USF Unveils Expansion Plans at Commission Hearing

By Carol Dimmick

The public got a peek at the University of San Francisco's plans to expand its campus when details of amendments to a master plan were unveiled at a Feb. 7 SF Planning Commission hearing.

City planner Sharon Young told commission members the university is proposing to amend its 1993 Institutional Master Plan to convert the former Lincoln University building at 281 Masonic Ave. to a College of Professional Studies.

She also said the university submitted plans to relocate childcare facilities within the university campus and to build a 20,000-square-foot, five-story addition to the McLaren School of Business.

The University of San Francisco was founded in 1855 by members of the Society of Jesus and was the city's first institution of higher education. It currently operates as a post secondary educational institution with undergraduate and graduate level degree programs.

USF's main campus covers 52 acres. It is located at 2130 Fulton St., near the northeast corner of Golden Gate Park, and is bounded by Anza Street to the north, Masonic Avenue to the east, Fulton Street to the south and Stanyan Street to the west.

The institution's first master plan was submitted in 1979 with supplements in 1983 and 1984. Its purpose is to provide a comprehensive development plan for USF's main campus that extends for a period of about 10 years. While the planning commission does not need to approve the amendments, members of the commission may make recommendations based on their own concerns or public testimony by interested parties.

According to Young, the only part of the plan that attracted public attention is the proposed five-story addition to the McLaren School of Business.

"I got one inquiry from the University Terrace Association about the impact the project may have on traffic and parking in the area," Young said. There were no comments by members of the public at the planning commission hearing on any of the amendments.

According to documents submitted to the planning commission, the university wants to remodel its existing McLaren School of Business and build an adjacent five-story wing of approximately 20,000 square feet for new offices and classrooms. The new five-story addition would be visible from Fulton Street.

According to a report prepared by Young for commission members, the new addition, while visible from Fulton Street, "would not affect land uses on adjacent properties, traffic levels or circulation patterns, transit demand or availability."

Local watchdog planning associations, like the Planning Association for the Richmond (PAR), have been silent on the proposed amendments.

Ron Miguel, president of PAR, explained that previous expansion plans by USF, like the Lone Mountain Campus where the university converted a chapel to faculty offices and submitted plans to build student housing and an academic office building, attracted attention because of the significant impact they would have on the neighborhood.