i wanted to put this out there. i wanted to say something about the architect. he has put in a lot of energy into this project. but he no longer lives here. i am not even certain what his state is in this anymore. i am for this project. i think that there will be benefits. there will be things that i will lose. i will lose my garden and my garden apartment. i think that as the last person said, leaves are very old apartments. these were falling apart and i think that they need to change. ad hoc i think that these people

-- >> i think that these people will have to go to the hassle of having to move all their things. i do not know what to say about this. we have been promised. control and to get to choose between several apartments and we will have new appliances. who would do anything for change without profit? i think that this, they are aiming in the future to sustainable living. they are kinder than people have made them out to be among the sustainability committee. i get to see some of this firsthand. i see them doing this.

people go to these functions and they enjoy them. i think that they are considering birds and animals, and the plants, that should be in this area. they attract the birds and animals that should be here. lake merced will benefit. i just think that we need to start looking for. thank you for your time. [applause] >> the last card's i have are hilton, bratton, and hammed.

>> good evening. i am rose hilton. i am not a resident of park merced. i have a problem with the issue of neighborhood growth. i was in a planning meeting. you want to put growth somewhere. park merced was targeted. as a native san franciscan, i have seen this as a quiet, village community. it doesn't have these towers on third and king. the community people, i was shocked when i walked into this auditorium. so many of these residents are

opposed to this project. there was nobody except the managment people who presented. the story we were told, a handful of people are against this. nobody else cares. this room -- it is totally different. don't listen to me. listen to the people. >> good evening. thank you for being here at a time where i am able to talk to you. i am anna marie bratton. i have lived here 19 years, 17

at 400 arbollo address. i will have to move and i can say, i do support this project. i love my little garden apartment. but as the previous speaker said, we have to look to the future. as citizens of the earth, we must look to the future. there was an article in mother jones entitled, "tall is beautiful." an urban area iwth good -- with good transportation is sustainable. the apartments and units will be more energy efficient. they will be sustained. we need housing and fewer people

to travel down in their cars. we need not to be building single-family houses taking out much of our wildlife land. we need affordable housing . a certain percentage of the houses must be affordable housing. in terms of the community, this does not depend on the courtyard. this depends on people reaching out to each other. there are always consequences and benefits to this plan that actually written down in the plan. there will be 20 years of jobs in san francisco. anywhere from people working in the architect's office, to the

electricians, the solar paddling. the landscape architects. the old -- the habitat -- the wildlife habitat friendly landscaping. and i am resentful of the fear mongering and the rhetoric of this community. they have put this into my mail slot, he legally. conjectures, which is why many of the people are afraid of this plan. they do not know and i do not understand, and they do not think. i will just have to end by saying, please think carefully about this. this is a good plan for the entire bay area. and i thank you very much for allowing me to speak. [applause]

>> thank you for letting me speak. i want to thank san francisco state for allowing this hearing to happen. when i first came here 12 years ago, to park merced, i was living in the richmond district. i was amazed at the beauty of park merced. i did not know that this neighborhood existed in san francisco. one thing about this is the unique feeling to this. i feel that this is connected to most of the residents who are over here right now. we have the same understanding of this and this is unique. this has a good quality to this. having a larger population to this, i think that this would be more crime-ridden because this has a larger population and this

would have more of flow of traffic. -- of the day -- of buffalo -- of a flow of traffic. the old housing, how is this affecting -- these houses are getting older and they feel that there is a way to fix this. there is a way to make this better. when my friends come over from different cities and from san francisco, they are always amazed at the beauty of park merced. they see these quiet areas and that is where people want to raise their families. i am just helping -- i am against this plan, and i hope that everything works out well. >> thank you. [applause]

