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tv   [untitled]    July 18, 2013 8:00pm-8:31pm PDT

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responsibilities which are even more compelling now and we urge you to draft the notion to disapprove the project. this preschool needs a time out. >> what was your name again? >> richard ross man. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners my name is bill somer and i am speaking for the four cs my wife and i live at 3787 directly adjacent and to the west of 3781. and i have been engaged with the conversations with potashes since 2005 on issues of traffic, parking and noise related to their daycare. >> the number of storis for that building and the current activity areas it is near the center of what is essentially a
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bowl created by the surrounding buildings. and the project site as 2,000 outdoor available, the 2,000 allocated for the outdoor activities maximizes the noise impact on the greatest number of neighbors, the calculations of noise from the current play area range from 68 db for the closest neighbors, my wife and i to 62 for the most distant ones, for reference, a level 68 db corresponds to a vacuum 4 feet away. 62, eight feet away. and try to match a vacuum cleaner four feet away for an hour each day that is the situation with this daycare since early 2011. dumpinger these noise j periods, neighbors also move away from the rear of their homes to accommodate the
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daycare. they analyzed the noise impact of this conditional use permit and mainly the doubling of the current daycare's capacity and they found the increase to 42 children would not have a significant impact on noise. but in order for the applicants to meet the per child requirements the outdoor pay time will need to be staggered over a number of hours. so the impact is to spread the noise currently produced over several hours. the strongest noise mitigation measure, presented, was a ten foot of fence shown here. for the closest neighbor, that will reduce the noise level and placing the vacuum 6 to 8 feet away and the most distant neighbors, it will reduce from 8 to 11 and equivalent to
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placing it 20 to 30 feet away. in summary, the 10 foot fence would be affected for all of the neighbors. we met with them one week ago today and anticipated this limitation and proposed an alternative. by moving the activity from the year to the front of 3771, the noise source would moved towards the already noisy street. and the building at 3769, has no property line windows. and that address in the buildings on the project site that served to contain most of the noise. and addition of the fence from the south east corner to the north east corner, with the complete the enclosure and we can extrapolate from the
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associate's analysis and completed in the noise reduction for the closest neighbor and relating in the sale level of noise that the ten foot property line did for other neighbors, and discussions with the applicants two days ago, the project sponsor refused to even consider this as a viable alternative. he was not even interested in discussing it. ten foot fences do not make good neighbors, i believe that communication and consideration make good neighbors and in good neighborhoods thank you. >> if the members that requested the sign language translator, is that person present? >> maybe we can afford that person to submit their public comment first for the sign language.
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>> yes. >> hello commission, and i did not expect, i thought that it would take me just a couple of minutes, my son is three years old and my husband and i are deaf so it is interesting that the people at the preschool man many of the people in the same situation it is a busy street and loud, and it is different because me and my husband have been going there for a long time and it is the closest one and it is easy to walk there and don't have to depend on having to drive there and public transportation. but the street is very busy. it is a very busy street, it
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could stay in that area and it is very easy and there is a lot of room and they could expand to a bigger area. and i believe that though should continue running, i think that it is wonderful, my son is very happy going there and is very comfortable environment and it feels like home to him and it is not like it is a very comfortable with lots of trees and garden, and that is what i want for my son. i hope that this will not be a big problem and many people have come here have the same decision and really support this and so thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> i will call some speakers and if you want to line up on this side of the room. stephanie kuric. >> bill batel. brett kinsberg.
