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Robert Fruchtman

@fruchtose.bsky.social
791 followers 195 following 168 posts

I read housing bills

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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
District 8, man
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Alex says there's an optional questionnaire and he wants to allow time for attendees to answer them. He says the survey is anonymous but people can provide their contact information.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Sucré encourages evening to fill out the survey.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
These projects can be assessed administratively without a hearing.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
In some cases, alterations need a certificate from a commission to be allowed.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Westhoff acknowledges that many storefronts in the Castro have been altered so SF Planning "won't be overly precious with them"
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Benefits of landmarking: tax credits seem to be the main incentive.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Process for landmark designation
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Most landmarked buildings are listed under Article 10 procedures.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This landmarking would occur under Article 10 of the Planning Code.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Additional contributing and non-contributing buildings.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The commercial history from the 1800s to early 1900s is considered along with LGBTQ history from the 50s to the 80s.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
QR link with results from SF Survey historic landmarking research. 64 buildings contribute to the historic district
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Proposed historic district boundaries
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The Castro got its first documented gay residents in the 50s. This is also apparently the part of the presentation where the land acknowledgment is read.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Gerard Koskovich is in the room and is one of the primary authors of a book on the history of the Castro.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Westhoff says there are now 16 landmarks that celebrate LGBTQ history.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This designation continues a process of landmarking LGBTQ history sites that started a decade ago.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Research and storytelling underlies pathways to historic designation.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Alex Westhoff from SF Planning is presenting now.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
SF Planning contends that historic landmark buildings can be converted into housing. They just lose access to the rezoning, have additional restrictions on changes to buildings, and must meet elevated standards to add housing.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is an incredible handout listing misconceptions about historic landmarking. It claims that landmarking does not prevent housing or limit what you can do with property.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Posters in the rec center
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Hello San Francisco. I'm at the Eureka Valley Rec Center for a presentation by SF Planning and Supervisor Mandelman on the proposed historic landmark designation of the Castro St commercial corridor.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
SF Planning's report is full of references to past businesses and in some cases past households. The entry for 480-498 Castro St says the Walgreens building is historic because in the 80s it housed a queer household with some notable roommates and visitors. citypln-m-extnl.sfgov.org/Commissions/...
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
So what makes the Castro District historic? Let's look at 558-564 Castro St, an unremarkable three-story building, as admitted by the property's report. However, in the 70s the building had a gay bar, then a gay bookstore, and then a gay real estate office. Today these businesses are gone.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Incredibly, SF Planning's racial and social equity analysis only looks at the consequences of releasing its recommendations for historic districts. The text totally ignores the impact of actually creating the historic districts.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
San Francisco's 2023 housing element talks a big game about reversing exclusionary zoning. But here we have, as plain as day, a proposal to reintroduce exclusionary zoning near a major transit stop. And it comes from the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Excerpt from San Francisco's 2023 housing element referring to exclusionary zoning
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The Castro District upzoning in the Family Zoning Plan is implemented as a density bonus program called Housing Choice - San Francisco (HC-SF). One of the conditions for eligibility is that a project can't demolish a building that contributes to the status of a historic district.
San Francisco Planning Code § 206.10
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Take a look at the proposed Castro historic district (1st 🖼️), in the areas shaded by diagonal lines. Orange properties have buildings which "contribute" to the historic district. Now compare it with the height limits in last year's Family Zoning Plan. There's a lot of overlap. That's a big problem.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
In December 2025, the Historic Preservation Commission quietly passed a resolution giving the Board of Supervisors permission to grant historic landmark status to 3 neighborhoods upzoned by the Family Zoning Plan: the Castro District, one block of 24th St Noe Valley, and Glen Park's commercial zone.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Big news: Later today, Supervisor Mandelman and SF Planning are hosting an important community forum to discuss making the Castro District a historic landmark district. This proposal is shockingly regressive. It would downzone in a rich white neighborhood. sfplanning.org/event/potent...
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
The City allows appeals of tentative parcel maps. However, per SF Planning, none of the subjects of the appeal letter have any relationship with parcel subdivisions.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
The appeal letter reads like a list of NIMBY talking points: the buildings are too tall, traffic will go up, and poor people will be dangerous next to a school.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Hello San Francisco. I'm attending a hearing at the Board of Supervisors. A neighborhood group, Capp Street Neighbors, is appealing the subdivision of a lot at 16th & Mission to build permanent supportive housing.
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Robert Fruchtman @fruchtose.bsky.social · 03/05/2023
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