i had planned to build down the street. without the capital, i cannot keep my business going. this has been a huge impact to me. i beg the mayor's office not to put this through. they did not need to buy this thing. instead that they said, it will not be a problem, you will be fine, you will be up to sell your units. matter of fact, sometimes the prices go up because of this. that has not been the case. president olague: thank you. >> hi, i am pam squires, and i am supportive of the 16 units of affordable housing at the edward. i am here today to speak to you about the outrageous cost disparity between our construction project at 3190

scott street and the proposed edward remodel. i have these to hand out. the cost per square foot of the 3190 scott street is $285. the proposed cost of the word is $1120 per square foot. that is not monopoly money. this is real taxpayer dollars. my money and your money. we should really take a close look at this. the edward costs are four times that of a luxury building directly across the street at 3190 scott street, and the etter -- and the edward is one- quarter the size. it has 25 bedrooms, ours has 24. we have to dozens were feet of

open space, they have none, we have parking, they have none. this is my issue, the cost. i am all for it, but i am finished playing monopoly par. president olague: thank you. david, george, michael williams, followed by stephen and charlie castro. >> i am david, a resident of cal hollow. i want to talk briefly about two items. one, we had the gentleman say he did not think people knew much about zoning. i want to tell you that every meeting we have, we spend too much time on zoning matters. at the annual meeting, there is a complete review of zoning.

should perfection be the victim of the good? this project is so far from good, i don't think we have to worry about that proposition. i want to pick up on what the last speaker said. the expenditure of $9.1 million is completely unjustified and grossly excessive. these are precious funds. these are affordable housing unit funds. they could be much more beneficially spent. what is the reason for paying so much? the building was for sale. it was small. it was smallpox these other reasons given by one of the proponents. if it was small, why are they spending $5.1 million to renovate it to make it sufficiently large inside to house these number of people?

the justifications supposedly given are not justifications, they are explanations. they are not reasons, they are causes. what does this have to do with whether or not an sud should be created? the crux of this matter is the expenditure is the reason we are all here because it is the price that has been paid for this that requires, supposedly, the 24 units compared with the 16 units. president olague: thank you. >> thank you, commissioners, for the opportunity to address you. i say yes on affordable housing and i say no to edward ii. my name is george. i live within two blocks of the property, over 24 years. larkin is a wonderful

organization. most of us know that. i strongly support affordable housing. and our neighborhood taking its share of dealing with it and helping out. but after hearing the testimony, you would tend to think that the idea and understanding is they know as much about real world living space as they know about life -- about life and the solar system. it is not healthy for the youth to increase density as planned. to cram 24 10 foot by 12 ft. refrigerator-style rooms into this place might be forward thinking for the developers and planners, but it is not for the youth. i ask, how many of the planners and developers have their own young adults planned into this scheme even one month? that is without a car to escape. anybody with common sense knows

to put 24 people in a 7-by-10 foot kitchen to make a meal is insensitive to normal human scale. that are better places in our neighborhood and the edward ii. i don't know if you have ever seen a chicken coop, but increasing the density as planned amounts to taking a small chicken coop and cramming it to the roof with cages, and that travesty is unfair to the disadvantaged young children and youth. i urge you not to allow the special use district for the edward ii. thank you for your time and consideration. a>> good afternoon, commissioners, michael williams. i've been asked to read a letter from our association, written by leslie. "dear commissioners, the

association is not in favor of spot zoning property at 3155 scott, as it will set an extremely bad precedent and have an unattended consequences of neighborhoods and city in general. once the city allows and permits this type of zoning so as to obtain their goals, what other unacceptable intrusions into the committees will be forthcoming? we urge you to disallow this is the under-the cohesiveness of this particular neighborhood. we're also not happy with ticking away a tourist hotel to sustain the economic vitality of cal hallow for much-needed tourists who stop and dine on union and chestnut streets. our merchants need all the help that can get to stay alive in this should the economy and already we have seen several motels go off the market and catered to a single room occupancy or dormitories. the king edward is a desirable

