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SAN FRANCISCO
PLANNING COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Commission Chambers - Room 400
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Thursday, August 9, 2012
12:00 PM
Regular Meeting
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY PRESIDENT FONG AT 12:14 PM.
STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: John Rahaim – Director of Planning, Scott Sanchez – Zoning Administrator, Ben Fu, Tara Sullivan, Aaron Hollister, Michelle Stahlhut, Kimi Haddadan, 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.
(j. linsangan: (415) 575-9119)
1. Public Outreach and Engagement (Memo | Resolution) - In 2011, staff (with support from Pepperdine University’s Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership) conducted a Public Outreach and Engagement Effectiveness survey on the department’s outreach efforts. Based on the results, a program has been created to better serve staff, stakeholders and the community at large through a supported outreach and engagement program. This presentation provides a review of the survey’s findings, an overview of the program, and a request to endorse the program’s principles.
Preliminary Recommendation: Endorsement of program principles.
(Continued from Regular Meeting of July 12, 2012)
(Proposed for Continuance to September 6, 2012)
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Continued as proposed
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
2. 2012.0641C (E. WATTY: (415) 558-6620)
933-949 STOCKTON STREET - southwest corner of Stockton and Washington Streets; Lot 001 in Assessor’s Block 0211 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization, pursuant to Planning Code Sections 812.82, 890.80, 812.14, 145.3, and 303, to allow construction of the Chinatown Transit Subway Station entrance structure (a “Public Use”) with street frontages greater than 50 feet within the Chinatown Residential Neighborhood Commercial Zoning District, Chinatown Transit Station Special Use District, and 65-85-N Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
(Proposed for Continuance to September 6, 2012)
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: With the absence of two commissioners and the recusal of two others, the Commission lost its quorum and could not take action on this item. As a result, President Fong directed the item be continued as proposed
RECUSED: Sugaya and Wu
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
3. 2012.0409B (T. Sullivan: (415) 558-6257)
China Basin – 980 Third Street & 185 Berry Street - collectively known as China Basin – south side of Berry Street between Third and Fourth Streets and fronting Mission Creek, Lot 005 in Assessor's Block 3803 - Request for Office Development Authorization pursuant to Planning Code Sections 321, 322, and 842.66 to establish 101,982 gross square feet of office use, which results in a total of 834,422 gross square feet on the site (492,000 square feet in 980 Third Street, 342,422 square feet in 185 Berry Street), in the MUO (Mixed Use Office) District and 90-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions.
(Proposed for Continuance to August 16, 2012)
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Continued as proposed
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
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
4. 2012.0592C (B. FU: (415) 558-6613)
2501 3RD STREET – east side between 22nd and 23rd Streets; Lot 001 in Assessor’s Block 4173 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization, pursuant to Planning Code Sections 249.37, 843.45 and 303, for the establishment of an exercise facility (d.b.a. Touchstone Climbing), within the PDR-1-G (General) District and 68-X Height and Bulk District, and the Innovative Industries Special Use District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved as proposed
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
MOTION: 18683
5. 2011.1279C (T. Sullivan: (415) 558-6257)
626 POTRERO AVENUE - four lots encompassing the entirely of the north side of 18th Street between Hampshire Street and Potrero Avenue, Lots 001, 002, 013, & 014 in Assessor's Block 4025 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization pursuant to Planning Code Sections 217(c) and 303, to establish a 15,000 square foot medical services outpatient clinic in the PDR-1-G and UMU Districts and 40-X Height and Bulk District. Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions.
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved as proposed
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
MOTION: 18684
6. 2011.0895B (T. Sullivan: (415) 558-6257)
460-462 bryant street - north side of Bryant Street between Third and Second Streets, and extending to Stillman Street, Lots 015A & 015C in Assessor's Block 3763 - Request for Office Development Authorization pursuant to Planning Code Sections 321, 322, and 842.66 to establish 59,475 gross square feet of office use in the MUO (Mixed Use Office) District and 45-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions.
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved as proposed
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
MOTION: 18685
C. COMMISSIONERS’ QUESTIONS AND MATTERS
Adoption of Commission Minutes – Charter Section 4.104 requires all commissioners to vote yes or no on all matters unless that commissioner is excused by a vote of the Commission. Commissioners may not be automatically excluded from a vote on the minutes because they did not attend the meeting.
