camp at the golden gateway tennis club. it is a great facility. those things will still be in place later. but i am here in support of what has been done by the planning commission and the planning department. it is to be commended. this is the final key, as many folks have said, in completing the waterfront, which so badly needs to be activated. the densities that have been discussed, i think, are appropriate. the need for housing has been clearly articulated by alan mark and others. we do a lot of residential work in this town and definitely need to see more housing in the pipeline. it is projects like washington and others along the waterfront that would add tremendous housing. this is about the greater public good. clearly, this is that link between the ferry building and

the fisherman's wharf that needs that greater public wharf and needs to be built into something exciting. i cannot wait to see it for myself, my children, and the greater public good. i fully support what has been presented to you today. president fong: paul iseult? patricia craig? >> good evening, commissioners. i am here representing a planning coalition. i have a letter on ellen's behalf. we are pleased to submit comments supporting the northeast embarcadero study. these are guidelines for new development in the area. we are very pleased that the san francisco planning commission approved the study's

recommendation at the hearing on july 8. we hope the port commission will do likewise and approve the study. it has many sound recommendations. the following are representative examples of what we see as useful comments. the sea wall should be developed and released from the growing limits. development should include neighborhood and city-serving uses on the ground floor. new development should provide the range of natural to poverty and surrounding communities. these developments should complement the character of historic districts, but also represent the best of contemporary architecture. the sand francisco bay and waterfront industry are a major contributor to commerce, recreation, and the environment. the blake -- the bay planning commission have supported this process for many decades. it is an important foundation on

which the san francisco planning department can build its recommendations. the thoughtful and visionary approach to ensuring compatibility of development and sustainability is a model for coastal ports across our nation. founded in 1983, the bay planning coalition is a nonprofit organization representing a broad spectrum of the bay of business and environmental entities. the 175 members include the maritime industry, local government, residential and commercial builders, labor unions, recreational users, and professional firms. we request that you approve the study and support the planning commission vision. thank you for your time. president fong: kevin loskatoff?

>> good evening, commissioners. i am here in support of the planning commission recommendations. i want to think staff for their work in creating a document that looks at the city and waterfront as a whole. i am a member of the tennis and swim club and enjoy the disabilities. however, this will bring about much-needed renovations while also surprising -- while also providing land for the greater community outside of as private members. currently, the only citywide contribution of the club is the unfortunate wall that overshadows a large section of the embarcadero. is that a wall, a fence, or a combination? it is important to remember the civic responsibility our city has to the waterfront. the importance of this area and the need to replace certain parking lots with developments that benefit the port and city and create visible neighborhoods

-- there has been more than enough public input during a number of meetings. i urge you to put it to use and move forward with progress along the west side of the embarcadero. if i may, i have heard a few references to an alternative plan this evening. i advocate you please not consider this plan was created behind closed doors, representing a special interest pursuing their own agenda. hundreds of san franciscans have made a good-faith effort, spending many hours attending meetings and submitting commons for a transparent study that considers the entire community's point of view. i respectfully request to move forward with that plan. president fong: matt harris? >> good evening. i am in north beach resident. i have been at most of the

meetings and assure you that have been throw, productive, and balanced. at the last couple of meetings, nothing new came up. planning has done an excellent job of presenting a study that serves the best interest of the waterfront as well as the city as a whole. upon a recent trip to win as onerous -- a recent trip to buenos aires, i sought new buildings that blended and complemented the longstanding architecture of the city. seeing this all my strength and my feelings for positive growth. san francisco needs to be encouraging development along the waterfront to ensure that the recent successes along the embarcadero can continue. president fong: is there any other public comment on this item? >> good evening, commissioners. thank you for your patience.

it is now 6:30 p.m.. my name is fred allerdice. i am a professional real-estate broker for over 35 years, marketing homes, condominiums, that's a trap on the waterfront. i take some umbrage with the previous comment that the amount of inventory of 800 units is about to be depleted in san francisco. i have a number of clients that have purchased real-estate in the last 10 years south of market, in this area, of which over 2000 are under water, meaning the value of their homes is less than their mortgage. the cannot sell their homes. they cannot do a short sale. they are basically up a creek. they would give their homes away today if somebody would take their position. those 2000 people would love to be in the market. it is not 800 units that have

not been sold. it is potentially 2000 more just in those neighborhoods that cannot even become available. that is all over the bay area, all over the country. to make a preposition or supposition that another 180 condominiums need to be built based upon lack of supply to me is a fallacy. it is a real shame because of this part of the market. getting back to the golden gateway tennis club, i have been to these meetings for 20 years. 90% of the people who spoke on behalf of this project today, and specifically washington street approval, are employed or have an economic relationship to the people at washington street. these people are here because they have potential economic gains for this project to be approved. that should be on the table. everybody should know it. there are reasons for them to have that position. there is nothing wrong with

that. this is america. as far as the process of this plan, i have seen today that the project was proposed by the planning department to be 55 feet on the front and 125 feet on the back. that increases the size by another 40%. everybody knows the club will disappear and behalf. the vast majority of new club members will live in the condominium. the whole neighborhood knows the benefit of this club that over 3000 people have been using for 60 years. the green fence -- that was put there because there was a freeway there. it is nothing to do with the aesthetics of it. you could remove that tomorrow and make it pleasing. i think you'll find as time goes along that the proposal has some very attractive parts to it. i think it is getting another chance to be at least exposed. thank you for your patience.

