or november of this year. and there are about 3600 apartments under construction as we speak. and there are only about 350 condos under construction today. and that is in five different projects, and of those five, most of them have occupantcy in the beginning of 2014. so, there is a dire need for market rate housing, the nice thing about this project is it does fill up a lot that has not been used in years. as well as it is only 38 units, the average size is just over 800 square feet. which keeps it in a more affordable range for condos. and so i do support this project. it does help fill this neighborhood. and thank you. for your time. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners, my name is

michael adler and i am the president of caner north constructers ink i have been part of it since 1978 not many weeks ago this developer approved by you 400 grove represents the best of and for san francisco. the right size for the neighborhood and it is not a commodity structure. but one which has been thoughtfully and heartfully designed by ann and her team and developed and built by local folks who care about the community. this is perfect urban infill and i believe this project has shown a real commitment to providing not just housing but good design and architecture as well. >> just addressing the cost of construction, 400 grove will generate approximately $10 million in labor economic benefit creating more than 125,000 person hours of work equivalent of keeping over 60 people occupied for a year. i believe that 400 grove is a

necessary and welcome addition to the haze valley street scape and i urge you to commend this developer for the passion and commitment to the city and approve this project. >> thank you. >> i will call a couple more names. >> paul shaven and james nunan. >> good afternoon, thank you to all assembled for this important civic due diligence, >> state your name for the record >> pauline shaver. >> for the following reasons, it is passed the rigorous review of the planning development. the depositor has showsen a haze valley resident to manage the project. ham beger who lives and works in the haze valley, he has personal and professional investments in what many in the city observe as one of the most

authentic neighborhoods. haze valley. the architect is a leader in her field. she has what she proves in her probono work. and along with what she has done at the eagle side branch library as well as her private project and she understands community. and i understands the concerns of the individual, especially some of the concerns of transportation. we live in an urban environment which by nature is in constant change, urban living rightfully focuses on the needs of the many and sometimes that is the odds with the needs of the few. 400 grove will be an exciting addition to our community in haze valley. and with the bmr units it will provide home ownership opportunities to middle income housing.

>> thank you. >> hello, good afternoon, high name is chris dew ize and i am a resident of the haze valley area, i come here on behalf of myself, and i have a background in urban planning, and i got a masters in urban planning on infill, projects and whatnot. so i have some idea about what is going on here to enveloped some weight to my approval of the project itself. currently i am an attorney, but i do kind of keep my eye on local projects and this is one of them. basically, i approve of the fact that they should get both of their variances and the cup simply put, the number one, and you have heard it before through everybody else. san francisco needs market rate housing and this will add to that. and number two, this is increasing the density and the vitality of the area. right now, as you see, it is

just a vacant lot and when you put another 34 units in here, you are going to increase foot traffic in the area as well as the local businesses will flourish a little bit more just because of the residents that are already there because of project. >> it is consistent with the octavia plan which took forever to get through this body and pop in on commissions like this over the past eight years or so, and now that it is going, we should continue the sentiment of it and this project embodies that feel and that spirit of that plan. also, to the building itself, it is a beautiful addition to the neighborhood. one look at it, you could see that it is tweaks a little bit of the old tried and true san francisco design and adds a new flare to it, which obviously increases more vitality and it is a positive addition to the urban fabric. so it is basically i approve of

it and i think that you should approve of the variances as well as the cuv. thank you. >> my name is (inaudible) and i fully support 400 grove. as a professional and advocate of creative successful communities, through good design, i believe that the 400 grove put it and enhance and live in the important section, and acts as a gateway which is received the marks as important feature of the market and octavia plan. the project will continue and the street scape improvements will be taking place in other areas. especially in the long grove

and goff. strengthen the street scape experience and integrating new street furniture, and seating, and bike racks, and the street (inaudible) from what i understand are consistent with what is already planted along goff and grove and will continue to tie that area together and it is also going to be from what i understand, a sidewalk, which will help with the storm water requirements that the city suggest is important. >> and the widening of the sidewalk, activating the corner and the traffic calming measure is also something that i believe is what is really needed in the local area. and i think that over all. (inaudible) attribute for the area and make it safer community. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> is there any further public

comment on this item? >> seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner, antonini? >> thank you, i think that this is a very good project. and i am very supportive. i have only a few concerns. the first has to do with the foliage in the interior courtyard that i think opens to the south and i am not sure of the actual orientation, but we have a lot of wind in san francisco. and this where they are tall it makes it impossible for the people to use that area because they can't sit down there or use the space if it is not a flat area. number two, it is going to attract a lot of newspapers and other flying objects that will fly around and you will have one employee spending most of their time picking the junk off of those things, i think that a flatter type of foliage would be practical and if you are

