they assisted us in the public outreach process. i would also like to acknowledge support of the san francisco park's council. acting as a fiscal agent for friends of lafayette park playground. this is a memorandum of understanding established now to set the framework for collaboration of design and funding of the playground element. the bond had a budget of approximately $1 million set aside for the playground and a select group of parents are interested in making this more unique and interesting.

the friends of lafayette park have taken the first step and have hired architects to design a playground that will be presented today. i want to hand it over to jeffrey miller, who will walk you through the project. at the conclusion of the presentation, i will be there to answer any questions. >> i am pleased to present to you the process. if i can figure out how to start. i am a mac user.

>> there you go. >> i am trying to give you a of full view. not quite, but good enough. this is an 11-acre site, and it is also elevated 20 feet at the highest point to its lowest point, so it is a significant hill. the project is an infrastructure project, but we are trying to preserve the main areas that exist on the site, so in your package, this is an analysis, which is really to look of some of the issues of the site, which there is a lot of drainage problems. there is a lot of erosion, so this project will take that into

consideration, and we also wanted to acknowledge the views that are significant on the site. there are views back to twin peaks that the concept plan addresses. this diagram is to show as part of the project we always have to make it accessible, and of the three program areas, the children -- i do not have a pointer, but to the left is the children's area. in blue are the active program areas where we have to create excess ability. there is a dog area, a meadow area that is a community gathering area, and at the top, the purple is the summit, which is passeive, we do not have to

provide a path to that. the other area is the gardener's maintenance area. we have shifted its you can see a black got so that the summit area can be a whole space. this is the plan itself, and you will see overall it retains very much of the existing program area, but essentially we are finding them and connecting them and defining the edges, like the dog area will be defined so the dogs will not go over the hillside. one thing i wanted to show is said he proposed areas -- is that he proposed areas that are not part of this.

behind it is what is called the trellis area and next to the tennis courts is the proposed community gardens, which will allow for good son -- sun. i am going to take you through some of the details. this is the central plaza area, which is both a playground area, general picnic area, and this is where the majority of the expansions are happening. we want to have jeff talk to you about how the playground developed later, but to the north is a trellis, which is a seating area. the back is a seating area, which we changed to make its offer at the northern residential area. -- buffer the northern residential area. this is imagery to give you an

image of the flavor we will create. we are going to provide seating areas that lead you of to the designated blog area and tennis court. the designated dog area will be framed with -- the designated dog area and tennis court. the nano area is a natural meadow vole -- this area it is a natural meadow bowl, and i guess it has some history, so we've provided a naturalistic setting for a small gathering of about 100 people, and it is only meant for daytime use, but in the daytime it is more usable. you could put out your daytime,

read, or gather a small community for a poetry reading. the next is the summit. this is the antidote to the plaza area. a lot of people go there to exercise, so we are trying to encourage that kind of space so you will have a place to exercise and meander. we try to do that, and in doing that, we move the consolidated area out of the summit, which is to the south, and my next slide will show you what that looks like. this is not contemplated as part of the budget, but it came through the desired staff, so we

tried to accommodate their needs, and the community did not like the location of the current container, so to keep things budget-friendly, we are talking about reducing the current container. it is 88 by 40 feet. this shows us two containers that are eight by 20 feet. they can be nestled together, and in the last is what we call the gardeners office. that is where some of the tools will be maintained and place. the next section is the debris pile. this is the place for a lot of debris around the district, and to the right is where they store things. i am going to let jeff talk about the children's playground. >> good afternoon. i am jeffrey miller.

