better neighborhood process, with an 18-page, simplified version of the plan. the organizing committee has been kind enough to let us understand their changes to the plan. and let us bring our own voices into the process. here are some ideas that we would like to see integrated in the future development. we'll let a new, clean, modern look. many of the buildings are old and in need of being fixed. the preservation of authentic local business and the cultural identity of the neighborhood. to provide authentic service, we

recommend the involvement of local business and those from japan. if the current local businesses are unable or unwilling to sustain their activity, we encourage the recruitment of japanese nationals to maintain the authenticity of the neighborhood. and number three is a multi- purpose facility. a small library with japanese writing and an internet cafe and a performing arts center. and the ninja-warrior style gymnasium. in regards to the potential high-rise development and increased density, we would like to keep japan town defended against gentrification. we know that there may be

gentrification but if this becomes the case would like to have adequate and affordable housing available to the residence. thank you. >> and you said you had a 18- page report somewhere? >> i will get this to you in a little bit. >> i would like to see that, thank you. >> commissioners, i am -- i was wanting to say a few words, since i where several hats representing japan town. i am the co-chair of the cultural heritage committee, and part of the citizens planning effort. if so a business person who has a business located on buchanan mall, and an active member of

the japanese-american historical society, with a mission to restore the community. i have experienced as a neighbor the platter, and worked as an urban design consultant, in the bay area for many years. in planning for japan town, it is important to keep the main focus on sustaining the social heritage legacy. this was a point of the ford foundation grant for sustaining one of the oldest urban ethnic neighborhoods. this is undergoing the stress of physical and social transformation.

with the strategic plan for this challenge is a difficult and daunting task. over a hundred years of neighborhood history has many layers of real and symbolic meaning that has been transposed over four generations of participating community members. before i put down the word, committee members, for many years the people living in japan town were not allowed to be citizens. and it is a serious effort of preservation that requires this partnership that we have spoken about this morning. identifying with great sensitivity, the social significance and to memorialize

and monitor the activities -- >> you have at least 30 seconds. >> to monitor the activity and it will be difficult and not an easy path to sort out these techniques, to sustain and investigate the future economic developments. >> diane is up. and robert. >> respected members of the planning commission, thank you for this time. i am part of the japanese community and and i have lived in san francisco although i

currently do not live here. if so the co-chair of the transportation organizing community, but an active member of the fillmore neighborhood. i have been coming to san francisco japan town ever since my father brought me here years ago, driving from the central valley. and i also brought my son during weekly visits during his formative years. there is no other location that provides quite the services that sustain this community, that have such far reaching extensions of community. i cannot thank him enough for bringing the community to this level of understanding of the planning efforts and some of the complexities and the

understandings of the terms. there is still some major work for us to do, and i appreciate this time that we have been given, to further sustain itself, as we embrace the major goals of the city, in a balanced way. i ask that you review the location for the overall picture and the uniqueness of san francisco and what this neighborhood can offer in regards to tourism, and other features, in san francisco. one major contribution that the community can make, as was mentioned previously, is the environmental sustainability element within the public realm. we are further defining the japanese public realm area, in

particular, the vision, and i am confident that you'll be pleased with the outcome. one area we will need more assistance and is for deeper community involvement and awareness. the japanese community is known to be very passive. and although the traditional efforts of our reach -- more labour-intensive work is needed and we do not want this planning effort to be just a few who have been actively involved. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am a member of the japan town organizing committee and one of

the active members of the land use committee. as you have heard from everyone who has spoken so far, the planning for the future of japan town is a very challenging task, challenging communities throughout the nation where we are facing the homogenization pressures of the time and this is uniquely challenging for san francisco, because of our history. this largely consists of government action, at the state and local level in the last century. the denial of citizenship to the east bay immigrants, which denied them a political place. an alien land law, presenting -- preventing them from owning property and the interment of the entire japanese community

