>> good afternoon commissioners, my name is shepherd. i was part of the western neighborhood association last year when we voted to support the move by l.a. blang to set up the shop at west portal. the space is needed to be renovated for maybe the last 50 years or so. you couldn't really see, i see you agree with me. you can't really see from the photos that were shown here, but the panelling was falling off and it was a mess and we are very excited to see them move in there. our organization contacted them and asked them if they would be so good as to move in there and they

responded positively. i can't think of anything that we can do to the west portal avenue that could revitalize it any greater than that what l.a. blang has intended it to do. thank you so much. >> thank you. next speaker, please? >> hello, my name is em it miller, a resident in west portal and also a member of -- i'm on the merchant committee within, that did the survey. we surveyed, the response of the is survey was over 300 respondents in west portal area and two-thirds of the respondents listed on the survey that their priorities were a bakery which we don't currently have. we feel that

l.a. blang would be a great asset. hello. we are very available to talk about their process. it fills a need at the avenue. we had a bakery about a year ago that shut down. you saw the plan has outdoor seating. right now we don't really have very much outdoor seating on the avenue. we have to go there for a bagel and

coffee and we have to bring it home because there is no way to sit. they recognize that need and filling that need. they are also going to beautify that space. they really take great pride in making their space look nice. thank you for your time. >> good afternoon, i'm stephanie lima and president of west portal. we are looking forward to la boulange coming in. i agree with what everyone has said. the street market has been declining and we need ann

-- anchor store to support the area. i hope you support that. thank you. >> good afternoon, my name is tammy scott wiggins and resident of west portal and also speaking on behalf of high husband who is here today. we are very much in support of this as a resident. we would like to say that we are lacking that backary. bakery and it would be nice to have la boulange. we are merchants in west portal and we believe la boulange will be a great asset to the community. >> any additional public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed.

commissioner antonini? >> i'm very much for this. if anarbitrary for the amount of retail about excess and we don't have that. this is a very good one and one that has overwhelming neighborhood and merchant support and fulfills the need for being the need for a bakery which there is none on west portal avenue. i think it's going to be a great addition to the street. and there are a lot of vacancies on the street in addition most notably right next door. it's hoped that we can also attract something of the former bank

and walgreen's. this is a step in that direction because it will make it more enticing for a grocer to come with a full market where there would be a butcher market and that would finish things off. i also have a personal interest of there being a real bar and grill on the street because there is no place to go to watch the giants. you have to go into a tavern and have a drink and watch the game. this is a very good use and also i'm very pleased with the architecture that allows the outdoor and allows to open or close the windows depending on the condition and how many people are there. i think it's really well designed. i'm m favor and i will see what the other commissioners have to say.

>> borden? >> yeah. i think this is a great venue and people are proactive. i think it's great la boulange accepted the challenge and willing to go in. in the past there have been identified businesses that have been going into the neighborhood. >> i don't know if this question is to the project stop sponsor staff. could i ask about the relationship between you and starbucks? >> our parent company. they acquired by starbucks. >> to staff, if that's the case, under this application we are saying the formula retail applies because la boulange

itself has in excess of 11 establishments and therefore we are considering formula retail. we are not saying that the formula retail extends to the parent corporation that has thousands of outlets across the country. how does this work in this case? >> you are correct that we are looking specifically at the la boulange chaer chain. they are a formula retail. their 12th establishment. we are not looking at the large are parent or ownership of it. there has been discussion about it incorporating at parentage and who owns the company considering that as a factor in determining whether or not something is formula retail, however that is not in the

planning code. >> you are saying that if mcdonald's owned a company called something, and it had 12 outlets in san francisco, we would be considering that only owned separate? >> yes. it's about the physical characteristics of it because we look at the signage and trademark. those are all the characteristics we look at to determine whether something formal retail. if it's owned by starbucks or mcdonald's. whether or not. it's not in the planning code. there has been discussion about broadening that. that maybe it's a one op or two, that it maybe owned by

a formula retail or a company that owns formula retail establishments and people would like to consider that formula retail use even though there is one or two stores. that is not currently in the code. >> i actually appreciate that explanation by the zoning administrator because in this case it would be la boulange on its own. it's important to recognize that they are picking up a creatively used space. it's not a formulaic type of space that people always jump on. i think the space is very creative for being used. while i have questions similar to what commissioner sugaya, your explanation makes it easier to support this project. in addition to that if you see the adjoining uses, there is really an active use seriously missing. i think it will kind of round off what this

