of the points, possibly [inaudible] prescribed building heights. tower separation, all of which make the project look even more compact in its current setting. i do regret, and i have to say it, that we continue to create a very suburban experience in mission bay. i had hoped that at some point we would be talking about slightly more challenging architectural resolutions which indeed provide some interest and some tension of overall composition of the build out. it's not where we're discussing. we're here to support and acknowledge the office allocation and i will be supporting that. >> commissioner wu. >> i agree with the concerns around the suburban esthetic. i think it might have to do with the two podiums being at the same height and the two towers being at the same height. i'm not sure what it is, and i would defer to either the

department or the other commission on that, but i think either breaking it up further or some other way of articulating that this is really in the city and that it has -- you know, i think we've learned from the billions we've already seen go up in mission bay and to take some lessonses learned how to make it a little bit more -- i want to say livable, but i dislike that word. but [speaker not understood] relate to the building more. but office allocation i'm supportive. >> commissioner hillis. >> so, i'm supportive of the project, too. i wanted to comment on mission bay in general. we hear the same things a lot. office park, suburban. we were talking a little bit on the break that mission bay is 50% built or so. you know, now is a good time

for maybe the agency and the cac and whoever owns the land, you know, places you sold it and places you haven't to come back and figure out what tweakses the mission bay to make it a little -- so we don't repeat ourselves every time we come back. the best way to make the buildings look like they're separate lots, make them separate lots for one. we don't do our retail on [speaker not understood]. seawall lot 337 adds to that debate and the four sales sites. i want to encourage those who are working on mission bay to make some corrections midway to try to you know, alleviate some of the concerns that are constantly raised about mission bay when these projects come up. but i think that the office allocation is fine and you've done a good work, kind of breaking up this block-long building into smaller chunks,

so. >> commissioner sugaya. >> is it one of the constraints the height limit? >> the height limit is 160 feet, but there are limits as to where 160 foot buildings can occur. i think the base height limit is 90, is that right? so, overall height limit is 90 about points of 160. so, it's only in that range. >> yeah, i think i understand why that happened, you know, because of the hill or whatever. but i think it was a missed opportunity that the height wasn't taller and that might help alleviate some of the sort of boxiness of the buildings. not that i'm one for towers in a park, but, you know, there could have been more design opportunities i think presented if the heights were a little bit higher.

and maybe it may not happen, but we might want to follow-up on commissioner hillis' suggestion that it might be a good opportunity now that there's been build out to the extent that there has been to take another look at the whole thing. >> i think -- one of the other issues that people raised off of mission bay is the large block size, too. it may be that we have the opportunity to look at that as well with the remaining sites that there is a way to break up the blocks a little more. if not, literally break them up with streets, break them up with passages or whatever. that's another thing that we've been thinking about in the planning department as well. >> commissioner antonini. >> you know, i think some buildings have been more successful than others out there. and i should know the address of this building, but to the north of the gap old navy headquarters is a building that was a spec building. i don't know if they found a tenant. they told me they might go in there, they may need a bigger

space. i think that's a very attractive building. the use of the colors, it's a little darker, make things all pale, white, it all looks the same. then again, you can get some colors that look a little too crazy. but, you know, i think that's a part of it. and i mentioned the rounding of corners to try to cut the angularity and might tend to make the buildings a little more attractive. because there are -- you know, it's sort of always going to be a quasi-suburban -- i don't like the term because of the nature of mission bay. it's just going to be different than densely packed city blocks in the financial district or in even the area south of market which are longer blocks, but they're still pretty densely packed with previous industrial buildings. and it's going to have more of a separation. it's going to have more parking. it's going to have a lot of things that are, you know, but i think there are some very successful suburban parks and some that aren't very successful.

i mentioned to bo earlier, the hacienda park in pleasanton, if you've seen the architecture, smooth looking buildings and very well landscaped as opposed to some that are not at all very well done. so, i know you've all driven around to these various places and seen what works and what doesn't so i would encourage you to look at others and try to take some of the best elements out so that maybe your buildings stand out a little bit from some of the existing buildings in mission bay, being a little more distinctive looking, perhaps having some other features in them. >> commissioner borden. >> [inaudible]. >> second. >> and instruct staff to continue working with, i guess, the successor agency on design and kind of picking up on some

of the themes that people brought up here. >> on that motion, commissioners, to approve with conditionses instructing staff to continue working with the successor agency, commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> aye. >> commissioner hillis? >> aye. >> he will commissioner moore? >> aye. >> commissioner wu? >> aye. >> charles: commission president fong? >> aye. >> that passes unanimously 7 to 0. excuse me, and places you under item 9, case no. 2012.1424c, 550 valencia street, request for conditional use authorization. >> good afternoon, president fong and commissioners. cory teague for staff. the proposal before you is to extend the hours of operation for the existing restaurant doing business as west of pecos 2:00 a.m. daily to be consistent with hours of operation in the neighborhood

