SF supervisors reject proposed Waymo private lot
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected a proposed private parking lot near the city's Potrero and Bayview districts for autonomous car service company Waymo on Tuesday.
A retired union member of Teamsters filed an appeal for the proposed permit, alleging that Waymo may later use the plot for automated delivery services after its announced partnership with Uber.
If passed, Waymo would have converted 21,000 square feet of a warehouse facility on 301 Toland St. into a 44-space private parking garage for employee parking.
Built to service as a commercial distribution center, the company would also turn part of the warehouse's interior space into an employee break room, security office and meeting room.
But Peter Ziblatt, a land use attorney who represented the appellant, said the proposed permit is a "piece of the puzzle" in Waymo's alleged plans to eventually set up the company for delivery services while working around city policy.
Last March, the board adopted a zoning policy that requires parcel delivery services to receive explicit permission to use facilities like garages for their delivery fleet.
Ziblatt said the permit is inconsistent with not only this policy, but also the city's transit-first mindset.
"Pull back the lens. What's happening here is that [autonomous vehicle] companies are abating these interim controls put in place by this board for panel delivery service use by breaking uses into smaller, bite-sized packs to avoid scrutiny, whether it's calling it fleet charging at one location or parking garage at another location," Ziblatt said.
Appellant Mark Gleason added that union members employed as delivery workers are concerned about losing the jobs they depend on for their livelihoods. He said the warehouse's distribution purposes have been dormant for many years, but it has the potential to quickly be revitalized as a commercial distribution center.
"Understanding its layout, its structured purpose, renders other representations disingenuous," he said at the meeting. "301 Toland is a distribution facility for consumer goods on a massive scale."
Planning Commission staff member Nick Foster affirmed that the permit would not authorize any unloading, sorting or reloading of retail merchandise for deliveries, and such activity would violate conditions of approval.
Supervisor Shamann Walton pressed Foster on a yes or no question -- can the planning department guarantee that parcel delivery activities will not occur at this site?
"It's not so binary," Foster said.
"An applicant could file a conditional use authorization to utilize this place for parcel deliveries, and the planning department would review that process," he added.
Tara Sullivan of Reuben, Junis and Rose, LLP, who spoke on behalf of Waymo, said that despite the appellant's claims, Waymo would not unlawfully operate delivery services without proper permits, and that the building is no longer configured for delivery services.
"It is simply a parking lot for Waymo vehicles where they are maintained. Nothing more is happening there," she said.
