] \ supervisor maxwell: welcome to land use. i am supervisor sophie maxwell. i am joined by supervisor eric mar and supervisor david chiu. i also want to thank our clerk, alisa somera. do we have any committee reports?

clerk somera: no, we do not. supervisor maxwell: could you read the first item, please? supervisor maxwell: --clerk somera: this is a resolution approving continue designation of eight former temporary selling spaces on 17th street at castro and market streets forestry artists certified by the arts commission. -- " for st. artists -- for street artists. supervisor maxwell: it is that time of year again when we have more spaces. >> this is right where the f line dead ends, so that is what

they did. they invited me to create st reet art, and i met someone, and we walked to the area and made this basis, and then the board of supervisors a few months later at the request of the art commission actually passed a resolution, formerly designating those spaces on a six-month basis, subject to your review to see whether or not there were any pedestrian problems or anything like that, so in all of this time, we have no knowledge of any problems that have developed, ok, and the art commission as of this year, september, voted to ask to continue that designation. this is in deference to the cbd, because they asked that the spaces continue but bitburg --

but that they not be used by street artists during certain events, and the arts commission agreed. we would all be grateful just to get the spaces, so that is what this legislation is before you. supervisor maxwell: so, then, the commercial businesses that are there now think this is a good, and they are fine with the decision? >> i did not do any outreach. i left that up to adnrea. -- andrea. they have not grumble to me about it. supervisor maxwell: we know that if they had a problem, they would be here. any questions or comments? ok, why do we not open this up for public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, i number one, without objection? so move.

item number two. -- so moved. clerk somera: item number two, an ordinance amending the san francisco administration code by repealing chapter 63. supervisor maxwell: to successfully reduce consumption in our city, we have had to look at water use, including landscaping practices, commercial, and residential. this would establish new standards for projects to make sure we are moving towards more sustainable plants and ground covers and that we are continuing to reduce our water footprint overtime in every way possible. the development of standards is mandated by state law, but i would like to think -- thank the puc staff for creating this. >> good afternoon, supervisors.

i am the water conservation manager for the sfpuc not, and i would like to give you an update on the proposed ordinance. first, i want to touch on the stated requirements. one was passed in 2006 and established the state water conservation in landscaping act, and this requires all local jurisdictions throughout california to enact ordinances that are as least as effective as the state ordinance in conserving water. there are three basic concepts that the state ordinance requires. one is that each landscape has a water budget. that is a budget based on a state-mandated formula, adjusted for local climatic conditions. it also means that the water budget allows for moderate views throughout in landscape,

so you can have some high-water use and some moderate, but, basically, you have to have a budget. the second is a mandate that irrigation systems be designed and operated not to waste water, and the third important point is that it replaces regulatory approval on landscape plantings, design, and irrigation. in other words, without extensive irrigation meters, which is a way we can retract water use in outdoors, landscape, the state made decision -- which is a way we can track water use, the state made a decision. supervisor maxwell: as opposed to doing it what other way? >> you could have separate irrigation meters that help you monitor the water use in the landscape, but, for example, in san francisco, we have about 1400 of those, so they are not

as extensive, and you do not have them so much in smaller man's case, so if you put regulatory approval on what plants -- you do not have them so much in smaller landscapes. since a dozen of an existing ordinance, in chapter 63 of the industry of code. it was adopted in 1991, and we did determined based on the state ordinances that we need is to replace it with a new ordinance, -- we did determine, based on the state ordinance, that we need to replace it with a new ordinance. this needs to be equal to or greater to 1000 square feet. there are three key exemptions, those registered as federal, state, and local historical sites, ecological restoration projects that do not need a permanent irrigation system, and the third art animal -- the

third our animal -- are animal habitats. others can be allowed more water use, and that includes parts with sports fields that are dedicated to active play and where turf couldn't provide a surface, areas fully dedicated to edible plants, such as community gardens -- where turf could provide a surface. so the new ordinance in san francisco is going to take a tiered compliance approach. there are two basic tiers. tier-1 would apply to any new or modified landscaping project to a certain size, and it would involve that an applicant or homeowner could comply with a simple checklist, and we are developing an on-line web site.

for tier-2, that would be for remodeling projects of another size, and basically, for these projects, that would require full compliance with the state documentation, it would also require use of a landscape professional. with tier-1, that could be done by the applicant. we also have a provision for a landscape over 10 acres. these are for property owners who maintain a cumulative landscape of over 10 acres, and for those, the approach would be that would make more sense to make irrigation and improvements in a programmatic rather than in a piecemeal fashion. so this is just a screen shot.