commercial transit district. [speaker not understood]. the planning commission originally approved the restaurant in september 2011 and limited the hours of operation to 11:00 p.m. sunday through thursday and 12:00 a.m. friday and saturday. during the original conditional use authorization hearing the planning commission encouraged the project sponsor to operate for at least six months and then if desired, request an extension of operating hours through a new conditional use authorization. since opening the restaurant in may 2012 there have been no complaints filed against the restaurant with the planning department, the department of building inspection, the health department or the california department of alcoholic beverage control. the corridor of valencia street between 15th and 18th streets and the corridor of 16th street between mission and guerrero streets represents the commercial corridors and immediately surrounding the project site. these corridors contain approximately 38 restaurants and six bars. only one restaurant within this area, which is lamone at 524 valencia have has hours of operation limited by the

planning commission. stated hours for these restaurants range by business and day, they each have the right to stay open until 2:00 a.m. daily. regarding public comment on this project, the project sponsor held community outreach meetings regarding this request on october 23rd, 2012, and then again february 6th of this year. the department did receive four letters of support for the project, two from neighboring businesses, one from the valencia street merchant association, and one from adjacent residential owner on [speaker not understood] street. the department received no comments in opposition to the project. in order for the existing restaurant to operate beyond its hours of operation as currently limited, the commission must grant conditional use authorization to allow it to extend its hours of operation. the department believes the project is necessary and desirable because it will promote the continued operation of an established locally owned business and contribute to the viability of the overall valencia street nct and because the proposal will not result in a net change in the number of eating and drinking establishments within the

valencia street nct or displace a retail that provides convenience or goods in the neighborhood, therefore the department recommends approval with conditions. that concludes my presentation and i'm available for questions. >> thank you. project sponsor. hello, commissioners and president. my name is dylan [speaker not understood], owner of 550 valencia llc also known as western pecos. thank you for letting me speak today. i first am before you [speaker not understood] this project in june of 2011. our project was not approved at that hearing. and i returned in september of 2011 after performing extensive outreach to the neighboring residents, business owners and community groups in the valencia nct. while we were granted conditional use at that time, our operating hours were unexpectedly restricted. we thought a 1:00 a.m. closure time with all customers off the premises by 2:00 a.m.. we were told by the commission

president to return some time after business to remove the restriction and i stand before you to do that here today. since opening west of pecos we had no noise complaints, no alcohol beverage violation and no police issues. we are in a single story building with no residential neighborses above us and have a good relationship with the neighbors to the rear of the building. to one side there is a single story furniture store that's closed at night and the other side are portable library restaurant and blondie's bar and grill to the establishments on the block during the evening. [speaker not understood]. i have p become an active member in the merchant community and sit on the board of the merchants business association and a newer group known as the valencia corridor merchants association. for the hearing today i personally contacted neighboring business such as kass nova, blondie's bar [speaker not understood], double dutch bar, [speaker not understood] general store restaurant and [speaker not understood] restaurant. i posted signs on the street behind our location and we

noticed residents and businesses within 300 feet of the premises as required by the department. i've had several meetings with captain moser at the mission station to discuss enforcement issues and he has remained in support of this change. the captain was also kind enough to attend a community meeting held in october. it was also attended by the owners of blondies, casanova and [speaker not understood]. i also held a meeting february 6 after the poster went up to discuss any remaining issues and we had no attendees. you will note there are no letters of opposition in your packets and i have not received any comments since the mailing of the poster went up. this change is important to us as a respectable restaurant in the neighborhood. we've had -- we have a comfortable setting with diners staying often 2 hours per visit. [speaker not understood] we had to stop seating at 9:00 p.m. or risk asking customers to leave the restaurant at 11:00 p.m.. this is not consistent with the dining style of the neighborhood and puts a

