probably end up asking you back for president olague: we're going to open it up for public comment at this time. and we will be limiting public comment to two minutes. i apologize for that. we usually give project sponsors about 10 minutes. sorry about that. but if you're here, we will have questions, i'm sure. sarah carlinski, followed by norman fong, james banks, jose luis mejia, and ukoma pitts. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i'm the deputy director of the planning and urban research association.

i'm pleased to be the first speaker for public comment on this item. i wanted to let you know i'm also a board member of c.h.p., but today i'm speaking specifically in my capacity as deputy director of spur. we are happy to endorse the plan. while the size of the plan is modest, the project is a thoughtful and significant precedent to address the needs of an underserved segment of our population. ages 18 to 24, who are aging at a foster care or otherwise at risk of homelessness. in cooperation with the project sponsor, larkin street youth services, they will provide social support services to residents that foster independence, growth and stability. both organizations have a very long-term experience and success with working with populations who haven't had a history of stable housing. the residents will benefit from being in a safe part of the city adjacent to residential areas, while still near transit routes. no vehicle parking currently exists on the site and none is

proposed, nor do we feel that any is necessary for this project. it is very likely that this project will reduce traffic in the area. we support this project sponsor's application to incorporate this one site only, to increase debs tee from 16 to 24 units. this number of units makes the project small enough to be monitored, and yet large enough to be cost-effective. in conclusion, we applaud the project sponsor selection of an excellent site for this project to address the needs of an underserved and at-risk population. the organizations have a strong track record. the location is consistent with the goal of decentralizing supportive housing and the project supports numerous city goals, such as provision of supportive housing and the reduction of homelessness. i urge you to support this project and move it forward. thank you. president olague: thank you.

>> commissioners, it's a wonderful day. a great decision to be made. the heart and soul of san francisco is right before you. i am here actually to share the negative side, which is i've been a pastor in chinatown. and i've had to deal with real tough issues when we decided to build a redevelopment project, hub 236, 185 units of low-income housing right next to and across the street from miller place of the commob hill neighbors. i was a young pastor there. and they said crime, everything was going to happen. guess what? it's beautiful. they love it. did their property value go down? no. there's never graffiti on there for more than a day. with good management, you can do anything. we just built broadway family apartments on 810 battery and we had to deal with the wonderful neighbors of golden

gateway. in the end it turns out great and they come and use our community room, too, for meetings. finally, i was part of the asian-american recovery services. i was chair of the board. we had to put the facility, 18 to 24-year-olds, in this building on hay street but the neighbors sped. they did not party in the streets. they stayed inside the envelope of the building and talked. i think fear is the main issue and we need to turn fear into hope. ladies and gentlemen, all you wonderful neighbors who may be fear fewell right now, one day you will be donating to c.h.p. and the youth center, and they won't bother you. thank you. [applause] >> please refrain from outbursts, clapping and whatnot, thank you. >> good day to you all. i'm here on behalf of the homeless youth of san francisco. my name is james banks. i grew up in the foster care system, so i know firsthand that there are quite a few

problems, like drugs, proogs, etc. but -- prostitution, et cetera. but the main thing people forget is this is not a homeless shelter like the larkin. people can come and be accepted, as with a program like this, they have to know what your goals and intentions are. so i'm for this idea, and i think it's a great opportunity for people like me and people who are like me that come after me. so thank you for your time. dd >> hello. i am currently a resident at g house, one of larkin street's 10 sites and i'm also the longest resident at larkin street. i've been through multiple things. i'm very highly active and i'm strongly endorsing that this

shall go on, because i notice through all the people that i've seen, some people like to be homeless. people like to piggyback off other people. people like to be given services. san francisco is the number one place in the entire world that helps homeless people and they feel like it's a freebie. this endorses and also helps weed out the people who are truly here to make something out of themselves. i was in crutches with a bad leg, nowhere to go, and then i got accepted into the house. two years later i'm at our institute. i'm going for my bachelors. i work full-time with benefits. i'm working hard and i'm actually part of the foundation and throwing a charity for them. and it's because somebody gave me the opportunity not to piggyback, not to ask, not to beg, but an environment that endorses working for yourself.

and i feel like you're going to hear everything that this place is being used to support, while other systems, no need for me to repeat that, that you're going to hear later. but you have to realize, $9.1 million is not enough for somebody's life and to make an opportunity for themselves. i believe my life was priceless and i was not thinking that two years ago. i'm trying to keep my composure. but i'll say everybody judges and are racial and seeing people with a lot of freebies. it's hard to make the decision of $9 million, but i can tell you there are people out there trying to make something of themselves. thank you for your time. president olague: thank you. if i called your name, please come forward. john chapman, felicia fugati, taylor brown. thomas darkweather.