our task was, with the new plan for the playground that would region was to come up with a new plan for the playground -- our task was to come up with a new plan for the playground. it does not meet any of the accessibility standards. our task was to redesign the playground, and you can see in the slide the existing conditions of the blue area being where the top slot is. the no. 7 green area is an enclosed cents area. it is confusing whether it is a dog area or ann tot area, but those make about 8000 square

feet of space. there is a plaza in the area, and you can see it in the 10 zone at the top there is a picnic zone. -- you can see in the tan zone at the top there is a sickening sound. our task was to bring the elements together. the playground plan consists of various age appropriate playground equipment. there are three major elements. the central element is what we call a gorge, which will be a climbing mt. filled with natural boulders, and it will be a discovering ispace. there will be a creek area where kids will pump water themselves into the dry creek. the creek will be about 2 inches deep of water, but it will be an

active place for three areas with different comping action, so we can see kids pumping water for a long time. there are swings for tots separated from older kids. we had an area requested by people in the community, and there is an older kids climbing area that has what we are considering the world's longest monkey bar. you can see the creek on the right coming down. there are three entrances to the new playground. in total, it is about 13,000 square feet of playground space. it does have places for adults to sit inside and to observe the

kids as well. it will have stroller parking inside. one problem with the existing playground is people have to leave their strollers outside. there are new trees within the plan. there are 13 new trees that will be planted, so it will be of major orientation to the space as well. this is a section through the park. you can see the gorge on the top section with the slide coming down on the right. there is a tower elements that now contains the world's longest monkey bar. here is an illustration of what we think the park will look like looking across the street to the gorge, and you can see to the left there is a crawl tunnel that connects to a serpent's head, and we think it is going to be full of fantasy.

in the front, we have done some budgeting for the park, so we are cognizant of the budgeting requirements for the park, and we think we can work with the neighborhood group who is behind this group that accomplished this within the budget we have dedicated, so that concludes my presentation. thank you. >> thank you. >> that concludes our presentation. we are available to answer any questions you might have. >> let's open it to public comment. i do not see any questions from the commission. >> [list of names] >> i am jenny, the managing director of the san francisco mime troupe.

i am here on behalf of the truth to support the proposed plan as it is, particularly on -- on behalf of the troupe to support the proposed plan as it is. the mime troupe has an important connection with this group. bill graeme hosted his first concert to raise money, but now we are not on good terms. -- but now we are on good terms. we have not performed there in a number of years. it seems the area now is underutilized and in general there is not a lot of public gathering space, so that really speaks about the need to make the most of that space.

the proposed plan the way it is set up now could be utilized by a number of creative endeavors for people in the community. it is nice to have an open park space to gather. the mime troupe is a vocal advocates. we really hope to see this space is proposed, and with the renovations in place, to see activity resume and the inspired, and if the neighbors are amenable, we would love to return to lafayette park and have a presence there. >> no more getting arrested. >> may be you can perform at the renovation of the revitalized park. >> that is the plan. >> next speaker.

>> the mime troupe is a hard act to follow. i will own and operate my own audio/video installation service. i work of the castro theater for 13 years. i am here basically to speak to concerns regarding sound levels as they may pertain to the public gathering space. last monday we undertook an audio test. i set of speakers on the east side of the meadow, aimed them at the hillside. i set the sound level at 85 decibels. that is basically the benchmark level that dolby lab sets for calibrating movie theaters. i used the sound pressure meter,

and i used rock music, classical music, and also as electronic film music. outside the target area of the meadow, i use my sound pressure meter, and we had friends and colleagues doing this with us. we basically detected very little sound level. we dropped to 50 decibels or below on all sides. you probably cannot hear that well at all. 50 decibels is below what am be in st. and urban noise would be, so basically we undertook this, and it appeared there was very little noise that would have a major impact on neighbors in the area. to sum up, photography of the surrounding meadow provide an

unnatural sound barrier. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> next speaker please. >> i am the bill marlowe. i just want to say something about a couple of things there has been some discussion on, but first i would like to thank park and wrecked. -- and rec. they have done a great job of accepting input. >> can you repeat that for the record? >> i can give you a written copy. there are a few issues that have been open for discussion. there are two existing tennis courts now. they have not been maintained in 20 years, so you cannot tell

where it is going to bounce, but on a sunny weekend, those are well-used, and you can wade over an hour. there has been discussion about -- you can wait for over an hour. there has been some discussion about making it a multi use. within four blocks, there is a multi-use tennis court, and they have two tennis courts plus mollify use. -- plus multi-use. the meadow is underutilized, and i know there are concerns about what happens. from my perspective, during the plan proposed by the park is a plus functionally as well as

