There\u2019s a battle brewing over drones \u2013 and jobs \u2013 in the Mission. DoorDash, the on-demand delivery app, plans to launch a drone testing site on Folsom Street, but the Teamsters Union Local 665, which represents over 70,000 workers in the Bay Area, is pushing back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In August, DoorDash leased a warehouse at 1960 Folsom St<\/a>. with the intention of developing \u201caerial delivery systems<\/a>,\u201d using drones that would fly up to 150 feet and eventually deliver some of the orders that today are transported by the company\u2019s drivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The same month, the city\u2019s zoning administrator, at the request of DoorDash Labs, a subsidiary of the delivery company, determined that the firm could operate drone testing at the Folsom Street site, which is located within a PDR district\u00a0 \u2013 \u201cproduction, distribution and repair.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0 The latter encompasses a wide range of industrial uses from sound engineering to food distribution to auto shops. More specifically, the zoning administrator\u2019s letter explained that drone testing falls under what the city\u2019s Planning Code defines as a \u201claboratory use,\u201d which is allowed at a PDR site.<\/p>\n The Teamsters appealed the zoning administrator\u2019s decision, claiming that drone testing does not fall within the city\u2019s defined \u201claboratory\u201d uses<\/a>. <\/p>\n PDR districts, which cover most areas in the Mission north of 19th Street and east of Shotwell Street<\/a>, are part of a citywide effort to retain low and middle-income residents, and manufacturing activities. Twenty-three percent<\/a> of employees in the Mission work in jobs for PDR businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis PDR property is meant for blue-collar jobs, but DoorDash is using it to develop technology designed to destroy jobs,\u201d said Tony Delorio, the Teamsters\u2019 principal officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe filed this appeal because teamster members are proud to live and work in the neighborhood, and the Mission is not a laboratory. We refuse to be used as Doordash\u2019s guinea pigs,\u201d Delorio added.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Board of Appeals will vote on the appeal<\/a> on Wednesday at 5 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n DoorDash, which is headquartered in San Francisco and employs some 1,600 employees<\/a> citywide, is contesting the Teamsters\u2019 claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDoorDash is excited to continue contributing to San Francisco\u2019s economic recovery as the global capital of innovation with our new research and development site at 1960 Folsom,\u201d a spokesperson for the company said. \u201cWe are deeply invested in the city\u2019s comeback and eager to continue our testing of autonomous technologies more broadly, including drones, as we explore delivery systems.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n DoorDash anticipates 200 people to be employed at the site, according to materials submitted to the zoning administrator. Several major business groups have expressed support for the development, including the Bay Area Council, S.F. Chamber of Commerce and Mission Merchant\u2019s Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n Supervisor Fielder\u2019s legislation<\/p>\n District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder who represents the Mission District said that the case of the DoorDash drone site is just one example of an increasing number of applications to convert space in the Mission to laboratory use. She said it \u201cshould be reviewed in more detail to determine whether the proposed lab use is meeting the goals of this zoning district.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n She pointed to the role of PDR districts within the Mission Action Plan 2030<\/a>, an updated anti-displacement plan that the Planning Commission approved last year. \u201cThe community groups involved in MAP 2020 and MAP 2030 have repeatedly voiced concerns about the preservation of PDR space and the importance of maintaining dignified working class jobs in our communities,\u201d Fielder said.\u00a0<\/p>\n