the project sponsor will have up to 10 minutes to speak. and you will have individuals that wish to speak on behalf of the party interest. the appellants will have three minutes for a rebuttal. unless there are any questions, i will ask supervisor daly if you have any remarks. supervisor daly: first, the not great news, even though my office in addition to the president goes in office helped some discussions between the project sponsor and the appellants, we were not able to get to a place where everybody was happy enough to sell and move on. it is not all downside.

if we look at the ceqa documents, one of the big issues identified their in terms of traffic in this area, colleagues, he received a copy of the letter from the market street holdings, better known as the project sponsor for city place. a really novel and ground- breaking idea that ironically was first introduced to meet by one of the appellants, which is to basically make 20 cent surcharge per vehicle paying a parking fee to exit from the city placed garage.

one of the limitations over in the environmental review of the planning department, there are modeling a round trip generation, and we have had quite a lengthy discussion on that a few weeks ago about this. i think that there is work to be done at the planning department to get a better grasp of how parking relates to trip generation in the best parts of our city. i think the discussion on the garage and then president chiu's district was informative as well. we have a model that i think will accomplish two major things. it will generate money, potentially up to present value

of $1.8 million for improvements for pedestrians, bicyclists in terms of the streetscape and the ability here in the mid market. in terms of the cost of driving, the cost of driving to downtown spearheaded by a my former colleague for many many years, now being discussed at the transportation authority. i think that we will have this hearing and that there are significant issues to be discussed in terms of environmental impact. i do want to hear from the appellant in terms of outstanding concerns, but i do

want to report very good news that they will take a look at additional improvements in the area where there were some concerns identified within their own eir. i know that there are other issues that will come up, but i do want to think of the project sponsor, and we may be came out of pocket today a little more than he was planning to. of like to thank the team in the appellants who either support or oppose this most important project which gets a lot of attention in terms of talk, but usually not a lot in terms of action. >> i want to reiterate and thank both of the appellants and the project sponsors.

thank you for trying to work through these issues in recent days. i also agree with a supervisor daly about the good news on progress. why don't ask the appellants if you can step up. you have up to 10 minutes. you should use the other microphone to your right. >> that afternoon, president chiu, members of the board. i brought this appeal with the intention of asking to approve the the city place project. we are asking the board to make city placed a more environmentally and publicly responsible project. if i could have my slide up at this point, i would appreciate it. thank you.

we submit responsible plans to revitalize and reinvigorate their market. it is a step forward in that direction. this project is located at the very heart of san francisco within the line of sight of fifth and market. in a way that few projects do, the decision you make will affect the look, feel, and character of it for generations to come. it is too much to ask you to plan this afternoon for the next seven generations, but we don't think it is too much ask that you not rush to judgment and not make a decision that the city will regret for generations to come. i am going to speak to the visual aesthetic and historic issues.

others will speak to the pedestrian and bicycle safety issues that i know are topical in light of some of the memorial's this afternoon, and also the parking in traffic issues. we challenge the conclusion of the eir that the construction of the building will not have a substantial impact on the existing character. it is an entire context, it is a fabric, it is a continuity. can it really be said that this building would not have a substantial impact on the vicinity of this historical the and aesthetically sensitive district? the answer is no, and we urge you to reject the conclusion.

we also challenged the conclusion that the retail frontage of the saint francis theatre is not worthy of protection and incorporation into the project. it is the work of a master architect. the principal architect of the university of california at berkeley, the architect of the auditorium. it is characteristic of mid market and has been for 100 years. people know its not as the theater, but for its contribution to middle-market's character. this is the retail frontage today in tact. it continues to contribute to the visual aesthetic and historic character. it definitely needs renovation, the you can see the details

showing the fine hand. there is no evidence in the record before you that it would either be unfeasible to rehabilitate this frontage and making part of the project. if we can strip the chronicle building and restore it so that it is a local landmark, we can certainly restore the facades of the saint francis as an important contributor to the character of it market. our intention is not to oppose this project, it is to improve it. the board should create an opportunity to that end, and we ask that they either vote to deny certification or to defer its decision to that we can come back with an improved project for this board. president chiu: thank you.

