>> thank you, commissioners, for not engaging in a discussion on that item. [laughter] i was trying to be subtle. we are now moving forward to the director's report, directors announcements, and a review of events at the board of supervisors, board of appeals, and historic preservation commission. they did not meet this week, so there is no report. >> i wanted to also mention the apa award. i spoke at the meeting on behalf of the commission and thank them for that award. there were 10 awards given for great places in america. that took place in front of the ferry building, with a man who happened to have been my boss for 30 years. it was very happy to receive

that award on behalf of the city. director moyer was there, as for the developers and others. i will say that because of their concerns about early public release they did not let me know until the end of last week, so i had very little time to let any of you know. but it was a very nice turnout. >> amory rogers, a staff. the administrator asked me to review one case do for the board of appeals this week having to do with 281 turk street. this was an over the counter permit for a use of a pharmacy. this microphone is very hot. i do not know if you can turn the volume down. the neighbors were concerned

about the proliferation of illegal prescription drugs in the neighborhood. the board of appeals voted 4-1 to deny the permit because of negative impact on the neighborhood. the board raised concerns about the permit review process in the subject neighborhood and noted that neighbors had taken to calling the neighborhood "pill hill." the board of appeals suggested to the neighbors that they request additional land use controls from the planning commission and the board of supervisors and request additional police presence from the police commission. that concludes the report on that item. president miguel: ok. >> thank you. >> i might make a comment. it is not about that. the board of appeals really is a body that looks at existing laws and regulations and policies

through the city. that are not set up like the planning commission to deal with policy issues. but occasionally there are specific instances where a case is such that they then can suggest in this case that the board of supervisors and the planning commission take a closer look at how certain things are being permitted are not permitted. when i was on the board of appeals, one of the things that happened related to the taxi commission and their policies -- occasionally, they get a chance to mess around in our stuff, so to speak. >> thank you. we can move forward on your calendar. you are now at your 15 minute general public, category, where members may address you on items of interest to the public that fall within the subject matter jurisdiction of this commission. each member of the public may address you for up to 3 minutes,

with the caveat they may not address you on agenda items. i do have one speaker card. >> kathleen courtney? >> commissioner miguel, members of the commission, i am chair of housing and zoning for the russian hill community association. we are calling to your attention the armature issuance of a section 312 notice, triggering the 30 day public review on a

project on russian hill. we understand the zoning administrator has taken under advisement our request that the notice be revoked and the 30- day. be reset -- 30-day period be reset and has chosen not to do that. the city needs to look at how the ceqa and planning process work or do not worked in tandem. the public needs to know what is going on and right now there is confusion. the proposed project at 1945 high street calls for the conversion of a 90-year-old continually used community parking facility into a seven unit high end condominium, adding a fourth floor and roof deck, adding 40 feet to high street.

all of the neighborhood associations on russian hill -- the russian hill neighbors, russian hill community association, and others are concerned about this controversial change in use and the effect is going to have on the neighborhood. we submitted, because were actively involved and wanted to be actively involved in the ceazqqa process a 50-page response. we would go to the planning department every week and look at the files. before findings were issued, a section 312 notice was posted on the facility, dated september 22. that states if no request for discretionary review is filed this project will be approved by the planning department at the expiration date. the expiration date is october

22. our city and state environmental laws require that the information that is gathered during the environmental review be made available to the public prior to the declaration that a building is ready to review. this way, the public can comment on the accuracy and completeness and take into consideration. this is an awkward situation that is not contrary to law. we do not have any findings in hand. how can the public possibly make informed environmental comment during a 30-day period before the environmental review is completed? how can the public exercise its right under ceqa? we are asking planning to advise the zoning administrator to look again at his decision. president miguel: thank you very

much. >> good afternoon. my name is joe butler. i am an architect here in the city. hyde and union street are the heart of russian help. -- at the heart of the commercial district of russian hill. the garage is famous for its association with leo and caroline cassidy, who lived across from the passat. they were there in the winter of 1950-1951. their visitor, jack kerouac, arrived during january of 1951. over several days, they anchored caroline to the point where she threw them out, but before that happened, she took a photograph of the two of them leaning against the garage. the window is clearly evident in the photograph. it is one of the most famous

beat generation photos of all time. i would ask that this project be routed through the historic preservation commission. the russian hill improvement association has pointed out many problems and it would be good to have another look at this before it is raced through. on another note, may be related to this case, as a member of the public it is difficult to participate in land use issues in san francisco. the planning department has many policies which direct its relationship with its project sponsors, its permit applicants, its variance applications, and conditional use applications. but there is no policy that allows the citizens to have a role by the city charter. there is no policy among the planners for notifying them of revised plans that are submitted, of residential design

team reviews, of environmental initial studies. it really takes a professional or someone who has done it so many times that she knows the route to get this information out of your department. i would ask that you would do something for the public in the coming months. schedule a hearing. ask people to tell you their horror stories. you will know as we do how difficult it is for a member of the public to engage in the process, in spite of all the notice they may or may not receive, in spite of their lack of knowledge of the planning code. they somehow endure. but it is all those cases that do not get professional help ago by the way. the city is worse off for it. i think you very much. i know it is difficult sometimes to hear the public, but it is our city to.

