jurisdiction request such as this is whether there's been some error on the part of the agent, i mean, the department in providing sufficient notice, as we heard, there was no notice requirement here and -- or some manifest in justice involved, i think that's the standard on jurisdiction request, which is very distinct of the merits, of the substantive appeal which we're going to see on the building permits next week, so given the numerously of the people that are going to speak and we welcome your testimony, i'm not trying to shut anyone down here, i want to give people somewhat of an understanding, and -- of what the process is today versus what the process will be next week, and we anticipate at next week's

appeal that we're going the hear a lot about formula retail, and tonight is probably not the night for those types of comments, but you can say whatever you want. >> okay, one other thing, commissioners, if you were to decide to grant jurisdiction and hear all the matters together, we would not be able to hear them next week because under the code, we have to wait longer than that. >> sure, i mean, would we be -- you've already noticed the hearing. >> you can hear the two appeals that are currently on calendar regarding the building pert but you could not hear an appeal of the letter of determination. >> so, there's another process thing. so, a hearing on the merits of the letter of determination which was issued -- in the e vept we grant the jurisdiction request, that hearing would not be heard until after a hearing on the merits of the actual

permits. am i being unclear? >> no. >> am i confusing everyone? >> i think we just need to hear -- >> we can hear them all together, you would have to order us to reschedule the permit appeals, and you could hear them in september. >> yeah, we're thinking sort of -- okay, i'm just going to go forward. i'm trying to communicate something very clearly but we'll just go forward with this proceeding. >> okay. >> thank you very much for your clarifications, president hwang, my name is jeremy paul and i'm a permit consultant and i am here on my own because i believe in transparency in our systems. i've been doing this for more than 20 years and i often advocate for formula retail, i'm not a particular opponent of this particular retail, what

i am an opponent of is this letter of determination and i think it's very relevant, i disagree with the zoning administrator because what it's relevant to is a right to a public hearing on whether or not all of the issues that the determination holder mentioned up here, i mean, it sounds like a great store. that should be at the planning exhibition. that should not be here about a letter of determination. this is not about whether the notice was received by a valencia merchant's group, it's not about mr. lester and whether he had an obligation to turn over a letter, the charter of the board of appeals addresses significant public interest and from my perspective somebody in use of the permit process all the time, i believe there's a significant public interest in this letter of determination. i believe that just like hackers and security specialists, there is a cat and

mouse game and yes, prop g put a cap on 11 stores and defined what that store is, it's changed. that ball has moved because the market wants to find a way around this limitation, and i think it's not the zoning administrator's responsibility necessarily to foresee the way the market is going to change its practices to try to avoid public policy implemented by prop g. what it is is the board of appeals is the body that can do that and give the voice to the merchant's association, to the community at large who had no way to know that this letter of determination had been granted or what the impact of this letter of determination would be, so i would ask you to take jurisdiction, hear this letter of determination and require jack spade to go through the process that every formula retail does and if they've got

a great scheme, something that fits for this neighborhood, this planning commission will approve that conditional use. if they wanted to comply with that conditional use process from the outset, they wouldn't have requested the letter of determination, if they were really interested in outreach, they would have sent out a notice of the 300 foot radius that a cu requires and you would have seen them at the planning commission real lil discussing the issues of the quality of their presentation. >> thank you, thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please, and if the speakers could line up right there at the podium and not against the wall, that would be great, thank you. >> hi, my name's ema grim, i had a business on the valencia corridor for 15 years, i'm a member of the vcma, i would like to clarify a couple of things, our organization has been around for 2 plus years and i am a friend of don allen, president of the mma, he told

me that he never saw a letter from jack spade and that -- when he did finally speak with someone from jack spade, he told them that we would not tha, the vcma would not be amenable moving into our neighborhood and they should reach out to us, they never did that and we spoke to them, we tried to reach out to them through various means and we were never responded to so that's what i would like to say. >> thank you, i just want to point out that people who are officers of the valencia corridor merchants association should not speak at this time. >> thank you. >> thank you, president, commissioners for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight, i'm not an officer of the vcma, i'm the past president for clarity, and i'm a business owner of valencia street, one and a half blocks from jack spade, it's attempting to occupy by circumventing or conditional use process, it is hard being a business owner in

