SAN FRANCISCO
PLANNING COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Commission Chambers - Room 400
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Thursday, March 4, 2010
1:30 PM
Regular Meeting
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Miguel, Olague, Antonini, Borden, Lee, Moore, and Sugaya
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY PRESIDENT MIGUEL AT 1:36 P.M.
STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: Larry Badiner – Zoning Administrator, Kelley Amdur, AnMarie Rodgers, Craig Nikitas, Elizabeth Watty, Sharon Lai, Adrian Putra, Elaine Forbes, Sarah Jones, Glenn Cabreros, Kevin Guy, and Linda Avery – Commission Secretary.
A. CONSIDERATION OF ITEMS PROPOSED FOR CONTINUANCE
The Commission will consider a request for continuance to a later date. The Commission may choose to continue the item to the date proposed below, to continue the item to another date, or to hear the item on this calendar.
1. 2008.0494C (C. JAROSLAWSKY: (415) 558-6348)
2115-2117 TARAVAL STREET - south side between 31st and 32nd Avenues; Lot 046 in Assessor’s Block 2394 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization under Planning Code Sections 161 (j) and 317 to demolish a mixed-use building, including two dwelling units and construct a new, four-level, mixed-use structure consisting of two commercial spaces and two dwelling units, without on-site parking, within the NC-2 (Neighborhood Commercial – Small Scale), Taraval Street Restaurant and Fast-Food Sub-District and a 50-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
(Continued from Regular Meeting of February 25, 2010)
(Proposed for Continuance to March 25, 2010)
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Continued as proposed
AYES: Antonini, Borden, Lee, Moore, Sugaya, Olague and Miguel
B. CONSENT CALENDAR
All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Calendar, are considered to be routine by the Planning Commission, and will be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission, the public, or staff so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Calendar and considered as a separate item at this or a future hearing
2. 2009.0499C (S. Lai: (415) 575-9087)
2191 MARKET STREET - east side, between 15th and Sanchez Streets, Lot 137 in Assessor’s Block 3558 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization under Planning Code Sections 733.83, 790.80 and 303, to expand an existing wireless telecommunications facility by adding three new antennas on an existing 51-foot tall mixed-use building’s penthouse as part of AT&T’s wireless telecommunications network within the Upper Market NCT (Neighborhood Commercial Transit) District and a 50-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved
AYES: Antonini, Borden, Lee, Moore, Sugaya, Olague and Miguel
MOTION: 18038
3. 2009.0463C (A. Putra: (415) 575-9079)
5630 MISSION STREET - west side between Naglee and Whipple Avenues; Lot 012 in Assessor’s Block 7098 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization, pursuant to Planning Code Sections 711.83, and 303 to modify an existing wireless telecommunications services (WTS) facility by installing three panel antennas to a WTS facility that is concealed within a faux-cupola located on the rooftop of a tourist hotel (dba "Mission Inn"), as part of the Verizon telecommunications network in an NC-2 (Neighborhood Commercial, Small-scale) Zoning District, and a 40-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved
AYES: Antonini, Borden, Lee, Moore, Sugaya, Olague and Miguel
MOTION: 18039
C. COMMISSIONERS’ QUESTIONS AND MATTERS
4. Commission Comments/Questions
Inquiries/Announcements. Without discussion, at this time Commissioners may make announcements or inquiries of staff regarding various matters of interest to the Commissioner(s).
Future Meetings/Agendas. At this time, the Commission may discuss and take action to set the date of a Special Meeting and/or determine those items that could be placed on the agenda of the next meeting and other future meetings of the Planning Commission.
NOTE: When compiling the minutes it was discovered that the hearing tape was somehow damaged. We were unable to recover recordings prior to what is shown below. We apologize and ask interested parties to access this hearing on the City’s website under SFGTV, Video on Demand. Again, we apologize for this inconvenience.
Commissioner Moore
… I would like to see the correlation including understanding of what that all means. It was a very alarming article. It was very well written.
