August 14, 2008 SpecialSAN FRANCISCO PLANNING COMMISSION
Special Meeting Minutes
Supervisors Chambers - Room 250
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Thursday, August 14, 2008
10:00 AM
Special Meeting
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Olague, Miguel, Antonini, Borden, Lee and Moore
COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Sugaya
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY PRESIDENT OLAGUE AT 10:17 A.M.
STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: John Rahaim – Director of Planning, David Alumbaugh,
Joshua Switzky, Tim Frye and Linda Avery – Commission Secretary.
A. SPECIAL CALENDAR
( Tape IA ; IIB) (D. ALUMBAUGH: (415) 558-6601/J. SWITZKY: (415) 575-6815)
Discussion of the Department's initial concepts for the Transit Center District, initially presented to the Commission in an overview on May 29, 2008.
The August 14, 10:00 AM Special Hearing is in response to the Commission's request for further discussions with staff on the Department's initial concepts for the Transit Center District Plan.
For the August 14, 2008 Special Hearing, staff would like to discuss the following elements of its initial concepts in more detail with the Commission as well as other topics that might be of interest to the Commission:
· Downtown 2035 Growth/Capacity Analysis
· Draft Historic Resources Survey
· The Public Realm and Pedestrian Realm/Ground Floor Concepts
At the May 29 hearing, staff provided the Commission with printed copies of the presentation, as well as copies of the Downtown 2035 Growth/Capacity Analysis. Since then, the Draft Context Statement and DPR Forms for the Historic Resources Survey have been completed, and the Notice of Preparation of Environmental Impact Report (NOP) for the Transit Center District Plan and Transit Tower has been published and the Public Scoping Hearing has been held. Electronic copies of the Draft Context Statement, DPR Forms, and the NOP are available on the Project Website at http://transitcenter.sfplanning.org.
Should the Commission wish hard copies of any of these new materials or additional copies of the materials provided at the May 29 hearing, please contact staff.
Preliminary Recommendation: Informational only. No action is required.
SPEAKER(S)
Sue Hestor
- Requested that staff go back and check all the exemptions made about 25 years ago when the Downtown Plan went through because we made a lot of assumptions about the amount and demand for office. We ended up with a lot of empty spaces.
- Regarding housing assumptions, you really need to know whether people are really going to live there and make accommodations for them with the retails.
- We need to have a reality check on the nature of workforce and housing.
- If we do not have a good understanding of how winds and shadows work, we do not understand anything about the climate of the City and it is not healthy to have housing with little sunlight.
- What kind of housing do we really want to build in the Downtown?
ACTION: No Action is required of the Commission
G. PUBLIC COMMENT
At this time, members of the public may address the Commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission except agenda items. With respect to agenda items, your opportunity to address the Commission will be afforded when the item is reached in the meeting with one exception. When the agenda item has already been reviewed in a public hearing at which members of the public were allowed to testify and the Commission has closed the public hearing, your opportunity to address the Commission must be exercised during the Public Comment portion of the Calendar. Each member of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes.
The Brown Act forbids a commission from taking action or discussing any item not appearing on the posted agenda, including those items raised at public comment. In response to public comment, the commission is limited to:
(1) responding to statements made or questions posed by members of the public; or
(2) requesting staff to report back on a matter at a subsequent meeting; or
(3) directing staff to place the item on a future agenda. (Government Code Section 54954.2(a))
SPEAKER(S)
Sue Hestor, Re: Public involvement and empower to participate
- One of the things that staff is lacking is effective outreach.
- We could use your agenda more effectively. It should have an alert that documentation is available.
- You should think of how to give information to people that is available, not just through the website.
Adjournment: 12:13 P.M.
THESE MINUTES WERE PROPOSED FOR ADOPTION AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON THURSDAY, October 16, 2008.
SPEAKER(S): None
ACTION: Approved
AYES: Olague, Miguel, Antonini, Lee, Moore and Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden
NOTE: Per Section 67.18 of the Administrative Code for the City and County of San Francisco, Commission minutes contain a description of the item before the Commission for discussion/consideration; a list of the public speakers with names if given, and a summary of their comments including an indication of whether they are in favor of or against the matter; and any action the Commission takes. The minutes are not the official record of a Commission hearing. The audiotape is the official record. Copies of the audiotape may be obtained by calling the Commission office at (415) 558-6415. For those with access to a computer and/or the Internet, Commission hearings are available at www.sfgov.org. Under the heading Explore, the category Government, and the City Resources section, click on SFGTV, then Video on Demand. You may select the hearing date you want and the item of your choice for a replay of the hearing.