and communities up and down the west coast and the redevelopment where entire blocks of a thriving community were bulldozed from the japan town and fell more communities. this current planning effort -- is this city a unique responsibility to preserve one of the most vital communities in the city, and it is especially important because of its history, that the plan to look at and understand japan town in terms of the geographical space and develop a coherent and unified vision for its future, we are considering a number of specific elements and you heard

about this with the public and private design standards, for the heritage district. all of these need to be part of an articulated it -- they have to be understood and applied as part of a unifying vision of the long-term future. as the organizing committee, we have approached the planning process with that premise and we will continue to do so. and we hope to see this in the plan that will be developed by the planning department. >> and is there any additional public comment on this item? public comment is closed. commissioners? >> for some reason, i should go first. i am encouraged that since the

last draft that came before the commission, there has been a tremendous amount of work. and i had my fear is there for a while, -- fears there for a while, regarding the product. and when it came to implementing these mechanisms, that could be developed to address the cultural preservation base of the plan itself. and so i am encouraged and i think it was mr. lord who also was staffing this plan, working with the filipino community there, to develop two cultural heritage or social heritage districts, for that part of san francisco.

i think those examples were immensely helpful in keep in -- and helping the japanese community see that there was a way to address these issues that have been percolating since 2007, before the original planning effort. i just have to say, there are a lot of people here who will testify on these articles and one thing that may or may not come up is the question about surveys. the interesting thing to me about this planning process was the surveys were not just conducted of the buildings and historic structures and what may have historic significance. this also includes cultural properties and institutions, dance and music and language in

schools. and that took place with the filipino community, identifying those things that were institutional and culturally relevant. we're beginning to expand the concept originally started by the historic preservation community, into something that is broader ranging, with the cultural assets that the community needs to recognize and expand some kind of recognition. as far as the specifics, i do not think this is the exact time to go into all of that. the direction that this is headed, and the fact that the community and department recognizes the need for policy

base from which these mechanisms will come forward is an important step and it seems ambitious, but if we can do this by the end of next year, hopefully this is doable and i especially like the idea that there will be the continual exploration of the community land trust idea. i not have doubts, it is just a daunting thing to think about. but the community wants to put their back behind us. and moving ahead with the design standards, and with consolidating the neighborhood commercial districts all seem like good ideas. a lot of work still needs to be done on how this is actually

written, the moving ahead with this is something i will support. this is all for right now. >> i want to thank everyone who has been involved. it is fascinating look through -- looking through all the different surveys that have been done and this is a very exciting product and i am thrilled to support everything that i have seen. crating the neighborhood commercial district, a lot of these concepts -- all of these things, that you put in your plan are things that we need to have happened. we can increase this down fillmore street. in terms of the community land trust, i asked you to look into market creek partners in san

diego. this is a unique situation because they had a gentleman who bought the land and gave this back to the community, so this was a unique situation. but the first in the built here was 10 acres of commercial. they have several different communities in this part of san diego. what they were able to do was a similar process where people came to the table to decide what they wanted on the commercial aspect and part of this included a banquet hall facility that was a way to make money for the community and also multi- purpose with different stores and retail that represent the cultural heritage of the neighborhood. they had an absolutely spectacular project, but what

was phenomenal is that they created the first initial public offering for a community center. basically, you had to buy at least $10 each and at this allowed everyone in the community to have ownership in the project. i thought this was amazing. this is an incredible opportunity with the initial public offering we have people of all different and comes, who say, i own part of this because this starts at $10 per person. this is a $100 investment. it has been extremely successful with that mix of culturally relevant retail as well as a grocery store and other things.

