In 1993, San Francisco’s Planning Commission granted the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) a Conditional Use Authorization to add a third story to the 20,675 square foot building at 2295 Taylor (aka 701 Chestnut) and convert the commercial building to educational use.
While SFAI started occupying the ground floor of 2295 Taylor subsequent to the Planning Commission’s Authorization, Permits were never submitted for either the addition or the conversion. As a result, the Conditional Use Authorization for the building expired. And in 2003, SFAI sold the building to the Academy of Art University (AAU).
Despite the expiration of the Conditional Use Authorization, and without the benefit of building permits, the AAU is currently utilizing the entire building for educational use including the conversion of the building’s second floor parking garage to classroom space (a major no-no seeing as how the Planning Code requires 16 off‐street parking spaces for the property as it’s being utilized).
Tomorrow, San Francisco’s Planning Commission revisits the project as the Academy of Art University petitions to modify what it believes to be a valid Conditional Use Authorization allowing it to continue its use. The Planning Department’s recommendation: Disapprove.
Also on the agenda for tomorrow’s Planning Commission meeting, a progress report on the Academy of Art University housing practices and enforcement program
∙ Request for Conditional Use Authorization: 2295 Taylor Street [sf-planning.org]
∙ Progress Report: AAU Housing Practices and Enforcement Program [sf-planning.org]
Sounds like the s**t may be about ready to hit the fan – unless AAU ponies up some $$$ to the right people. The joke I’ve always heard is the AAU is a real estate company disguising itself as an art school.
So they have been using their lawfully owned commercial building as a classroom without first kowtowing to our well-fed bureaucracy and its arcane and expensive regulatory process.