3906 JUDAH STREET - north side of Judah Street, between 44th and 45th Avenues, Lot 016, Assessor's Block 1799--Request for Discretionary Review of Building Permit Application 2003.05.02.3719, that seeks authorization to establish a coffee store (Starbucks) in a vacant commercial space located in an NC-1 (Neighborhood Commercial Cluster) District and in a 40-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Do not take Discretionary Review and approve the change of use.
SPEAKER(S):
(-) Brennan Murphy - Discretionary Review Requestor - Sunset Neighbors for Action
- There have been 4,200 signatures against this project.
- The project sits at the edge of a small commercial zone.
- This would be the first national corporate run store in the area.
- Starbuck's signed the agreement without having any sort of community input.
- There is no need to have this type of business here because there are already two independently owned coffee shops.
- Starbucks would also occupy space that could be used for a neighborhood owned retail use.
- Starbucks does not provide any sort of opportunity for resident ownership. Instead of preserving neighborhood retail use it would probably cause the other coffee shops to close.
- The project would also cause traffic problems as well as pedestrian traffic because they plan to have many tables on the sidewalk.
- Starbuck's is not a modest coffee retail use.
(-) Nan Radich
- She is a very concerned teacher and resident.
- The Sunset is the City's best kept secret and this Seattle based company will disrupt the peace in the neighborhood.
- The neighborhood cannot hold on to its diversity if Starbucks is allowed.
- The Neighbors of the Sunset are not in support of this project.
- Starbucks did not even have the consideration to speak to the community before signing a contract.
(-) Mary Spoerer
- She lives in the inner sunset and shops there.
- She appreciates the character of the neighborhood. This is why she does not support this project.
(-) Amrah Johnson - Associated Students of CCSF Ocean Campus
- The students of City College are not in support of this project. Many of the students are enrolled in the Restaurant and Hospitality program and one day would like to open their own small businesses.
- Students should have the ability to pursue their dream.
(-) Michael Crotty
- He lives in the Sunset District, one block away from the proposed project.
- He is outraged that Starbucks is trying to destroy the many years of hard work that one of the café's in the neighborhood has tried to obtain.
- If Starbucks opens, it will crush this café as well as other independently owned retail stores.
(-) D.J. Canepa - Assemblyman Leland Yee's Office
- He read a letter dated September 2, 2003, from Leland Yee who is opposed to this chain store. He is in support of independently owned small businesses.
(-) Amanda Janes - Sunset Neighbors for Action
- She lives about five blocks from the proposed site.
- She is opposed to the project.
- Starbucks is a global corporation and a small business owner cannot compete with them.
- Starbucks has stated that if they do not open a coffee shop there, someone else will. Although this might be true, Starbucks would totally impede the opportunity for small entrepreneurs.
(-) Patrick McGuire - Sunset Neighbors for Action
- He was born in the neighborhood and now owns a small business there.
- Even people who do patronize Starbucks, would not like to have a store open there.
- Parking will become a problem because the infrastructure of the location does not support that type of store there.
- It will be more than likely that people will double park and cause problems for the "N" Judah MUNI line.
- If this use is allowed, it will give a "green light" for other chain stores to open and totally change the character of the neighborhood.
(-) Ron Dudum - Westside Democratic Club
- He was born in the neighborhood.
- 4,000 neighborhoods have identified that their neighborhood character is threatened with this project.
- Perhaps another coffee shop can open in the neighborhood but not a nationally owned chain store.
(-) Joel Ventresca -SPEAK
- This project will endanger independently owned businesses.
- This project will violate proposition M.
- Starbucks is the type of company that does not promote fair hiring.
(-) Ralf Lane
- He is a fifth generation San Franciscan.
- He cares about the character of the neighborhood.
- He is the commercial landlord next door to the proposed project.
- Bringing in an international chain is not a lifesaver for more rent in the neighborhood.
- The neighborhood is doing just fine with the small businesses there.
(-) Tess Manola-Ventresca - Coordinator for the Sunset Neighbors for Action
- Starbucks has very little use at this location.
- The independently owned businesses can hire local musicians and singers.
(-) Carlo Grunfeld - Sunset Neighbors for Action
- He is here representing the various people who could not be here.
- There are already several excellent coffee Stores.
- Parking in the avenues is already at full capacity.
