tv [untitled] December 18, 2010 12:30am-1:00am PST
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>> thank you again for letting me visit with you. i want to just state that i think this is a project that is a model on how it is thought to work with the neighborhood and the planning department. you know that some years back, i worked to get funding through the board through the upper market planning process because there was this a turnover of underused parcels. we wanted to have thoughtful input from the community. it was one of the most dynamic processes the planning department has seen with hundreds of people coming up to express what they wanted to see in the development. you have a project sponsored that has had over 60 community meetings over the past three years to dig down with community organizations, and many of them will be here. much of the support has been very nuanced where there are concerns that groups continue to raise, but in response to these meetings, over 27 changes have
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been made. i think they have tried to work with the neighborhood and to build a better project. i live in the immediate area, and i can tell you that i think there is room for much more dynamism. there are so many people who traverse this area with all five streetcar lines, all coming together there, and there is just not activation of that street. having a fenced parking lot for safeway there, having not strong retail across the street -- i think this is going to be and unconcerned that we want to see -- and i am concerned that we want to see neighborhood retail succeed. there is a creativity and a niche that exists for this business. what we're trying to do is activate more of the upper market street neighborhood. one of the concerns has been about affordable housing. when i first met with developers, much of my interest was seen the site.
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this is where to start out as rental. it is my understanding you are not able to do on-site affordable with a project that starts out as rental. but discussions i have had with the mayor's office of housing have been about obtaining a site. we have not had affordable housing built in my district since the one church project. it is frustrating to me because we certainly need it. we needed to maintain the diversity we have lost, people who were renters when there was a feeding frenzy on to unit buildings because there were outside the condo lottery. -- on 2 below-unit buildings because there were outside the condo lottery. we need housing. but there are other plots of land. take blockbuster. that is a business model that is close to a dinosaur. it is a gigantic parcel of land on church street. talking to developers, i have to
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say that prado has been distinguished in being aggressive to go out and help us identify a person that we could, through the city, obtained. i would like to read a brief letter from the schumacher, director of the mayor's office of housing. regarding ways to increase affordable housing, as we discussed, the mayor's office of housing has been working with the project sponsors of the 2001 market street project to find various ways they can add to the supply of affordable housing in the neighborhood. i am supportive of the idea of adding a land dedication option to the market-are to be a plan. -- the market octavia plan. in terms of 2001 market street, the product group -- prado group has been working to provide affordable housing. certain projects have been
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proposed that convert to ownership. this is a difficult project for on-site inclusionary housing because in many places tenants cannot afford to buy or do not want to buy. the purchasing power is different because the targeting for tenants is 50% and my and the targeting for buyers is 90% am i -- is 50% ami in the targeting for buyers is 90% ami. prado has been looking for sites for the past two year and will continue to apprise us on ongoing progress. this will be similar to the lan dedication in eastern neighborhoods. this will allow the project sponsor to purchase a site within a defined radius and transfer to the city. then they can offer it to the nonprofit affordable housing provider that meets the needs of the community. this land dedication option would allow the city and
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developers leverage and funding sources that would enable the affordability and the housing most of prakrit to the needs of the community. this financial leverage is not available to developers in an off site scenario. the mayor's office is committed to working on a timely manner on this with developers in the market area. we would ask you make the land dedication option retroactive to projects that would have been entitled. it is my plan on january 4 to a vance legislation. i am confident that my successor, scott weiner, will be supportive of it. i believe we can generate more affordable housing in the neighborhood. this is responding to some concerns. i want to express my appreciation to prado. they have worked hard in the planning process and engagement with the developer.
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thank you. president miguel: project sponsor? >> thank you, my name is dan safir with the prado group. i am happy to support our project. we have been working on this project for over four years. i am very proud of the final project in the work that has been done by the team, including local architects and design work. from day one, with the guidance of supervisor dufty, we started extensive outreach for this project in the neighborhood. as many of you know, this is one of the most active, engaged, and knowledgeable neighborhoods when it comes to land use issues. we held over 60 meetings and presentations with numerous the calder groups.
