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Report regarding a resolution making findings and determining that City’s conveyance of certain public rights-of-way within the Genentech Campus is in conformance with the South San Francisco adopted General Plan in accordance with provisions of State Planning Law (Govt. Code Section 65402), a resolution making findings and recommending approval of Genentech’s proposed rezoning of private properties to be added to the Genentech Master Plan District, associated amendments to the General Plan, Genentech Campus Master Plan, and Zoning Map and finding that the 2025 Addendum is the appropriate environmental document for the Project, per CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 (Billy Gross, Principal Planner).
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MOTION FOR THE COMMISSION TO ADOPT STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
1. Move to adopt a resolution recommending making a CEQA determination; and
2. Move to adopt a resolution determining General Plan Conformity and recommending approval of Planning entitlements.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission conduct a public hearing and adopt the following resolutions recommending City Council actions:
1. Move to adopt a resolution making findings and recommending that the City Council make a determination that, based on the 2025 Addendum, the project is consistent with the adopted Genentech Master Plan Environmental Impact Report and the adopted SSF 2040 General Plan Update, Zoning Code Amendments and Climate Action Plan Environmental Impact Report, and approval of the project would not necessitate the need for preparing a subsequent environmental document pursuant to the criteria of CEQA Guidelines Section 15162.
2. Move to adopt a resolution making findings and determining that City’s conveyance of certain public rights-of-way within the Genentech Campus is in conformance with the South San Francisco adopted General Plan in accordance with provisions of State Planning Law (Govt. Code Section 65402) and recommending that the City Council approve a General Plan Amendment, Genentech Campus Master Plan Amendment, and ordinance amending the Zoning Map, subject to the draft Conditions of Approval.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Genentech established its headquarters in South San Francisco in 1978, starting in a warehouse building at the easterly point of the East of 101 subarea amid meat packing plants, old steel mills, truck depots and other industrial uses. Genentech quickly grew over the next two decades, expanding to 3,000 employees over a 72-acre campus by 1995, when the City adopted the first Genentech Corporate Facilities Master Plan. Significant growth continued in both the land area and number of employees as the City adopted subsequent master plans in 2007, 2013 and 2020. The Genentech Campus currently includes approximately 12,000 employees within 4.5 million square feet of building area spread over 207 acres.
The current 2020 Genentech Campus Master Plan (2020 Master Plan) articulates a vision for new growth and development within the campus, establishing facility-wide development standards, with a maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of 1.0 times the total area of all lots within the Master Plan, providing for a buildout potential of just over 9 million square feet. The 2020 Master Plan also includes goals and objectives related to creating a strong campus-centered environment.
Subsequent to adoption of the 2020 Master Plan, Genentech has acquired additional private properties within the campus boundaries. With these private property acquisitions, all properties within the Genentech Campus boundaries (with the exception of the Wind Harp Park and the CalWater parcel) are now owned or controlled by Genentech.
There are currently three public roads located within the Genentech Campus boundaries: DNA Way, Point San Bruno Boulevard and a one-block segment of Cabot Road (between Allerton Avenue and DNA Way). Recent traffic counts completed in 2024 within the Genentech Campus indicate that DNA Way handled between 2,500-3,500 trips per weekday. Of these trips, approximately 95 percent started or ended within the Genentech Campus, with the remaining 5 percent (about 180 trips on a typical weekday) passing through the Campus to somewhere else. Some proportion of this pass-through travel is still associated with Genentech operations, such as gRide buses, security vehicles and deliveries. Based on this, it is assumed that approximately 97-98 percent of trips on DNA Way are Genentech-related, with the total volume of non-Genentech trips likely between 60-120 trips per day. With the recent acquisition of the three private properties, these three public roads have essentially become internal roads for the Genentech Campus.