property. with refurbishment could be an asset. the city is serious about helping small businesses, it would seem to was this property should not have been selected in the first place. perhaps if the committee had been consulted prior to the city buying the property, we would have been spared this ongoing hassle. of the properties would have been pointed out in the city would have saved considerable money in our communities with have been saved all this grief. our association urges you to just say no to both proposals." my name is michael williams. i have no conflict of the tourist with this letter. i have done a windshield survey, and i assure you that this is pretty well held throughout the community. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon, again, commissioners. i am from the mayor's office of housing.

i wanted to address this complex -- president olague: sorry, did you speak to the sud before? >> i did. president olague: we may have questions after the meeting. this is the public's time to speak. >> good afternoon. my name is steven. i am with the corporation of affordable housing. it is a national nonprofit organization and we work with communities across the country to create permanent housing with services to. and and homelessness. the support of housing model we're talking about today is a proven approach to ending homelessness and reducing the costly and unproductive use of some republics services. we believe strongly in the evidence that is extremely promising that transition-age

youth are able to succeed and provide decent, safe, and affordable housing, along with access to relevant funds and services. the youth can heal from past traumas, create community connections, access the services they need, build the skills they need to live stable and independent lives, and make progress toward achieving their maximum potential. for these reasons, we are an enthusiastic supporter of community housing partnership and the larkin street youth services efforts to create 24 units of supportive housing for youth aged 18 to 24, including youth aging out of foster care. we have worked in a committee housing partnership and orchestrate services and have already -- always been -- and larkin street services and have always been a professional. they have a meaningful cut addition to the city's

transition-age youth housing plan goal of four. units. each unit of supportive housing for youth represents a significant investment in preventing homelessness and the emergence of a new generation of homeless adults and families. please port -- please support the project and please support the request and conditional use request. thank you. president olague: karen, jeff, ramey, david. >> good afternoon. my name is charlie caster. i live about three blocks from the project. when i first heard about the project, but it was a great project. after hearing all the arguments on both sides, i am that much more in favor of the project and proud to be in support of the project.

i am embarrassed by some of the comments from my local neighbors. i feel like san francisco it embraces diversity. i feel like this is a great project. after hearing all the comments, i just wanted to make two quick points. number one, the argument about the density, we're talking about eight units. the opposition sounds like 80 or 800. it is eight. the other point about crime, you could make a valid argument that by not having this project will have the kids on the streets. my argument is without this project, it will increase crime. those are my main points and i am in support of the project. i think it is a great product and i am sure you guys will make the right decision. i just want to say that, thanks. >> good afternoon, in tim, on behalf of the san francisco affordable housing coalition.

i wanted to express our strong support for this project. we see way too few of them. this is a drop in the bucket, and we support the sud. i wanted to take particular exception to the view of the world that says somehow mo has tons of money and there is a universe of sites, dozens of sites that could go to. if the folks knew how hard it is to get one of these off the ground and how miraculous it is we are at this point before you today, i think the opposition is not aware of how difficult it is to do this. this is an excellent re-suuse of a former tourist hotel. i don't want to be labor rate, but we think this actually not only is a great addition to san francisco but it really improves the merina. it makes it a better balanced neighborhood. there are more uses of land, and

we object strongly to the idea, there has to be a better place for? this is a great place for it and i hope you will approve. thank you. >> good afternoon, and thank you for allowing me to speak for two minutes. my name is dr. karen jones. i live and the cow hollow district and have been a resident there 36 years. i would like to voice my unequivocal support for the edward ii project. i have represented children approximately 12 years and i have had many opportunities to work with larkin. i was repeatedly pressed by the level of dedication and involvement of the counselors and the lives of the youth. there were not afraid to get involved, not afraid to testify. i was very impressed with them and i am very grateful for the work that have done. i have also been impressed with the efforts of the larkin