going to have a few taller trees and paik them some of it less apt to catch garbage and also maybe make them month minimal and there will more space and light. because you are trying to capture as much light as you can. the same token, i think that there is a rendering of the space between floors, where you have some planters and it looked kind of wild grass coming out of there, again a little tall. you might be better be having more colorful like annuals these are just minor points and i think that it will lighten it up a little as is typically the case in many areas, we don't have as many in san francisco, we we have planter boxes outside of window and they are colorful in cities and it adds to the nature and the color of the building. i like the board and batten exterior, i think that is very attractive. the only place that i would

comment on is in the actual corner, the rendering that shows the corner of grove and goff. i believe at the very top of the building it is two different levels, there and you have a divider that is not glazing, but it is sort of the same color as glazing. and i would think that it might be better if that was either the color of the battens or a darker color to provide differentiation between the two floors. and it might also tend to there was one comment about the height and i think that the height is... i think that it might tend to individualize the units a little bit more and it will not interfere with anybody's light. those are the only things that i saw that i would want to comment on. with the concept of forsale condos with on site affordable

units and i think that this is a really good project. >> commissioner hillis? >> i would agree, i think that the design is great. i have the privilege of working with the neighborhood while i was with the city and coming up with the over all disposition plan with the freeway parcels and a lot of what we heard is that they want to see good, modern in-fill architecture, kind of leading the way, in good residential projects for redevelopment. and the affordable projects. and the baker's project are great and the cedar woods project parcel, it was great too. and it is good to see these projects happening and you know, the haze valley plan, kind of coming to life. the transportation issue i

think is real. there are definitely issues around haze and goffs and haze and franklin and make your way to octavia. and this project pays into the market. octavia and the quality improvement fund and have we seen anything come from that yet? >> our transportation should be a priority of improving and making pedestrian improvements in the haze valley. >> because a lot of them have not come in yet, but turning haze into two way because one small project. >> and some, i think that a lot more on the street we made improvements for the landscaping and the islands on the top of the street and on pearl street as well. >> yeah, i think that was it, and i don't think that is... >> that is not impacting. >> the process of impacting and that comes south >> the recommendation of the community, advisory committees

that gos and that make the recommendation and then it goes to and comes to the commission itself and goes into the capitol budget and then as programmed, as any, capitol project would be programmed. >> it would be good to get an update with an e-mail or a memo what kind of funding is in there or what cac is recommending i would agree that those kind of improvements are needed in the area. >> thank you, commissioner, sugaya? >> yes, i think that with all of the community plans that have community benefits, they depend on development and so ironically. and so i think that unless the development is happening, there aren't community benefits fees come ng and therefore, you can't count on that source as need to be making in the structure and improvements and other things and so that is one of the cunundrums here. i think that it is a good project and i don't, commissioner moore has something to say, but i am going to go ahead and make a

motion to approve the project with conditions. >> second. >> commissioner moore? >> i was going to make a motion to approve the project. >> but project speaks for itself and it is what we envisioned and has my full support. >> a bit of reason that we have not had the impact youth come in because of the referal program. and so if it is remembered from our budget discussion today there was a big jump next year that we are expecting in the impact fees because of the backlog, if you will, from the (inaudible) program and the new projects coming in. so we should see a big jump in the impact fee money in the next year or two. >> to approve with conditions. >> commissioner antonini, aye. >> borden, aye. >> moore. >> aye. >> sugaya. >> aye. >> wu. >> aye. >> fong. >> aye. >> that motion passes 7-0,

voting administrator. on the close of the public hearing, we grant the asked variances for the standard conditions. >> commissioners, it will place you on your final calendared item, public comment i have this speaker cards. >> is there any public comment? >> seeing none, i would like to i can't believe that the commissioner antonini did not do this, but i wish the 49ers good luck this weekend in the super bowl. and on nbc tomorrow morning, they are going to do a live shot from the ferry building, with al roker and yours truly will be the one who is giving al an explanation of how san francisco tailgates. >> what time? >> 6:00 a.m.. >> >> yeah. >> all right. meeting adjourned. thank you.