Based on this data and Genentech’s efforts to create a stronger campus environment, Genentech has requested to acquire the street rights-of-way for a sum of $25,000,000; if such a sale were approved by the City Council, DNA Way, Point San Bruno Blvd and the short-segment of Cabot Road would become private streets that are owned and maintained by Genentech. The sale would be used to facilitate a substantial redevelopment of Genentech’s upper campus and provide some security control over the area. While the City would vacate ownership of all roads and no longer be responsible for maintenance, there would be a license agreement between the City and Genentech to permit public access, utility access and maintenance, as well as emergency vehicle access. Any future closures would be considered as part of a future application to the City, and depending on the segment at-issue, would require future appraisal and a supplemental payment to the City. The segment providing access to the Wind Harp is not eligible for future closure to public access and the license agreement for that segment would remain in place permanently.
Figure 1: Roadway Segment Transaction
Genentech has also submitted an entitlement application to incorporate the additional private properties and the three public rights-of-way proposed for acquisition within the Genentech Master Plan, and rezoning the private properties from Business Technology Park - Medium (BTP-M) to Genentech Master Plan District (GMP). The entitlement application also requests associated amendments to the General Plan and Genentech Master Plan.
While the Planning Commission is not tasked with making a recommendation to the City Council on the street vacation and purchase processes, the Planning Commission is required to make a determination regarding the conformance of the City’s proposed conveyance of the public rights-of-way with the South San Francisco adopted General Plan.
PROJECT OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND
2020 Genentech Campus Master Plan
The Genentech Campus is located within the City’s East of 101 subarea, currently comprising approximately 4.5 million square feet of building area spread over 207 acres, with approximately 12,000 employees across a wide range of business functions.
The Genentech Campus is primarily regulated by the Genentech Campus Master Plan, which was most recently updated in 2020 (2020 Master Plan). The 2020 Master Plan articulates the vision for new growth and development within the campus over the next 20 or more years. Because of this long-term nature, the 2020 Master Plan establishes an overall development envelope in which Genentech can increase building density while providing flexibility in the mix of use types (office, lab/research and development, manufacturing and amenity) to be built over time. The campus wide maximum FAR is 1.0, providing for a buildout potential of just over 9 million square feet, essentially doubling the existing building area within the campus. The 2020 Master Plan seeks to limit the amount of additional traffic generated by any additional growth by implementing an aggressive TDM goal for a 50 percent reduction in single-occupant vehicles and a Trip Cap for the campus.
The 2020 Master Plan also highlights goals and objectives related to creating a strong campus-centered environment, including establishing places that prioritize people over cars and incorporating outdoor spaces for daily and/or special events. The 2020 Master Plan includes the consideration of a shared-street concept whereby DNA Way is scheduled for partial closure to general vehicle traffic during specified times of the day (such as between the morning and afternoon peak traffic hours) and opened as a pedestrian-only environment with accommodations for emergency vehicles and shuttle and bus access.
Proposed 2025 Genentech Master Plan Amendments Project
Incorporation of New Private Parcels within the Genentech Master Plan District
Subsequent to adoption of the 2020 Master Plan, Genentech has acquired or is leasing three additional private properties within the campus boundaries:
1. 333 Point San Bruno Boulevard, owned by Genentech. Comprised of APN 015-250-410, consisting of approximately 0.5 acres, and APN 015-250-140, consisting of approximately 1.4 acres (previously known as the Lithotype property).
2. 525 DNA Way (APN 015-250-210), owned by Genentech. Approximately 3.1 acres, previously known as the Bakery Institute. This does not include the short public easement connecting DNA Way to the Wind Harp Park site, which remains as a public access easement.
3. 383-393 East Grand Avenue (APN 015-250-390), under long-term lease by Genentech, with intent to acquire. Approximately 4.7 acres, known as the Dome Construction site.
With the acquisition of these three properties, all private property within the Genentech Campus boundaries other than Wind Harp Park and the CalWater parcel are now owned or controlled by Genentech.
Incorporation of Roadways within the Genentech Master Plan District
Traffic counts were collected in 2024 on DNA Way near Genentech’s Building 34 (located in the Upper Campus) and on Point San Bruno Blvd. These traffic counts found the following:
• DNA Way serves about 2,500 to 3,500 vehicles on weekdays and fewer than 600 vehicles on weekend days. These traffic volumes are much smaller than East Grand Ave. and Oyster Point Blvd., which typically serve over 20,000 vehicles per day.