san francisco and there are many obstacles to conquer and i am comforted by the sense of community in the mission district and i have stayed in the political process of san francisco, the city values its small businesses and understanding small term and financial benefits to everyone sf is supporting the businesses and a love of small business has kept us afloat in times of recession and i feel that it's a tra*f ski that a business like jack spade got a letter of determination and fell short, we are a community and communities have rules and you can't just move in and make up your own. thank you for your time. >> next speaker, please. >> good evening, my name is michael gardener, i wrote something but i'm going to change it right now. i'm going to tell you a little bit about me. i've been in business almost 40 years for myself, and i've

owned siegel on mission street, i sit on boards of all kinds of organizations, i make substantial donations, i buy baseball uniforms, and in the 36 years i've been on mission street, i've seen all the ups and down, we are at the lowest level in the mission that weave ever been in my 36 years, there's more crime and homeless people on the street, we are getting less city services out there. before i came down here this evening, i counted the empty stores on my block, i'm between 19th and 20th, there's 9 empty stores, i think somebody who wants to take a store that looks like a bomb hit it and remodel it and bring people in the neighborhood is wonderful

for me. there was a time during my 36 years on mission street when we were such a high profile business that 20 men stores moved in around me and i used to be very upset about that because i thought they were stealing my ideas and stealing my brands and all of those things but i have to tell you that i did more business then than i ever did in the whole time that i was there and if there's anything that can happen tonight, i would like you to consider that i've been in the jack spade store in venice beach, they're not the same everywhere, i don't know whether it's formula retail or not but we really need them in the neighborhood. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hello, i'm carmen kas tell low, i'm header generation born in san francisco in the

neighborhood and i have been a volunteer with department of public works for 11 years, i remove illegal posting, i remove graffiti stickers, i report graffiti and i pick up litter. i also call on drug sellers and vagrants sleeping on the sidewalk. i'm very happy to hear that jack spade wants to open up a store on 16th street. we do need good stores, we need good people, the area has deteriorated and that's why i'm here, for jack spade, i took pictures yesterday of 16th street, how it looks, it's very bad, and i would like you to see the pictures, what we are dealing with. >> we could put them on the overhead if you would like us to see it.

>> several neighbors and us, we are scraping off the graffiti stickers and removing them, i've been doing this for 11 years, we need good people in the neighborhood and we need a good store, so please consider this business. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good evening, members of the board, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to speak to you about this issue this evening, my name is andy blue and i have lived a block and a half for approximately the next 10 years, i speak this evening who cares deeply about

the mission district in particular and as someone who has invested a great time in energy to define those positives things that i believe makes san francisco special. when i heard jack spade moving into the area, i wanted to get involved. after investigating the matter, it became crystal clear that jack posed precisely the same sort of situation that our city's formula retail regulations were intended to address. as one of the majority of san franciscans who voted for the city's formula retail ordinance, i was frustrated that neither i or my neighborhoods or anyone else in the neighborhood or the largest community was going to have a say whether this corporate chain store should open up on a special stretch of 16th street, many local residents and organizations were unaware of kate spade's intent and made

aware of what was happening, they would want the opportunity to offer the input, the input that is the right under the city planning code, i reached out to as many neighbors, friends, community organizations as i could, every friend, neighbor and organization was displeased to hear this was happening, most were unaware that this was happening and all put it on petitions, i gave you a list of organizations, these organization that is serve our community don't care about this issue, they care about this issue because the rapidly changing mission district, the long term outcome of this matter will have a direct impact on the lives of the people they serve and upon the variability of their organizations to remain in the neighborhood. under the law and under basic notions of fairness t community deserves to be heard on this matter and this board has the opportunity tonight to begin the just process of restoring community input. thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> next speaker, please. >> my name is kyle smile lee, i'm a resident of the mission, and i would like to tell you a little bit why we believe that jack spade misrepresented the true nature of its business structure when applying for formula retail, jack spade claimed to be an independent business with 7 stores, by any reasonable interpretation, jack spade is in fact the same company as kate spade which has 94 locations in the u.s. to trigger a public hearing, i would like to show you some evidence we gathered about the close connection, in the recent filing with the local government, it clearly shows it considers jack spade a sub grant of kate spade, in breaking down its business structure, fifth and pacific lists kate spade of its own

