SPEAKER KEY:Y:
+ indicates a speaker in support of an item;
- indicates a speaker in opposition to an item; and
= indicates a neutral speaker or a speaker who did not indicate support or opposition.
A. PUBLIC COMMENT
SPEAKER(S): Beverley Upton, Director of the SF Domestic Violence Consortium - brought material as evidence to show that R. Goldberg brought the property to build the Goldberg Building and later willed it to his sons;
Jackie Nayler, Resident of the R. Goldberg Building - reiterated her goal to preserve the building and urged the HPC to add the building to the Work Program for landmarking.
B. DEPARTMENT MATTERS
1. Director’s Report
Preservation Coordinator Tim Frye: Good Afternoon, Commissioners, Tim Frye, Department Staff. The Director’s Report was included in your packets. I’m happy to address any comments or questions you have regarding that report.
2. Review of Past Events at the Planning Commission, Staff Report and Announcements
Tim Frye: Commissioners, again, Tim Frye, Department Staff. A few items to share with you. One item from the Board of Appeals - neighbors raising concern over the construction of a roofdeck on a non-contributing building in Telegraph Hill Landmark District at 280 Union Street, which you all probably remember. It was appealed to the Board of Appeals. They were appealing the Department's approval of the building permit application and not the C of A. As you will recall, staff processed the Admin C of A for the proposed project and at your January 15th hearing, the appellants requested a full hearing on that item. The HPC determined at the time that staff was in full compliance of our Admin C of A delegation and decided not to hear the item. The appellants appealed the building permit application and the Board of Appeals denied the appeal request. One thing I’d like to point out, is that they did raise concerns over the number of staff hours devoted by Planning and Department of Building Inspection staff on what they felt was really a frivolous obstruction of the permit process, so that decision was upheld.
I have one item from the Planning Commission to report to you. Last week at the Planning Commission, they approved with a 5-1 vote a Conditional Use Authorization and office allocation for 660 3rd Street. If you recall this is the item that the Commission, the HPC, provided review and comment, which is a contributor to the South End Landmark District and the property was utilizing 803.9 of the Planning Code for the office conversion. The Planning Commission allocated a change of use for 40,000 gross square feet of PDR to office. This is a reduction or about half of the amount originally requested, the project applicant was requesting 80,000 gross square feet so they did reduce the amount requested. As you know, the project sponsor has agreed to implement a historic building maintenance plan and we worked very closely with them on the maintenance plan to assist in preserving the contributor to the landmark district and as you know, we'll have a couple items regarding 803.9 on your calendar later this afternoon so we can have a much more robust discussion and if any question about this particular item we can bring them up at that time. The vote was 5-1. Vice President Fong was absent and Commissioner Moore voted against.
There are two public outreach efforts I also wanted to share with you. Last night, we held our Civic Center Cultural Landscape Survey Community Meeting at the Main Branch of the Public Library. A number of stakeholders attended, which was a good way to network and get everybody who is affected by changes in the Civic Center together to start talking about all the fantastic pipeline projects and one, the Van Ness BRT, which the Architectural Review Committee just met regarding the design that runs through the Civic Center Landmark District. We had reps from the Asian Art Museum, War Memorial, Civic Center CBD, City Hall Advisory Committee, and a few other members of the public and also I’d like to thank Commissioner Johnck for being there. I hope she felt it was a great way to network and hear from the stakeholders in Civic Center about their excitement about the projects in the pipeline, but also their concerns about issues we need to address upfront. Just as a reminder, we included the Civic Center Cultural Landscape Survey packet in your correspondence folders to give you some more time to review that than we normally would require for a packet just because it is a fairly detailed and lengthy survey. We will bring the inventory to you for adoption at your next hearing on October 1st, but we figured we would give you a couple of extra weeks to look at the findings and reach out to us, please, if you have any questions.
The last public outreach effort I wanted to thank you for attending but also share with the public was the Draft Preservation Element Open House. A number of you were in attendance and thank you so much for your participation. I think it added of sort of heightened the attendance and the amount of great input that we received because of your participation. It was at the Old Mint. We had about 50 folks in attendance along with some other guests. As Shelley Caltagirone who’s handling the project said, there wasn't a quiet moment in any time in the room, which I thought was a great sign of how involved and engaged and excited people were that after so many decades the Preservation Element is finally moving forward. We received a lot of great comments at the event. Shelley continues to receive e-mails with suggestions and comments, so we'll naturally share those with you when we bring the Element back to you hopefully this winter.