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>> warren. berry. tarento, tanya leventhal. and if you are ready and if i have called your name come on up. we have a lot to go through. so transition time is important. >> my name is brett and i live at 1371 doloris which the picture is not up here but the backyard adjacent to the playground. the playground when i say that what i am talking about is the backyard area which is combined with the two residents that have been converted into a large
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>> what is going on is that situation, and you have had that experience where something that you don't like is going on and you just, you are enduring it and you are kind of buyeding the time and you are biting your tongue because you have reason that it is children that are making the noise. and it is a community facility and it is a good thing. so you are having something that is really it is frustrating, there is a ton of noise, that comes into our house. it is amazing, my neighbor who is also here, it is really limited our ability to enjoy using the backyard. not only is this a daycare but it is also a community center at night and so there are parties at night. they put up a basketball hoop
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recently in which creates an unending erratic noise that goes through the house. all of what you have heard by the first speakers already is what is currently happening. this is not, this is before any change. so, we have all been enduring this and buyeding our time and saying that it is for good reason and then we are hit with all of a sudden not, you know, should there be a mitigation of what has been going on about what we have been suffering through. but should there be an expansion to twice as much? >> this is the situation right now, all of the concerns that you have had are that you will hear or have heard about is what is going on now. and that is kind of backwards my opinion. it is all coming to a head now. but it is about issues that
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have already been existing. >> this issue here before you today is not whether to expand child care or daycare, we all child care and daycare is a positive issue it is whether or not the commission permits it to happen here on this in this residential zone, there is plenty of locations, this is not just a (inaudible) issue, which is what it might appear to be. >> thank you, sir. >> if you have something that you want, you can submit that if you want. >> i did. >> i am just sure that i did not get to you guys. >> it probably did. >> good evening, commissioners i will try to keep it brief i know that it has been a long day. >> my name is lousie and i leave at 1371 doloris street and i would like to say that i
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have always had good relationships with these neighbors personally and i agree with what brett just said is that it can be very noisy there and it is difficult to live next door if you are home sick it is impossible to sleep, to nap, to relax, when the kids are outside, but they are children and they should be playing we have not complained my concern is that we are doubling the length of children is that we are doubling the length of time that they are outside and impinge on the ability to enjoy our own homes, i have no problem with the existing 28 kids that could end up there. but nearly doubling, should only allow 22. if you are inclined to approve this i would just ask that you please add a condition and showing that 3771 is no longer used as a daycare so we don't up with 42 children and plus
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another 14, and i would also urge that you add a condition prohibiting the ten foot tall fence. and i would like to show you that is a picture of our backyard, the fence is the existing fence between our yard and it is eight and a half and if you put in a ten foot tall solid fence we will be living in a tunnel and i ask that you please condition to prohibit that. and idealy, as one of the other people suggested add a condition where the play area is in the front of 3771 instead of the area where it impacts all of the houses along that row. again it is difficult to feel like you are fighting with your neighbors and i don't like this situation that we are in, i think that they are good people i don't have a problem in the general sense. but it is a significant impact that we are talking about. and i would also ask that you condition it to limit the
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number of kids to 42 if you go ahead and approve this. and i don't see any of that condition and the existing permit and i would urge you to deny the permit and i would thank you very much. >> next speaker please? >> good evening, commissioners my name is eric yee and i work for charles and associates i am the consultant who prepared the analysis for the project of the expansion of the preschool to go from 22 children to 42 children. and in summary, we did measurements during play time and to measure the noise and to determine what it was to the different neighbors, and we then took a mathematical scale of taking the relationship of the 22 to the 42 and found that it is going to be a 3-d b increase. our report talked about the impact based on the standards
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that if you have a change from one to three, it would be a barely noticable and therefore by the sequa would not constitute a community response and when we met with the community, and with potash, there was an extension of an olive branch and there were eleven items that we identified that could help the current condition as well as the future condition. and so, if you have any questions regarding that or the study i am available to answer those. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners, staff members of the public. my name is richard simcof and i