they have done a great drop -- they have done a great job on the property, with the housing type, and this is the outdoor art exhibit or you can see housing that represents the different regions of the world where people come from in the community, and the amphitheater. this is an amazing project highlights what can happen. there was someone who bought this land and gave it back to the community. there may be a public offering that could leverage money. i want to congratulate you for getting this far. this to be a very exciting and fascinating idea. they will do housing -- they are

now bringing housing online, and this to be a great model for japan town. >> i would like to compliment those who have been involved in this, and the amount of work that they put into this. i have to absolutely agree with the statement that this is a better plan than the last one that we were looking at. this has come a long way and i know that this is going in the right direction, with the cultural and social heritage district, this is something that san francisco will end up being the leader in this kind of process and this is an excellent space for this, and it will work here, and it is definitely

needed here. the neighborhood commercial district, i think has to be expanded, and it has to be compatible with the fillmore, as well, but two sections of fillmore that are not always compatible with each other at the moment. this is a great worry for me because they have not solved the tunnel overpass problem, and this, combined with the wall that is a terrible design, and never should have been allowed in the first place in my opinion but a lot of us were not involved at that time, this blocks off japan town and other

than a stairway going down the backside, really. it has to be changed at some point in the future in order to open up the district to that part of the city. and to make everything much more compatible, much more comfortable entry the situation where people who are traveling, or they know that there is something there that exists. there was something in the material submitted to us about the possibility of the japanese consulate moving their. this is a great idea because of the number of u.s. and japanese citizens and other citizens that would, for one reason or another, wished to visit this

consulate. this would give a definite sense of japan town in san francisco and i think this be a great idea if it could come to fruition. i think this has a distinct possibility of working, and i compliment him on his time line i think this is optimistic and i hope that this can be done. this seemed to go on for ages. but so far, i think he has proven you can put together a great deal of work with the number of intern's in order to gather to assist you -- this is extremely impressive and i know

as much as they will have contributed to your work -- i am very impressed so far and i really look for to this time line coming to fruition. commissioner moore: i was prompted to sing my praise. this was an amazing presentation and i cannot be happier because the document that was given to us as it is only black-and- white was a very dry dock about the riches of the presentation fill in all the questions that were not addressed in the document. the thoughts developed were very impressive, with a clear stance

on not increasing high with the idea of the attendant attitudes about parking, i was very impressed with the idea of the potential of innovative ideas on a commercial structure, which is somewhat the centerpiece and it would distract from the subtle qualities with a clear stance on reconsidering webster, and we come back with some constructive ideas, open with interaction on transportation and considering, early on, the appropriate engaging of japan town in this design, and this would be an idea that brings transportation

more into a tangible discussion with this project. the idea of the community land trust is so exciting, with an example that would allow us to look at something that has been done. this is a wonderful improvement over what we have before. what was given to us was a very powerful summary, but the individual standing here and presenting a phenomenal body of work. and there are other issues but not want to get into them. i am very impressed with this and i look forward to this particular plan finding every possible way of getting the

additional lands to bring all aspects of this plan to the same extent, based on what has been presented today. i think this is remarkable, with the consensus of all the different aspects. where we normally see people fracturing into different groups and opinions. these are the major components that make a real plan. congratulations. you had just come out of the more contentious plan. so this is a wonderful way of rounding out that experience. thank you. >> thank you for all the good work. i would like to think outside the box on this. even though what often happens is we look at the project and we

don't consider some possibilities because of the constraints but given -- if we were able to obtain the funding, we have a very long range plan with covering part of 282, between ocean and geneva. what happened, unfortunately in the western admission was unfortunate, but we destroyed the street grid, and the present japan town was one of the outcroppings of that. but the result was this huge wall and the disconnect between japan town and the fillmore district and the destruction of the street grid. one thing that could be considered is, i don't think you'll ever significantly change the boulevard. but if you could make the subway

longer and began the cars as early as buchanan, going into the tunnel and coming out with a tunnel in fillmore, to cover and create the surface local light rail, and a connection of the streets to japan town, you would buy yourself a lot of land that would be recreated and the cars could still get off, to go into japan and down into the area to the north. as of one bridge going over,e gr fillmore in a narrow area, you would have a couple of blocks in each direction to create a lot of thing there is. that is the concept that i would like you to consider. and then the other thing on that no jenin crease of height -- no