colleagues have said. i think they have enumerated the concerns with the actual building, not with the project itself. but not at the expense of stopping the project in any sort of way. everyone realizes the vital part of our medical system and provides medical service for a very important community. we also want to maintain the beautiful fabric of what chinatown is, and i think that some of the things commissioner moore and others have identified with the actual building is really critical. i mean, we recognize from looking at other projects there's not a great lot of renovation and doesn't seem to be in hospital design but this particular hospital, this location, does need to be treated a little more sensitively. >> if i may jump in, i want to address some different aspects of i think what is in front of us today which is the chinatown area plan. i think that there's been a lot

of discussion about preservation. i think one of the strongest preservation tools, both physically and as of use and of community has been the chinatown area plan. and i think there are many people in this room that were a part of that legacy and it was this department that shepherded this through. i think it really protected the residential base of the neighborhood, really protected the commercial and mixed use of the neighborhood and it's those residents every day that bring the bustle to the nabled and think that's really important and think that's different from other chinatowns throughout the nation. and i think that d.c. with a new conference center coming in that doesn't have the connection to the neighborhood, we see that happening through some other chinatowns across the country. i also want to talk about the importance of institutions in that institutions i think create a history, people coming to chinese hospital years and years. we heard of a number of speakers who were born in that

president and i think that creates a living and breathing history, i guess, in the neighborhood. vice president wu: i take very seriously the neighborhood plan. i think there should be very few exceptions to the plan itself. there is an s.u.d. in fron of us today, changes to the general plan itself, reclassification. i think there are only certain projects that really warrant that kind of change, and i think that this project has done so carefully, looked at it very carefully to the sort of carve-out that's been created here. i think that one might worry about setting a path for other projects to come in and sort of, i guess, destroy the fabric, really. and i don't think that that's been done. i do think there's been a very careful, very deliberate eye to this, and i appreciate that. with respect to some things that were talked about today,

the front facade. you know, i think that is the idea of the front facade being preserved. i do think it's likely more appropriate for some other location. commissioner miguel commenced maybe a plaza. i know there's not necessarily a plaza that's available right now. but i think that it may -- in my opinion i don't think it's best for incorporation in this building instead but maybe some other homage within chinatown at another location. and i also wanted to speak to the landscape architecture. i think that what's really great about the existing chinese hospital is that front area where there's seating, where there's an openness and people walk in and out of the area. it's almost like an extension of the sidewalk. and i really like the move that has been made towards replicating that. i think it would be a great loss if that were lost. i think it's street life that really defines the

neighborhood. and i would encourage the architects to continue to look at it and continue to refine it. it's at a detailed level but i found there's some notes for moveable planters or moveable benches. i always think that's a dangerous proposition in a very dense area where you have so many people walking through. i just encourage, as there's been him speech of looking to the architecture as a whole but the landscape architecture. commissioner moore. commissioner moore: you're taking the words out of my mouth. i'd like to attract your attention to image number two. that is what you'd normally call a flat land. and what's unclear to me is the continuity of the sidewalk as you come down jackson street because i see the slight awaking of the curve line that would make a narrow sidewalk in that area even narrower. however, in the continuity of the entire block, i like to see

how that works. if i understand it correctly, we will -- we are taking more of the sidewalk away by putting intense street furniture on it. and while i support the idea of people gathering in front of the building being very important, i do not quite understand what it means to those people who are just walking by and still have to have an unobstructed sidewalk. and i might not understand this point correctly, but that i would like to see some additional explanation on that. vice president wu: commissioner antonini. commissioner antoninii think we have a comment from the sponsor. commissioner moore: perhaps i misunderstood your drawing.

>> what was your concern? commissioner moore: the width of the sidewalk for just people passing by on the jackson street side. >> actually, the width of the sidewalk has not changed itself along jackson street. and the open space is really set back a little bit so it's even a little wider than the existing building. >> my name is wayne -- the project cuggetant of the chinese hospital. we maintain the sidewalks. what you see in some of those little square there is are the location of the underground pg&e controllers and the sidewalk width and use is maintained except for the potential placing trees there. potted trees.

one of the reasons, in response to commissioner wu's comment about the moveable, we have to place three pg&e transformer vaults in the sidewalk to service the hospital. pg&e have these requirements that when the transformer vault doors open, they have to be cleared, and so we're trying to work out the distance and also to comply with pg&e requirements. so the other part of it is that beneath that sidewalk, there's a whole slew of utilities that we cannot dig planter wells into that sidewalk. so i guess, commissioner moore, in your question, is that in the sidewalk we haven't placed any furniture, any street furniture, on james alley which is on the east side, it is a narrow alley about 12 1/2 feet wide of which chinese hospital owns half of that alley.