>> good evening. i thank you for the opportunity to speak my thoughts on this subject. i was hurt when one of the speakers, aaron, he has given so much and seems to think only people living here have a right to speak. she should not have spoken that way. [applause] at the same time, there are people who do not know much about this project and what is happening in this part of town. this should be put through the initiation process so each resident can vote on this in

general elections. they will all be effected by what is happening. we heard scripted talk about improved transportation because of bringing in another 15,000 people. k -- thaere are unavoidable problems with brotherhood and the issues that will be going on. people talk without knowing, with scripted advice. i would like to say this -- document, this is a very technical document. most of us are not legal experts. before the final peer review is

given, by the third party, who can go into objectivity. this has a flavor with a tilt on it. my name is -- [applause] thank you. >> i have three more cards. dot, dan brook, and nikki. >> my name is scott and i would like to say i don't like public speaking. people talk about fears of

losing their rent control, being evicted. transportation being destroyed. this is an honest concern people believe. it is misled by fearmongering. i love living in park merced. that -- we were planning on moving out until this. we like instant water, toilets taht -- that aren't leaking, and having a nicer house. 30 years from now, when most of these people are gone, this will be handed down to later generations. we will be sorry about what we're left with if we don't make it nice now. [applause] >> hi.

my name is nikki krump- handsted. i know this is a long journey for you. thank you for coming. i came up from l.a. where it's congested and full of smog. it is very awful to be stuck. trying to run off to work. i work at stonestown. if i am running late for work, i cant' get a half-mile away to get to work. i understand the plan to change the congestion. we would love to have the m-line go through. my greatest concern is the mess. i have developed asthma. i never had this until i moved to san francisco.

my greatest fear is i will have to be put on a respirator or take severe medication to combat my asthma. i can't imagine if everyone else has this. their concerns have been about the environment. i have been walking through my community. i respresnet -- represent block 30. people call me, do you know what is going on? walking through, i noticed a new bird i have never seen before. i don't know what it is. i think it's called the brown sparrow. it made a nest in my neighbor's porch heading. that bird is considered -- it is

-- in one of the military houses, they were going to tear it down. it is a bird that comes back and forth. they can't tear it down because that bird has made nests. the birds are gone because it is winter. one thing i wanted to read -- i love my community and park merced. me and my husband love it. people said it was a retirement community. we wanted to start our own family. my neighbors and i love our neighborhood, even with college kids moving in. block 30 had a picnic outside of my patio. our turnout was 20 or 30 people

, dogs and kids. it was fun. people brought food and we were able to share. the community is going across the hall. i thought it was getting together and seeing kids play. that's what i grew up with. some neighbors are decorating. one of them is jewish. isaid said, would you like to t this up? this is awesome. i have been invited over. it's amazing. i'm a christian so i decorated for christmas. please consider this. please reconsider this. we love our community. [applause] >> is there addtional public

comment? none appearing, public comment is closed. for everyone's information, the materials that would ahvhave been presented by staff and consultants will be during the normal hearings that will follow during the normal meetings. they will be on the agendas. these are posted by friday of the week proceeding the meetings. you can file -- follow them online. or check with the department itself. it is easier to go online. i thank everyone for coming out. i would like to thank sfgtv, who

had to reset all their equipment and bring it out here to accomodate us and the general public. [applause] >> and the secretary announced, it will be on tv. when are those times? >> tomorrow at 8:15 pm and saturday at 12:15 am on cable 26. >> my final thanks, grateful, to san francisco state for accomodating us here. and for the staff of the mckenna auditorium. i have not been in this auditorium for several years. my best friend was in the drama department at san francisco state. i was at the first performance

that was done on this stage. this was in 1952 or somewhere. >> with that, we are closed. >> we won't have comment? >> do some of the commissioners want to comment? certainly. ok. we start down the line. since i don't have anything i can call on -- >> it will be quick. i am sorry a lot of people have already left. president miguel has thanked people for coming out. i will second that. there is concern for a lack of turnout in previous meetings. those turnouts have been by

people who have repeatedly come, so to speak. this was unprecedented by the planning commission. we have done one other meeting in the bayview area. and so this was a special thing. we all felt this was an important issue. i can speak for the rest of the commissioners. i don't think anybody here has made up their mind about this proposal. that is why it is important for me and the commission to be here. i have also heard, privately, that some people haven't felt they have been able to present