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those were neighborhood organizations and individuals. i know many of them on a first name basis. we created an interactive web site with all of the project details to have a very transparent corporate project that had our contacts, had all of our meetings, so that people would have an opportunity to participate. after executing nearly 30 design modifications, we believe we have a much better project today than when we started as a result of the collaboration and input we have received from the neighborhood and the stakeholder groups. we are also appreciative to neighborhood groups for their input. we appreciate the many letters of support. as you probably know, we were not able to satisfy everyone's requests. but we tried to solve as many of them as were feasible. i believe the commissioners are aware that a couple of the
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letters of support do have additional requests for consideration. the economic benefits of the project are many, including over 250 union jobs per day, 175 retail jobs, community improvements, new property and sales tax revenues. the transit-oriented nature of the plan is a significant accomplishment for the city. we're proud to be part of it. we have adhered to the mop parking ratios for both the retail and residential, and focused our project on what ability, lights, public transit, car share, and grocery delivery. we of the commissioners will see that this project really needs the values that were set forth in your market octavia plan by turning a former auto dealership
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into a corner with gathering spaces, rich transit options, and amenities where people can live, work, and play. in april, we will talk about the design and sustainable parts of the project which we are proud of. i think you in advance for your serious consideration of the project. i am going to turn it over to adams smith from whole foods. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is adam smith. i am with whole foods market. i would first like to say i am very honored to be part of the work that was done on this project. whole foods looks forward to the opportunity to serve this community with a neighborhood grocery store that supports its needs. we support stores that become a
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vibrant members of the community by fitting in with the community. we do this in a number of ways. because many of our team members will be hired locally, there will have an innate connection with the neighborhood -- they will have and a neat -- they will have an innate connection with the neighborhood and can quit products and merchandising that better suits the community. team members can use alternative transportation. i expect most of our customers well as well. we believe the residential areas and public transit will make this they -- make this whole foods market and then deal place -- an ideal place for people in the area to share food or sharing a meal. the support fund-raising and food for special events, and donations such as our quarterly
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5% where we donate our profits to charity. we provide low-interest loans to entrepreneurs just starting out are trying to grow. the man who runs the program is also our local forger, responsible for bringing new products and vendors and to our stores. some of these vendors supply only one store. this is really one wholefoods would like to be to the community, -- this is really what wholefoods would like to be to the community, to provide the highest quality organic foods to support the lifestyle of the community. i think you for your time today. i am available for questions as well. -- thank you for your time today. i am available for questions as well. >> thank you very much, bears a
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-- members of the commission. i want to thank you for taking the time to meet with us today so we could have the opportunity to show you what we have been able to accomplish at 2001 market street. we worked very closely with planning staff and with the various members of the neighborhood associations. we really felt this was critical to make sure we understood the elements necessary to make this project contextual inappropriate and a welcome part of the neighborhood. we have gained a real insight through the collaboration within -- with them. we believe the project has benefited significantly from their input. this is a gateway to the upper market street. the delores' neighborhood and
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mission dolores neighborhoods. the site faces three streets. market street is the historic retail and mixed use hub and backbone of san francisco. we have worked on the design of the building to create three different buildings to identify three of the different characteristics of the street. on market street, which is vibrant and cosmopolitan, the design of the building is very clean and simple. it reinforces the ground-floor retail. to input received by all of the different neighborhood communities and neighborhood groups, we have added significant detail in the way the bay windows have been handled, and adding significant detail at the skyline of the building. all these were done in response to comments we have received.