>> i am losing my voice, but i am the executive director. we are actually located in mid market since we were founded in 2002. my office is just a few doors down and we definitely want to see a great project going on this parcel. what is actually really troubling to us it is that this environmental analysis has really put it this project against the issues of pedestrian safety. we have been involved in planning that our neighborhoods full of seniors, full of children, they are exposed to terrific amounts of traffic. these neighborhoods are very dangerous. the blocks immediately adjacent to this project that will be affected most are the most dangerous blocks in terms of

pedestrian injuries and fatalities. we're really talking about the issues of life and death, the fact that this project is not mitigating the impact, we think it is really alarming and appalling. the in memorial is about people who have died, we need to prevent that in need to be a city that does everything we can to ensure the livability of neighborhoods and insure pedestrian and bicycle safety. a few problems are the way that this calculates the amount of traffic. it calculates on the basis of square feet, it doesn't matter how many floors of parking, it generates the exact same number of trips. if that were true, there wouldn't be bothering to put in the excess parking.

that assumes that we are wrong in the developers are wrong. the profession of economic is wrong. supply has nothing to do with the band or use. it assumes that the general plan is wrong. if you have a short-term parking meter, convert long-term parking to short-term parking. it says the planning code is wrong. it says the purpose of the parking control, the maximum and minimum has been more than double. the purpose is to provide for reasonably -- it generates congestion. secondly, we have proposed mitigation. follow your own plans and

improve the affected intersections at fifth and at sixth. fifth and markets, important pedestrian routes. we're told that those are in feasible. this project will generate additional automobile trips. there is no mitigation for the bicycle and pedestrian impact. this project needs to mitigate the impact so we can have this project and have a more livable and save neighborhood. this does not get us there. we urge you to support the livability and the safety of this neighborhood, reject this

and ask them to find out what automobile trips they will generate and come up with effective medications for the excess parking if that is what we're going to approve with this project. i will now turn it over to the third appellant. >> thank you for hearing in our appeal today. i will echo what my fellow appellants have said. i don't think this is adequate. the idea that the number of trips generated will be the same matter how much parking is in a project is hard to believe. but also would like to for the concerns that we're all concerned about market street. i would like to see this project

move forward. in helping market street, we can't make sixth street even worse. this project will only make that worse and we would like to see the amount of parking reduced in this project or we would like to see effective medications. we appreciate the efforts of supervisors daly and the part in interest. president chiu: let me ask if there are members of the public that wish to speak on behalf of the appellant. >> i am with the san francisco bicycle coalition. we filed comments that echo the comments you have heard, and want to echo that we're very supportive of this project coming forward.

the offices were at the corner of sixth and a market for five years. we work and live in this area, we're very keen to see improvements come to this block of market. but the question comes down to, how do we conduct analysis that is meaningful indefensible. the notion that providing 200 more parking spaces will not create more trips is ludicrous, frankly. honestly, it is an exposure to any kind of legal contest that might come to this environmental finding. we do not want to stop the project, we want to improve the environmental analysis. as this city moves toward changing the way that we analyze transportation impacts, as a move towards discontinuing the use of level of service and

we move toward evaluating trade generation, it is troubling to see environmental document come forward that makes such a flimsy estimates of auto trip generation. it must do a better job of evaluating parking and the surplus. on behalf of the 11,000 members of the bicycle coalition and the hundreds of thousands that travel by bicycle, we find that this is not adequate. we urge you to hurry up and develop a more common sense indefensible way to evaluate impacts of excess parking. i want to note that the environmental impact report doesn't really estimate pedestrian -- president chiu: next speaker. >> can you put my sled up,

please? >> it will come up in just a second. >> i am a photographer, writer, historian. i did the photography that put the tenderloin in the national register. i recently did a survey specifically for today just to show the visual and architectural consistency with the south side of market street. i began just opposite the plaza, that is the grant a building there. just look at the pictures and see the consistency. these buildings were all built within roughly 15 or 20 years of each other after the 1906

earthquake and fire. that is why there is a particularly unique character in the block between sixth and seventh street. note the building on the right. that building is used to be the old house of blue jeans and fascination. both of which were stripped about 15 or 20 years ago and were major contributors. the owner of this building has combined the two. this is an example of what could be done with the old saint francis given the political will now we're down looking east of sixth street, there is the department store. across the street is the architectural consistency.