vanessa worry. >> ma'am, has your name been called? president olague: if your name's been called, please start coming up to the mic. >> hello. president olague: if you have a card, you should put the card on the thing and we'll eventually get to it. >> hello. my name is john chapman and i'm speaking on behalf of larkin street. this is for all the youth my age. i think you should give us a chance. as far as improving the housing, it would get the property off the street. you may not reach everybody, but you'll reach some, and that's the people who actually want to do something. you come as a person who -- i'm from the east coast and we don't have no problems like that up there. and to come out here and actually have a chance to better ourselves than to stay down, yeah. why not give us a chance and let us have a chance to make this nation wherever you need

it to be back at. that's all i have to say. president olague: thank you. >> i'm felicia and i'm also with larkin. i'm a survivor of df. i had to leave -- of df. i had to leave. and larkin saved me pretty much. in order to get into transitional living you have to snow initiative that you want to change your life and you want to get yourself together. there's roughly 5,700 of us, and that's a lot of kids to look at. that might make us look bad, but for the amount of kids trying to get into this transitional living facility, there are people who are trying to get themselves together. i want to go to college. they want to go to college. we want to be better. for anybody who's afraid that we would bring crime to your community, we don't want to be in the tenderloin either. we don't want to be around

crime. we don't want to be scared. we want to be living normal lives, just like everybody else. it's hard to do that with the stigma that surrounds it. i completely approve in larkin. they've helped me and they're helping numbers and numbers of kids every single day. i really feel like you should not be scared of us. we're just kids, 18 to 24 and we're trying really hard when we've been pushed to the side for a long time. so thank you for hearing us out. president olague: thank you. >> hello, i am taylor brown and i'm a client with larkin street. i know freckspeerns -- from experience, i'm part of the youth youth initiative program, and i know because i have a place to go to it serves as great base of operations, and because i'm able to get all my stuff done, go out, finds employment and get everything

together. and, as has been said previously many times, and i'm sure will be in the future, there's just a lot of kids who wish they could be doing the same but aren't able to, because there's no openings in the programs. and the fact that you do have to show initiative. you can't just be like, oh, i want to be in this and being bam, you're in it. you have to get an interview, second-round interview, do this. i know this place is a very good idea because it's going to work. and, yeah, there might be people partying in their rooms, but it's only when they have time, because people are going to focus on what they need to do to become productive members of society and do what they need to do. so i'm saying please, this is a very good idea and i fully support it. so thank you for your time. >> good morning, council and

planning committee members. i've been a larkin street client since august of 2009 and i'm speaking here today as a way of saying thank you and showing my gratitude to the hard working men and women of larkin street. the mission of larkin street youth services is to create a continuum of services for youth to move beyond the streets. we nurture potential, promote dignity and support bold steps by all. i'm here today speaking from personal experience and common knowledge. there are many districts in san francisco that are triggering and dangerous zones for many. not just the youth and not just the at-risk youth. the second building is in a stable location, in contrast to many others. given the personal safety -- given the location and the personal safety that it

provides and the readily available access to public transit, providing stable means of travel and confidence and doing so safely, these are all necessary attributes that any one person needs to fix their lives. so we, as youth -- at-risk youth can take full advantage of any opportunities given so that we may take bold steps to move beyond the dangers of the tenderloin district and many others, so that we can provide positive change investing in our youth now will enable the community as a whole t to build up and be brighter. thanks. president olague: thank you. >> thanks. >> good afternoon. my name it is vanessa worry. i'm here to represent the

former and fofter youth of san francisco. i was a former fofter youth myself. i emancipated in 2008 and i became a dependent of the court in 2004 at the age of 14 and immediately, larkin street youth services took me in and put me in my first housing environment, and i've been working with larkin street youth services since 2004. during my time working with larkin street, they have provided me with not only housing, but also valuable life skills, educational support, and they have helped me gain employment time after time again. i've worked all over the place doing advocacy for the former foster youth of not only san francisco, but as well as alameda county. and doing my advocacy, the thing that has popped up time and again is that in order to successfully reach your goals of education, employment and stability, the first thing we need is housing. so that's one reason why i back

larkin street up and the king edward transitional housing program. as you all know, the bill ab-12 was passed last year and that's supposed to extend foster care services. but that's a plan to be worked on for the neck couple of years, and within those years many of the statistics of the 5,700 transitional youth in san francisco will continue to face homelessness. that's why i think it will be very beneficial for us to move forward with this process, to get people off the streets. larkin street youth services has been very good at meeting people where they are at and meeting people halfway. if given the opportunity to work with the community, that they will also prove themselves to meet people halfway and kind of calm down the concerns that the community may have. thank you. president olague: thank you. molly brown, followed by rob dilton, ed melendez, virginia freeman, mark solomon.