Commissioner Lee
Darleshe Cyann is the lead person from the Mayor’s Office of Homelessness. If you want to learn about homelessness you should talk to him because he has all the data. The data that you’ve seen recently about 44% actually was done under the Brown Administration. I think it was followed up that many of the homeless have been in the city for less than two years. Therefore, by logic, we have a pretty good homeless program because you have 40% that have been here less than two years. That means that they filled the 40% that found housing elsewhere. So to alleviate all the speculation, I suggest that if you link that to our Housing Element; that you have the person from the Mayor’s Office of Homelessness present, and I’ve seen his presentations before, he does a very good job. They are factual and he has a lot of the data that he gets from Social Services and the Health Department. We also have a breakdown of who is on CalWorks and who gets Section 8. We can lay that on the table to find out the true cost to the city including the mental health program and the substance abuse program. Because many of the homeless are actually duel diagnosed, are ex-veterans. It is a very complex issue. My suggestion is have the Mayor’s Office of Homelessness come here and present the data.
Commissioner Olague
I think it would also be important to include the Coalition on Homelessness, another organization that works directly with the homeless.
D. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
5. Director’s Announcements
Acting Director Badiner and Zoning Administrator
Director Rahaim is on a well deserved vacation and will be back next week.
You may have heard that the Mayor has proposed laying off much of the city’s work force and rehiring them at 37.5 hours part time. That has obviously raised concerns among staff. We had a very well attended meeting this morning. We are finding out information as it comes along, but we did have a very good meeting and answered a lot of questions. DHR was kind enough to send two of their representatives there on short notice. We are working through this process and we will see where it leads. The Commission was aware during the budget discussions – we told you that we entered into a joint labor management committee and came up with a proposal that many of the union signed on to and the Department signed on to and we will be presenting this to the Mayor’s Office. In our mind it is one or the other so we will continue to work through this process. But layoff notices will go out tomorrow. I spent last night signing all the layoff notices. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done working 28 years in this office. It was especially interesting to sign my own layoff notice.
6. Review of Past Week’s Events at the Board of Supervisors, Board of Appeals, and Historic Preservation Commission.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Land Use Committee:
Seismic Strengthening of soft-story, wood-frame buildings – This commission considered a similar ordinance in September 2008. At that time you recommended three amendments: 1) a definition of “soft-story” buildings; 2) limiting the fee waiver to the seismic upgrade portion of the permit and not the entire permit; and 3) consideration of amending 151.1 to allow tandem parking in RH0-1(s) and RH-2 districts. In October 2009, you considered a revised ordinance that incorporated your recommended modifications and at that time you recommended approval. Since you heard the ordinance, it has been modified again but it has retained your recommendations. This week the Land Use Committee recommended approval of the draft ordinance.
Public Safety Committee:
Planning staff was asked to attend a hearing on a proposed “sit/lie” law so that we may weigh in on potential impacts to our Parks & Plazas program. The item was an informational hearing and no action was taken.
Full Board of Supervisors:
Zoning Map Amendments – 1415 Mission Street Project at Mission & Tenth Streets – The zoning is C-M (Heavy Commercial to C-3-G (Downtown General Commercial). This ordinance is associated with a project that would 1) demolish an existing one-story commercial structure and 2) replace it and an adjacent parking lot with a new 14-story, 130-foot-tall building containing up to 117 dwelling units. This week the Board passed the ordinance on first reading.
UPDATE FROM THE 2/23 MEETING:
Supervisor Chiu’s Parking Requirements and Garage Installation in Existing Residential Buildings in Telegraph Hill, North Beach and Chinatown – At the 1/14 hearing the Planning Commission recommended approval with modifications. Supervisor Chui amended the legislation to integrate all but one of the Commission’s recommendations. At the full BOS, this item passed first reading with two “no” votes. When the item came up for the second and final reading on 2/23, it was continued two weeks and is scheduled to be considered again on March 9.
Introductions:
100233 – Ordinance amending San Francisco Police Code by adding Section 168 to prohibit sitting or lying down upon a public sidewalk during specified hours, and with exceptions for the disabled and others. Introduced by the Mayor and Supervisor Alioto-Pier.
100237 – Resolution extending the life of the Western SoMa Citizens Planning Task Force. Introduced by Supervisor Daly.
BOARD OF APPEALS:
132nd Avenue at El Camino Del Mar – This project was appealed after this commission declined to take DR and I as Zoning Administrator granted a variance. The Board of Appeals upheld our decisions. Last night the request for re-hearing was scheduled but day-before-yesterday there was an appeal of the Cat Ex to the Board of Supervisors. The re-hearing request was continued until the appeal of the Cat Ex is concluded for this single-family home.