the balance of the alley is still owned by the city. in our meetings with the community groups, they wanted us to look at extending places for people to sit, to gather. and so we've added the furniture along that alley so that they can use it. again, it would have to be more moveable because there are certain underground tanks that are underneath that alley and also other activities that may go on. but the seats will be more permanent but still be able to be moved when we need to. commissioner moore: i appreciate your explanation. i think it's in the nature of the drawing which is confusing. the drawing is rendered out and those are let out for other activities. it's hard to understand since there are no labels on it, but i appreciate you explaining it. vice president wu: thank you. commissioner antonini. commissioner antonini: thank you. yeah, a couple of things i agree with commissioner sugaya when he talked about the design

and that's something to look at because it's nothing that will be as intricate with the case of the historic building but certainly that is a nice feature. and the other thing is around the windows themselves, all the older buildings in the area have moldings but they're very subtle. if you look at that, they're the same color usuallyly but set the windows off in a subtle way and that's another architectural touch that might be possible on the facade. i'm prepared to move this but i see there are a couple of commissioners who have comments, so i will wait until after the other commissioners have made their comments. >> thank you. vice president wu: commissioner miguel. commissioner miguel: i wanted to put it in the simplest way i could. if i were to take this building out of its present context on the street and just look at a picture of the building itself, i could probably place it

without any problem in my mind in some of the new construction going on at ucsf or in stanford hospitals. what i'd like to see here is something that would look out of place in those locations. [laughter] vice president wu: commissioner sugaya. commissioner sugaya: just a little detail. there's been some's mention, julie mentioned it, and perhaps incorporating it and commissioner wu said maybe we don't want to incorporate it in this building but the entrance might be, you know, able to be whatever in another location. but to the project staff, what is the construction material of this building? of the present building? vice president wu: please come to the podium. commissioner sugaya: is it

stucco? >> the other mike. >> it's stucco. commissioner sugaya: it's going to be difficult to do anything with that. i don't know there are salvageable materials. i know the city has requirements for larger materials and whatnot. if there are any architectural details, that might be able to be salvaged. i don't want you to incorporate them in the new building, but there might be somebody interested in hauling that stuff away, so i'd make that suggestion. vice president wu: thank you. commissioner antonini. commissioner antonini: i'd like to move approval and maybe we should do it with each item, certainly the overriding -- let me just move for now the adoption of ceqa findings with overriding considerations. >> second. >> i'd like to amend it by

asking the commission to remove item 5. in the overriding consideration. >> second. >> yes. >> that's acceptable. >> i don't think it makes any change or if that's fine with the maker. >> ok, commissioners on the motion for the adopting ceqa findings you move approval with the removal of item 5? on that motion commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> aye. >> commissioner miguel? >> aye. >> commissioner moore? >> aye. commissioner sugaya? >> aye. >> commissioner wu: >> aye. >> thank you, commissioners, the motion passed unanimously. >> we may be able to do these together. we'll start with general plan amendment, policy 1.2, and chinatown streets number -- map number one, second part of the motion is the zoning reclassification, new zoning map from 6510 to 110-g and finally conditional authorization for the

replacement hospital. >> second. >> are we suggesting that the project sponsor continue to work with department staff? >> absolutely. >> that is part of the motion. >> ok. >> weighing upon the comments that have within made by commissioners today. commissioner moore: i'd like the public to take another peek at it. it's not necessarily for approval for informal update. i think this requires some show-and-tell for others to participate. >> but i don't interpret that as having to have any -- i mean, if it's just informative, that's fine but the project goes forward. ok. if it's an informative presentation, sometime in the future, that would obviously -- commissioner moore: it needs to be requested. >> i don't see that holds anything up so we can go ahead. all right. that's fine with me. >> yes. >> commissioners, the motion

before you for approval of the general plan amendment, the zoning map, the zoning reclassification and conditional use authorization with the stipulation that the project sponsor will continue to work with department staff on building design -- or project design and that there will be an informational presentation on that design in the future. on that motion, commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> aye. >> commissioner miguel? >> aye. >> commissioner moore? >> aye. >> commissioner sugaya? >> aye. >> commissioner wu? >> aye. >> thank you, commissioners. that motion passed unanimously. commissioners, you are now in general public comment. vice president wu: is there any general public comment? seeing none. >> thank you. commissioners, if there's no further business, the meeting is adjourned in memory of cheryl arnold.

thank you.