7. Consideration of Adoption:
· Draft Minutes of Regular Meeting of July 26, 2012
· Draft Minutes of Joint Meeting with Historic Preservation Commission of July 19, 2012
· Draft Minutes of Regular Meeting of July 19, 2012
· Draft Minutes of Regular Meeting of July 12, 2012
SPEAKERS:
ACTION: Approved as proposed the Draft Minutes of the Special and Regular Meeting of 7/19/12 and the Regular Meeting of 7/26/12; Approved as corrected:
Draft Minutes of 7/12/12; page 3; Commissioner Antonini Wu; page 4; comments under Commissioner Wu should show: You were present when I was appointed to this Commission. It was your guidance that helped me through both the basics and the nuances of this Commission. I want to thank you for that. I look forward to seeing you on the other side. Thank you Ron. You were president when I was appointed to this Commission and it was your guidance that helped me through both the basics and the nuances of this Commission. So, very much want to thank you for that and look forward to seeing you on the other side and your leadership in this city.
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
8. 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.
Commissioner Moore:
A few weeks ago I asked in public comment whether or not the Director would set up another update on the America's Cup. I was very fortunate on Tuesday night to hear a presentation by the Vice-President of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, who are the sponsors of the event, to hear an update. which I feel contain that so many interesting aspects of how the America's Cup has changed, relative to the race this year and a big one next year, that I think this Commission would be really interested to hear. I think the Planning Department themselves would be thrilled to see much of the discussions we had have all turned the event into something I think addresses a lot of very positive aspects. I sent an e-mail to Mr. Martin and Mr. Vanwater, who I believe are responsible in the Mayor’s Office to attend to this subject. If this could happen, probably not in preparation for the August racing, but the October racing, I think everybody will be well informed and feel comfortable for what is happening.
Commissioner Antonini:
We had an excellent meeting of the commission secretary search sub-committees that consists of members of Planning and HPC Commissions yesterday, and among the things handled at that meeting included adding some other sources or venues to announce the position opening. We did discuss the future calendar. We set up possible meeting dates in September and October, with a possible emergency meeting on August 22, which I will tell a little bit more about. That is in relation to the fact that we have yet to hear a response from the Department of Human Resources to whom we had sent a letter above the signatures of Presidents Fong and Chase asking for reclassification of the position relating to salary level and other issues relating to the classification. We have not received any response, and we are concerned because we cannot move further in this process without a response from DHR. For instance, the position notice cannot go out until the issue has been answered. We hope that will happen soon. This is one of the reasons why we may have an emergency meeting on August 22nd, because if that has not been approved and/or it needs to be revised – this is the beginning of the process. Also yesterday we discussed the fact that there has been funding obtained for the managerial position in the Commission’s office at a Planner III class. We were told it would serve as an addition to the commission secretary team. Currently there are three members, and this will be a fourth member of that would serve under the secretary, and the secretary would be involved in this election of this individual, and it was expressed by the subcommittee and is the feeling that this position should be exclusively for the secretary’s team. Certainly the job description speaks to the very importance of this, and it is extremely important, because nothing can move forward and the Commission could not focus without the secretary during the myriad of things she does each week, so very important. Final thing, there was a closed session that dealt with interview questions, but we cannot talk about that because that was a closed session. The meeting was very good. We're making progress and moving forward on this.
Commissioner Sugaya:
I have one question, the position in the Department to assist the secretary, has that been posted yet or is that off in the future some time?
Director Rahaim
It has not been posted. The idea is the new secretary would help in the process. Just so you know, there is a posting -- we have to do an annual exam process for all positions at a certain classification, so we have to do the annual process. That process is just to create a pool of candidates to be considered.
Commissioner Sugaya:
I would just like to report that I had a meeting earlier today with the DR requestor for 434 Geary Boulevard, and they are the owners of the property next door. I did suggest that they should present us with photographs of the interior of the building. She may be e-mailing to all commissioners.
Commissioner Antonini:
I did have a meeting last night. The project is 434 Geary Boulevard. I have also been in touch with project sponsor, so I think this is an interesting project that hopefully we can work out something on it. It is scheduled on the calendar for next week. I also did want to comment on an article by John King and his concern that it seems like all office and residential buildings of any height are in glass or almost glass facades. I am a little concerned about this too. They can be very attractive, but they can also be very unattractive. I think most people have been very favorable to the 560 Mission project, which is one of the best examples of glass. I certainly hope that we have careful design guidelines as we move these things forward and go to staff for finalization; that they are looked at very carefully; not that you cannot have pre-cast buildings and be very attractive too, but I think he makes a good point. Certainly richness is important. I certainly would like to – it would be great if someone proposed a building of the first part of the Century, such as the Shell or Russ buildings for maps and also the Southern Pacific building. I think maybe the cost for construction is expensive and one of the reasons why we see so much glass, because it is much quicker to build and probably cheaper. I hope we can still maintain quality even with that. It was a very interesting article that raises some good points.
D. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
9. Director’s Announcements
Director Rahaim:
The only item I wanted to bring to your attention was the memo regarding the budget from Tom Desanto and Keith DiMartini, giving you an outline of the proposed budget. It was essentially the budget the Mayor proposed. There were some minor reductions that were approved by the Board related to temporary salaries and professional service contracts. The budget proposed by the Mayor, which was somewhat larger than what you look at originally, was largely approved by the Board of Supervisors.
10. Review of Past Week’s Events at the Board of Supervisors, Board of Appeals, and Historic Preservation Commission.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
No Meeting
BOARD OF APPEALS:
No Meeting
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION:
No Meeting
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: Manny Flores
Re: Congratulation to Michael Antonini on his confirmation
Smith McKeith
Re: 8 Octavia
Eric Conda
Re: Formula Retail
Peter Cohen
Re: Formula Retail
F. REGULAR CALENDAR
11. 2011.0931EC (A. Hollister: (415) 575-9078)
4-20 OCTAVIA BOULEVARD (A.K.A. 8 OCTAVIA BOULEVARD & PARCEL “V”) - lot bounded by Octavia Boulevard, Haight Street, and Market Street, Lot 011 of Assessor’s Block 0855 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization to 1) Allow development on a lot exceeding 10,000 square feet, and 2) Allow off-street parking access from Octavia Boulevard. The proposal is to construct a new five- to nine-story development on a vacant lot containing up to 49 dwelling units, approximately 2,000 square feet of ground floor commercial uses, 24 off-street residential parking spaces and one off-street commercial parking space within an underground garage.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
(Continued from Regular Meeting of July 26, 2012)
SPEAKERS: Janna Sanders
ACTION: Without hearing, continued to 9/6/12
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
12. 2011.1396C (M. Stahlhut: (415) 575-9116)
901 COLE STREET - southwest corner of Carl Street and Cole Street, Lot 001 in Assessor’s Block 1272 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization under Planning Code Sections 710.83 and 303 for a proposed wireless telecommunications service facility operated by AT&T Mobility. The facility would consist of up to nine antennas located on the rooftop of an existing commercial and residential building with equipment located on the ground. The facility is proposed on a Location Preference 6 (Preferred Location-Limited Preference Site) within the NC-1 (Neighborhood Commercial Cluster) Zoning District and a 40-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
SPEAKERS: Ami Hartley, Laura Epstein, Sam Orman
ACTION: Approved
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
MOTION: 18686
13. 2011.1005C (M. Stahlhut: (415) 575-9116)
1801 BROADWAY - southwest corner of Broadway Street and Gough Street, Lot 001 in Assessor’s Block 0577- Request for Conditional Use Authorization under Planning Code Sections 209.6(c) and 303 for a proposed wireless telecommunications service facility operated by AT&T Mobility. The facility would consist of up to four antennas located on the rooftop penthouse of an existing residential building with equipment located in the garage. The facility is proposed on a Location Preference 7 (Disfavored Site) within the RM-3 (Residential – Mixed, Medium Density) Zoning District and an 80-A Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions
SPEAKERS: Tedi Verhasis – AT&T representative; Dan Erickson, Engineer; Jennifer Harlan Moss; Chris Longstrom
ACTION: Approved with proposed conditions
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
MOTION: 18687
14. 2011.0397T (K. HADDADAN: (415) 575-9068)
Ordinance amending the San Francisco Planning Code by repealing existing bicycle parking requirements in Sections 155.1 through 155.5 in their entirety, adding new Sections 155.1 through 155.4 and Sections 428B through 428B.2, to revise the bicycle parking standards; and making amendments to other Planning Code and Environmental Code sections for consistency in addition to making environmental findings, Planning Code Section 302 findings, and findings of consistency with the General Plan and the Priority Policies of Planning Code Section 101.1.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approval for Initiation
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved initiation
AYES: Fong, Wu, Antonini, Moore, Sugaya
ABSENT: Borden and Hillis
MOTION: 18688
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))
None
Adjournment 1:47 PM
Approved: September 6, 2012
