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.

>> ladies and gentlemen, i want to welcome you to the newest of the art materials stores. we are very, very excited to open our new facility here in san francisco. we have been here for a while, but this new facility is wonderful. it is going to bring wonderful things to the neighborhood. our president, who is the president of our retail stores, is going to make a number of comments on how we work with the community, and also our students and teachers. thank you. [applause] >> welcome. welcome, mayor newsom.

welcome to another art materials grand opening. despite the economic unrest we face, we are growing, serving, and creating jobs in all the communities where we have a presence. in fact, we are one of the few family-owned businesses in the u.s. that can say that while celebrating our 100th anniversary. how do we do it? we put people and communities first. while we are one of the largest independent suppliers of art materials in the country, providing the broadest assortment and low prices, it is really our service and community involvement that sets us apart from the others. every year, our list of colleges and universities we support has grown. today, we visit over 250. whether on campus or at the events we sponsor, we see the same story unfolding. that is communities and the arts

are struggling to get funding, improve, and revived. it is so important to remember, while the foundation behind art and life do not change, the supporting structure continuously evolves with time. as part of this evolution, we and others like the mayor's support the continuing of art and the revival of communities in which they exist. here in san francisco, the market street community was once a thriving, exciting center for the arts. it was a place for the people in the city to come to forget their social and political differences and just another to enjoy life. hasn't san francisco waited and debated long enough on providing this area? now, along with mayor newsom, the planning and arts

commission, galleries, theaters, and artists themselves, in places like san francisco's st., we are helping paint the way to revival today. we are not waiting for the economy to turn, but helping it turned around today. we will build a better market street for tomorrow. thank you and enjoy. [applause] >> do you have to introduce me? >> i do not have to. everybody knows you. ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of san francisco. >> thank you all for being here. do not let me get in the wake of the most important sound, which is not my voice. it is the register. the retailers will appreciate what i am saying. this is once again a testament to this renewed vision, this renewed energy, this renewed

effort to revitalize the central market, the fact that so many of you took time to be here. if i could turn these cameras around, we could see the folks not only in the store but throughout the district. they come down almost every time we come down to celebrate another milestone. the reason we do this is we are marking progress. the reason we are doing this is we think every opening like this is not insignificant. it is extraordinarily significant to the revitalization of the central market area. we have long believed, but could not demonstrate, because we could not show people that arts will be the economic catalyst for revitalizing the central market area. the artistic expression, the community, the artistic contributions are self evident to anyone who has lived or visited san francisco. we have not necessarily organized the arts community in the measure and fashion today. do not get me wrong.

we do not do the organization. the community is organizing itself in a meaningful way. we are just providing the conditions or the conduits to establish the conditions to allow that to flourish in an organic matter. and that is why this store has moved to the heart of this district. that is a big deal. they have not only revitalized a remarkable and spacious flotation -- spacious location, exponentially bigger than i imagined, but have doubled the number of employees in this economy that are working for them. that should not be lost on anyone. what i love about the employees is they are also customers. they are artists themselves. there is tremendous diversity and expression with the staff. congratulations on all your success and the growth of this

business. you get it. you do it right. you speak the language of those that are on this side of the aisle. the folks on the other side understand the unique needs of their customers. i am thankful that you recognized not just in your opening comments, but recognized throughout your stewardship of this brand, the importance of contribution and giving back, the importance of what is happening outside your doors. we also understand that you need help and support and that this is not the end. we know that from our friends at fashion cafe on sixth street. we know every business accounts. we have more work to do. something else we want to celebrate in the market today -- in market today is this thursday, tomorrow, in 24 hours, we will be launching this arts fair, this arts market that

will be in the un plaza between the hours of 12 and 8:00 p.m., showcasing the individual and collective efforts of artists throughout our community and reinforcing this artist imperative. we are working with intersection of the arts and the black rock foundation, and others. they have identified 72 to 75 other arts organizations that are down here looking for space, that are encouraged about what is happening and encouraged about their prospects to put together the resources with city support, these low and no interest loans we are handing out. we will be following that with some really exciting things in september, where we will start doing some dance and some theater out on the streets and sidewalks, as i believe that is

where theater should be. it is democratizing the medium. that is something else i think is going to create a lot of energy, good will, identity for the neighborhood. a lot of good things happening. some months back, people said we were just shutting down markets street. it was an anti-car program. it was not about that. it was using that in a way that could anchor these other efforts. i see randy shaw here. i am glad he is here. he has been a great partner for this city and a partner for these efforts. pulling this up into the tenderloin area, the new tenderloin museum which had its grand opening if you weeks back. i love these reporters from the new york times. they come down and say, "you are doing walking tours in the tenderloin? you are celebrating the historical contributions of the tenderloin? you are marketing this area to

tourists?" we say absolutely right. eat your heart out. the history of the tenderloin is our history. it is something to be proud of. there is a lot that is right in these neighborhoods and this particular neighborhood. at the end of the day, we celebrate his work, your work, eds work -- ed's work, and all of you here. we are proud to be here today. now come back and shop and eat. [applause]