street and community housing partnership to reach out to the neighborhood. i received a big package to the mail explaining what this was about. i got people to return my phone calls, i communicated with them by e-mail. i am good. my work has made me well aware this is a catastrophic future if they did not receive the transitional services. listening to the other folks, there are two points i would like to make. one, if there were serious concerns about possible increases of crime, in recent study from the university of chicago has found crime rates for use in foster care felt as the youth got older. by the age 21, it equaled that of the not foster care kids. in other words, the rates are about the same. they are opining that this is because they may have that

transitional services. also, these are not just any kids plucked from the general population. they have to be employed, to have to be in school, have to be approved at the can cut the mustard. there is also a 24-hour supervision and case management. thank you very much, appreciate it. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is jeff wood, and i also support affordable housing and the work york -- the larkin street youth services does in our city. the question today is not do we support this kind of housing or don't support it. the question is, should we have 16 units or 24, or 48? how many can we cram into this space at this one site?

you are being kind of hoodwinked by the sponsor, i think, in glossing over a lot of the problems that can occur when you cram too many youth into one housing site. for example, there is another project that addresses. the address is 64 ellis street. it is also managed by larkin street youth services, and there are fine youth there also. there are 24 units, the same model. the problem is the model. there is no outdoor space. there is very little community space in the facility. what i would like you to do, if you are going to remove the protection that the current zoning affords the neighborhood, i would like you to require certain minimal things of the community housing

partners. one of them is maybe that should only have certain residence at the location. they should find some way to provide open space. maybe eliminate one of the units. so they have 20, 23 units. they should have been no drug policy. i like to see that. i like to see them acknowledge that. they should have a limit on residents in the building, 30 maximum. you should require those things that will make the neighbors feel more secure. thank you. president olague: brooke, kat anderson, adam, jacob moddy,ody. >> commissioners, brooks sampson, three blocks away from the edward ii site.

i support the career nc-3 zoning. any change to this zoning needs careful scrutiny. i have come before you many daytime. for you not to take this seriously would be alarming. i know every housing unit is vital to the city, and the character of the neighborhood is vital to the city as well. i have some concerns. on the density, 64% increase in the number of dwelling units. that is high. rear yard? there is no regard for open space. are you aware of this? there is absolutely no usable outdoor area. the only adjacent outdoor space will be on the sidewalk. there will be no place for lounging, gathering, a keating, etc. -- eating, etcetera

the other affordable housing units have been open rear yards. these include sonoma youth and family, oakdale avenue, 18th and alabama streets. finally, the repercussions of no rear yard is grand. for example, smoking will be allowed in each of the 25 units because, guess what, there is nowhere else to go. that would create an environment where ery unit has the potential for an unsafe environment for these youth. this is against the health code, contrary to the surgeon general, and let's get real, where will they smoke? in their dwelling unitss? ure, where else? they cannot smoke in front of edward ii. that has been given. cannot smoke in the common area, that is given. where will they go? thank you.

>> good afternoon. my name is adam, an attorney representing a cal hollow. today we have heard several success stories from the larkin street youth services' programs. our organization would be happy to host a housing facility for transitional age youth that would result in even more such success stories. unfortunately, the evidence before us specific to this project does not convince us that would be so. in particular, the program's sponsor's applications for the proposed sud ordinance and for the conditional use authorization, which, after all, is what you are here to decide today, did not describe a single program that larkin street plans to provide at the edward ii. that cannot describe the number

of hours of services that would be provided. -- they did not describe the number of hours of services. furthermore, even if the appropriate amount of support of services are provided at this site, we don't believe there is enough room to host them. at the beginning of this hearing, several hours ago, mr. gilman described this as a small project. we believe this is too small of a project to have 24 residents. the architect described there would be 1800 square feet of total programming space. however, it seems like he used to calculate every inch of space that is not a bedroom for the residence. he even included the manager's unit. we could all agree there will not be any programming in the manager's unit. according to the conditional use

