mind -- had the presence of mindand he . president olague: please don't come back behind this barrier again, thank you very much. >> i was able to get to safety. it was a huge and very personal illustration, we need something like this for a lot of people. there are many others that can't or don't or won't.

[chime] president olague: [reading names] >> thank you for allowing us to be here today. i am a 67-year-old disabled gay senior that has lived in san francisco for close to 30 years and loves living here. i had the misfortune of losing my apartment. i spent the next two months looking every day for an affordable safe place to live. it wasn't until two weeks and

before i was about to become a homeless person that i found something, a small studio. it is a market rate apartment, unfortunately. i have seen the savings i have replenished and such a fast way that it is frightening. and i am not the only senior in this city that lives like this. we would have a program that helps us get more housing that we need. open house has been kind enough to put this together. i implore you to pass what ever it is a need to pass to get the program rolling. president olague: thank you. >> i'm not sure how this works.

president olague: flip it around. there you go. >>i' i'm here with the save- the-laguna-street campus. this is part of a letter that they sent in december of 2010 indicating an old and the desire to consolidate the buildings from seven to perhaps five or six and at 34 units and 30 parking spaces. i called your attention to it because it appears the this quite a bit of additional design that will need to be done to make it work for the new developer. which means additional

environmental reviews. the light to see any new review take a lunch at the modified preservation alternative. which would preserve it by not demolishing in. perhaps we can reconfigure the residential building for open house to accommodate the amex. this is a national register historic district. we're asking you to prohibit the demolition of these structures in the modification by requiring full compliance for the district including the evaluation of the modified preservation alternative in

addition to demonstrating commitments for 100% construction financing. prior to the issuance of a building permit, a project is subject to the national historic preservation policy act. we just want to make sure that all of the possible alternatives are properly evaluated. 12 also raised concerns about the laver unemployment that former directors filed before taking the job as president of mercy housing. president olague: thank you. >> my name is jason henderson

and the represent the neighborhood association. i was involved in the meetings where we came to a consensus. thank you for delaying this two months. it was very important so we could have a discussion about inclusion area housing. we accept visa agreement, the hybrid. and the one year to find funds. after some prodding and nudging from the community, it turned out to be a very good process. that was kind of beneficial. we didn't get in an awkward situation in the hope that is not repeated as some of these other large scale projects come forward today. the desire for walkable communities. developers are coming in.

we really need affordable housing in these big developments. seeing out is a problem from our perspective. another issue that i would like to put out there is when you rezone, it gets messy. we have another one that has that for parking and so on. and i am a little bit uncomfortable with the project's sponsors suggesting that they might come back for more modifications. i am not sure what that is about. >> [reading names]

>> we stand in favor of this project. it is a long time coming, they often find themselves in residential hotels are round the sixth street corridor. and for transgendered, it is difficult for us to find adequate housing. this would be a very good project for our community to be able to meet the same rules and to socialize with each other in a tight-knit community that has been ostracized for living their lives in a being who they are. it is a good project. please support the project of

the developers can break ground and get the project under way. very rarely see a project of this magnitude coming before the commission. >> i'm here on behalf of the housing action coalition, and we have been looking at this 1 cents a least 2004. i think i have lost count how many times i have been before the commission supporting this project. we were pleased to have posted the discussion of the stakeholders that led to this agreement. we stand in full support of our members. i also want to draw attention to the under appreciated job. if there is one city agency that has been hammered, they had to

scramble hard. it is testament to the work they did. the one thing that we cannot and will not support is any further review of this. this project has been reviewed it to death. it represents the values we should support, and there is not a single advantage to holding this of any further. >> in the afternoon, commissioners. i wanted to make a comment about the process that was undertaken by our office at the request of the community members and the developer. we appreciate the community really holding us accountable to

the modifications were proposing, and the think we ultimately end up with a better project as a result. where are more than happy to come back and report on our ability to find the financing once we have looked at our fiscal situation. i wanted to address the comment about the ethics issue. at the beginning of this year, shoemaker was no longer involved. i was involved, thank you for the opportunity to bring the project to you. president olague: is there additional public comment on this item? anyone who wants to speak, please come to the microphone now.

>> i am here on behalf of some seniors. i have arthritis, but i don't want to talk about that we needed because of that. i feel that with the lgbt people, it will be a history kind of thing because we are the history of the gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered people. the people that want to study the city and us, they can find us and they can come and be with us. [laughter] it is a little area where we can rest our bones. we are history, and history should be easy to find. we saved buildings because they have been around for centuries, let's save us. [laughter] [applause]

>> i am a screaming queen, a legend, an icon, a diva and a fantastic woman. i asked the original screening queens, i came to san francisco was around 15 years old. and even before drag came out, we were drag hair fairies. the only way we could make money was by prostitution, drugs, and alcohol. i have been molested and beaten up. i have been raped.

i am a 65-year-old transsexual woman. i fought in the cafeteria rioting and i have been hiv- positive for 25 years. and i am a survivor. have been in the community since 1962, and i strongly support open house because i have then a volunteer for five or six years. we go to different organizations and tell them how we would like to be treated. i turned 65 years old last week and i am very proud of all the people that were cut open house, because it is about time. hollywood has triangle square that just opened up senior

housing in hollywood. we are supposed to be the guests townhouse - -ga -- the gayest town in san francisco. thank you for wokrking. please, commissioners, we need to feel like the straight community can come together and we don't have to be scared of our neighbors or are. presidentag public comment is closed. commissioner miguel: let's start out by saying i am in full support of the project and have been for many years.