you can see it better in your hand out there. this our materials -- these are materials we're putting together for the public. which projects supply, at what points, and what the requirements are. another important provision of the new ordinance is water waste prevention. california communities of blogs. but san francisco currently does not, so this new ordinance would allow us to read a way to control and irrigation runoff, from low drainage, over spray, a broken irrigation systems, and other conditions where you could see water flowing down the streets and sidewalks. supervisor maxwell: what are we doing about our own? rec and park. i have seen water waste. how are they dealing with that? >> with rec and park, and i know

there is someone after the two is going to speak, looking at how to plan those in overtime, -- so there is a couple of ways that folks can comply with the ordinance. for projects that would also begin building permits from the department of building inspection, we have been working very closely with dbi and others to determine the best point in the development process for document submittal, and what we came up with was having landscape documentation deadlines, and that would be 100 days after being issued a building permit, so at that point, the project included building work, they would need to submit landscape plants to us. another, any project getting new

water meters, we are going to require that landscape documentation be submitted to us when they are getting new water service for both indoor water use or irrigation, and also, if they are applying for an irrigation water service meter, they need to submit their landscape documentation before that is installed, and then education will be a very important way to reach people, the chicory people who may not be doing building work are going through the department of -- dbi, so we are doing some work to peer reach a wide group of folks, and i will talk in a minute about our outreach. supervisor maxwell: any idea of how much water we will save? where. problems, and what this will do? >> well, we do not -- not all properties have irrigation meters that are separate. it is a small number. we do know, looking from project

to project, making the kinds of irrigation projects, you can anticipate an 10% to 20% savings. it depends on how many projects in a given year. supervisor maxwell: thank you. >> as i mentioned, we did notified a number of stakeholders, including other city departments in the development of this ordinance, and we got input from developers, landscape contractors, and architects, different environmental groups, and other horticultural interest, and we heard a lot of input. it kind of boils down to three key areas that we really worked hard to modify in the ordinance. one, the concept of having a tiered approach so that the smaller landscapes, those between 1020500 square feet, would have a mechanism, but it would not be too onerous.

also, looking at compliance plans for the large landscape owners, that they can have a systematic way to approach this. that is another thing we added in. the compliance point, where we make compliance mandatory, we worked closely with stakeholders, and also, in developing a list in an approach for determining climate- appropriate plants and native plants, so all of that is in the draft ordinance that you see today. and in terms of outreach, we have started, and we are doing outreach to our customers to neighborhoods, small contractors, continuing forward with that and planning on going articles in our water bill. the first one was issued this fall, so folks are seeing it right now. we have been going out to different groups, including nurseries, and to talk to them

and answer questions, and we are talking about holding open houses and other functions like that beginning next year, so with that, i wanted to turn it over to note the operations manager with rec and park, who wanted to say a few words. -- i wanted to turn it over to the operations manager. .supervisor maxwell: great. >> i am denny, and i in the operations manager -- i am operations manager for rec and park. we have been working on water conservation projects. prior to this, we worked with the puc, where they funded

analysis and a consultant to go through our top water-consuming parks in the system, in we identified 12 parks through the analysis -- and we identified 12. through the landscape grant program, we are funding renovation of irrigation systems in balboa park, and also jefferson square and another park, our top 3 what to consider and parks in the city, and -- supervisor maxwell: what about golf courses? >> golf courses, we are not doing those right now, though we do have a very efficient irrigation system out at harding park right now, but we were looking at regional parks initially in this process, so through this effort, we have already undertaken the

renovation of three large water-consuming irrigation systems, and we have entered into discussions early on with the puc with this particular piece of draft legislation, and through the compliance language for programmatic compliance and looking at how we are going to be doing our landscape renovation and our future capital bond projects, we believe that we have a good way forward to continue the work with the puc to achieve some very significant water savings here. supervisor maxwell: great. how much water do you expect to save >> that is a great question. i did not bring that piece of analysis with me today, but i can give that to you, because there is an estimated water savings in that analysis. supervisor maxwell: can you give us a guesstimate? >> i have not looked at it in a while.