• Point San Bruno Blvd., which is accessed from DNA Way, serves about 2,200 to 2,600 vehicles on weekdays and approximately 300 to 400 vehicles on weekend days. The majority of the weekday trips were accessing Parking Structure 2 and adjacent surface parking lots.
Of the current trips on DNA Way, approximately 95 percent start or end within the Genentech Campus, and approximately 5 percent (about 180 trips on a typical weekday) pass through the Campus to somewhere else. Some proportion of this pass-through travel is still associated with Genentech operations, including gRide buses, security vehicles, carpools, vanpools, ride-hailing services, intra-campus freight and deliveries. It is assumed that the total volume of non-Genentech trips on DNA Way is likely between 60-120 trips per day.
Based on the above data, DNA Way, Point San Bruno Boulevard and the short segment of Cabot Road are essentially operating as internal roads within the Genentech Campus. In exchange for financial compensation to the City, Genentech is requesting acquisition of the rights-of-way and that the City vacate these streets as public roadways. The segments of existing roadways identified for acquisition and street vacation include the following:
1. Approximately 4,930 linear feet of the DNA Way right-of way from East Grand Avenue to Forbes Boulevard (approximately 6.78 acres at a 60-foot right-of-way width);
2. Approximately 720 linear feet of the Point San Bruno Boulevard right-of way from DNA Way to its cul-de-sac terminus (approximately 1.1 acres at a 66-foot right-of-way width); and,
3. Approximately 512 linear feet of the Cabot Road right-of way from Allerton to DNA Way (approximately 0.67 acres at a 57-foot right-of-way width)
The purchase and sale agreement for the roadways will include a requirement that the parties enter into a maintenance and license agreement as a condition of closing. The maintenance and license agreement will preserve public access on the rights-of-way in the near term and provide for a future appraisal and supplemental payment for terminating public access to the Blue and Pink segments. The maintenance and license agreement will also provide utility and emergency vehicle access, as well as outline Genentech’s ongoing maintenance obligations for the roads. Prior to Genentech closing any portion of the rights-of-way to public access, Genentech will have to show how emergency access will continue to be accommodated. In all scenarios, public access on DNA Way will remain available from East Grand Avenue to the Wind Harp Park parcel. Genentech will also acquire all street improvements and pay all maintenance costs moving forward. The obligations related to conducting a future appraisal and making supplemental payments prior to terminating public access to the Blue and Pink segments as part of any future redevelopment are also memorialized in the Amendments to the Master Plan to ensure that these obligations are incorporated into any consideration and approval of future development applications.
The following amenities will remain open and accessible to the public permanently after conveyance:
• Wind Harp Park. DNA Way will remain available for public access from East Grand Avenue to the Wind Harp Park parcel.
• San Francisco Bay Trail and associated open space. The segment of the San Francisco Bay Trail along the eastern edge of the Campus’ waterfront will remain available for public access. The small parking lot at the end of Forbes Boulevard near DNA Way would continue to allow vehicle access via Forbes Boulevard, while bicycle access would be maintained via Forbes Boulevard and the parallel trail through the Campus. The publicly accessible Bay Trail parking at the end of East Grand Avenue would be unaffected.
Total Allowed Development Capacity within the Genentech Master Plan
The combined total area of acquired properties and street rights-of-way is approximately 18.3 acres, which Genentech is requesting be added to the Genentech Master Plan and rezoned to the Genentech Master Plan District. With the addition of these properties and rights-of-way to the Campus Master Plan Area, the total Campus acreage will increase from 207 acres to approximately 225 acres.