>> thank you, commissioners. my name is molly wood browne. i'm a resident of district 2. i've raised four children. three of mine are tased, as you can see. i am wholeheartedly in support of this project. it is long overdue that my neighborhood has something for other people in this town, other than ourselves. and i have been an active member of my neighborhood. i helped serve on the park steering committee and we put in a new playground. i can't think of a better place for these kids to be, quite frankly. i am hope you are aware that there is a dearth of low-income housing in district two, and i think it is something we should be embarrassed about. we need to be thinking of other potential projects for the neighborhood. so i really hope we don't stop here, to be honest. lombard corridor is a perfect place for this project.

it is accessible. there is open space nearby. there's retail outlets for jobs. it is really quite appropriate. i don't think we'd be able to find anything in the interior of district 2 that would be nearly as suitable for this project. i feel very confident about the programs, the operators of this hotel or edward ii, i guess it is. mune knee housing president buell: in larkin has a long history of providing this type of housing and the supportive services. the fact that there's going to be an on-site desk clerk and supportive services is what's necessary for these youths, and i think that the neighborhood will find that it is a plus, that we should feel good about helping our own here in the city. so i'm looking forward to it. thank you. president olague: if i called your name, you can start coming up to the mic.

>> good afternoon. i live on chestnut street. i have a problem with my hearing, so i couldn't hear what you guys were saying earlier. i come here to express my concern. now, the project to me is really an affordable halfway house to me or correction house for the youth. it is defined for people aged 18 to 24. they're young people. and also, the planning division used the group housing, butt halfway house doesn't meet any -- what you call the requirement description of group housing. they just bypassed my request, because i'm more concerned about the safety on chestnut and the scot area.

like i say, i live around the area. at nighttime and on the weekend there's a lot of people weekends -- people drinking in the bars and parks and so on. they will most likely go out and not stay in the room 75 square feet. this will affect the safety in the scot area and will generate for disturbances, nuisance, everything. so that's my concern. dd also, there was a report comparing the other facility on ellis street. i look at ellis street, and there was no public or bars around. just a rental house -- i mean car rental, auto repair shops and things like that.

there's no pubs around. but on chestnut -- president olague: i'm sorry, sir, but your time is up. thank you. i wanted to make sure you heard. michael, john mylar, aerial -- and if i've called your name, you can start lining up. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is mark solomon, a north mission homeowner and i want to support this project, support the conditional use and the s.u.d. i wish the project manager was hear to hear me support a project for a change. i live in a neighborhood that has a lot of affordable housing. we need more. and we face a lot of the problems the city faces. the marina doesn't face those kind of problems and it's about time that we really walk the walk here and we talk about spreading the burden evenly across the community. people talk like it's going to be some sort of a tenderloin dropped in the middle of the marina and that's simply not the case. what we have here is a majority of foster youth who, by no fault of their own, have ended

up falling out of the foster system. do people know what that means? when you turn 18 you just fall off the edge, unless you're lucky and have parents that can help you out. there is no obligation for foster parents to take care of youth once they turn 18. so you've got a community that's at severe risk of all sorts of crime and all that. i think if we have the kind of supportive system in place where there can be a transition away from the foster system and into a productive life, that is a national tragedy that this case can address right here. i think it's sad to see neighbors in a very privileged district taking such a vehement stand against carrying their weight, because there aren't many opposites in this city to find these properties. this one fits so well with the work that's been done here and it's got to be supported. we have to use this as a possible template to go around the conservative sea of this city and make sure we all share the burdens here are carrying the weight of the problems of our city. and in this case it's not a problem, it's actually giving folks a leg up toward a better lot in life and i

wholeheartedly support this. please pass it. thank you very much. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i'm ed melendez, the director for larkin street youth services. my program overseas, a ged, a completion program, support readiness, job training program, one-on-one tutoring and various other employment and education support systems. we worked with 1,100 youth last year. that was everything from referrals to various on the programs in the city. i want to speak to one of the statements that one of our youth made, vanessa, who spoke about foster care, which the highest problem of homelessness is out of foster care systems. not just in san francisco, but in l.a. county, for example. and vanessa really alluded to how things are stabilizing. so if a young person is housed,