i prefer to give it to you in a package. supervisor maxwell: ok. colleagues, any comments or questions? supervisor mar: i have a curiosity. besides harding, are they changing water budgets for the existing golf courses? i realize the legislation for new landscape in projects primarily is that, but i am looking at water conservation with golf courses, with the exception of harding. >> of course, harding is also going to a recycled water regime. we are working with north coast water to do some conversion in pacifica. lincoln, there has been no recent work in that, but we do know that we are very focused on how much water is being used out there, and gleneagles, et one that is under a contract arrangement, the vendor down

there has actually taken it upon himself to renovate, and is installing new valves and has replaced a lot of the heads on the gleneagles of course down there. supervisor maxwell: thank you. all right. >> i am happy to take any questions you have. supervisor maxwell: thank you. any further comment to questions? thank you. i have some speaker cards. [reading cards] if you hear your name, please come up. [reading names] >> the sierra club is pleased to endorse this ordinance. i think this is one of the recent water conservation packages, and this will help get

the city through this century. unfortunate, but "the l.a. times" released the results of a couple of studies, which lists san francisco as one of the top 10 cities that will probably experience a water shortage it, so i think this is a good step forward, and i want to thank you for cosponsoring this legislation. thank you. .supervisor maxwell: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is boller randel. i am speaking in support of the proposed landscape ordnance -- my name is blair randall. each year, people are learning sustainable practices through hands-on workshops. for 20 years, we've watched san francisco homeowners and renters learn new landscape practices. for 20 years, we have watched

san francisco homeowners and renters adopt an borgmann to lisa berlinski practices. it has been our experience that san franciscans want to adopt sustainable home landscape ruckuses because it is meaningful and a direct way to contribute to be local and global environment. we support the wednesday ordinance because it gives san franciscans the opportunity and guidance to maintain water eat fish and landscapes. with practical and hands on instruction, like we have offer for 20 years, we have seen that san franciscans are eager to adopt the best practices for sustainable landscape. thank you. supervisor maxwell: all right, next speaker, please. >> i am from the urban farmers store.

we have been active in irrigation for well over 30 years. i was involved in the right of the precursor to the state law that spawned all of the local -- and local ordinances. -- spot all of the local ordinances. i applaud the ordinance. with the prior ordinance, there was a lack of compliance, which i would like to encourage some outreach on. there will be plenty of people to do not know about it. there are folks in the landscape industry to do not know about it right now. there will be people who have small landscapes and they do not fall into having to comply. they should be educated. so i think there is a chance

here to make it work, but there will be a need to have outreach. as far as the plan to list, which of the plan to list, -- as far as the plant list, it was good, but i do not think they saw it as a prescription. there are going to be plenty of plants that are not want to be on that list and need to be recognized, and the irrigation skills, they are not as high. it will be hard to get compliance. it will be hard finding the people to do the work that the ordinance calls for, so it will

have to work while rolling it out. supervisor maxwell: thank you. >> supervisors, my name is francisco. i would like to see the empirical data linked to this. first and foremost, you must remember that most of the water that we get is from hetch hetchy, and the act was established, no consideration was given to those who own that water. you hear the sfpuc, and they have no enforcement. we have to the of the miles of water pipes, and over 85% of them are leaking and leaking

into a watershed, and we need to factor that into such type of deliberations. also, because sfpuc that is the main vendor that sells water to 2.4 million customers, we need to incorporate some kind of mechanism to tell us that if we conserve water in whatever manner, how do the other people in the other areas, san mateo and all of them who use a lot of water, what will they do? all long time ago, when the golden gate park was formed, those geniuses, those engineers used windmills. for years and years and years what have we done about gray water?

i just came back from australia and new zealand, where they conserve a lot of water, and as the gentleman said, we talk the talk, but we cannot walk the walk, because what is the percentage of homes in san francisco that have a mechanism where they have gray water? now, if you get into areas like the presidio, but and this is with the hetch-hetchy water, using a lot of it for irrigation, they are making some moves to use gray water, but they waste a lot of clean water, and we do not have to go for. right here at city hall, each time you flush. so what i am saying is this. we need to conserve water because water is going to be a resource that is very precious.

we already know about, but we have to have a holistic approach. we have to of empirical data into outreach. we need to give them the best. thank you very much. supervisor maxwell: next speaker. >> walter paulson, land use, good afternoon. ♪ solid food in the forest and the streams, and it is getting better, it seems the water efficiency, rocky mountain high i see conservation water in the sky. a poor guy if you never tried conservation. give it a try. rocky mount a high in the city

rocky mountain heinrich's -- mountain high end i'd like to see conservation in the oceans and rivers and streams make it better, please california, san francisco rocky mountain high it is going to get better i know it is going to get better please try why? we need better water and more ♪ [applause] >> good afternoon. nice to see you. we are strong supporters of the ordnance, and i kind of feel like singing