The existing law, under Article 10, Section 1004 of the Planning Code, allows the Board of Supervisors to designate individual structures with special character or historical, architectural, or aesthetic interest as City landmarks. Once designated, any changes require a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission.

This ordinance amends the Landmark Designation for the Castro Theatre (Landmark No. 100) to list specific exterior and interior features that should be preserved or replaced in kind, capturing the property's full historical significance.

The amendment provides a high degree of protection to the Castro Theatre, ensuring that its defining architectural and historical features are preserved. This is in line with the protection afforded to other individual landmarks and structures in the city under Article 10 and Article 11 of the Planning Code.

The Castro Theatre is associated with culturally and historically significant contributions to San Francisco's history. As an architecturally distinctive structure, built in 1922, it is the oldest continuously operating single-screen movie house in the city with a rich tradition of LGBTQ programming.

This ordinance becomes effective 30 days after enactment. Enactment occurs when the Mayor signs the ordinance, the Mayor returns the ordinance unsigned, does not sign it within ten days of receiving it, or the Board of Supervisors overrides the Mayor’s veto.

The Planning Department's determination under the California Environmental Quality Act is affirmed, and public necessity, convenience, and welfare findings under Planning Code Section 302, along with consistency with the General Plan and the eight priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1, have been made.