Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - February 12, 2004
Josh Wein, Staff Writer
Abbott Laboratories, a multimillion dollar health-care product developer that recently has come under fire for raising the price of its AIDS drugs, is hoping to develop a 541,000-square-foot research and development facility on Seaport Boulevard. In doing so, the company has agreed to hand over part of the real estate to the Marine Science Institute, a local non-profit, and establish a much-needed child-care center.
Due to the size of the campus, the commission has recommended that the City Council amend a zoning law that sets strict limits on the size of developments. Under the new recommendations, developments providing public service, such as Abbott, would not have the space dedicated to public service counted against the overall size of the project.
The broad language would also allow future developments to include several types of public amenities, including soccer fields and open space parks, said Planning Commissioner Dick Claire. The commission approved the new language, casting aside staff's concerns that changing the ordinance in such a way would leave the city open to unintended consequences.
"Any decision that the Planning Commission or City Council makes will open up unforeseen consequences," Claire said. "The final arbiter of that would be the city council, not staff."
The commission also certified the environmental impact report for the project.
Abbott has been working with the city for nearly three years, trying to develop a proposal that will work for both parties. The company has yet to take its case to the city council to apply for permits.
Still, before the project reaches the council, the planning commission must approve the final design plans, a process that will take several more weeks.
There the commission will consider the specific details of the plan as well as some of the unavoidable impacts, such as water supply and traffic issues, identified in the EIR.
Abbot Senior Project Manager Gerhard Kremer said he hopes to receive final approval from the city council in April.
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