- He would like the Commission to take Discretionary Review and disapprove the project.
(-) Nicky Trasviña - Sunset Neighbors for Action
- She was born in San Francisco and through the years she has seen the invasion of chain stores "creeping" into neighborhoods. These have caused small businesses to close and have closed the door on old fashion customer service.
- She is also a member of the Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church, located one block away from the project site. She has found that the neighborhood is made up of working class people that are not the type to go to Starbucks.
(-) Rick Young
- It is very clear how the residents feel. The hearing room is full of people who oppose Starbuck's and there have been so many signatures from others who are also against it.
- Would the Commission, if they were residents of the Sunset, open a restaurant if there was going to be a Starbucks?
- The area is better served by not having a Starbuck's there.
(-) Bernard Crotty
- He was a member of the Commission on Aging for both Mayors Willie Brown and Frank Jordan.
- He has always had a great working relationship with the neighborhood merchants association.
- He hopes that the Commission will not approve this project and support the small business community of this city.
(-) Stacey McCann
- She was born and raised in the neighborhood.
- The lower sunset is a special community. It remains untouched by commercialism.
- If the City allows these types of businesses in the neighborhood, the community will forever be tarnished.
(-) (name unclear)
- She moved to San Francisco because of its uniqueness and diversity.
- She likes the community feel of the neighborhood because she is from a small town.
- She would like to preserve small businesses in the area.
(-) Barbara Laily
- She lives in the neighborhood and is opposed to the project.
- There are three coffee shops independently owned and there is no need for this type of corporate chain.
- If this project is allowed, it will bring other chain stores, causing other small businesses to close.
(-) Amy Laitinen - Supervisor Gonzalez's Office
- There is a letter from the Supervisor supporting of the residents of the Sunset. He does not support allowing this type of use in the area.
(-) Lucy Quacinella
- She was lucky enough to buy a home in the Sunset District.
- This area does have a small town feel.
- She urges the Commission to listen to the many eloquent voices that have expressed their opposition.
- The residents also have the right to be listened to so they can preserve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.
(-) Luis Granados - Mission Economic Development Corporation
- He is here to request that the Commission take Discretionary Review and not approve the change of use.
- This project meets all the uses, so the issue is not about that. The issue is about what the community wants and what they want to preserve.
- The Commission needs to decide what they are basing their decision on.
- The Planning staff made a wrong decision.
- The Commission can rectify this mistake and not approve the project.
(+) Tim Tosta - Steefel, Levitt and Weiss - Representing Starbucks
- He gave a PowerPoint type of presentation regarding the aspects of the project.
- The neighborhood has a number of small scale stores and is adjacent to a residential neighborhood.
- The store which Starbuck's intends to occupy has been vacant for over a year. It is a modest store in character.
- It is not anticipated to have a large number of cars travel to this location. There will be more pedestrian traffic.
- He displayed a map of where other Starbuck's businesses are near the neighborhood.
- The other smaller coffee shops are a lot larger in square footage than the location where the Starbuck's is intended.
(+) Ave Montague
- She is a public relations and event manager and founder of the San Francisco Black Film Festival. She resides in the Fillmore District. She cannot speak on the issues of the Sunset District but she can speak about her experience with Starbuck's in the Fillmore District.
- She organized an event for young people in December but did not have toys or food. She spoke to a representative from Starbucks and was able to receive food and beverages for this event for 300 kids. Starbucks also donated toys for these kids.
- Starbucks also sponsored the Hamilton Family shelter and staged a blanket drive.
- She has been able to receive a lot of support from Starbucks with food, donations, and other volunteer help for many of her fundraising events.
(+) Ryan Dong - Starbuck's Coffee Co.
- He has been working for Starbuck's for about six years now.
- He read a letter from residents of the Sunset District who were not able to come to the hearing and are in support of Starbuck's opening a coffee shop at the proposed location.
(+) Nicole Hauscarriague - CB Richard Ellis, Inc.
- She lives in the Sunset District.
- She did a lot of advertising to lease the space at this location.
- Many of her friends that live in the area go to Starbuck's at the 9th and Irving location.
- It is very important to point out that Starbuck's is not paying more for the space than any other tenant would have if they had leased the space.
(+) Elizabeth McFarland
- She is the store manager of the Starbuck's store located on 9th and Irving.