-- too. president miguel: thank you. >> mining is rose -- my name is rose pilson. i received redacted forms of a resource. i want to say that after reading these archaeological research documents in the redacted state, it is like reading letters from a prisoner of war. a lot of the black ink seemed that it was not being redacted for the section i was told it is being redacted on, a public record section in regards to the native american artifacts and native americans information. the other information that was in this report that happen to be redacted covers things such as

the mexican american heritage, chinese, japanese, and german supplements at a lot of these sites that are being proposed. what i read that really interested me in this is that there was a document in there from the state university, and it talked about gathering the soil samples. they were not done consecutively. the suggestion by the experts is to make sure that they take consecutive samples at depths great enough to make sure these artifacts are actually found, and if so, taken care of properly. president miguel: thank you. is there additional general public comment on items not on the agenda? if not, public comment is closed. >> thank you. you can move forward on your calendar to public comment on agenda items where the public

hearing has been closed. at this time, members of the public who wish to address you on an agenda item that is already been heard and the hearing has been closed, the opportunity to do so will be now. the only item on the calendar this would relate to would be item 8, the harry tracy water treatment plant. i have one speaker card. awhil>> mr. president, if i may, because this is related to item 8 -- item eight has been closed. when we call item eight, there will be no public comment on that item. your opportunity to address the commission on that item is now. if you wish to speak on item

eight, please come to the front. >> chris collins? one which has no individual's name. >> christine hanson? i might have spelled my name wrong. president miguel: go ahead. >> i am the president of the board of skyline stables. we are located at the harry tracy water treatment plant. we are working toward a resolution that will hopefully ultimately preserve the future of the stable. this will still require our group to take a huge leap of faith that the elements will lead to an eventual new home. as we take this sleep, it should still be noted that there are inaccuracies in this eri -- this

eir that have not been fully addressed. our contribution of the tunnel under the freeway that exists between the plant and the watershed needs to be acknowledged. an equivalent facility to skyline stables, especially with its non-profit status, does not exist in the area, period. skyline stables is not a private facility. the ceqa process is a new situation for our group to encounter. thank you for your comments at the last hearing. for our group, your comments were a very bright spot in a difficult time. we are guardians of this historic stable and resource, and we take this responsibility very seriously. thank you. president miguel: thank you. chris collins, carol potreme.

>> speak right into that microphone. >> i am the treasurer of silence tables. i want to speak to you because you are about to certify the flawed environmental impact report for the harry tracy improvement project. the reason it is flawed is because it does not tell the true story of the stables and did not include the mitigation. during the comment period, there were close to 1000 comments sent in in our regard. we understand the importance of this project to the community. we appealed the planning commission's approval of this project because it did not comply with the general plan in terms of recreational benefits to the county. the board of supervisors sent a

letter to the project manager, approving the project subject to the board receiving a monthly status report on the negotiations between the sf puc and skyline stables. the board strongly encourages you to make a strenuous effort to continue to work with the stable owners and operators to find acceptable alternative locations, on the provision of a replacement facility. i will curtail my remarks, because we were negotiating to resolve issues in a manner that will preserve skylines tables for the community. we ask for your support. we always recognize that you must give it consistent with your obligations under the law. thank you. president miguel: thank you. is there additional public comment on this item?

if not, public comment is closed. >> with that, we can move to the next category on your calendar, consideration of findings and public action. the public hearings for this category is close. before you is item eight, case 2007. 1202e, certification of the final environmental impact report for the harry treaty -- tracy water treatment plant. >> good afternoon, president miguel. i am tim johnson with the environmental analysis section of the san francisco planning department. the item before you is certification of the final

impact report, or the i r -- or eir for the carry tracy water treatment project, proposed by the san francisco public utilities commission. an updated copy of the draft certification motion has just been passed out to you. the draft was published on march 31, 2010, starting the public comment which extended to may 17, 2010. during the public comment, one public hearing was held in the project area, in the city of milbray, on april 29, 2010. the hearing was also held in san francisco. the comment and responses document was published