there is an elementary school literally across the street. i have been reassured that they will be working with a traffic guard when school is open, to direct traffic and minimize the impact on the neighborhood. we also want to make sure we are within the requirements of our neighborhood association regulations. the association has been around at least since the 1920's, as has our church. we are the single largest property owner, and we want to stay good neighbors. the only concern i have discovered is that there is a regulation about running businesses in the community. it is a residential community.

they speak about industry or staples or serious business. i feel the child care aspect is more homelike been business -- than a business. they are looking for a nonprofit status, in keeping with our nonprofit status. it is all within the mission. i hope we can work with the neighborhood community association to find some way to move this forward without delaying well beyond sept. the opening of the school that meets their needs, as well as the needs of the community for this preschool. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am the vice president of

balboa terrace homes association. we are an age away -- an hoa. the church is within the boundaries, as he mentioned, and is a member of the association, subject to its restrictions. there is a restriction running with the land that forbids trade, business, or manufacturers of any kind. i would ask the commission to continue this matter for final determination for 15 days, so that our association can obtain a legal opinion as to whether or not the preschool inside the church would violate our deed restrictions, and whether it is otherwise exempit is my understm talking with our attorney, that there is some exemption from the restrictions for family day care centers with fewer than 15

students. but since this would have 20 too 40 students, and even up to 60 students, that is an entirely different matter. the association position is we would really like 15 days to consider this, so we can determine what position we are growing to take, especially in light of the traffic concerns and the neighborhood concerns. right now, it is a very busy intersection. thank you for your time. president fong: next speaker, whoever is ready. >> i am margaret finley, a retired teacher and administrator. there is no question about the fine program presented today. i am speaking on behalf of our residents. i have lived there 43 years.

my husband is now deceased. most of our neighbors have spoken with the gentleman who created the letter you received in your e-mail, with a draft so that neighbors could give their input and their concerns. we come to you today asking for your help. the most important reason is we focus on the heavy traffic that has come down our street, which is at this point to way. when you have parked cars on either side of the street, you are lucky to get an ambulance or fire truck down that street. that is why our neighborhood went to a two-hour parking. it is for safety reasons. our main concern is the high concentration of children in this area. our neighbors, the christian science church, have been wonderful neighbors. i can speak for 43 years.

it has nothing to do with that. it has to do with the high concentration of students in this vicinity. you got a picture of sinophile way. people coming in on darien, a one-way street going east, turn left and but up against cars going south, because we run north and south. another boulevard runs north and south, but it runs as a one-way street going north. it is a real concern to us, for safety reasons, with the high concentration of students all year long. on the chart you have received, you will see what we could glean in the last four or five days, knowing that the school is closed at this point. i could not speak with the

principal, but i did speak with a parent whose children go there. she said approximately 270 to 320 children are on that campus during the week. we have st. francis episcopal, e ymca children from 7:00 to 8:40. i think that is the bell to say stop talking, is it not? but we ask that you consider our concerns. we do want to be good neighbors, but we are worried. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is john mitchell. i am a member of ninth church. i am a parent of a 7-year-old child. i know what it is like, finding

a preschool for little ones in this city. it is very difficult, particularly in our neighborhood. i live across ocean, within 200 yards of this facility. i am chairman of the building and grounds committee. we have wonderful relations with the balboa terrace association, and we want to maintain that. they are our friends, and we are part of the community. my feeling is there is no material change that will take place. as was mentioned previously, the real problem is parking, as someone who is there literally seven days a week. a lot of the problem which we are having is people that are parking and leave their cars to jump on muni and go into the city. the teachers at the elementary

school, people that go to our church, etc., have a very great difficulty, because cars are parked there all day, because there are no parking restrictions. i think it is important to review that, in terms of the two-hour parking. we support the community. one of the reasons -- we have been approached several times by these organizations. they run very good operations. they are attentive to children and the community. i would consider your positive view on this, as we support the community and young families. thank you. president fong: is there any additional public comment?

>> good afternoon. i appeared for another item this afternoon, but happen to be the landlord for one of the kangaroo preschool locations. speaking on their behalf, i just wanted to say that before they opened at the building i own, we also had a neighbor who expressed concerns about traffic. that location is kitty corner to st. philip's elementary school, which houses approximately the same number of students, 275 to 300 students, as the location they are looking to open. there is a lot of traffic. the school has crossing guards on the corner at the beginning of the day and the end of the day. the preschool has not had any negative effect on traffic, as far as i have known. none of the neighbors have complained. in fact, the person who expressed concern has admitted to me that his concerns were not

warranted, and the drop-off and pick-up at the preschool has not been a problem. i was not here to speak on this today, but since i am the landlord for one of those locations, i wanted to express the personal experience i have had. i also want to say they are good tenants. they have improved the property at their own expense. they have maintained it. any concerns that have been expressed about anything, they have addressed and been very responsive. i did want to speak to that as well. thank you. president fong: any additional public comment? >> there is one coming up here. >> good afternoon.

