By Adam Brinklow : thefrisc – excerpt

The city’s pro-housing officials call BS on the building, which doesn’t meet basic requirements. So why are YIMBYs gung-ho for it?

If the thought of a 50-story tower looming over the San Francisco Zoo and Ocean Beach like a fairy-tale giant stresses you out, the Planning Department has good news: It says the high-rise at 2700 Sloat Blvd., as proposed, is not going to happen, and was probably never something to take seriously in the first place.

When news of the proposed tower — more than 500 feet high, more than 700 units within — broke a few months ago, reactions on social media and in public hearings were as zealous as they were predictable…

“This project is a distraction. It defies logic,” the department’s director Rich Hillis tells The Frisc…

[Update 7/27/23: The Board of Appeals Wednesday night rejected Hickey’s bid. At the hearing, planners argued the law is written to avoid big, bulky development in zoning like this, and that smaller separate buildings are better urban design policy. The height wasn’t a factor for planners, although many commenters were preoccupied with it. Hickey did not say if he plans to continue his quest through other channels.]…(more)