>> there are kids and families ever were. it is really an extraordinary playground. it has got a little something for everyone. it is aesthetically billion. it is completely accessible. you can see how excited people

are for this playground. it is very special. >> on opening day in the brand- new helen diller playground at north park, children can be seen swinging, gliding, swinging, exploring, digging, hanging, jumping, and even making drumming sounds. this major renovation was possible with the generous donation of more than $1.5 million from the mercer fund in honor of san francisco bay area philanthropist helen diller. together with the clean and safe neighborhood parks fund and the city's general fund. >> 4. 3. 2. 1. [applause] >> the playground is broken into three general areas. one for the preschool set, another for older children, and a sand area designed for kids of all ages. unlike the old playground, the

new one is accessible to people with disabilities. this brand-new playground has several unique and exciting features. two slides, including one 45- foot super slide with an elevation change of nearly 30 feet. climbing ropes and walls, including one made of granite. 88 suspension bridge. recycling, traditional swing, plus a therapeutics win for children with disabilities, and even a sand garden with chines and drums. >> it is a visionary $3.5 million world class playground in the heart of san francisco. this is just really a big, community win and a celebration for us all. >> to learn more about the helen diller playground in dolores park, go to sfrecpark.org.

>> feel like it really is a community. they are not the same thing, but it really does feel like there's that kind of a five. everybody is there to enjoy a literary reading. >> the best lit in san francisco. friendly, free, and you might get fed. ♪ [applause] >> this san francisco ryther created the radar reading series in 2003. she was inspired when she first moved to this city in the early 1990's and discover the wild west atmosphere of open mi it's

ic in the mission. >> although there were these open mics every night of the week, they were super macho. people writing poems about being jerks. beatty their chest onstage. >> she was energized by the scene and proved up with other girls who wanted their voices to be heard. touring the country and sharing gen-x 7 as a. her mainstream reputation grew with her novel. theses san francisco public library took notice and asked her if she would begin carrying a monthly reading series based on her community. >> a lot of the raiders that i work with our like underground writers.

they're just coming at publishing and at being a writer from this underground way. coming in to the library is awesome. very good for the library to show this writing community that they are welcome. at first, people were like, you want me to read at the library, really? things like that. >> as a documentary, there are interviews -- [inaudible] >> radar readings are focused on clear culture. strayed all others might write about gay authors. gay authors might write about universal experiences. the host creates a welcoming environment for everybody. there is no cultural barrier to entry. >> the demographic of people who

come will match the demographic of the reader. it is very simple. if we want more people of color, you book more people of color. you want more women, your book more women. kind of like that. it gets mixed up a little bit. in general, we kind of have a core group of people who come every month. their ages and very. we definitely have some folks who are straight. >> the loyal audience has allowed michelle to take more chances with the monthly lineup. established authors bring in an older audience. younker authors bring in their friends from the community who might be bringing in an older author. >> raider has provided a stage for more than 400 writers.

it ranges from fiction to academics stories to academic stories this service the underground of queer fell, history, or culture. >> and there are so many different literary circles in san francisco. i have been programming this reading series for nine years. and i still have a huge list on my computer of people i need to carry into this. >> the supportive audience has allowed michele to try new experiment this year, the radar book club. a deep explorationer of a single work. after the talk, she bounces on stage to jump-start the q&a. less charlie rose and more carson daly. >> san francisco is consistently ranked as one of the most

literate cities in the united states. multiple reading events are happening every night of the year, competing against a big names like city arts and lectures. radar was voted the winner of these san francisco contest. after two decades of working for free, michelle is able to make radar her full-time job. >> i am a right to myself, but i feel like my work in this world is eagerly to bring writers together and to produce literary events. if i was only doing my own work, i would not be happy. it is, like throwing a party or a dinner party. i can match that person with that person. it is really fun for me. it is nerve wracking during the actual readings. i hope everyone is good. i hope the audience likes them. i hope everybody shows up. but everything works out. at the end of the reading,

everyone is happy. ♪ woman: ♪ alone in the dark ♪ but now you've come along [snoring] ♪ and you light up my life ♪ you give me hope

announcer: you don't have to be a hero to be a hero. when you adopt a child from foster care, just being there makes all the difference. >> i love teaching. it is such an exhilarating experience when people began to feel their own creativity. >> this really is a place where all people can come and take a class and fill part of the community. this is very enriching as an artist. a lot of folks take these classes and take their digital imagery and turn it into negatives. >> there are not many black and white darkrooms available anymore. that is a really big draw. >> this is a signature piece.

this is the bill largest darkroom in the u.s.. >> there are a lot of people that want to get into that dark room. >> i think it is the heart of this place. you feel it when you come in. >> the people who just started taking pictures, so this is really an intersection for many generations of photographers and this is a great place to learn because if you need people from different areas and also everyone who works here is working in photography.