Historic Preservation Commission:
There HPC did meet yesterday and there are only two items I’d like to bring to your attention:
Disclosures – The Commission has decided that they want the opportunity to inform the public of any contacts they’ve had with project sponsors or parties interested in any items that comes before them outside the public hearing process. Their discussion was basically to define disclosures and to talk about whether or not they want to include a category in their Rules and Regulations related to disclosures. We did have one or two commissioners that were concerned about having any contact with parties outside of the public arena and to ask the other commissioners to consider not doing so. Other commissioners felt that it was valuable to be able to meet with both sides of an issue in the public arena and outside of it. It is an on-going discussion and I expect that in the near future we will have an item to amend their Rules and Regulations to address it.
Informational Presentation on three Branch Libraries (Merced, Parkside and Park Branch Libraries) – They were not included in the recent actions on the Branch libraries because they had already started their permit processes. The report/presentation was received very favorably with the inclusion of the Commission’s suggestions. Those projects are moving forward.
E. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT – 15 MINUTES
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. Each member of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes.
SPEAKERS: None
F. REGULAR CALENDAR
7. 2009.0227TU (C.NIKITAS/E. WATTY: (415) 558-6308/558-6620)
DISCRETIONARY REVIEW REFORM: COMMISSION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES - Consideration of modifications to the previously adopted policies and procedures to reform discretionary review, including but not limited to a requirement that all applications for Formula Retail that require Conditional Use Authorization shall undergo the adopted Pre-Application procedures outlined in the Pre-Application Packet, adopted June 18, 2009, and that new construction projects and expansions to noncomplying rear yard dwellings shall require a hearing before the Planning Commission if a DR request is received. This hearing will also include an informational presentation on Supervisor Mar's amendments to the whole for the pending DR Reform Legislation for review and comment.
Preliminary Recommendation: Adoption of Policy modifications
NOTE: Item 7 was taken our of order and followed item 9
SPEAKERS: In support: Peter Cohen, Raymond Holland – Planning Association for the Richmond, and Judith Hoyem – Neighborhood Network; In opposition or neutral: Eric Brooks – SF Green Party, Edgar, Paul Wermer, Penelope Clark – Russian Hill Neighbors, Hiroshi Fukuda, Chris Houston, Patricia Vaughey, Joan Wood – North Beach, Cathy Devenchenzy, Marilyn Amini, Judy Berkowitz, John Bardis
ACTION: Approved Commission’s policies and procedures with the modification that one commissioner can pull an item for hearing
AYES: Antonini, Borden, Lee, Sugaya, and Miguel
NAYES: Moore and Olague
RESOLUTION: 18041
8. 2009.1010C (G. Cabreros: (415) 558-6169)
1701 OCTAVIA STREET - at the northwest corner of Octavia and Bush Streets; Assessor's Block 0663, Lot 005 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization pursuant to Sections 186, 303 and 710.69A of the Planning Code to allow a Self-Service Specialty Food use as part of the existing nonconforming use (Full-Service Restaurant dba "Baker and Banker"). The request proposes incidental sales of baked goods and beverages from the existing kitchen along the Bush Street frontage between the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The added use occurs within a one-story portion of the existing two-story building in an RH-2 (Residential, House, Two-Family) District and a 40-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
NOTE: Item 8 was taken our of order and followed category E
SPEAKERS: Mohad – Representing the Project Sponsor and Paul Wermer spoke in support; Freddie Scott spoke but was neutral
ACTION: Approved with conditions as modified to not allow hours of operation prior to 9 a.m.
AYES: Antonini, Borden, Lee, Moore, Sugaya, Olague and Miguel
MOTION: 18040
9. 2006.1106E (M. JACINTO: (415) 575-9033)
222 Second Street - southwest corner of Second and Howard Streets (Assessor’s Block 3735, Lots 05, 63) - Public Hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Report. The proposed project would involve removal of an existing surface parking lot and construction of a 26-story, approximately 350 foot-tall office tower containing about 430,650 square feet of office space in San Francisco’s southern Financial District. The project would have about 4,800 square feet of retail space and approximately 8,750 square feet of enclosed publicly accessible “indoor park” on the ground floor. The proposed project would also provide 54 parking spaces on two basement levels; about 46 bicycle parking spaces; and two off-street truck loading spaces plus three additional service van spaces in the basement. The proposed project includes acquisition of a portion of adjacent Lot 5 and demolition of an existing loading dock at the 631 Howard Street (William Volker) building. The project site is within the C 3-O (SD) Downtown Office (Special Development) District. Most of the site is within the 350-S height and bulk district, while the northwest corner of the site is within a 150-S height and bulk district. The project sponsor is seeking an amendment of the height and bulk map (rezoning) and a General Plan map amendment to increase the height and bulk limit to 350-S on the entire site.