authorization application, the program room is only 427 square feet. the tenants service room is only three of 41 square feet. that is not sufficient space to have the adequate amount of service for 24 resident. president olague: thank you. alex, nancy, cheryl, jaime cruz, joseph. kim reagan, and serena. and if your name has been called, feel free to walk up a twothe mic. president olague: i'm sorry, you have spoken. >> these are more letters of support we would like to offer. president olague: thank you, great. >> commissioners, thank you for

the opportunity to speak. i am joseph, resident for over 45 years. also, an employe of the city and county over 15, that has worked with at-risk youth. this is great. i think we need to help these kids and so on, no question. but most of all, we cannot be doing what we are already doing in our prisons and schools. we are cramming classrooms and we're cramming prisons. to take this facility from 14 units and build up to 24 is wrong. you need to give these people some room to move around, some recreation space, so on. the nearest part is over half a mile away. -- the nearest part is over half a mile away. what you need to do is find a facility that will do it and do it right, not put a bandage on it. there is a facility at bush and

divisadero which is a san francisco retirement home. that facility would allow you to put in dozens of units for these children who were at risk youth. the facility would be ada- compliant, it would allow for recreation, and most of what it would probably be cheaper than what the city did by buying this building and now having to retrofit it to fit everything elsein. thank you, and have a good day. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i'm here to speak on behalf of our executive director of the tenderloin neighborhood development corporation, and also here to support the plan for the larkin street youth services and community housing partnership to develop 24 affordable housing units for transitional age youth at the historic edward ii inn.

we own, develop, and provide services for 3000 low-income individuals and families and 30 buildings in five neighborhoods in san francisco. housing for this population is especially critical at this time . san francisco this time5700 -- at this time has 5700 youth who are at risk of being homeless every year, yet fewer beds to provide for them. programs like the proposed edward ii site are desperately needed. edward ii will be a critical resource for the population. we have worked closely with community housing partnership and larkin street youth services, having engaged in several substantial joint ventures with each organization. from firsthand experience, we attest to their excellent work helping homeless individuals and families. 10 years ago, we developed one

of the first buildings to house formerly homeless youth in the country. we invited larkin streets to be our partner because they bring such expertise to working with the population. we pioneered this kind of housing and have learned many lessons in the past decade, and edward ii will benefit from. i urge you to support community housing partnership and organ street youth services in their endeavor to provide supportive housing -- and larkin street youth services in their endeavor to provide supportive housing. this represents the opportunity these youth deserve to obtain permanent housing and work towards their goals. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> hi. my name is serena, and i am a resident of cal hollow. thank you for your patience. that is simple for everybody to speak and i appreciate the

opportunity. i have been a resident of san francisco 11 years. the first two years i lived in the tenderloin and i lived three blocks away from larkin. guess what, it was a great experience. to encourage me to want to fulfill my civic obligations, and i wanted to volunteer for them. it was a wonderful connection. i have had the opportunity now to work with larkin as a product manager. i live in cal holow. i want diversity in my backyard. i cannot tell you how knowing it is to see the 22-28-year-old walking down the street drunk on a saturday night. these youth are responsible. they have responsibility and obligation to our society. guess what, larkin gives them hope to do that in to fill the obligation that we want them to succeed, and it will do that.

we need to increase the density. 24 units. that is not that much. but across the street at the condo, guess what, it may not be -- it may be empty because it is not that pretty. larkin is creating a building that will preserve the integrity of the historic structure. does what, a toxic little money to that. why? at the end of the day, we have to put fear minimum wage in 12 or buildings. somebody was saying about i guess open space? guess what, three blocks away is presidio. that is the only urban national park outside of washington, d.c. it is not that hard to do whatever you want a few blocks away and i walked all the time. at the end of the day, when i was 22, the unit i live in was 7 by 10 and 10 by 12 living space and i survived very well.