they then can take a shower. then they have the stability to go look for work, to complete their g.e.d., to maybe perhaps think about college, look for employment. those things that we take for granted. this housing project is one that i hope you can support. this is not a drop-in. it's tullely youth who have gone now a process to be chosen to be in the housing program. there's going to be support. they're not going to be spending 24 hours there. they're going to go out and work on their g.e.d., go to college, work part-time, full-time, whatever support systems they need. but, again, the primary support is that they have housing, therefore, then they can take steps toward success, towards completing some of their goals, which a lot of them don't have that opportunity. and a lot of young people will be helped through this. and, again, the staffing will support that, but there's also

background help for these young people. they will have other support systems. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> hi. my name is virginia freeman. i lived in cal hollow since 1976. i'm a member of the cal hollow association, so i'm not here representing them, so to speak. i would just like to, first of all, note that i have utmost respect for all of larkin street youth center. i've donated to larkin street over the years, both financially. i have given almost new appliances to them, even a stationary bicycle for the residents to help reduce their stress. so i'm very much in favor of larkin street and everything and every person here today. however, it's important to differentiate the difference between opposing the project

and opposing the intended residents. if this were to be a 16-unit residence, that's a different story. the developers have gotten themselves noose a pickle where now they want to increase the density to where it doesn't make sense for the neighbors. if this were to be a housing unit for elderly people, i would oppose it -- i would approve it at 16 units but oppose it at any more than that. that doesn't mean i don't respect the elderly. if it were for wounded warriors and there were 16 units, i would support it. the fact that it's more than 16, more than 24, more even than 32 -- it could even be 48 residents, that makes the project invalid, and i feel that it's the developers here that are at fault. they're pitting the neighbors against larkin street, which is wrong. if ever there is something that's not clear, if you plug the word "money" in the blank it becomes more clear why this

is going on. i feel that the developers are using larkin street as nothing less than human shields to get their project passed and pitting the neighbors against larkin street, and that is not the case. thank you. president olague: thank you. i'll call a few more names. brad paul, kathy lowery, charlie dickie. >> hi. i'm aeriel, the vice president of the marina community association. i just want to say when i heard about this project over a year ago, i think it was april of 2010, i was elated. i was so excited to hear that we were going to be able to have this type of housing in our neighborhood for san franciscans, at-risk youth and those aging out of the foster care system that was going to be in our neighborhood. we were going to support the project the at our first meeting with the project sponsors and the mayor's office of housing, we realized that conversation wasn't open for discussion. it was something that was kind of being laid on the table in front of us. once the special use district

started to take form and we were talking about 25 units of housing on a lot that's currently zoned for 16, seeking an open-space waiver, seeking a rear-yard waiver with no disability access to all the units, so if the building manager were to be disabled, they would not be able to access all units, thus making it impossible for a disabled person to be the building manager. those things bothered me. and i said, well, if kids want to smoke, where can they smoke? they can smoke in their rooms. what about healthy san francisco? but there's no yard. so i said these kids need a place to live, so we can make it work. but then once i asked, so is this project only for san franciscans? is it for kids who are in this room right now, the 4700 or the 5700 of youth who are looking for places to live in this city? no. there is no requirement that kids for this project get prevens treatment if they're from this city. it doesn't mean they have to be born and raised in san

francisco, but there should be something said for people not getting off a bus from whatever town they're from and applying for this program. we need to focus on the youth in san francisco who have want to be here and made a long-term commitment to be here. that was a request we made of the project sponsors. they were unable to incorporate that into the overall plan and that's something in your position today, i think we should move forward with this project at 16 units and i hope we can ask that we make requests for the people of our town first. president olague: thank you. >> my name is john millar president of the marina community association. i'd like to, for the record, ask if at some point we could have david lindsey confirm his comments. i thought i heard him say that this was a vacant facility. my understanding is it was operating as a tourist hotel up until the point when community housing partnership acquired the building. as of today, i believe there are still community partnership

residents living there. perhaps at some point you can ask him to clarify those remarks. you probably already understand that my organization would welcome a facility that fits within the zoning limitations. we do have concerns about the special use district and the fact they want to put 24 units in here of the you've also heard today that this is not a public housing project and we understand that's the case, that once this project is underway, ownership of this building is transferred to a private investment group, and those are investors who can expect to earn a 9% rush -- return after taxes on their investment. so their interest is not necessarily the at-risk youth we're hoping to help, it is in fact a positive return on their investment. it seems reasonable that if we are going to grant private investors an opportunity to reap financial benefits by spot-zoning this particular