I did want to point out a couple of organizations that did attend and we are grateful for their contributions to making the Preservation Element the best document it can be. We had Victorian Alliance, SPUR, Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association, Russian Hill Neighbors, the National Trust, the Balboa Terrace Association and the Presidio Trust. And there are folks from around six preservation design firms from the Bay Area who also attended and provided great feedback. If you have any questions, I'm happy to follow up with you if you are curious about any of the comments that we are receiving while we are drafting or revising the document based on your hearings this summer.
Finally, I just wanted to mention at our last hearing we talked about bringing the Landmark Designations Work Program to this hearing to talk about reprioritization, some reporting mechanisms that the Department can provide regarding your program. We had our regular monthly meeting with President Hasz and Vice President Wolfram and we decided at that time to postpone it another month so we are bringing it to you at your second hearing in October which I believe is the 15th because it will give us more time to respond to what Commissioners Hasz and Wolfram would like to see and I think we'll be able to have much more robust discussion at that time so I just wanted to let you know we haven't forgotten, but we are in the process of preparing more material for you so we can have a lengthier discussion about where to move the program over the next year. That concludes my comments and happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
C. COMMISSION MATTERS
3. President’s Report and Announcements - NONE
4. Consideration of Adoption:
· Draft Minutes for ARC August 20, 2014
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Adopted as Corrected
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
· Draft Minutes for HPC August 20, 2014
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Adopt as Corrected
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
5. Commission Comments & Questions
Commissioner Pearlman: I wanted to disclose that on Item 12 – the discussion of the PDR office conversion, I had a number of conversations with Supervisor Cohen’s Office and Kathrin Moore of the Planning Commission and one other person who was just a person in the public.
President Hasz: I spoke to Supervisor Chiu regarding the letter that I am about to distribute concerning 1527 Pine Street.
6. HPC President Appointment of Subcommittee members for Cultural Heritage Assets.
ACTION: President Hasz appointed Commissioners Hyland and Matsuda to the Subcommittee.
7. HPC will consider draft language for a letter to the Planning Commission regarding the proposed project at 1527 - 1545 Pine Street, Case No. 2008.1396E.
ACTION: HPC, through consensus, approved the Comment Letter
D. CONSENT CALENDAR
8. 2014.0412A (D. VU: (415) 575-9120)
79 FAIR OAKS STREET, east side between 21st and 22nd Streets; Assessor’s Block 3618, Lot 090. Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a 14’-2” x 3’-6” rear side addition, enlarge an exterior door and window opening at the rear façade of the ground floor, add two new window openings at the south façade of the ground floor, and expansion of the double doors at the rear façade of the second floor of the existing two-family dwelling. The subject property is a contributing resource to the Liberty-Hill Historic District and is located within a RH-3 (Residential-House, Three-Family) Zoning District with 40-X Height and Bulk Limit.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approve
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
MOTION NO: M-236
9. 2014.0626A (D. VU: (415) 575-9120)
376 LEXINGTON, west side between 20th and 21st Streets; Assessor’s Block 3609, Lot 060. Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness to reconstruct the rearmost portion of the first story including the enlargement and conversion of a sliding window to two hung windows, construct a 2’ x 9’ rear addition and 6’-6” x 9’ rear deck including the addition of two new windows along the south elevation and conversion of a window to a door at the rear elevation, and extend the pitched roof over the new addition to replace the existing shed roof of the existing single-family dwelling. The subject property is an eligible individual and contributing resource to the Liberty-Hill Historic District and is located within the RTO-M (Residential, Transit-Oriented - Mission) Zoning District with 40-X Height and Bulk Limit.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approve
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
MOTION NO: M-237
E. REGULAR CALENDAR
10. 2014.0677A (S. CALTAGIRONE: (415) 558-6625)
1164 FULTON STREET, north side between Scott and Pierce Streets. Assessor’s Block 0777, Lot 011. Request for Certificate of Appropriateness to (1) add an elevator penthouse at the roof level; (2) infill the northeast corner of the third floor; (3) replace the wood cladding and mostly non-historic windows at the rear facade with glass panels shaded by aluminum screens. The rear facade would be composed of both fixed and sliding windows and screens. None of the alterations would be visible from the public right-of-way. The subject property is located within the Alamo Square Landmark District; a RH-3 (Residential, House, Three-Family) and 40-X Height and Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approve with Conditions
PRESENTER: + Emily Gosack, Jensen Architects - project presentation
SPEAKERS: = Louis Isoppe, Neighbor - liked to see the elevation of the back of the house.