neighborhood will be able to do on its own. >> any further questions, comments? >> there is a motion on the floor commissioners to approve with conditions on that motion, commissioner and antonini, wu, borden, fong, so moved commissioners, that motion pass unanimously 6-0. this places you to item 13. sf 13 >>. request for use of authorization good afternoon, the project before you is a request for conditional use authorization to legalize an internet service at 435 port

row avenue. in contrast the larger internet services exchanges as they are often called. this project small scale, local ownership and central location will allow to provide smaller uses and businesses in the city. this billion was initially rezoned. the m 1st district permitted through conditional use authorization. however the current use zoning did not permit it. it went through the administrative process and determined it was eligible to be legalized under prior m 1 zone is and had not changed to or marketed for a different use since that time. the

determination was not an appealed and now the project is before you seeking authorization. the plan indicates parking for two cars in the buildingcious that is incorrect, instead the p g and and e transformer indicates that. it will comply with the state and local and regional compliance. it has a permit through the bay area air quality management district. the backup is a an older model. the diesel fuel it will burn is up to date. the noise does not exceed the noise

level. they are conducting a noise analysis for this building and the equipment will be altered to ensure compliance and as mentioned in approval 111. a neighbor also brought to the attention that it maybe necessary to register. this requirement does not apply to the generator on the subject property. they have no objection of adding a new condition of approval that would read, "the project shall comply with all requirements of the san francisco health code". additionally they would have to provide a contact in the event the department receives any

inquiry or complaint from the neighborhood. however several neighbors did express concerns about the specific aspects of the project that were related to the project backup generator. this is from the previous operators of the building. one neighbor clarified that they are opposed to the project. they met with the group of concerned neighbors on july 1st. within the hours, they received two e-mails of opposition. one from a resident living approximately 4 blocks of way and one e-mail in opposition from a resident who didn't identify their address. the primary concern is from the noise of the generator. in order for the

proposed internet exchange to be approved, it requires to be allowed for zoning. it does not allow for other uses like retail or residential. the existing back up generator had a current permit with the bay area quality management district. the project will be required to meet the san francisco noise ordinance and the project is consistent with the planning code and the general plan over all. that concludes my presentation. i'm available for any questions you may have. >> thank you. project sponsor, please. >> good afternoon, president fong, directors of the commission and zoning administrator scott sanchez. we are working directly with the

owner of the property and helping out with the project sponsor who will be taking over and running this internet facility. i thought it was a little bit of an unusual route we got here. in 2000 this facility was open with m 1 zoning. i think that it didn't require conditional use. it was a permitted use in 2000. those that were here will recall that was the dot com era and much larger farms and data centers and service providers whatever you want to call them were proposed for the bay view

hunters area. they got involved which passed legislation and created a designation for these facilities which became internet service changes and this was the first time it appeared on the code and she also contained additional requirements to make sure they were clean and safe and as quiet as can be. meanwhile, our facility was continuing to operate throughout that time and then most of you are well familiar with, the zoning change and it became umu and the internet would not be permitted. we had a program of

legitization and presented it to the zoning administrator last october. the staff reviewed it and found it to be in order. it's important to note that that process includes a 300-foot radius to all neighbors an option to appeal and no one did so the ledgization followed through. that's what brings us here today. the we didn't know really that there was going to be a lot of opposition. i'm not

sure that there is a lot but we did get a bunch of e-mails this morning most having to do with air quality and backup generators. those are just that, back up generators. as i understand it the city and county rules for backup generate ors are allowed to be used for 20 minutes. we plan to use them for a couple minutes a month to make sure they work. i don't think it's a big issue, but you should beware of the amount of time and the limited amount of time those generators can be used. matt navk is the owner of this team and i would like them to address you what they do and

who they are. thanks. >> good afternoon, commissioners, thank you for taking the time. i am matt no. vac. i think the main things that we want to highlight is that we are san francisco based business. that we are focused on data center operation in urban areas. we feel there is a need for that throughout the state in the country as many of the data centers are put away from business operations that require a lot of travel. this is a reuse of an existing building, we think it's very green development. as opposed to demolition and construction of a project that could be up to 5 stories. we are reusing the building as only 2 stories

