May 7, 2009 Joint Meeting w' Building Inspection CommissionSAN FRANCISCO
PLANNING COMMISSION
&
BUILDING INSPECTION
COMMISSION
Minutes of Joint Meeting
Board of Supervisors Chambers - Room 250
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Thursday, May 7, 2009
6:00 PM
Joint Meeting
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY PRESIDENT MURPHY AT 6:15 P.M.
PLANNING STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: John Rahaim – Director of Planning, Larry Badiner – Zoning Administrator, Alicia John-Baptiste, Kelley Amdur, Christine Haw, and Linda Avery – Commission Secretary.
PLANNING COMMISSION: President: Ron Miguel
Vice-President: Christina R. Olague
Commissioners: Michael J. Antonini; Gwyneth Borden; William L. Lee; Kathrin Moore; Hisashi Sugaya
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None
BUILDING INSPECTION
COMMISSION: President: Mel Murphy
Vice-President: Reuben Hechanova
Commissioners: Kevin Clinch; Frank Lee; Robin Levitt; Criss Romero; Debra Walker
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None
Opening Remarks:
President Mel Murphy
I am honored as president of BIC to Chair this joint meeting with the Planning Commission. Our two departments play a significant role in many businesses, cultures, shops, tourism, and education that come together in a rich fabric of life in San Francisco. We have a duty to continuously improve our city as a place for living by making it a more beautiful, safe and pleasant place to live. We also must improve the opportunities for commerce to thrive and to coordinate the very patterns of land use with public and semi-public service and facility. The present economic climate challenges us more than ever with regard to our workforce, housing stock, transport systems, open spaces and vacant land. We face an even bigger challenge within our political system. We need to help permit holders extend their permits so we have shovel-ready projects ready to roll when the economy turns around in the public and private sector. We need to streamline our permitting process and we need to ensure that public safety remains a top priority. And overall, we need to improve our communication between our two departments. It is with that that I welcome you all and let us go forward with the pioneering spirit of the early settlers in this great city of San Francisco.
President Ron Miguel
We have a situation where it is advantageous for the two commissions to meet together, not necessarily in the same manor as the Planning Commission and the Recreation & Park Commission met earlier today, because there there are certain code requirements where we have to by code meet together and take joint actions on certain matters. But here we have an awful lot in common and an awful lot of interface between what the two commissions do. The Brown Act restrictions limit how much we all can discuss things other than merely on a one-to-one basis. So this gives us the opportunity to do so in this little horseshoe arrangement we have here. The two commissions and the two departments are in continual interface with each other and this brings about a mutuality of actions and a mutuality of problems as well and we will probably discuss both areas this evening. What we do obviously is in the public interest as much as anything else that happens with commissions or bodies within the government of San Francisco. But more than anything else perhaps these two bodies are integral to the economic vitality of San Francisco because what we do determines how the city is going to go forward, how it's going to grow, in what directions – out and up – and how to do that in a proper manner. So this is a pleasure that we are able to get together at this point, more than just the interface between the two staffs.
1. Discussion regarding permit extensions and renewals.
SPEAKERS: Sue Hestor, Jeffrey Heller – Heller Manus Architects, Mr. Santos – Structural Engineer, Henry Kanowel – SFCIG, Joe Butler – Architect, Dray Gardner – SFCIG
ACTION: Informational only – There was no Commission action
2. Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS) update.
SPEAKERS: (Name was not clear) – Coalition for Responsible Growth, Nancy Warfield, Mr. Santos – Structural Engineer, Alexander Leigh Kienker, Dray Gardner, Hiroshi Fakuda
ACTION: Informational only – There was no Commission action
3. Discussion regarding Entitlement, Permit Processing and Code Enforcement Procedures.
SPEAKERS: Sandy – SFCIG, Mr. O'Brian – Coalition for Responsible Growth, Alexander Prian – Tenderloin Housing Clinic, Sue Hestor, Joe Butler, Alexander Leigh Kienker, Dray Gardner
ACTION: informational only – There was no Commission action
4. Discussion regarding tall buildings.
SPEAKERS: Jeffrey Heller – Heller Manus Architects, Hiroshi Fakuda
ACTION: Informational only – There was no Commission action
5. Permit and Project Tracking System update.
SPEAKERS: Alexander Leigh Kienker
ACTION: Informational only – There was no Commission action
Adjournment: 9:30 p.m.
Adopted: July 16, 2009