segment which jack spade is a sub brand. it later state ins the 10k that kate spade offers fashion products for men under the jack spade trademark. we've uncovered from our own research that both jack spade and kate spade share the same headquarters in new york, the same distribution software in ohio, the same legal departments, the same staff and payroll, the upper left hand corner of jack spade's paycheck, there is a kate spade's logo, it also reads kate spade is an equal opportunity employer with no mention of jack. all this adds up to the fact that in function, jack spade enjoys all of the benefits of the shared resources but because it claims to be an independent business, it is not under the regulations to protect small community focused business by being pushed out by

deep pockets, all we're asking is for a chance for the community to be heard, for those being affected to have a forum for their views to be heard. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> thank you, madam president, my name is mark sol man, i volunteered about ten years ago when the first legislation concerning formula retail was being contemplate and had we covered exactly these things and tried to include that into the legislation, the voters refi firmed that with the ballot box prop z, the tie goes to the people with the deepest pockets, it's supposed to go to the people in this room that make it the kind of place that people want to charm to death. we need you to do your job in the board of appeal iss to

represent the people when staff does not serve the people's interest, the people is expressed by the ballot box and voting for supervisors. i think in this case, we're looking at a willful misleading of staff by depocketed interests and in that case, there's been a gross misjustice here as far as administering the people's law, the purpose of the board of appeals is to ensure their laws are being faithfully implemented by staff. i think it's your job today to take this up, give us a fair hearing because if you don't -- if the lod goes, that means they have to go for a cu, the entirety of the building unit has to get pushed back and we have to have the real process here on what formula retail is in the mission, and next time, they say we've come so far, mr.

sanchez is saying it doesn't matter if he followed form and process, and it gets washed out, your job is to make sure that they get followed with every step. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name's brezi colbersom, i've seen the neighborhood change over the last decade and i would say that having jack spade open up would be not a good investment in the neighborhood. the neighborhood right now depends on tourism and tourists come for if uniqueness of the mission, they don't go to come to another chain, they come to my shop because it's ewe niek and i think jack spade will cheapen the naibtd and hurt the whole community at large. as for crime, i don't think

jack spade would be good, [inaudible] they're the ones who care and they're going to be invested to come here on their day off and try to clean up the neighborhood. the crime is, the residential hotels which that's something the city needs to take care of, there needs to be a need for more help for mental health and bart, you know, of course, jack spade is not going to save the neighborhood as crime goes, it's only going to cheapen the neighborhood and stop the tourism from coming, a lot of residential hotel ins the mission are turning to r and brb, and i believe ones on 16th street will do the same, the reason there's empty store fronts because it's going to be the next valencia and all those owners are waiting and just when i was here for american apparel appeals, now look at it, 5 years later, it's golden

and mission street will be the next valencia. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> i own and operate a business across the street from where jack spade is going to be called benny gold and i was on the fence for a long time about the jack spade situation until recently because 16th street is a lot different from the mission street neighborhood, we have two transit hotels, multiple liquor stores and just the nature of that block is getting really bad, every time i'm cleaning up human extrament, there's been a fatal shooting across the street so it's not like jack spade is going to a prime location, they're going into a neighborhood that needs repair, i hate to say it, i know a lot of people won't like to hear my point of view on it, but i think they should clean up the

building. >> did you want to state your name. >> my name is benjamin and my business is benny gold. >> next speaker, please. >> hi there. my name's hailey kavliky, i'm a resident of san francisco for the last 11 years and i've managed a business for the last 6 years, the reason for the hearing today is not whether jack spade is formula retail and whether we should be granted a late appeal, i believe we should be granted a late appeal because my business is about a block and a half from there and i didn't hear about jack spade going into the neighborhood until i heard adobe books was forced to leave, they led you to believe he was retiring, he didn't retire until he lost his lease, so i followed the mission merchant's association, the president's bar is right across

the street from us and i didn't see anything come through there and i kind of rely on that for my information, and so that's the reason that i believe we should be granted a late appeal. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to speak. i will speak what i have prepared, it may or may not be to what the relevance of this hearing, but my name is brook cooley, i am in opposition to jack spade moving into the valencia street corridor, i pay high rent to live and work in san francisco. i moved here from florida about four years ago because one of the many reasons, because it supports local business and encourages artistic entrepreneurship like norls in

this city, a short story, recently i jumped in a cab near my home in coal valley, i instructed the driver to take me to a more creative part of the city, i needed inspiration, and i said 16th and mission street. the valencia street corridor is one of the many reasons i moved here, the local shops, the artistic presence, the inspiration that instills me, the flavor that blends, i cannot get the feeling i get when i'm anywhere of 16th and 24th street on valencia, please don't open a big door for big business by allowing jack spade to open up their business, continue to support business along the -- valencia street.

