Use Authorization) is a San Francisco planning approval required for certain uses or developments that are not permitted as of right in a given zoning district. CUAs are heard by the Planning Commission and are a key signal for new restaurants, bars, large retail, and residential projects in neighborhoods like the Mission and SoMa.

The highest volume of zoning activity in San Francisco occurs in SoMa for large mixed-use and residential towers, the Mission District for CUA and discretionary review applications, the Western Addition and Tenderloin for density bonus projects, and the Sunset and Richmond districts for ADU and housing production.

Key zoning terms for San Francisco include CUA (Conditional Use Authorization), discretionary review, 309 exception, housing density bonus, SUD (Special Use District), PUD (Planned Unit Development), office allocation, and large project authorization. ZoneWire tracks all of these automatically across every San Francisco governing body.