aesthetically. people play music. people stand around. that is a different story. i think from a functional context it works very well. i have seen some photos of the concept. i had some concerns about it may be being over the top. it is a natural area, and we understand we need a place for kids to have a playground, tune ,too, -- too, so keep it natural. >> i am going to read a couple more names. [list of names] >> my name is art. thank you for giving me this opportunity i am in support of

the conceptual plan and all these elements. i am looking forward to the tennis plans with windscreens. as someone who has seen the grass died on some long summers, i am glad the irrigation system is going to get repaired. i am glad the sidewalks will be better thanks to the -irrigatio. as a dog owner it would be great to have an off-lease area. -- leash area. i am glad it will be made accessible. i am especially excited about the proposed community gathering phase. the historic connection of that meadow to the mime troupe is

honored by the plan for lafayette park. because the design has the potential to enhance our neighborhood, it will remain a largely quiet and peaceful neighborhood with individuals and couples using it. the planned terrace will not only beautify the park with new landscaping. that change will allow more people to enjoy that rarely- frequented part of the park in ways not experienced before. the community gathering space will be of benefit to the broader community to foster creativity, community connections that are good for the social fabric of not only the immediate area but for others around. it should in sure it fits comfortably within the parameters of the site and the

neighbors. thank you very much. >> next speaker please. >> my name is philip. i live across the street from the park. we moved here about six years ago because of the park. i have i have the dog we walked three times a day. -- i have a happy dog we walk three times a day. i spend a lot of time in the park. because my daughter is so popular, i know everybody in the park. everybody seems to know me. when we started prop h, he talked about in refurbishing the park. i think it is great. i think it is the crown jewel of

the recon park department -- rec and park department very good -- department. a lot of people said it is perfect. what are we doing here? as much work as we have done, there are some serious flaws i would like to bring to your attention. i am not against change. there is a positive change and- change, but there are things that should be brought to your attention. this is the only picture as i have of the park. this is washington street year. 90% of the activity takes place here. all of these pathways lead to

the plaza, which seems to be a forgotten plays, but it is a major gathering area. it is the union square of lafayette park. everybody agrees each other there. it is a major central area of the park. if you look at the new plan, it is gone. there is no plaza. we now have a 15-foot pass away where that was common -- pathway where that was. people say, where are we going to meet? in the rain there 20 or 30 of us walking our dog. that is the only dry place we have to go. the picnic area and now is a perfect area. we are going to put it right next to the swap way so the

picnic people have a place to go. we remove this crosswalks of the people here now have to walk on the walkway. we have a traffic issue i do not believe has been addressed properly by the planners. >> is that everything you wanted to say? >> there has to be some provision made to enlarge that and put the applause of back in somehow. -- put the plaza back in somehow. the picnic is a perfectly flat area. the new one is on a hill. you do not put picnic areas on sloped ground. >> did you want to ask a question? let me ask you a question. i am giving you extra time because you spend four hours

working with the gardener, so we are getting our money's worth. is it your perception this is primarily represented by dog walkers. i am curious if that is the trough for most people. -- draw for most people. >> there are about 100 people who walk their dogs. >> the gathering is around people with their dogs. >> there is a beautiful view. there are a lot of folks there, and it is a pleasant area right there. it is gone, and i think that is a real shame they have not thought about this and worked it through. >> thank you. >> i am shyla.

i have lived here for 35 years. i have enjoyed very much the benefits of the park with raising three children and having three different dogs use it. i am a board member in charge of the landscape. i own my own garden design business, and i worked long and hard with the volunteers of the neighborhood on the first saturday of the month. it has been a great way for the people of the community to get involved, and the park benefited from our work. most recently i started working with the jewish community center on monday. i wanted to say i am very grateful we had this past so we can renovate our park. i am aware we have

infrastructure issues that need to be dealt with. i am excited that is going to happen. i also think with three public meetings that have been held we have an opportunity for people to express themselves, whatever that may be, and we have had that opportunity. there has been a lot of talk that has gone into this plan. there is no doubt there will never be a plan that willens make it -- that will make everyone happy. i have talked to a lot of people who are very supportive of this, and i want to thank you very much. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i want to recognize this is an important moment for lafayette park. its inclusion in the bond was necessary. the irrigation is in need