Note: written comments will be accepted at the Planning Department’s offices until the close of business on March 15, 2010.
NOTE: Item 9 was taken our of order and followed item 8, but heard prior to item 7
SPEAKERS: Armand, Penny Eardley, Joseph Barakeh, Tom Yamamoto, and Sue Hestor all expressed concerns that the document was less than adequate
ACTION: This was a public hearing on the draft EIR. Although there was no Commission action, the written comment period was extended to the close of business on March 25, 2010.
6:00 P.M.
10. 2008.1072C (K. GUY: (415) 558-6163)
1111 California Street - southwest corner at Taylor Street, Lot 020 of Assessor’s Block 0253 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization to change the existing nonconforming entertainment use of the "Nob Hill Masonic Center" to a conditionally permitted Other Entertainment use pursuant to Planning Code Sections 182(b)(1), 303, and 723.48 within the RM-4 (Residential, Mixed , High Density) District, the Nob Hill Special Use District, and the 65-A Height and Bulk District. The requested Conditional Use Authorization would also authorize alterations to the main floor of the Masonic Auditorium to remove the existing fixed seats and provide a flexible range of audience configurations (tables and chairs, fixed seating or general admission) which would increase the maximum capacity of the Auditorium from 3,282 persons to 3,500 persons during general admission events (the fixed seats in the balcony would be retained). The requested Conditional Use Authorization would also add permanent food and beverage service for patrons of entertainment and assembly events, pursuant to Planning Code Section 238(d). No exterior modifications are proposed by this project.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
(Continued from Regular Meeting of February 18, 2010)
SPEAKERS: In opposition: Alice Barkley, Stanley, Peter Mueller, J. Henry Glazer, Bob Barsotti – Bill Graham Foundation, Malcolm Dudley, Captain Anna Brown – SF Police Department, Gary Gielow, Betty Jo Harrison, Douglass Garibaldi, Patricia Diart, David Overdorf, Robert Varni, Paul Wermer, Gerry Crowley – Neighborhood Network, Stephanie Leta, Richard Horrigan – Nob Hill Association, Linda Lame, Homer Dunn, Margaret Sjostrand, Aldo Caccomo, Kristine Hachouorin, Bonnie Orr, Laurel Heicher, Meredith Blau, Amy Harmer, Elizabeth Pomeda, Karla Zendejas, David Harmer, Howard Hart – Nob Hill Coalition, Mary Kay McNulty – Nob Hill Association, Anne Purcell, Frank, Robert Niehoser, John Rosin, Michael Healy, Enrique Landa – Fritz Property Group, Terri Levich, Daniel Bernstein, Stephen Patton: In support: Steve Vettel and Project Sponsor’s team, Jordan Yelinek, Bonnie Simmons – Bill Graham Foundation, Scott Fairbanks, Robert Varni – Nob Hill, Matt Griesheimer – ACE Parking Management, Amie Bailey, Dawn Holliday, Richard Acton-Maher, Jim Koehler – Local 16, Chris Porter, Debbi Lerman, Tara Kendig, Alec Pauluck – Pine Terrace Condominium, Stacy Robson, Shawn Rivera, Victoria Wong – Pine Terrace Association, Khalil Sweidy, Shelley O’Toole – Apt I Design, F. X. Crawley, Craig Jones – Turner Construction, Nellie Yeo, Chris Armentrour – SF Unified School District, James Kiss, Audrey Joseph, Laura Lyons – Global Gourmet Catering, Mike Sher, Bob Black – SF Chamber of Commerce, Adam Kendall
ACTION: Approved with conditions as modified: to allow daytime events that exceed 250 persons; there is no maximum limit on events under 250 persons; the project sponsor is requested to continue working with the Nob Hill Coalition; eliminate condition No. 4; and the Zoning Administrator will report back to the Commission in a few weeks under the Director’s Report on the progress.
AYES: Antonini, Borden, Olague and Miguel
NAYES: Lee and Moore
RECUSED: Sugaya
MOTION: 18042
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))
SPEAKERS: None
Adjournment: 10:26 p.m.
Adopted: April 1, 2010