[music] paratransit is specialized transportation for seniors and people with disabilities who are unable to use the muni system. in san francisco, we're proud that we've had a paratransit

program since 1978 long before it was mandated by the americans with disabilities act in 1990. san francisco is a unique city and our paratransit program reflects this. we have a network of services, including sf access van service, paratransit taxi, including wheelchair accessible ramp taxi and group van which serves groups of individuals going to a single location like a senior center. [music] >> i'm elsa scott and i'm a retired federal employee and i'm a native of san francisco. i use paratransit because, i've been using it for about six years because six years ago i had to start dialysis treatments at cpmc. so i'm very dependent on paratransit three times a week, coming and going.. my current driver is brian

berquist.; he's just such a friendly, sort of a teddy bear kind of a guy. i don't know what it is about brian, but all of us old ladies want to feed brian. [music] >> hi, my name is fred lein. i'm most proud of driving a ramp taxi since the beginning of the program in 1994. [music] >> fred, you are the absolute best! thank you fred for providing transportation for me and opening up my social life, and taking care of medical appointments, taking care of my mother [music]

>> hi, my name is ann bailey and i've driven for luxor for almost five years now. i drove for desoto cab for 10 years prior to that. i drove in 1976 for the old, old yellow cab. this is frances mecchi and i've been driving her for about 11 or 12 years to her alzheimer's day program, which we call the memory club. every day when we drive through the presidio she'll say, "oh goody, you're taking me through the enchanted forest." [music] >> my name amr a.mahmoud.

i am like 49 years old. i have been driving cab more than 13 year in general. then i drove a ramp more than 3 years. this is my fourth now. i have been enjoying doing the job. i like every moment of it. >> thank you amr. [music} >> hi, my name is peter and i'm a paratransit driver for medsam, and this is north and south of market where i pick up my group and drop them off at home. >> thank you , peter! [singing] you are my sunshine. very good driver.

she says driver is very good. number 1. [music] larry mingo, mobility plus driver, san francisco paratransit. >> thank you, mingo. >> you're welcome. >> hi, mingo. >> thank you, mingo. >> thank you, mingo. thank you. [music] >> thank you, larry mingo. >> hey larry mingo, you are awesome. thanks for a great, great job you do for us. appreciate it. >> thank you, mingo. [music]

>> hello, my name is james fells i've been working with paratransit for 13 years now. i get a kick out of the job; i like helping people you know when they need help to go shopping or getting picked up at the medical building. i really like helping people and that's why i've been working so long. >> hi, my name is kalani. i'm a driver with mobility plus. i love my job! and i've been working, i've been a driver since may and i'm pretty satisfied with the company. so, two thumbs up, hope you guys have a nice day. >> sandra johnson and i've been working for mobility plus for about 4 and a half years. i love it. this is my job and i love it. it's very rewarding for me. one of my proudest moments is one of my clients left his cane on the bus and i've been picking him up now for about three years so i know that that cane was important to him. and i had dropped him off and i

noticed the cane later on that day so i kept it with me and when i went back down to la play, when i worked my way back down there on a break to give it to him, he kissed my hand, 'cuz he can't talk. so he grabbed my hand and he kissed my hand. it just made me know that that was an important thing for him. so that was my proudest moment. [music] >> one couple who were riding with us, morning and afternoon, mr. and mrs. lee. mr. lee was the dialysis patient and he's probably in his 80's and every time we would drive up to buchanan street, the hospital, mr. lee would say, "good job, fine driver, number one driver" and he would go like this [thumbs up gesture]. and then as brian would be helping him off the van, mr. lee, i heard him so often say, "brian, if anybody gives you any trouble you send them to me and i'll take care of them."

and here great big old brian would say, "henry, you're the first one i would try to get help from." and he says, "the second one is elsa." [laugh] so we knew that we were being relied on by brian. a few weeks back, mrs. lee called brian early in the morning to tell him not to bother picking them up because they were already at the hospital. mr. lee was ill and she had taken him to the er. the next day or so, brian, on his lunchtime, found out that mr. lee had been admitted to the hospital and he went up to mr. lee's room and just stuck his head in just to say hello. and the minute mr. lee saw him he went [gesture thumb up in the air] like that. and mrs. lee said, "he's telling you again you're number one driver. so brian really appreciated that; he thought that was really sweet. but he could see mr. lee wasn't doing so well so he left really quickly. and unfortunately, mr. lee

passed away that evening. that had a great impact on brian and me. it was very sad, but it was so touching that he had seen mr. lee and mr. lee had confirmed that brian was "number one driver." >> this is san francisco paratransit. it's not perfect; we have our ups and downs: late trips, frustrated customers, stressed out drivers. but at our best, we get our riders where they need to go on time and with a smile. and when we pay attention real carefully and notice what's happening on the van, taxi, or at the senior center, we notice that our drivers make a difference in the rider's lives and the riders make a difference in the drivers lives.