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the corner entry and community terrace at the entrance to the whole food store will provide a terrific community gathering place and welcome entry for the retail function there. on dolores street, dolores transitions to a historical boulevard, a significant boulevard. this reflects a more workable, residential and landscape experience. to input from members of the public and community, the top two floors of the building have been set back at the 65 foot height to reflect the scale of the buildings in the neighborhood. the upper floors have been made very transparent to reduce the impact on the street. further, the bay windows along dolores -- the top of the bay windows have been dropped down
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to 55 feet to create this staffing and this scaled element as we go down the street. -- this stepping and the skilled element as we go down the street. -- the stepping and the scaled element as we go down the street. we have plaster. we have board siding. we have broken tiles components. we believe the building is contractually appropriate for the neighborhood. the brick face is highly textured and creates a very tactile surface at the ground plan. it is very integrated into the landscape, which april will talk about in more detail in a moment. -- which april will talk about in a lot more detail in a moment.
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great care has been taken into making sure the surface side of this building reflects the residential character of the cadence of that street. we believe there has been significant detail added. we think the process has been significant. we're very proud of the process we have gone through and the fact that we have created it. we thank you for your time. i would like to introduce in april philips to review the landscape and sustainability initiatives associated with the project. thank you very much. >> thank you, david. we're very excited to be here today to tell you the story of our project. my name is april phillips. i am the landscape architect. i will tell you about our urban landscapes sustainability story. will start with the sustainability philosophy, which the project -- is the framework of the project. everything was built holistic play. we did not want to proceed with
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a checklist. we had really lively discussions and relieved to create a synergy between the landscape in the building system. the overall goal is to provide green, urban living that incorporates sustainable design, thoughtfully considered materials, and features. as an urban info project, we are improving city systems, reducing our carbon footprint, and supporting urban fatality. ventilation produces -- reduces energy consumption but also provides a connection with nature that is needed in our city. where harvesting when water from our roof. our conservation goal is to go beyond a 75% goal for water reduction to the landscape maintenance. we promote connection with nature to people. they will filter storm water, provide habitat for native
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species such as the mission blue butterfly. we have an urban agricultural component on the roof. the project anticipates at minimum a leed silver. we are also excited the project was selected by the sustainable sites initiative to be one of the first projects to participate as a pilot project in the new rating system, the first in the nation for rating sustainable landscapes. the potential for profiling sustainable urban ecosystems is high for this project. being selected for the pilot participation will create greater interdepartmental dialogue with the team as well as create back to the overall ecological response of our project. -- as well as create depth to the overall ecological response of our project. the 10 projects were selected in
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california. we are one of them. the recommendations were set forward by the better streets plan, the market octavia plan, and the poc storm water guidelines. we began by looking and those release strategically. the street level plan demonstrates how public urban plaza really celebrates the corner. it is an icon a corner. we want to celebrate it not only as the iconic thing of market street, but as a gateway to the historic delores' neighborhood. -- dolores neighborhood. we see bike parking, a tree grates, terraces for people to sit. we will activate this public
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community space. the streetscape becomes a garden walkway along dolores street. i will talk more about that in a second. not only do we have the street level and street facade of the building. we also have on third and fourth and upper levels a wonderful diversity of spaces for the residential common areas. these will include community gathering, recreation, entertaining, and urban agriculture. perhaps we can even have some kind of synergy with wholefoods being down below. we're looking into all of those things. as i said, the upper floors will also have a butterfly habitat for the station blue band other butterflies. -- the station blue and other butterflies. even on the streetscape, we are
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in trade with the synergy between the spaces. the design concept is to create a place that is a refuge and century for alfresco living with the live above or below. we're looking at a habitat that is both for people and the environment. we want a place to inspire community spirit within the conference and to the public. our goal is to provide diversity and richness in the urban realm. this is a small shot of how the promise not on dolores -- how the promenade on dolores will be a wonderful place to sit or enjoy your walk. hung on to say thank you. we are proud of the project. -- i want to say thank you. we are proud of the project. president miguel: i have a number of speaker kurds.