In accordance with the 2020 Master Plan, Zoning Ordinance Chapter 20.360 (Genentech Master Plan District) establishes general development principles and standards for the campus. The Genentech Master Plan District includes the following subsection related to allowed development capacity within the district:
Subsection 20.360.003.J. Growth and Development Projections. Consistent with the projections analyzed in the Environmental Impact Report for Genentech Campus Master Plan Update, development within the approximately 207-acre Campus shall be limited to 9,008,000 square feet (an FAR of 1.0), and shall be further regulated by a Trip Cap equivalent to a maximum of 5,216 total drive-alone trips arriving at the Campus during the a.m. peak hour. This Trip Cap applies irrespective of the amount of net new development, the mix and types of land uses that occur within the Campus over time, or the effectiveness of TDM and other trip reduction efforts. The Trip Cap is a maximum, not-to-exceed number of potential drive-alone vehicle trips, and will be counted annually via cordon count records along the main ingress and access points to the Campus.
The additional acreage could allow Genentech to increase the overall built area within the campus. However, Genentech does not propose to increase the potential buildout and development capacity of the Campus beyond the 9,008,000 square feet as approved in the 2020 Master Plan.
Entitlements application
The 2025 Genentech Master Plan Amendments project is seeking the following entitlements, all discussed in detail in the following sections:
• Genentech Master Plan Amendments to incorporate the new private parcels and to reflect the ability to close the roadways to public-through traffic at some point in the future in accordance with the future appraisal and supplemental payment obligations as applicable.
• General Plan Amendments to ensure internal consistency between the Genentech Master Plan and the General Plan, which include changes to the designation of DNA Way in General Plan Mobility and Access Element Figure 14 (Roadway Network Diagram) and Figure 16 (Truck Network and Restrictions Diagram).
• Zoning Map Amendments to add the three new private properties and the vacated streets to the Genentech Master Plan District zoning.
• General Plan Conformity finding for Genentech’s acquisition of certain public rights-of-way within the Genentech Campus.
• Approval of an Addendum to the 2020 Master Plan EIR and 2040 SSF General Plan Update EIR.
• Request for the City Council to approve street vacations of DNA Way, Point San Bruno Blvd and Cabot Road within the Genentech Campus Master Plan boundaries, and approving the sale of the street rights-of-way to Genentech in the sum of $25,000,000(discussed in this staff report for informational purposes only).
Amendments to the Genentech Master Plan
As discussed above, the 2020 Master Plan includes the consideration of a shared-street concept whereby DNA Way is scheduled for partial closure to general vehicle traffic during specified times of the day (such as between the morning and afternoon peak traffic hours) and opened as a pedestrian-only environment with accommodations for emergency vehicles and shuttle and bus access. Based on Genentech’s subsequent property acquisitions and proposal to acquire the public streets internal to the campus boundaries, Genentech is proposing amendments to the 2020 Master Plan to reflect these changes. The proposed amendments are located within Chapter 3: Urban Design and Chapter 4: Transportation, Circulation and Parking, as well as figures throughout the document. The proposed amendments are detailed in Exhibit A of the Associated Amendments Resolution. The obligations related to conducting a future appraisal and making supplemental payments prior to terminating public access to the Blue and Pink segments as part of any future redevelopment are also memorialized in the Amendments to the Master Plan to ensure that these obligations are incorporated into any consideration and approval of future development applications.
General Plan Amendments
Genentech has applied for a General Plan Amendment to ensure consistency with the amended Genentech Master Plan (detailed in Exhibit B of the Associated Amendments Resolution), with the following minor changes to figures in the General Plan Mobility and Access Element:
• Figure 14: Roadway Network Diagram. Remove the “Existing Connector” designation for DNA Way and Point San Bruno Blvd. Remove the “Existing Neighborhood” designation for Cabot Road within the Genentech campus boundaries.
• Figure 16: Truck Network and Restrictions Diagram. Remove the “Truck Route” designation for DNA Way and Point San Bruno Blvd.
With these requested amendments, the General Plan and the Genentech Master Plan will be consistent with one another.