[speaker not understood]. the early closure creates a dead space many times, we have people taking advantage of numerous nearby night life options. i witnessed people youthxing our gated entrance as a urinal and other activities. we seek a closing request [speaker not understood], with operating hours 2:00 a.m. to give diners ample time to leave the restaurant. we do not plan to extend food service past [speaker not understood] and generally stop seating customers at 11:00 p.m.. [speaker not understood]. please consider removing our restricted hours for west of pecos. thank you. >> is there any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner borden. >> yes, i live near this establishment and have had the opportunity to patronize it. it's actually really very nice and comfortable environment, large dining room and their bar is very separated from the dining room. in fact, i watched the giants

win the world series at this location. and you could only see the tv in the bar area, very separate in the back of the area [speaker not understood]. they do a -- really nicely done, establish it southwestern style, different than the other kinds of restaurants on the street. the doors are always shut. they're really respectful. i don't see any sort of crazy activities, at least nice little fire pits outside that are connected the recessed entrance which is quite nice. i think it's been a positive attribute to the neighborhood. so, i would move to approve with conditions. >> second. >> commissioner moore. >> it's actually a positive experience to listen that something works. and i think extending the trial time the way this was done and coming back and not hear one single voice of opposition is kind of inspiring to me, so, i am very supportive of approving this extension, particularly this customer in the corridor anyway, so.

>> on that motion, commissioners, to approve with conditions, commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> aye. >> commissioner hillis? >> aye. >> commissioner moore? >> aye. >> commissioner sugaya? >> aye. >> commissioner wu? >> aye. >> and commission president fong? >> aye. >> so moved, commissioners, that motion passes unanimously 7 to 0. and places you under item 10 for case no. 2012.1353c, 975 bryant street, request for conditional use authorization. >> good afternoon, once again, president fong, commissioners. cory teague, department staff. in place of diego sanchez who couldn't be here because of a death in the family. [speaker not understood] doing business as orchard supply

hardware in a 33,000 square foot building that is currently occupied by another formula retail use doing business as pacific sales that sells domestic appliances. orchard supply hardware primarily serve retail do it yourself and commercial customers and core products consist of merchandise needed for recurring home maintenance and improvement in categories such as hardware, paint, tools, and garden. as part of the project plant nursery will be added -- also be added to the roof. other changes include a change in signage, change in paint, added landscaping in the parking area, a new bryant street entrance and an opening of the windows along brie street to increase transparency. orchard supply hardware projects to hire up to [speaker not understood]. within this configure with us zoning district consisting of four blocks and one partial block stretching from bryant street to barry street, there are several other formula retail uses although there are no other hardware stores, formula retail or otherwise. since the planning department

packets were published, the project sponsor sent updated plans to the planning commission and department staff. these updated plans include a larger entrance and greater overall transparency along bryant street. regarding public comment, the department did receive comments from jim miko requesting the project to increase transparency into the building along bryant street and generally improve the pedestrian experience and the updated plans that you received this week were in some part related to that. the department also received comments from a property owner along kate street in the rear with concerns about the timing of loading and activities for the new business. and finally, the department received comments from the alliance for a better district 6 opposing the project and requesting a 30-day continuance to allow greater community outreach for members of the surrounding community. i was contacted by their executive director who said unfortunately that he could not be here today. in order for the proposed formula retail use to be approved, the commission must

grant conditional authorization allowing the formula retail use within this umu zoning district. the department believes that it is a necessary or desirable project because it will not affect the concentration of formula retail uses existing within the contiguous umu zoning district because it is replacing an existing formula retail use. because the project will improve the pedestrian experience along bryant street, and because the project is consistent with the planning code and showplace square, potrero area plan, and the general plan overall. therefore, the department recommends approval of the project with the inclusion of the following conditions in addition to those included in the draft motion, and this is what's listed on the handout that we presented. new condition number 1 would be planning department staff shall continue to work with the project sponsor on the design of both the bryant street facade and the facade facing the parking lot to assure harmonious corporation of the proposed signage, entryways and proposed changes in [speaker not understood] into the existing building elements.

additionally the planning department staff shall work with the project sponsor to ensure that the final interior and exterior designs significantly increase in transparency along the bryant street facade and that the entryway will operate as a functional entrance and exit. the second recommended additional condition is that off-street freight loading activities on kate street shall be limited to the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. that concludes my presentation. i'm available for comments. >> thank you. project sponsor, please. you're not going to be able to unplug that, sir, no.

[pause] good afternoon, mr. president, members of the planning commission. i am anthony cataldo with [speaker not understood] architects. we also have here our civil engineer, al with ams associates and tad anderson our construction manager with open

end representing orchard today. i would like to take a moment to thank the city staff, especially mr. diego sanchez in guiding us through the response during our preparation with this application. the group of 30 farmer approximately 50 miles south of here got together in the 1931 and formed a cooperative. this cooperative was an important part to the bay area horticultural industrial [speaker not understood] and the first decade following world war ii. in the 1950s it evolved into a retail operation. by the time it transformed into a corporation, it had about 2000 members. in the 1960s and 70s it was acquired and started an expansion program that started orchard supply hardware that we see today. orchard's main focus are

