San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston wants to go out with something more than a whimper in the wake of the incumbent’s recent loss of his seat on the city’s legislative body.
Preston is angling to get between a grocery chain and a would-be-residential developer by using eminent domain to scuttle a deal for the 3.6-acre site of a soon-to-close Safeway store in the Western Addition district of the city, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A letter from Preston to Mayor London Breed urged her to buy the property by any means necessary, including eminent domain.
The letter pushes into a deal struck by Breed — who also lost her office in the Nov. 5 election — that saw Safeway extend operations of the store until early next year after which it would sell the location to Align Real Estate. The sale is pending.
Align Real Estate plans to redevelop the site at 1335 Webster Street into market-rate housing.
Preston has asked Breed to respond to his letter by Dec. 4, offering to spearhead the legislative side of any efforts before his term on the Board of Supervisors expires next month.
Breed’s office told the Chronicle that the mayor has not seen Preston’s letter, and the publication reported that Safeway has not responded to inquiries.
Breed’s negotiations with the chain last year followed the Board of Supervisors vote in favor of a resolution offered by Preston with a call for the store to stay open.
The board more recently passed an ordinance that forces grocery stores to provide six months notice before closing. The new ordinance would not apply to the Safeway store on Webster Street because the company had previously made its plans public.
Preston has suggested Safeway representatives should comply with a provision of the ordinance that would require them to attend community meetings on the question of the future of the site.
The Chronicle has reported that Align Real Estate envisions 1,000 residential units on the site, although the developer has yet to officially close on the purchase.
Preston contends that the housing would be beyond the budget of most residents in the area, and said he wants the entire development to fall into affordable ranges. He also has called for the site to retain some grocery store to serve area residents.
Preston has long been considered among the most “progressive” politicians in San Francisco, with membership in the Democratic Socialists of America. His loss in the recent election was one of several for individual candidates and ballot measures, a trend that indicates a moderating of local politics after years of increasingly leftward leanings.
In any case, it appears that Preston could have a case for eminent domain, according to Rick Friess, a land use attorney who specializes in eminent domain cases.
“If San Francisco had an affordable housing project in mind that they were going to develop, or co-develop with a private developer, that would likely pass muster,” Friess told the Chronicle.
Moving forward would require a vote by the full, 11-member Board of Supervisors to condemn the Safeway site.
The board will get four new members in January.
Bilal Mahmood, who will soon replace Preston as the supervisor representing the area of the Safeway, declined comment, according to the Chronicle.