Zoning Map Amendments
The Zoning Map amendment proposes to rezone the three private parcels from Business Technology Park - Medium (BTP-M) to Genentech Master Plan District (GMP). The amendment would also zone the vacated streets as GMP; currently, the streets have no zoning designation because they are public rights-of-way. The revisions to the Zoning Map are detailed in Exhibit C of the Associated Amendments Resolution.
General Plan Conformance
In accordance with the provisions of State Planning Law (Govt. Code Section 65402), prior to acquisition or sale of real property by the City or the vacation of public streets, the matter shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for a determination as to the conformity of the proposed disposition/vacation with the adopted General Plan.
The General Plan Land Use designation for the overall Genentech campus is Business Technology Park. This designation allows for campus-like environments for corporate headquarters, research and development facilities, and offices. The allowed floor area ratio for this designation ranges from 0.5 up to 1.0 with community benefits.
The General Plan contains overarching goals and related policy direction relevant to the sale and vacation of the subject parcels, including:
• Land Use Element Goal LU-5: SSF remains a hub of R&D employment, operations, and innovation and is home to the largest worldwide cluster of life science uses.
o Policy LU-5.5: Improve connectivity for R&D workforces. Maintain vehicular infrastructure and improve circulation to accommodate the travel demand of existing and future workplaces.
o Policy LU-5.7: Collaboration with property owners.
• Land Use Subareas Element Goal SA-19: Vehicle trips are minimized through parking requirements, Transportation Demand Management, and alternative travel modes.
• Prosperous Economy Element Goal PE-1: South San Francisco remains a premier location for biotechnology and related industries.
• Mobility and Access Element Goal MOB-1: South San Francisco prioritizes safety in all aspects of transportation planning and engineering.
The proposed sale of the road rights-of-way would have two main benefits: (1) Genentech would be able to execute their Master Plan vision for a coordinated and connected upper campus that is entirely pedestrian-oriented AND capitalize on parent company Roche investment in their future expansion and (2) provide the City with an infusion of unrestricted funds for community reinvestment for streets that are presently only used by Genentech, thus conforming to the City’s General Plan goals for land use and economic development.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In 2020, the City Council certified an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Genentech Master Plan (Master Plan EIR), which evaluated the potential impacts of the proposed growth and additional employees identified in the 2020 Master Plan. In 2022, the City Council certified an EIR for the South San Francisco 2040 General Plan Update, Zoning Code Amendments and Climate Action Plan (2040 GP EIR), which evaluated the potential impacts and additional growth envisioned in the General Plan Update. Together, these two documents are referred to as the Prior EIRs.
As part of this Project, an Addendum to the Prior EIRs was prepared to evaluate Genentech’s proposed acquisition of certain public rights-of-way within the Genentech Campus and Genentech’s proposed rezoning of properties to the Genentech Master Plan Zoning District. The primary conclusions of the Addendum are as follows:
• The Project does not include any proposal for new Campus development, physical street removal or reconstruction within the Genentech Campus. Accordingly, the Project would have no construction-related environmental impacts.
• The Project does not include any proposal for new Genentech operations. If the proposed rights-of-way acquisitions by Genentech are approved, these streets will remain open to the public in the near term but as private streets rather than public streets, and Genentech will have the right to close these streets to public through traffic as part of future redevelopment approved by the City, provided that Genentech maintains public access to the Wind Harp.
• No new development, redevelopment or reuse of the six new properties proposed to be added to the Campus is currently proposed, and the Project would have no operations-related environmental impacts.
• Although the Project would increase the acreage of properties within the Genentech Campus, Genentech is not requesting an increase in the potential Campus buildout beyond the 9 million square feet assumed in the 2020 Master Plan (which is based on an FAR of 1.0 times the overall Campus acreage). Accordingly, the Project would have no new or potentially more severe cumulative environmental impacts than previously disclosed in the prior 2020 Genentech Campus Master Plan EIR.
