An Alternative Future for the North East Mission Industrial Zone

An Alternative Future for the NEMIZ
Mission Coalition for Economic Justice & Jobs
III.8 IPZ Literature Review & Case Studies
As new zoning is implemented, the larger supply and demand for industrial/PDR
buildings in San Francisco as a whole as well as within each of the
five Eastern Neighborhoods must be considered. If not, the City’s tax base
could suffer at a time when local revenues are significantly constrained.
Industrial Protective Zoning: Mostly Temporary
Rather Than Permanent
Twenty years ago, industrial protection zoning was designed to protect jobs
in industrial sectors as commercial and residential uses began to compete for
industrial land in some communities. To retain the employment base generated
by industrial uses, “cities like Chicago began to adopt new zoning that
strictly limited non-industrial uses in protected corridors.” A key question
is: “What is wrong with older, heavier industry moving to where the land
and labor is cheaper in the region?” In San Francisco, city planners have
pointed to a need to protect the core remaining industrial land because there
are some “symbiotic relations between these industries and others in the land
use system” that work together to make San Francisco a more competitive
market and healthier economy. Many city planners still agree that “there are
some basic industries, particularly those related to construction, such as
cement processing, whose survival may be essential because of their place in
the larger web of industrial and commercial relationships in the area.” More
recently, however, the same cities are reevaluating these policies in light of
the future needs and impacts of high-tech manufacturers and other industrial
users. These cities recognize that the range of industries they feel
should continue to be protected is quite narrow. For instance, “at least some
industrial protection zones should be transitional rather than permanent. In
other words…it may be necessary to let the sun set on some industries in
order to let it rise on other, more promising, ventures.”
Two vacant buildings in the Bayshore that were built for hi-tech but can now
be converted to serve PDR uses