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am a member of the (inaudible) valley community and also a long time resident of the castro district. i have been having with the traffic analysis and the traffic management plan. so, thanks. >> okay. >> so, we conducted traffic counts on the street of 3700 block of shavez east and westbound traffic during the period of 8 to 10 which is the peak commute hour. we also counted open public parking spaces on this street and this is a screen shot of the data. what we did is we averaged the traffic volumes and open public parking spaces we learned that use bound on the typical day, 821 cars to the highway 101 and 49 to church street and there
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are typically around 39 open spaces during that hour about 3 open spaces public spaces on the street on the daily basis. and next slide, please? >> so this is the diagram that shows the same volumes, for you to get a visual impression, you can see that the traffic volumes pique in the first part of the morning not surprisingly and then taper off, with a constant supply of three open parking spaces on that block. i think that the key take away for us is that as one of the commenters said that it is a heavily trafficked street. and about 1271 cars per day, with the 42 children, assuming that many of our parents walk or bike their kids into school would add only 38 to 1271, so a
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very small impact on an existing traffic condition. and finally, we are very conscious however of the concerns of neighbors and impacts on the parking and we don't want to disrupt the parking in any way. they have six slots dedicated and the average need would be five slots and five spaces for every ten minute slots and so it can fully cover its need during the day without any disruption and we will have a traffic monitor there as well to prevent any unnecessary stopping. thank you. >> next speaker, please? >> commissioners my name is ran dal zalinzki i live on valley street about four blocks away from the preschool. i am the traffic monitor and
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director of traffic. i have volunteered for this, and i will be there every morning, i am retired from 40 years in the federal government and i have been looking for some community service and this is going to be my community service, helping out the potash family and the children and the neighborhood to make sure that there are no traffic problems that are created by the extra cars that come to this neighborhood. thank you. >> good evening, my name is barry toronto and i am here to the two situations, well one i am an advocate for taxi drivers and two, i have gone to religious services and other activities at the the habad and i first want to state that it is not a traffic problem on that street and i have never seen kids go out in the street or even on the sidewalk. as i said most of the kids are
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going to either walk or bike to this school and or participate in the other activities there. so i think that this whatever this information is off, i have never seen an accident, and i have gone many times of going to use the dry cleaners over tofvisit a friend and if you want to worry about it, worry about the fact that they are lowering it two lanes both directions further down that is going to be problem. but over here, i have never seen traffic problems and congestion and i take that all of the time as a cab driver and also as going to go from the valley to the other part of chavez to visit a friend. >> next because as someone who loves the potash's pass over cooking she can do that just as good as running a preschool then you have an excellent school you can see the kids and how much they appreciate the
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school and i went to a hearing and they wanted to expand a preschool? the canal area. and most of the other concerns that came up as part of this and it was going to the noise and the noise does not stand that potentially based on the number of kids, it goes to a certain limit and then if it is not a bunch of kids which it is not, only up to 18 more kids, the noise level does not go up much. regarding the neighbors in the community, what the out come of that was, was that the daycare provider and the neighbors have to communicate more, and they had to talk about the concerns and they have to get to know each other and deal with that and i feel that the potashes are part of a condition and make sure that they have a
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white zone in front of where they can park during the school hours and i think that is important to have the white zone. and to work it out with the neighbors concerning the outside noise. that you can say well these hours will be outside and they will be inside the other times because the percentage of the time that they are outside is so minimal to the amount of time that they are actually at the school. thank you for your time and i appreciate your patience. >> thank you. >> hello commissioners and i am the admissions director at an independent school in san francisco and i have been the admissions director and i have been working with them for the last eight. and i want to make three points. one, is that the school, the caliber of the preschool, and
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the caliber of students and families that come to our school stands out, and i can say that over the last eight years. and you can see here from the not only in terms of the numbers which you see here i can tell you from the quality of the students that come and i believe that a lot of it has to do with the kind of character education that comes from them and the level of excellence of education. my other point and my 15 years i have seen hundreds of preschools in the city of san francisco. and san francisco is a city and we love the city and traffic is a reality. and i don't see it double and seeing any different from most of the preschools that i have seen in the city. in the same thing for the safety and the same thing for that and i spend my days year after year visiting the preschools and what is being proposed here. does not look anything like outside of the norm of what i