• The Project does not include any proposal for immediate closure of DNA Way, Point San Bruno Boulevard or the short segment of Cabot Road to public through travel. The Project does create the potential that Genentech may decide to close Point San Bruno Boulevard and the short segment of Cabot Road, and the portion of DNA Way east of Wind Harp (hereafter referred to as partial closure of DNA Way) to through traffic as part of future redevelopment, as indicated in the 2020 Genentech Campus Master Plan. Although no street closures are included as part of the current Project, the possibility of these street/partial street closures has been analyzed. The conclusion of this analysis is that the potential for future closure/partial closure of these streets would have no new or more severe environmental impacts than those previously disclosed in the prior Genentech Campus Master Plan EIR.
Based on these conclusions, an Addendum to the Prior EIRs is the appropriate CEQA documentation necessary for the project as the project would not cause any new or substantially more significant environmental impacts.
AIRPORT LAND USE COMMISSION
The Airport Land Use Committee (ALUC) is scheduled to review the 2025 Genentech Master Plan Amendments Project at its duly noticed public meeting scheduled for May 22, 2025. If the ALUC recommends that the Project be found consistent with the SFO Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP), the Project will then be forwarded to the Board of Directors of the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG) for their consideration at its regularly scheduled June 12, 2025 meeting. Both of these actions would occur prior to City Council consideration of the Project.
COMMENT LETTER
The San Mateo County Central Labor Council submitted a letter in support of Genentech’s application (Attachment 2 to this staff report).
CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATIONS
Purchase and Sales Agreement
A Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) is required to memorialize the terms of the public right-of-way sale to Genentech, which will be presented to the City Council for consideration at a future public meeting. The offer price from Genentech and the proposed terms are as follows:
Price: $25,000,000 based on the following values:
• $20M for the Orange Section (see Figure 1 in Executive Summary) based on 1.34 acres at $14.8M per acre (based on recent R&D transactions)
o Would allow Genentech to close that portion of the street to public vehicles as early as 2026 as part of an application to redevelop as open space, utility tunnels/corridors and/or building(s).
o Accessible to Genentech employees and guests only.
• $5M for the Green, Blue and Pink Sections (see Figure 1 in Executive Summary) based on value as roadways:
o The Green Section remains as a street accessible to Genentech employees and the public.
o The Pink and Blue Sections remain as streets accessible to the public until at least 2031. Beyond 2031, they could be potentially redeveloped as open space and/or building(s).
o If, in the future, Genentech seeks to develop any portion of the Pink and Blue Sections and close the roadways to public use, Genentech will pay an additional fee representing the Fair Market Value of the land if used for the intended use after a mutually agreed upon appraisal process. The Fair Market Value payment shall be no less $14.8M per acre.
Reserved License: Prior to closing of the conveyance under the Purchase and Sale Agreement, City and Genentech shall execute a maintenance and license agreement which provides a license in favor of the City for ingress, egress, utility and ancillary purposes over the Orange, Green, Blue and Pink Sections which reserved rights shall consist of surface rights in favor of the City and the general public. Further, the maintenance and license agreement shall outline Genentech’s ongoing maintenance obligations for the acquired property. City will be granted public utility easements to access any City utilities that remain in the roadways after conveyance.
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that the Planning Commission take the following actions:
1. Adopt a resolution recommending that the 2025 Addendum is the appropriate environmental document; and,
2. Adopt a resolution determining that City’s conveyance of certain public rights-of-way is in conformance with the General Plan and recommending approval of Amendments to the 2020 Genentech Campus Master Plan, General Plan and Zoning Map.
Attachments:
1. Genentech Project Description
2. San Mateo County Central Labor Council Letter
Associated Files and Exhibits
1. CEQA Resolution (25-395)
a. Exhibit A: 2025 Addendum
b. Exhibit B: Genentech 2020 Master Plan Update EIR (via link)
c. Exhibit C: SSF 2040 General Plan Update EIR (via link)
2. General Plan Conformance and Amendments to Master Plan, General Plan and Zoning Map Resolution (25-396)
a. Exhibit A: Genentech Campus Master Plan Amendments
b. Exhibit B: General Plan Amendments
c. Exhibit C: Draft Zoning Map Amendments