his restaurant is only one block away. it's a very mixed use. you have light pdr, a bar across the street, a residential. it's a unique place and some of these concerns are just not based on the reality of this neighborhood. so we supposed the project and we hope it goes through, thank you. >> good afternoon. any other name is john. barbie. being a resident of this neighborhood for over 30 years. first at saint carlos for 20 years and then at liberty street near 20th and valencia. i wanted to

support this applicant. this has been a bright spot in the mission district. in spite of it's much impacted location. i'm an attendant at the police meetings. this person has been improving things. this restaurant is self explanatory. it's a beautifully, it would be a great loss. the salvadorian community is a very important segment of the mission district, a very large segment too. usually large. this is a superb restaurant. i think this project falls within the guidelines, very attractive, bright and clean and really desirable and express my support. >> thank you. >> i'm going to call a few more names. ray sloan, joshua garcia

>> my name is orlando and i'm a business person for the last 28 years. i'm also a mason and shriner. the only reason i'm telling you that is my -- sincerity of what i'm going to tell you about this person. he's a humble person and good husband and father. and he contributes quite a bit to charity. he has contributed to the salvation army, to the american and hispanic chamber of commerce. not only with food but also physically and monetary. he is probably the only person in the mission district as a business person that can walk in the mission

with his granddaughters, sometimes you see him pushing a stroller and sometimes in a bicycle. i know he's telling them to stop at the stop sign. [ laughter ] . his dream has always been to start his own business. his rent has been going higher and higher to a point where it's almost unaffordable. he lives in the mission, but i would say always spends 80 or 90 percent of his money in the mission. i know he buys tickets and i'm in the mission. so to deny this great city san franciscans the boundary right to own his business and home because he's also going live there would

be a great disregard of his principles. thank you. >> good afternoon. i'm associated with the mission language and vocational school. mr. gonzalez is one of our very proud graduates of the school who worked with mr. rows before going off on his own entrepreneurial shift and starting this very important restaurant in the mission district of which we are all very proud of. he's been a recipient of an award and the board recommended that you pass this. >> thank you, any other speakers? >> reading

this letter on behalf of the san francisco latino democratic club. the club is very supportive of the restaurant and their ability to move forward with their business plans . when we first heard about this first issued response. here we go again someone has moved into the neighborhood and has pushed another latino business. they are holding this business financial hostage and this is the worst discretionary process. mr. gonzalez has been very respectful. when requested he matched the light well and he agreed. when he was asked after the completion of the neighborhood zoning and got caught in the wirl wind and he's been a victim of the

discretionary review process. to make matters worse restaurants are allowed at this location. please support this much loved business and deny the discretionary review that has been filed against mr. gonzalez. thank you. >> good afternoon commissioners. my name is selena. i'm here supporting the project for mr. gonzalez. i'm here as a mother, as a community member, as a former teacher and i can throw many labels. the most important thing is how sarcastic this is because this week i have been spending in my professional life teaching, coaching and talking about san francisco is small business week and the most common complaints, arguments that i know i'm

preaching to the choir is how we are going to nurture small businesses, how we can help small businesses navigate bureaucracy, the politics of the city, the politics of city hall and small neighborhood. when i heard can you come, oh, my god!. the same week we speak about supporting businesses in the city and then we allow an absentee landlord put some concerns out front and try to block a small business who has been in the community for 25 years. i met him 20 some years ago when i was a mission high school teacher. if you know the high school, we were crippled with gangs, violence and horrible horrible life in the mission district for youth african american youth and latinos. i came as a mother and

said i want to run an after school program. can you give us food because these kids are hungry and he looked at me, oh someone asking for more donations. well, some of those kids are doctors and nurses. i keep in contact with them. in the beginning of their turning point was when they would say, i would give you beans and rise and chips and salas a salsa. >> long story short. the lirs of community benefits which i have here in which he has provided not only financial assistants to youth programs, juvenile home, workability, senior centers and schools. i could have put a powerpoint together for you if i was not worried with this who paid my

mortgage. as you imagine i had to do this for my boss. but i had enough pictures when we started with the youth, with the soccer, with battered women. it is a tragedy and i know you feel the same thing that i feel, that you will support fundamentally a small business in san francisco. this is your opportunity. so i can be motivated next year to tell the world that we are truly working in san francisco to help a small business. thank you. >> my name is josh garcia and here to support gonzalez. i'm here as a family man. my family grew along with him and i know him for more than 20 years. we

grew together as a community and we want to support him. i don't know the to repeat what everybody said again. i just want you to support this project for mario gonzalez. thank you so much. >> any other speakers in supported of the project sponsor? >> seeing none. dr requester you have a 2 minute rebuttal. >> thank you commissioner. i appreciate the opportunity to talk again. i have a lot of respect to emilio and supporting his initiative to have his business next door. so i have no problem with that. and my only problem is in the design and the matching well. the light well won't fit. this is the design here is from the

city from diego sanchez. we have three feet of light well and their side has one feet. right now they claim they have three feet matching well. welcome that as long as we can document that second one is i never claimed i live there. i never claimed my daughter lives there and my intention is my daughter to come there in fall because she's a ucsf student and she will do residence in the area. another question is the extension of the building block our rear side. so the rear setback. sorry. so that's my concern. so all my concern