household repairs, garden supplies, and home improvements. our project is located at 975 bryant street. it's currently occupied by pacific sales and appliance shop. the building footprint is ideal for our use as it's linked to debt ratio works very well for the retail environment we'll be providing. our project has many amenities for the community, including a revitalization of an existing building which i'll get into more depth on the architecture. 16-year local full-time jobs and 14 part-time jobs along with many landscape improvements along bryant street. this is our proposed site plan. i'd like to point out the new pedestrian path from bryant street to the entrance off the

parking lot. along with the reconfiguration of the parking lot in general to allow for new landscapeing ing, along with accessible stalls, a new loading zone in the back for customers who might be picking up bulky item. we will be maintaining the loading zone off of kate street for truck deliveries to our store. its was brought to our attention by mr. jim miko at one of our neighborhood outreach meetings that customers will be arriving here by bicycle quite frequently. so, from our initial application to the current one we've overdoubled our bicycle parking stalls and those are located on either side of the entrance. the exterior of the building has many enhancements, including the near warmer paint scheme. there's new trellises with vines around the building facade to soften the edges of it along with a rooftop

nursery. we've added an elevator to access the rooftop nursery along with -- you can see the additional glazing at the top of the building. we've also worked with staff in order to increase -- to help activate the street frontage. initially we did that through switching out the opaque glazing on this street to vision glass so people can see what's going on inside the store and help activate that facade. and our neighborhood outreach meeting it was brought it our attention this wasn't enough and we should provide a pedestrian entrance on the street itself. so, we went ahead and we did pedestrian entrance, both entrance and exits to the store at the corner of bryant street and our parking lot.

based on community feedback, especially from mr. miko, they wanted a more prominent entrance. we developed a secondary scheme where we added the trellis element over the front door along with the new columns. we changed out the color scheme. the secondary scheme that you see at the bottom of your screen has not been approved by staff, we'll be willing to work with staff to further develop it. the scheme on the top is the one that was in your original planning department presentation and has been reviewed by staff. we're available for any questions if anyone has any. >> thank you. opening it up for public comment, i have one speaker card. terry aston bennett. [speaker not understood].

>> okay, you can leave them right there. hello, thank you for allowing me to speak today. my name is terry aston bennett, [speaker not understood] market and castro. our business association represents over 600 merchants in the upper market and castro area with over 250 paid member. i'm here today on behalf of [speaker not understood] to ask you to reject the request from orchard supply hardware location at 975 bryant street. orchard supply is not as large as home depot and lowe's, but has a similar [speaker not understood] pulling people from not just the city [speaker not understood]. it would hurt discount builders, speedy hardware, hundley hardware [speaker not understood], providing full-time jobs to san francisco residents. but along with them, it would also severely hurt a great

number of independent paint, electrical, house wear, plumbing, garden and nursery stores as well. these small businesses are the backbone of our city and to be completely frank, this area is already being served by quality small businesses. and the addition of an orchard supply here only serves to hurt those businesses, not improve access to residents. thank you. >> thank you. next speakers, shannon brundit, david peterson, jerry wolf. good afternoon, my name is shannon brundit, i'm with discount builder supply. we are located a short distance from the proposed orchard supply. we carry the same products, similar products. we have the same size store. we have been a local family-owned company for over 50 years in san francisco. our staff consists of approximately 95% full-time employees with benefits, and this hold true for most of the family home improvement business he in san francisco.

our decisions are made at the local level, not another city or state. i would like to discuss how important our local family businesses are to the community. in doing this, we must first look at the current evolution of chain stores in our industry in san francisco. lowe's opened a few years ago and now we're looking at a proposed orchard supply, and also a home depot. these three chains could open within a few years of each other. this is an unprecedented -- this is unprecedented for a small city like san francisco and will greatly affect our family stores in the home improvement industry. the area proposed already has over 30 home improvement stores for such a sparsely populated area. the proposed orchard supply has been referred to as being similar to the pacifica miens sales which is just not the case. the traffic will be at least 10 or 20 times what it is

currently and it's not a fair comparison on products that are being sold. the result will be a loss of jobs and businesses. our family businesses had over 90% full time long term employees. these are career positions that allow you to raise a family in san francisco and take pride in your community. the proposed orchard supply will have far fewer, less than 40% full-time jobs. the rest will be part-time, high turn over, low paid positions, not positions that allow you to raise a family and live in san francisco. that's 90% full time for our family stores and less than 40% for the chains. san francisco is currently successfully being served by our local family-home improvement stores. we supply prideful service to our customers and to the infrastructure of san francisco. we offer careers for people living in our communities.