i am a neighbor directly across the street from the church. i wanted to add, regarding the traffic, it really is an issue in our neighborhood. the thing that was not mentioned is our street does run two ways. the streets on the other side are all one way. all of the traffic from monterey comes down san rough i l -- san rafael way. there is a ymca program year- round we are impacted by. the other issue in our neighborhood is street cleaning. we only have street cleaning every other week. with the amount of people going through our neighborhood, there is a large amount of trash. at the church, they spend a lot of time picking up trash -- fast food, etc.. we are impacted by that as well. parking permits -- we do have permit parking. we have parents backing of their

students. there is enough parking limit, but it is not enforced. we see a lot of people picking up their children who may be parked there an hour, trying to get a spot. during those times, picking up their children, if there was an emergency that have been, there would be no way a vehicle could get through that. thank you so much for your time. president fong: any additional public comment? commissioners? the public portion is closed. commissioner borden: it sounds like this project can be done, and potentially, speaking with our commissioners. there are not any conditions to traffic congestion or flow on this project. it sounds like the neighbors in opposition have an acknowledged that the church has been a great

community partner and a great neighbor. the church did express that to date. i have no reason to believe they would be less than doing so. can the city attorney speak to what, if any jurisdiction, this commission has quick city attorney susan cleveland knowles. the city does not have any just -- any jurisdiction over the ccnr's. that is between the church and the neighbor association. you can continue this item and wait for a determination between those parties. if it was found to not be a legal use, the authorization would exist, but it would not be useful. you cannot weigh in on whether that is illegal use are not. that is a private matter between

the parties. commissioner borden: for that purpose, it does not make as much sense for us to continue this case out, but i think we could discuss whether or not there are appropriate conditions about requiring the white zone and not by telling, or requiring a crossing guard. some of the issues that people address -- it is obviously a little bit different with a preschool, because those kids are not generating trash and roaming the neighborhood. their parents are may be getting out of the card temporarily to bring them to the car, or they are being brought directly to the car. presumably, it is not all day long. traffic conditions seem like much more of an issue for other situations. we would support a condition related to requiring a crossing guard, and a morning or evening

pick up, as well as asking to get the wide zone, so parents can call up temporarily. i would move that we approve, and add a condition related to pick up and drop-off times, and that the church of the white zone, so there is a logical place for those cars to stop temporarily. is that ok with the project sponsor? >> can i just review a couple of things we overview before we applied for this location? one thing is that we have a guard staff that will be taking care of the traffic issue, and neighborhood, making sure the neighborhood is clean, and fostering communication between us and the neighborhood. we have another option of having a curb drop-off. and we are reinstating the wide

zone that was pre-existing. we are reinstating that. it does not come into effect until we are approved and have the project started. commissioner borden: do you see that as a complication in including that as a condition? >> absolutely not. that is an issue we are taking care of. our hours of drop-off, with the elementary school across the street, is a little bit different. we will not have combined cars dropping off all the time. there drop-off is at 8:30. ours is at 7:30. our cars come in at 45 cars at a time. it does not have been where all 40 students are dropped off at the same time. this is not a kindergarten. there is not a requirement to be in school at 8:40. there are a variety of drop-off times. there is a guard on staff that will take care of the issue.

there is parking available as part of the building, so parents can use that to drop off their children. another option would be to drop off on june apart if the traffic does get heavy. commissioner borden: i do not know that we need to attach all of those things into the motion, but we have already agreed that you will have somebody monitoring traffic, and will have a traffic plan, as described. this that sound agreeable to commissioners to address the issue? commissioner sugaya: can we speak? commissioner borden: i am trying to make a motion. commissioner antonini: i will second the motion, although i may have some modifications. first of all, i think this is a very important project. it is heartening to hear there are more children, presumably,

in san francisco, because the demand for preschools is becoming greater. i am experiencing that with my own grandchildren. i realize how competitive it is, and how the need is there. i also would like to say -- i do not have specific questions, but i will ask you if i do. mostly just commons now. i want to compliment the ninth church of christ. what a beautiful architectural plan. this is a tribute to what was done in the 20's and '30's with the residence parks in san francisco, and how beautifully they were laid out. with all we are talking about with mid block crossing areas and making things pedestrian friendly -- this is exactly what happens here, with a beautiful walkway, with grass in between it and a very inviting area. i go by there almost every morning. to the gentleman on the grounds

committee, my compliments. your place always looks immaculate. i wish i could say the same about some of the other areas that are publicly owned that are not maintained as well. maybe you can give them some hints on how to maintain their turf a little better. that being said, the issue before us is the impact of this project, which i think everyone realizes is extremely important. we have received comments from the group representing property owners in balboa terrace. they brought up a number of good points. i am not sure these all need to be conditions. but i think these are some things that need to be looked at. i know from going by there virtually every weekday morning -- i see the queuing up of cars starting to go in to the frontage road, dropping off and continuing and making the turn onto san rafael.