- She started working for Starbucks nine years ago.
(+) Greg Pree - Starbuck's Coffee Company
- Starbucks donates more than seven million dollars in cash annually to support the arts, the environment and other causes.
- Starbucks is a wonderful company that does a lot of good things for the community.
(+) Bill Shamieh - Shamco Investments
- He owns the building where Starbucks is proposed.
- The location was in a very bad condition.
- He spent about $85,000 dollars to improve the locale.
- The main argument was that the businesses did not want Starbucks there.
- He has a petition from businesses around the area that supports a Starbucks there.
(+) Yoosef Shamieh - Shamco Investments
- He went store to store in the area to survey whether or not people were opposed to a Starbucks coffee store. Most all of them stated that in this difficult economy, they could use the help.
(+) Rami Shamieh
- He went with Yoosef to do this survey.
- Most of the businesses stated that opening a Starbucks would improve the area.
(+) Karen Vance - Starbucks Coffee Company
- She has been with Starbucks since October of 2000.
- Starbucks conducted a phone survey of the residents of the Sunset. The purpose of this survey was to better understand the desires of the Sunset community. It is important for them to know how people feel about Starbucks.
- The majority of those surveyed supported a Starbucks coffee store.
- She read letters from residents of the area who support the proposal.
(+) Mike Tufo - General Contractor
- He is a native San Franciscan.
- One of the things that is unique about Starbucks is the money that they spend in the detailing of their stores and the quality of the products that they present to the public.
- They always conform to the words "qualifications" and "requirements" to the community.
- Once they open a store, the spend a lot of money maintaining it.
- Starbucks also go through a great deal of care to select contractors and work with unions.
(+) Martin Malchow
- He owns the building adjoining the proposed coffee shop.
- He is the closest to the whole project.
- He has no objection to Starbucks going in since it is not a Walmart or a Costco.
- People are still going to patronize the other stores.
- He does not believe that people will double park because the Judah line goes by there about 40 mph.
- Starbucks is a good company. He has not seen a store that has not been clean on the outside and on the inside.
(+) Gina Moreno - Vise President of Starbucks
- They have heard the concerns of the public about the new store opening.
- They have also heard from their customers and potential customers who are very excited about the store opening.
- They are looking forward to working with the Outer Sunset Community and being involved with the local schools, charities and organizations.
- From today's hearing, she has learned that Starbucks needs to do a better job of putting their face forward.
MOTION No. 1: Do not take Discretionary Review and approve project.
AYES: Antonini and Boyd
NAYES: Bradford Bell, Feldstein, Hughes, S. Lee and W. Lee
RESULT: Motion Failed
ACTION: Took Discretionary Review and disapproved the project.
AYES: Bradford Bell, Feldstein, Hughes, S. Lee and W. Lee
NAYES: Antonini and Boyd
17. 2003.1246D (B . FU: (415) 558-6613)
654 CAROLINA STREET - west side, between 19th and 20th Streets; Lot 009 in Assessor's Block 4071 - Request for Discretionary Review of Building Permit Application No. 2003.04.24.2991, proposing to construct a two-story vertical addition to the existing one-story over garage building in an RH-2 (Residential, House, Two-Family) within a 40-X Height and Bulk Designation.
Preliminary Recommendation: Do not take Discretionary Review and approve the Building Permit Application.
SPEAKER(S): None
ACTION: Discretionary Review Application was withdrawn
18. 2003.0966T (P. LORD: (415) 558-6311)
FORMULA RETAIL USES - Consideration of an Ordinance to amend the Planning Code by adding Section 703.3 and by amending Section 182 to make findings as to the need to regulate formula retail uses, to define formula retail uses, prohibit formula retail uses in the Hayes-Gough Neighborhood Commercial District and in the Neighborhood Commercial Cluster Districts at Cole and Carl Streets and Parnassus and Stanyan Streets, to require any building permit application for formula retail use to comply with the notice and design review procedures of Section 312 of the Planning Code, to provide that the burden to prove that a use is not a formula retail use rests with the building permit applicant or holder, and to provide that nonconforming uses in Residential District which are seeking to change in use to retail sales activity or retail sales establishment which is also a formula retail use must comply with the provisions of Section 703.3 , making findings of consistency with the priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1 and the General Plan.