ACTION: Approved as Amended, with staff recommendations and requiring that the elevator and penthouse at the rear line-up within the permitted obstruction requirement of the Code.
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
MOTION NO: M-238
11. 2014.0885A (K. WONG: (415) 575-9100)
48 GOLD STREET, North side of Gold Street between Montgomery Street and Sansome Street. Assessor’s Block 0175, Lot 014 – Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness for exterior restoration of the historic brick building and construction of a new addition above. The proposal includes the restoration of the existing brick façade, replacement of a non-historic ceramic tiled cornice with a simple brick cornice, and construction of a two-story contemporary and compatible residential addition above the historic building which is to remain as office use. Constructed between 1888 and 1905 by an unknown architect and historically used as a smokehouse for Achille Paladini’s fish company, the property at 48 Gold Street is a two-story industrial brick building featuring three prominent arched openings with steel framed multi-light windows and one recessed entry. The subject property is located with the Jackson Square Landmark District and designated individually as a Contributory/Compatible under Article 10 of the Planning Code and located within a C-2 (Community Business) Zoning District, and 65-A Height & Bulk District.
Preliminary Recommendation: Approve with Conditions
ACTION: Recused Commissioner Hyland
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
PRESENTER: + Scott Keeney, Project Architect, Applicant and Project Sponsor.
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Approved with Conditions with amendments submitted by staff.
AYES: Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
MOTION NO: M-239
12. 2014.1249T (S. WERTHEIM: (415) 558-6612)
PLANNING CODE AMENDMENTS RELATED TO OFFICE CONVERSION CONTROLS IN LANDMARK BUILDINGS IN PDR DISTRICTS – The Historic Preservation Commission will consider a Resolution to approve amendments to the Planning Code. The amendments are intended to limit the conversion of Production, Distribution, and Repair (PDR) space to office space in Landmark buildings in PDR Districts. The Planning Code is proposed to be amended by revising Sections 219 and 803.9.
Preliminary Recommendation: Adopt a Recommendation for Approval
This item was heard after Item No. 13.
PRESENTER: + Andrea Bruss, Aide to Supervisor Cohen - Legislation introduction
SPEAKERS: = Jim Meko, was Chair of Western SOMA process - preserve the viability of the PDR buildings for the preservation of the working class;
+ Desiree Smith, SF Architectural Heritage - supported the proposed amendments; add economic analysis; conduct preservation activities in a socially economically responsible ways
ACTION: After Hearing and Closing Public Comment; Continued the matter to October 1, 2014.
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
13. (R. SUCRE: (415) 575-9108)
PRESERVATION INCENTIVES IN THE SAN FRANCISCO PLANNING CODE – Department staff will provide an overview of preservation incentives within the San Francisco Planning Code.
Preliminary Recommendation: None - Informational
This item was called out of order, after Item No. 11.
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: None - Informational
14. (J. IONIN: (415) 558-6309)
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION RULES & REGULATIONS – consideration of proposed amendments to the Commission Rules and Regulations.
(Continued from August 20, 2014)
Preliminary Recommendation: Adopt
SPEAKERS: None
ACTION: Adopted as Amended
AYES: Hyland, Johnck, Johns, Pearlman, Wolfram, Hasz
ABSENT: Matsuda
Adjournment: 3:17 PM
The minutes was proposed for adoption at the Regular Meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission on Wednesday, October 1, 2014.
ACTION: Adopted
AYES: Hasz, Johnck, Johns, Matsuda, Pearlman, Wolfram
ABSENT: Hyland