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-- speaker cards. richard mcgarry, carol per se, and the -- carol pierce, andy thornley. >> i am richard mcgarry, chair of the steering committee of the buena vista neighborhood association, about 4500 households along with the vista park -- around boyne of vista park. -- buena vista park. we urge you to approve the project. the project if service area, and especially the whole foods market, will definitely include our neighborhood. the unanimous input i have had from our neighbors is that they definitely will value and will use the new whole foods market, and that they also support the
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entire proposed project. the project will play a major role in bringing new life to a keystone area of the upper market neighborhood, especially the dolores street gave way. that area in the last several years has lost its sense of place due to vacancies and underutilized activity, which are far below the potential. this and other new projects will provide the foundations for a much-needed next generation vitality and prosperity in the area. bvna urges you to approve the project before you today. thank you for considering our comments. >> good afternoon. my name is karen knowles pierce. i wear a number of hats around the city.
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recently, america's cup. today, i am here as a neighbor of this new project. i live in the 500 block of 14th street. there are a number of aspects to this development that i am appreciative of and in general like. but there are some concerns i have. the first to involve traffic in the neighborhood. first is the left hand west direction turn off market on to dolores street. this is a very short left him turn with room for approximately -- left hand turn with room for approximately six cars. while this will be a pedestrian heavy market, i believe there will also be cars. this is a very small turn lane. if anyone has been around the franklin and california back up because of that whole foods, i have concerns about that.
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the second concern is 14th street. deliveries, particularly since i have read one sentence that said the heavier traffic on 14th street is in the afternoons -- i have lived there for 25 years. never have i seen heavier traffic in the afternoon. the traffic leaves the area going east in the morning. that is 14th street, a one-way street. in the afternoon, it heads west on 15th. 16th gets both directions of both times of day. somebody said in a letter they suggested 9:00 delivery time. this may be something to consider. if you have ever been on 14th street when one of our garbage trucks is there in the morning, you see significant backup because it is reduced to one lane. my ex -- my next issue is
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although i love the design, the glass faces north. three months out of the year, the sun will stream directly through those glass windows. i have inquired about and was assured there would be some film, but they're also seemed to be some surprise -- there also seemed to be some surprise this actually faced the side. i can tell you unequivocally the sun will stream through the front of the building for at least three months, if not five. lastly, i requested that when construction begins that perhaps a distribution e-mail list be created for the neighbors to be advised of elements of the construction such as what is going on at mission bay now, where neighbors get information about what is going on there. thank you for the opportunity to speak on this very important project. >> good afternoon. i am andy thornley with the san
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francisco bicycle coalition. i bring our support for this project. you know the sfbc are fears custodians of city streets, particularly market street. we're working to make it more friendly and inviting for folks who moved by bike. initially, we were a little skeptical and critical of this project. i think -- thank prado group for working with us. we are tough customers. we worked and worked. i am pleased to see the vehicular parking specifications are satisfying us and come here with market and octavia. thanks for working with us to develop specifications that are best practices for bicycle parking and access. we want the businesses and residents of this project to thrive in all senses.
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having very good bicycle access to parking is going to be a big piece of that. you will hear other, enter speak to some sort of programmatic refinements. -- you will hear other, enters -- you will hear other commenters speak to some sort of program at a performance. it is a reasonable concern that there might be some queuing with vehicular access to the parking. mea has brought you an innovative contingency that will bring a pricing mechanism to that. we think this is a great idea. we want to make sure that the monitoring of this is effective. you can speak to step about the particulars of that. not only is market street and important pedestrian and bicycle corridor, 14th street is very much so. you heard the previous speaker
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point out that the prevailing traffic is morning eastbound. we would like a little closer look at the loading and delivery protocols. it seems like protecting the morning is more important than protecting the afternoon. i think citywide this is going to be more and more of an issue and an opportunity to constrain and a fine -- and define loading. get out of pique. -- otu out of peak periods. we look forward to seeing this project grow and thrive. president miguel: stephanie adams? -- stefan adams? >> i am s
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