is not preventing them to do the work, but abiding the law. i came from china 30 years ago and in culture revolution, our family's house, 80 percent was occupied by the right guard and the reason is you are a minority, we are a majority and i truly respect our neighbor and i just want to have my concerns voiced and i truly appreciate this opportunity. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> project sponsor you have a two minute rebuttal. >> i think everything is pretty much been said. we would appreciate your support. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> okay. the public hearing is closed and opening it up to commissioners. commissioner border? >> yeah. looking at this it looks like there is on the site plan a matching light well,

it's not the same length. seems like a larger than normal. >> that's correct. the light well is 3 feet deep by 10 feet wide and that abuts one of the light wells on the the 4th level. >> the windows on the de of the building aren't those property line. >> those are property line windows. you can't have any operable windows beyond 3 feet under previous building codes. >> all right. looking at the plans there is a matching light well maybe it's not as long as you like it to be on windows on the side of the building are not protected on the planning code. i think this is a great story that we heard of a wonderful family being able to stay in the neighborhood and locate very short of a

well established business and well loved by many and now they are in a position to not only move a business and own it but also additional real estate in the mission which has been noted which is a problematic thing with a lot of business loses with latinos. i'm thrilled that this moving project you will be realized this before your other lease expires. there is nothing exceptional or extra ordinary. i don't see what they can do more to be more responsive. with that i would move to not take dr and approve as proposed. >> second. >> i think it's a great project and does all what has been said in fact improves upon the three units will be better than the two units there and allows the

owner to move his wonderful restaurant a block further and i was there and i met mr. gonzalez; a wonderful man and he began his business at the same time i began mine approximately 40 years ago. i heard the whole story. as far as the land use parts of this, i don't see any problems. they are putting in matching light wells although they are not required to because it's a property line windows, but they are doing that as a gesture to the adjoining business and the other things i don't think rise to the level of being extraordinary impacts. the parking down there, i happened to arrive by cab, i looked around and there were plenty of

places where someone could have parked there. if someone goes there with cars where most of the traffic is people walking or taking public transit there any way. i don't think it's going to be a big problem. it's a community, a very diverse of people coming into the restaurant and enjoying themselves. i think it's going to be a great project. i'm very much in support. >> commissioner sugaya? >> yes. i'm in support. i have one suggestion. the trash is in an enclosure in the rear yard. is it possible, i don't see any reason why to move that enclosure towards the street and away from her building? >> we would not have any problem with that. >> okay. that might help. i know enclosures and garbage are supposed to keep the odors down. depending on the

enclosure, sometimes it isn't that helpful. maybe a letters distance -- little distance if you can move it to the other side. >> closer to the cap street there is a door that closes outside. i don't think they will be able to move the trach -- trash all the way over. >> the middle of the building maybe but set off there. >> as far as away that you can get it from the building that would be preferable. >> absolutely. >> is that acceptable to the -- >> that's fine to me. >> i would like to have them consider moving it. >> he can if you want to add that in. >> you are not taking dr. >> the motion on the floor is to not take dr.

>> we'll just have an understanding with mr. marquez and his client. i have to say this, there was a lot of emotional testimony and really good support for the owner of the property and owner of the restaurant, but i have to say that the comment from the democratic club hit me a little wrong. because there was a statement in there directed to the d r requester in a kind of with my impression was a little bit of a racial statement to the extent that they were saying something about someone moved into neighborhood and now opposed a latino business person. it's with the way it was said or written. in any case i know it was in the spirit of supporting the owner,

but i think that in that kind of support, we should try to refrain from accusations like someone was invading my territory sorry something like that. i think you understand what i'm saying. >> commissioner moore? >> i would like to express my support for the project including the process of how the building has been modified by staff to really come across as something which is responsive to reasonably express the dr concerns. i would like to talk to mr. sanchez and ask why is the dr requester is using the wrong drawing to state his case because it seems to me the dr requester has not been fully brought to the loop about the

modification the owner has made. the dr requester has a moment of anxiety about change, where the absence of the conversation if you have the wrong drawing while all the changes have been made in the spirit of the dr requester concerns. could you clarify that please? >> the following day after the rdt suggestions to provide the matching light well on the side setback with the prompt consent from the project sponsor, i e-mailed, unfortunately i don't have that with me, but e-mailed the dr requester and letting her know about the proposed and asked if it was sufficient and she stated she had other issues with the project. staff went out of it's way and complied with it's duty to inform the d

r requester. >> thank you for explaining that and we see that there is still the possibility for loss in translation. there will be neighbors, if the d r requester lives someplace else, she still owns the house and hope you see what is being presented and approved today that the applicant made every attempt to sense actively respond to your request and concerns including the minor modification and codes . i look forward to seeing a good project and look forward to you being good neighbors as you all move forward together. >> there is a motion and second to not take dr and prove the project as proposed. commissioner hillis, moore,

sugaya, fong. ayes. >> the variance to grant the requested variance with the revisions that have been made to the project. if anyone would like a copy of that decision letter please see mr. sanchez. thank you. >> commissioners, the last item on your calendar is public comment. i have no speaker cards. >> is there any general public comment today? >> okay. seeing none meeting is adjourned. >>