[bell] okay. president chiu: next speaker, please. >> i work and am here as a 20- plus year member of the community at sixth and market. i ride my bike every day to get to the office, and i have noticed an improvement with the prohibition on traffic. i have also noticed a lot of cars that ignore that and barrel through. i see quite a few cars turning back on the market street from sixth street. this major -- this area is majorly congested, not just morning and afternoon rush hour.

many people walk with assistance, they have walkers or disabilities of some type, and to see people trying to get through the gridlock traffic that crosses market, it is heartbreaking. i think that the addition of new parking is going to be a major traffic and user to a community that already has too much traffic. there are too many cars that are not contributing to the well- being of this neighborhood. while it does provide economic incentive and brings a new kind of people to the area and makes it a more comfortable pedestrian space, all the good will be washed away with the addition of thousands of cars in and out of the area at seeking the parking garage that is here in a area that is already rich with

parking. there are other parking garages and other facilities around. it is the heart of the city with every transit line in the city. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am an observer of the urban fabric of market street. i have done documentary's about areas close by. this is flawed in that it neglects to provide analysis of the impact of traffic, a double number of parking spaces that have been up from 70 cars to

140. stephenson st. is a potential destination. they neglected inventory and historical values. the parking was -- in the event that the target store would go into this space, much of the discussion at the planning hearing centered around this. it was reported that the target was interested in going into the space that has no parking. they said they had new models to deal with this that they use in other cities. thank you.

president chiu: next speaker. >> i am here partly to introduce myself. i am the new executive director as of about a week and a half ago. i just wanted to add to what has already been said, the area where it is being proposed is an area that has three of the most dangerous intersections in san francisco. as currently proposed, the plan does not have adequate mitigation for the impact of the many cars it will be attracting to the area. i urge the supervisors to ensure that this plan includes adequate mitigation to make it more safe instead of more dangerous. one thing i should add, the

department of public health has a pedestrian and injury forecasting model. the department of public health has a more accurate way to assess the impact on people walking then perhaps we have seen a in the eir. the idea is to bring more life to mid market. not more death. thank you. president chi>> i have had expen integrating a retail centers with historic resources. in a city district, it is extremely advantageous to create a unique identity, especially nationally or internationally renowned. the neighborhood does have a

rich historical lineage. as a theatrical district with its own architectural texture and quality, it is an advertising agency. it is the architectural equivalent of a rock star, famed for the master plan of the university of california berkeley campus. it included the greek theater. like all great architects, it has had a ripple effect on history. his employees included henry gutterson and appleton warford. they went to great architects,

and early shaped a lot of the area architecture. san francisco has lost a great marketing opportunity in the past, but today, we can incrementally planned new and old to create the strongest foundation for economic success and good urban design. thank you. >> walter paulson. ♪ city place photographs covered with lines and creases tickets torn in half of all market street i close my eyes and i say a prayer

that you will find a good building there ♪ ♪ and we hope you fix it with all the things and places that used to be there hope you care and always be be there ♪ i close my eyes and say a prayer that in your heart you find a new building still there ♪ president chiu: are there any other members of the public that wish to speak on behalf of the appellant? we can now go to a presentation by planning. >> the evening, president chiu

and members of the board, i'm from the major environmental analysis planning department. the department prepared an eir which was certified on july 8 by the planning commission. the project for which the report was prepared would involve the demolition of some existing structures that were determined not to be historic resources. it would involve the construction of a five-story 90- foot tall retailer with approximately 264,000 square feet including three below grade levels. the parking garage access would be from stevenson street. an alternative