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see and you should take that into consideration and grant them the permit. >> ben grin, bonnie fine berg, and susunny. hect, hilly blum, and michael git. >> hi. my name is china bowl and i have lived in san francisco for 30 some odd years, and i spent from kindergarten to university and i have known the potashs for 12 years and i met them when they came here and the goal was to start the preschool and they were amazing people and as i listen to the vacuum cleaner noise, this is we are in such dire straits for education and the precool is so needed and we don't have here, it is such a high caliber and
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the potashes are amazing people and they will work all of these things out and they are amenable and lovely and i think to not allow the school to go on and it is a big loss for san francisco for the family and for the children and the parents and it is a wonderful place and a wonderful activities and i think that you make a big mistake if you don't go through with this, thank you. >> >> good evening, my name is potash and i am the director of the preschool. for the last 13 years, together with my husband, i have put my heart and soul into this amazing community and into the preschool. i came here to talk about something a little bit more practical the finances. an average class is 12 students, 12 children. the average tuition? is about $10,000 per year which
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brings in about 120,000 per year, per class. $60,000 goes straight to the mortgage and taxes. that leaves us with $60,000 to cover two full time teaching salaries material fees and supplies and food, and insurance. it is obvious that these numbers don't meet. the home daycare model is just not sustainable. by allowing us to have a preschool license with 42 children it will enable us to operate in a sustain able way. after paying the mortgages and the taxes, we will be left with 320,000 which after expenses will still have at least $75,000 to cover the other necessary changes my future plans include, hiring more staff including a traffic
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monitor and a new director to insure that the program is well run. honorable commission, for the benefit of the all of the familis that we serve, i ask you today, to please approve our conditional use permit. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> next speaker please? >> please refrain from any out bursts or clapping please. >> good evening. my name is batel and i have lived in this particular district that we are talking here tonight. and high house is on the corner of cesar chavez and doloris and my greatest concern is safety. it has become a very, very busy street in the 40 years that i have lived in my home. it was nothing. it is not that case any more.
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the street is divided into three section and we have cars starting at 7:00 in the morning and how i know i am an early riser and i get up at 5:00 in the morning, and i see a building and building. and some drivers don't understand what the three way sign means and then you hear a simply a music of horns that are in the cars facing north, blowing to tell the people to get out of the way. and this goes on. my concern because i also am a instructor at city college at san francisco, and whether they are young or whether they are old or it does not matter, safety is a great factor. and we have had several, several serious problems on our street. 3700 block. and because when you get to gurarro and chavez, our street and 3800 becomes a funnel and
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contrary to what the gentleman said to you, there is some or a lot of this and a lot of that, he is wrong because anybody can come to my house and sit with me in the window and watch what happens from 7:00 to 9:30 in the morning, a lot of those cars are families walking, the strollers with their children to go to the preschool. some of them drive. and the ones that scare me the most that open the driver's side doors to get the children out of their safety seat as the cars are going down chavez to the freeway. or going down to 280. we have two freeways right there at that section of people go. in and out, in and out all day long. and that is my big concern. and the noise that the cars make in the morning, i get up early and it does not matter, but it is a symphony of horns.
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and it is very serious. we have had a lot of accidents. serious accidents. and i had one come to my home where i opened the door to let a friend out and two cars come flying down and slammed my door into my face and tore all of the bushes along one side of my house and they were both out of towners trying to find their way in san francisco. and this happens a lot. i have had a fire engine put a good dent in the telephone pole... >> sir your time is up. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners my name is ben quin and i was born in san francisco and i currently run a business, brothers, a hat company with several retail stores in san francisco, i live in the family and a family of three children and i can honestly saying that i am still in the valley and
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living in san francisco because of the preschool and the community and i went to school my entire life in san francisco. several schools, and i can honestly stand up here and tell you that i have never seen a school and a community offer so much to the children and to the entire families. families rely on it, and there are not any other options there are more familis that want to stay in san francisco. and it is impacted with more and more young people that are looking to start families without preschools like this in san francisco, what is the future of san francisco what is the future for children living in san francisco? >> there is a lot of compromises that need to be made, noise, being one of them. but, children they are such an important part of our community, we talk about community, and i am here to speak for the children,