president fong: any other public comment? >> good evening, president fong and commissioners. i have to comment on this other comment you heard today. you notice it is lopsided. the reason is i call people to see if they would come and speak. they said no, we are waiting until we can present the alternative study. i hope you will take that into consideration. it was my understanding this was just an informational presentation and it you will be hearing the other side of the story in august. president fong: thank you. any other public comment? ok. the commissioners have

questions or comments? commissioner lazarus: i would like to add my thanks to the planning department. i am not sure this was necessarily their idea. so we appreciate all the concentrated effort that went into it. i know we all hoped it would come to a conclusion sooner than it did, i expect there were reasons it took this long, to maximize opportunities for input. as someone who has no background or experience in design and planning, i appreciate the fact we have a sister agency with the professionals who can assist us in doing this kind of a process and really helping to set of contacts. this was not intended to be about a particular project, a particular development, or a particular lot, but was designed to give us principles and guidelines we can apply as a backdrop as a set of standards

making decisions going forward. i believe you have provided us with that. i also want to say i find it a bit disingenuous that as of two months ago there is some second or ancillary planning process going on, because you had this process underway for a year and a half. i know you came to a preliminary set of conclusions that were then revisited with additional public input. i very much appreciate what you have done. i feel it does give us any background we need to move forward as different things come before us. thank you very much. commissioner brandon: i do not think i could have said that any better. i want to commend the planning department and staff for the numerous hours, time, and meetings that have gone into this study. we really appreciate your efforts and all of the knowledge

and expertise you have given us to work from. a lot of work went into this, and a lot of good recommendations came out of it. we really appreciate the plan that you have given us. thank you. president fong: my thoughts are this is a comprehensive and well put together study. i believe there were five different workshops or the public had opportunity, maybe four with the port as well. there have been many opportunities. i know most of all of you by first name from public comment or sitting at a round table in this room hearing about a particular project within the scope of this study. i did have the benefit of going online and watching last thursday's planning commission. i heard all the comments there. i heard the recap of what they are looking at doing. some of the comments were

thepearl about pearls in san francisco. if you look at the work that is being done at valencia's street, fisherman's wharf, all public plan similar to what was presented to us today. the port is doing work on the blue-green way as well. i think this is a key spot for san francisco visitors as well as residents to have an opportunity to explore this area further. a bit of a side note -- i had a bicycle stolen in front of this site. i had a friend's get broken into in front of this site. there was a stabbing at broadway and embarcadero a couple of nights ago. while there is no direct connection to urban planning and crime, it figures that in the dark area is not a great place

to be. i think this plan, not specifically the sea wall, but all of the open spaces including lot 314 -- that is the corner of bay and embarcadero -- if we feel this is an important juncture, that one is more important from a traffic point of view. going straight to fisherman's wharf along the waterfront, are going left -- that is a key point. i am applauding the work that was presented and thank you. i want to clarify with the director that there is no action to be taken. that is correct. >> that is correct. it is not that the port of.studies of the planning commission. it is simply something we could dissipate in.

the item before you today is so you can hear all the details as the public has, and others according to the findings of the planning commission. i did hear there are some expectations that there will be another follow-up item in august. i am not clear on what that is. it is not something the staff is planning right now. at this point, we have not been invited to participate in any other discussions. hopefully, we will be, but as of yet i do not know what that is. president fong: we take this very seriously. if there are any other comments, i am sure staff and the port will look at them as well. any other comments, commissioners? thank you for those who stayed late. >> what do you want to do with the next item? president fong: is it fast?

let us hear the next item, a 10a. >> a request approval of the first amendment to the memorandum of understanding between the port of san francisco and the san francisco municipal transportation agency, extending for two years the ports contract for services regarding multi-based pay stations on port property. commissioner lazarus: is their emotion? in musty feel like you need a presentation, we do not need to make one. president fong: any public comments? any opposed? >> item 11, new business. i think you have heard a lot of it. [laughter] see you on august 19. president fong: keep going. >> item 12, public comment.

i think he left. president fong: paul bicharte? >> hello, commissioners. i am here to speak specifically about a port aspect, which is dry dock number one. i do not know if you are familiar with that. it is a big tin cans that is currently moored at terminal 80. i consider myself a stakeholder in the harbor. i own a barge company in the harbor and also a commercial fuel business. i really wanted to commend the port, specifically the engineering department, for thinking outside of the box.

i thought i would be able to speak easily appear. i feel embarrassed. i do not know why. you were able to secure for the port a large sum of money to mediate and dispose of this drydock facility. my purpose of coming here today was to urge the commission to provide resources for the port to ameliorate that liability of drydock number one. it is a approximately 600 foot long barge that is in extremely poor condition. if it were to sink, the cost to the port could be millions and millions of dollars. really, that is all i wanted to say. thank you. president fong: thank you. any other public comment? ok. motion to adjourn.

all in favor? thank you. commissioner lazarus: yes.