An Alternative Future for the North East Mission Industrial Zone

An Alternative Future for the NEMIZ
Mission Coalition for Economic Justice & Jobs
III.30 IPZ Literature Review & Case Studies
efforts to recruit business and offer job training should be considered
in combination with zoning.
Land Use Compatibility: Depending on the type of industrial district,
residential development should be excluded from heavy
industrial areas, and office use should rarely be excluded.
Community Planning and Input: To be successful, zoning changes
should be the result of comprehensive, inclusive community input
from residents, property owners, businesses, and other stakeholders.
Although they have not been implemented, the recommendations of the
New York study seem to support the other research and findings of this
analysis and should be given serious consideration by the City of San
Francisco. The use of performance standards and environmental standards
could be a useful way of categorizing types of industrial activity into appropriate
zoning districts rather than by “type of business.” The standards
could be based on potential environmental impacts such as noise, traffic,
and pollution. Uses with low environmental impacts likely would be candidates
for “mixed-use districts” and transitional districts. Uses that generate
high employment could be eligible for additional city assistance; businesses
that hire locally could be further rewarded.
These findings can be applied to the City’s industrial or PDR policy overall
as well as to all five of the Eastern Neighborhoods, including the
NEMIZ. The case studies show that zoning alone is not the answer and that
a host of other programs and services must be combined with zoning to
ensure that industrial protection can be successful. Even when these programs
are in place, success is not assured, as is the case of the Sodo district
in Seattle.