thank you. >> my name is alicia gemez and i understand the purpose of this hearing, the hearing is to determine whether the letter of determination should get an appeal, and you named one of the standards of jurisdictional review being manifest and justice. >> i want to correct the record, it's not manifest and justice, if the city inadvertently or caused the filing to be late, i apologize for -- >> could you restate that. >> city attorney, get it right. >> the rule is after the appeal has expired the board allows jurisdiction except in extraordinary cases where the board finds that the city intentionally or inadvertently caused a requestor to be late in filing the appeal, the city inadvertently caused the requestor to be late in filing the appeal. >> well, the manifest and justice was far more poetic.

>> that's for a rehearing request, and i hope i'll get credit for that time. >> sure you do. >> but i will -- i do think i can still get it in there because the issue being whether the city was inadvertently a player in allowing a letter of determination to be issued which was based on bad information, that bad information came from jack spade, as was shown in a prior speaker, the -- a corporation 10k does not -- is not something that is developed over time or even over the course of one year. there's an article on kate spade's own website or fifth and pacific's own website that determines there are 10 current store and is 11 and 12 on the way, san francisco and the zoning administrator does consider leases, that should have been something that should

have been disclosed and the plans that were obviously under way of great expansion as stated, jack spade has begun to spread its wings and is poised for broader expansion and that that expansion, it's 100 million dollar men's business with high margins korkt the melissa zides who spoke with us earlier and this is coming from fifth and pacific's own website and that has taken the form of expansion, it grew from 103 units to 10 stores, plus atlanta, if the city was inadvertently an actor in facilitating the failure of the citizens of san francisco having the opportunity to voice opposition to such a store through a conditional use hearing, then that is a basis for allowing a letter of

determination to be set aside and opening up jurisdiction here. i think it's very important, although i understood it was said earlier that there is no precedent if this sort of thing is allowed, it will continue and if this sort of failure to provide relevant information which was clearly a business plan prior is allowed, you will just have more. >> thank you. >> next speak -- speaker, please. >> thank you. my name is benjamin wax and i would like to follow up what was just said, my concern here is precisely while this may not be a pres d*eshl rounding, i can tell you people are concerned about this issue because we think we are protected from formula retail and now we are asked to swallow

an explanation that a store that shares a parent company, that shares a payroll, that shares a human resource department that advertises for shared services on their website is in fact entirely independent for all intents and purposes, that is not what we voted for, that is not what we understand the law to mean, if only a lawyer can understand the protections we have and we are not protected particularly if they are simply that ridiculous. if it happens on valencia, it will happen elsewhere and in the inner sunset where we don't want it, it will happen in twin peaks and in san francisco, the voters passed a measure to pass this precisely because this is the kind of thing we want input on and yet we're not solicited for input. the outreach was not done, it seems very clear that a determination was made on the basis of information that either was a lie or is completely ludicrous, we are not protected unless this

process works, unless we are protected here at this level, at the appeals level, then we're not protected and there is for all practical intents and purposes no protection against formula retail. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is gnat cut ler, owner of two restaurant ins the mission, [inaudible] kettle, just where jack spade wants to locate and [inaudible] 18th and 19th. for the betterment of the 16th street corridor, both immediate and long term, jack spade should be able to come in, they will bring a quality clean retail, they will help increase the economic benefits of the corridor as well as the safety and comfort of its inhabitants and they will do so while

[inaudible]. i do find it interesting that myself, sunny moon, benny gold, carly lane, the majority of the businesses on 16th street support jack spade going in while the majority of businesses on valencia do not and as an owner of restaurants on both, i consider the neighborhoods completely different and 16th street needs help. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speak e please, and again if folks could come forward,