so it will have minimal impact. we are planning to freshen up the existing facade as well as the screen, mechanical equipment since that seems to be a concern of the residents in the pasted and the proximity to downtown san francisco is very important because there are the employees that will be coming here will most likely be from san francisco based businesses. in fact we have two or three here today that will speak to that need for this type of facility in the city of san francisco so they won't to have travel outside of the city to manage their equipment and we think they will get there locally through walking, biking, transit because that's the focus of their business. we met with the neighbors a few weeks ago on the first. listening to a lot of their comments. seems like they were

the result of poor management of the past operator. we heard a comment that the generator ran for 18 hours at one point. we intend to be good neighbors and have a point in contact if there are any issues. our permit only allows 20 hours through the course of the year. we also plan on retrofitting the mechanical equipment on the roof or replacing it. we had construction looking at it and remounted it which may have caused unnecessary vibration, we are working to mitigate that as well. we are willing to comply with every ordinance with regards to this process. thank you. >> okay. if no further, we'll open up to public comment. do we have any speaker cards? okay. let me call these names. i have a feeling that they are

you. dorsi den lee, darius contractor, ming a. >> i want to introduce miss nelly to you. she's lived in this utah street since her mother and grandfather. >> my family has been there since 1905. we were all raised and born there. i'm concerned about the noise. i know they said that they went over a lot of things that i was concerned about. the last company was there said the same thing. i had a at n at the tenant that went to all of these meetings for me and they took a long time to comply with the slope that was come out of the

generators and the noise and pollution. this goes way back. i have a letter from my tenant back in 2003 that happened. 1 day the smoke was for 20 minutes. i don't know these new companies, but i hope they stay by what they are telling us today because my tenants were very upset about that. i don't live there. but i know what they mean. for my tenants i hope they don't have the noise more. we were told point 5 decibels. i concerned for my tenants. i hope these people comply because the other company took a long time to comply. so i hope they are true to what they are telling us today. i thank you.

>> thank you. all right. thanks to those who are hearing us today. my name is dean den lee. i'm the son of miss donely. i live in my great grand father's house which is not directly behind this building but off one building. the comments that my mom made about the smoke and the noise are relevant to me because i live in the house and i heard them all the time. the previous company was there. it was a lot of lip service saying they were going to build a sound wall and reroute the exhaust for the generator and nothing ever happened. when

they finally moved out. it was a great relief to all the neighbors around this building because it finally got quiet. even though we are between portrero avenue, it's very quiet behind my house. the other thing i wanted to bring up is to keep this new company coming in, in check. like i said before, they did a lot of lip service. like some of their drawings here, it says their lot size is 30 by 100 and you can see here that it's 40 and a 3rd. there is a lot of loose ends that need to be wrapped up. this one is another one here, this one it says proposed

floor, no changes. we were in the building when we m it with them and the bathrooms are, there is no bathrooms. that's where the generator is. there is a bunch of walls and different compartments. we are just concerned that they are not living up to their, what they are telling us. the other gentleman already addressed about the 2-car parking which is right there is a big giant transformer there. this is the drawing for what is on that building. it's packed full of a lot of stuff. and as far as the generator, i don't see why, even though they say the use of fuel burns cleaner, why can't they make it propane or biodiesel or at least put in a new exhaust system that can live up to the standards of the air quality. thank you very

much. >> thank you. next speaker, please? >> hello. i'm dean's neighbor and live directly behind the building in question. i have lived here for the last 10 years. my father and mother bought that house together in 1975. the building of course has this generator that routinely belts toxic black smoke in my yard in the past and creates harmful fumes from air-conditioning unit. it worries me because this is outside the eastern neighborhood plan. the history of the permits at the initial use seems unclear and it's not clear to me those were fully inspected. i was surprised to

see this use as compared to kinkos. the not a kinkos. this is an electrical substation with thousands of servers and has transformer generate or and over a thousand gallons of fuel. for me this is my home. as a homeowner who plans to start a family in my dwelling, an industrial facility with a 400-kilowatt generator to operate in my back beyond yard. thank you for your time. >> my name is michael