this has to be worked out between balboa terrace and holmes and the city as to what they are going to do -- whether they want to have a one-way street on san rafael. certainly, putting a speed sign or speed bumps might really encourage people from not racing to get back to ocean avenue and then leave. the parking restrictions, which were commented on by one of the parents, is another thing the city may want to look at. i know a lot of commuters to come in and park on those streets, the few streets that do not have to our zones, and leave -- tw gohou -- two hour zones. i guess i am used to, my kids having gone to parochial

schools, crossing guards. i guess there probably are not any at commodore slope. that would be an important element. also, for the young people to learn about traffic safety. that may be something we want to implement. if it is not done by the school district, it should be done as part of the conditions of this approval. it is an excellent location, adjacent to commodore slope. presumably, a lot of people who have children at komondor slope would also take advantage of the preschool. i do not know that we have to add additional conditions. i hope these conditions address some of the concerns of the balboa terrace residents. but if they do not entirely address them, i think i have brought up some suggestions today that should be taken up with the city to see what can be

done to try to ameliorate the traffic. that is one of the biggest things. you are going to have even more traffic now. you have to figure out exactly what you can do to encourage the traffic to disperse and not all flow down, but encourage it to exit, perhaps continuing as far as monterey, or various other options other than making the turn immediately. that being said, i support this. as was pointed out by the city attorney, i think the whole issue of the deed restrictions is something we will learn. if that is the case, it would vacate our decision today. but if it is not, we have no control over that. it has to be interpreted legally. i can see both sides, but i think this is a great projlet ue

traffic concerns. safety for all the students. the more we can slow things down, the safer it is for everybody. commissioner moore: i have a question for staff. the plans that are shown -- has the fire marshal looked at these drawings? we are dedicating what was identified in the original drawing as a hallway has access to office and classrooms, as a new classroom. when you do that, you have texting requirements that the classroom will only be used when the other rooms are not being used. i am asking for reference, because it looks unusual. >> the fire department has not reviewed the plans. there is no building permit yet

on file for the project. they will have to comply with requirements for operating a child care facility. i think that would involve having it reviewed. >> correct. this project is subject to state requirements. if they are doing interior alterations, it will require a permit. fire marshals would be part of that review process. >> partially because this new classroom would require furnishings, which will require a different unimpeded exit. >> that is very possible. as planners, we are not necessarily privy to all the building requirements in that area. president fong: product sponsor? >> i have a quick comment.

the drawings are just preliminary and could change. we are going to apply for a building permit. the fire department has to approve that and check that. also, from state social services, we have fire department coming in and making sure the exits meet all the requirements for access and safety before approval. commissioner moore: what you are expecting today is just the introductory use approval, and everything else follows? because i do see certain requirements that will not be easy to meet, but that is another story. thank you. commissioner sugaya: can i ask a question? there is a white stripe in front of the entrance to this facility at the moment. is that a legal white zone? it does not have the city's icons.

>> it was pre-existing. we are going to redo it for two car slots. we are already gone to the application. commissioner sugaya: with respect to the motion, we have not specified -- let me put it another way. if we could be flexible and encourage the church and the project sponsor to look at whether or not this is going to exist and they are going to go ahead with that -- there could be possibilities on the other streets. i would like keep the option of been for white zones. because they could drop off on the side where the access to the three or four parking spaces are. even though it is further from the entrance and is around the corner -- i do not know the traffic situation. it might be more likely traffic. commissioner borden: my motion did not specify where the white

zone is. commissioner sugaya: as long as we are open to exploring other streets, i am fine. commissioner antonini: i wanted to ask the representative from balboa terrace, if anybody wants to answer a question, if you want to come up to the microphone, please. did you feel the motion addresses your concerns? >> i would still like 15 days. our attorney, in a brief telephone conversation, told me the board may have a further duty to the project, depending upon legal research. we do not know. all we know is that we have ccnr's that prohibit businesses. there are questions. does a preschool leasing space from a church constitute a business? commissioner antonini: i

understand. short of a continuance, we are talking about what we are trying to craft to address the impact. >> the traffic concerns? i understand that. but i am saying that the association's concern at this point -- the association has not taken a position -- is whether we can permit this at all, or whether is a separate exception. commissioner antonini: we understand that. as the city attorney commented, that will be decided. i am trying to address your concerns about whether or not we should include issues regarding speed bumps or some other things we have suggested. >> that is something i cannot speak to at this point because the board of directors -- commissioner antonini: has not made a position yet. >> which are generally concerned

about traffic patterns. we have speed bumps on other streets. the impact of more traffic on these streets and the frontage road will be significant. commissioner antonini: thank you for your comments. basically, that is all i need to ask about right now. i think that we have made enough comments publicly as findings that that can be taken up as we move forward with this action. those other things can be implemented in the future, i think, in cooperation between the project sponsor, the church, in the neighborhood. >> commissioners, the motion on the floor is for approval.