their ideas. it is really a matter of organization. and realizing this is a political process. either side, if you are for or against the project, you have to organize better than you have. and present your ideas in a unified fashion. you have to get to your supervisor. i can't speak for your supervisors. but a lot of the things we will vote on will go to the board of supervisors. that is the next forum. that is what people will do to get the ear of the board. that will take organization. thank you for

thank you for coming out. commissioner miguel: thank you for coming out. we have been listening and taking a lot of notes. some commented that we are responsible for the entire city of san francisco. while most important are the impacts on the residents themselves, the impacts are also important on the surrounding area and for all san francisca ns and all of those who may wish to live in parkmerced in the future. i think our decision has to be based on all of those factors. there were a lot of concerns about parkmerced losing its character in this development. i do not think it has to lose its development. it has to be crafted in a way that we can realize a lot of the things being proposed but still maintain the character. i regret we did not get to hear enough about the tier 5

improvements that are part of the improvement. it is putting a lot of money into improvements badly needed in this area of the city for transit and traffic concerns. we also did not really discuss answers to the development agreement. i think there have been at some opinions rendered in regards to whether or not the project would be able to be exempted. i think there is good reason to believe based on opinions from the city attorney's that is the case. that is a discussion for another night, although was calendared for tonight. you have to meet -- certain assistance has to come to the developer from the public in return for the continuance of the exemptions for the rent-

controlled things. that is satisfied here i think. that is something we will have to discuss at greater length. one other point i want to make briefly is that i have heard talk about concerns about increased density. increased density does not necessarily have to lead to degradation of the quality of life. there are many places that have felt relatively low density and have a very low quality of life. they have a lot of crime. a lot of areas with more density do not have the problems. if the density is done in the right way, you may have a situation that is improved. a couple of final points on this. a question was brought up about the developer and the entitlements granted to the project. those go with the project and not with the developer. if a developer is not solvent and has to sell the project with its entitlements to another developer, those go with

the project and not the developer. those are some things i picked up on the project. the final thing i wanted to add is the fact that i heard a lot of people talk about the housing stock. it is aging. i think if we could craft something where the residents were able to have a similar type of housing as to what they have now in a new, clean, functioning unit, i would think if they were guaranteed that they would be able to stay here, i think that most of them would opt for that. i like the -- >> [unintelligible] commissioner miguel: excuse me, i am speaking. you had your chance before. that may be a matter of opinion. i think a lot of these units are in need of some upgrading or replacement. ok, thank you. >> thank you all for staying so

late. i am looking forward to the staff report and hearing more about that. i will end quickly. i am encouraged by the talking about the executive park area of 101 and the project office 280. i think those are key places coming in to san francisco by car. your first look at san francisco are these two locations. i am encouraged by that. >> commissioner moore? >> i want to thank everybody. you gave us a lot to think about. i want to express appreciation for what he presented. i think one of the most revealing moments for me was when someone admitted he had not heard anything about the project but all the sudden realized how wide the concerns of the people

living here are. >> i wanted to thank everyone for coming out. i am glad that we did end up having the hearing out here. we were able to hear from so many residents were not able to get out to city hall and wait for hours to give testimony on given projects. many of our hearings start at 1:30. with a time certain to hear this around 5:30. someone mentioned, it is really hard to stick to the time certain items on the calendar. what i did find compelling was the testimony from some many people who have lived in these units for a number of years. i know that there were people who have lived there for a number of years who are in favor of the project. but there were certainly many who have lived there 20 years or more, long-term residents who

have resided in these units. i share their concerns about what the future for them will be. we will continue our conversations. there is a development agreement that the city has drafted. we will be hearing more about that. we will be hearing more about some of the transportation and other issues. i am concerned with even the mental health of the folks living there currently. it is a stressful situation not to know what the future looks like. if you have lived in an area 20, 30, or 40 years, and then to have to live with this kind of cloud of not knowing when and if and how