to transfer state teachers college to a more useful situation. the least it was carrying on some of the educational commitments as a complex and there that was designed to create a fortress. totally removing it from the community. the plans and the concept archery connected to the community which is something that this commission has pushed for many years in this and other situations. i like to complement the mayor of's office of housing -- the mayor's office of housing for finally crafting something that can be brought before us.

if there are substantive changes, i am sure it will come back to us. i have followed this from at least the start of the market octavia discussion when that neighborhood was coming together. i was the representative from conservation to open house for a couple of years. i am very familiar with it. san francisco has a lack of senior housing, particularly below market rate. it exists outside the city, so you have to be removed from where you have established

everyone you know and everything in know. that has to be corrected. senior housing is hard to find. lgbt senior housing is next to impossible to find. miss collins mentioned it was a long time coming, and that is exactly what this is. i would move the present conditional use draft motion. commissioner borden: i am not going to reiterate what commissioner miguel just said, by want to thank everybody that shared their stories. my heart goes out to sell many because a lot of people were not able to maintain their housing in san francisco because of the lack of osrsort of housing.

it breaks my heart to see that people can't access resources they need in this city they loved her because we don't provide of affordable housing in general. i am thrilled to be able to be part of making this happen. i want to thank you all for sharing your stories with us and reiterating that importance. i want to thank the community for advocating the inflationary housing. it was one of those terrible situations where we had a terrible bargain that we had to look at. i am so glad that we were able to figure out a way to maintain inclusion rehousing and also have a successful project.

i know there was an article in the paper about the project moving forward on market street and that a lot have been bought. i of the mayor's office is looking at these projects'. of the money can definitely be there is a that we can be there sooner rather than later. >> i am glad that there were community efforts on everybody's part so that we were faced here, maybe today or at some point trying to be referee between factions, so to speak. i am particularly glad that the community process work and i think everyone on the commission

can be behind its and i have to make difficult decisions between one side or the other. i am particularly happy that the process work. commissioner moore: i fully support the project and what all of my fellow commissioners have said, including the recognition of a riveted the spoke about personal experiences. ultimately, what we are strong about is handing it to you, and you all did that. the community organizations that have long supported the project and provided us with the impetus to continue, all of you deserved great recognition, and of like

to ask one question. you are representing the project sponsor, and my question to you is, how are you anticipating major changes? originally, we looked at the strong architectural developments less of the most competent architects and the affordable housing. will those people stay on board? >> as you know, commissioner, the financial difficulties over the last few years, have transferred their interest to the international developer in atlanta. they have not gone into detail.

we need to get to this is the first to make sure that this peace could be in place so that the project is feasible and can move forward. the next step will be looking at design, and there may be some adjustments made to a. if it is anything significant, it will come back to you. >> can answer the part were whether or not the architects will stay on board? it takes a critical balance between historic preservation and letting a necessary project take its place. they have the sensitivity to deliver something of exceptional high quality, stepping into architectural quality that we all felt would be a historically

strong building, and i am not talking so much about the scientific facets, but when you have a strong building from the past, you need a strong building for the future. i want to make sure that as we are opening up new approval for project, you take with you the obligation to bring something back to this commission by which our support philosophically for what will be in the buildings will continue to be a strong as the expression of the building that will be approving in the future. >> i am sure my client heard you, and if there are changes, we will come back with strong architecture. i can assure you that everyone involved previously will remain involved. commissioner moore: for us, it is not just another project.

we are watching it very closely. surrounding it and adding something, > [unintelligible] president olague: i think there are unsung heroes in all of this. it started with the first iteration of the project approvals about for her five years from now. people fought to make sure that this side would remain deeply affordable for seniors. it wasn't the original iteration of this project. it was originally meant as a 0% for whatever -- they all fought

very hard to make sure that it remained deeply affordable. and now with the latest visit to this project, it was sort of rock with some kind of tension between those of us that wanted to see a deeply affordable senior project and those in the community, folks that really wanted to make sure that some attention was given to the original commitment of the project to provide affordable rental housing to families. a they reminded us that people like tommy and brian, when we

fight for our own, we fight for everybody's ability to remain in the city. i want to thank those the facilitated the project and others that stayed with it and didn't give up. i guess ultimately, for a lot of us, living in san francisco isn't a choice, it is a necessity. we hear that time and again, especially those from different lifestyle choices. and just the histories of everyone in the room, the elders that opened the doors for everyone to live. it can't go unrecognized and it will be really critical, i think people from the community have

the opportunity to remain in this culture, it is not an option. here is some affordable housing and open in walnut creek. part of it has to deal with [unintelligible] i want to thank all of you for speaking ianda dealing with the things that the courage to step out when some of us weren't even born. you guys are out there fighting the good fight. i want to thank you for that.

i will call the question on this item. >> there is a motion for approval to commissioner borden:. -- for approval. [roll call vote] that motion passes unanimously. president olague: we will take a 10 minute recess at this time. [applause]