dated december 12, 2010. they show a three story building with 9.5 ft. floors. unless you put 2 feet of structure between each of those floors, you would get many more than 7.6 foot ceiling height. the 25 feet is measured from the midpoint of the sidewalk in the street. when you go down 4 feet to the back of the law, it allows you to have a 29 foot high building. the neighbors would go to 31 feet, allowing more than 9 foot ceilings on each floor. but what the neighbors do not want and what this commission was concerned about was a four story building trying to fit into this two and three story context on lloyd street. the fastest path to new construction jobs in san francisco is to take discretionary review, denied the variance, and allow the

envelops suggested by the neighbors to be conditions of approval. the opposition will fade. the project and its approval can move expeditiously. all those who need jobs in construction can have them. thank you very much. president miguel: thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. thank you for taking the time to hear us. my name is susan miller. i need -- i live directly across from the development. i have been on the streets since 1998. i raised a doctor for 12 years there. -- i raised a doctor -- a daughter for 12 years there.

you all know this well. i understand, commissioner fong, that you were not here last time. as you know, all the properties on the street are late 19th century, nearly all of them. late 19th century victorians. the street is very steep, 24 degrees. it is a one lane of two-way street. most of the units on the street are two stories over a garage or basement. you can see the hill is quite steep. i want this -- i want to pass this to you so you can look at the streetscape and see what the property's book like and noticed the slope of the street -- see what the properties of look like and notice the slope of the street. the largest properties are on the main thoroughfares, scott and castro. there are a couple of larger properties on the block, but

they are on the ends of the street. there are no roof decks or pentoses on the street itself. there is only one working roof deck on the corner of walker. it is not even on the street itself. again, as you can see, most of the properties are two stories over a basement or garage. i want to show you what kind of neighborhood support there is for this project. we have almost 140 signatures for people in the community. the blue pointers here are neighbors who signed on behalf of the dr requestors and a smaller design. i have 20 or 30 letters from those neighbors as well, which we have submitted in our previous packets. i cannot speak for everybody, but i can say with some honesty

that we respectfully request the commissioners take discretionary review. neither the plans on file nor the last revision address the commissioners' concerns, nor the neighbors' concerns. this proposal is an example of a building that would keep the character of the neighborhood and does not require a variance. we do not believe a variants is necessary on new construction. there are a few more neighbors here. we do not want to take too much of your time. president miguel: thank you. >> sue hester for the neighbors. i want to clarify the procedural situation. you do not have plans before you that you can approve under your own decision or what we are

asking >> the only plans you have are for a four story building that blocks the light on the west side of the site. eight variants -- a variance has to be granted based on criteria in the planning code. this cannot possibly meet the criteria because there is an effect of harm on the neighbor to the west. by refusing to flip the site, to flip the building, so it is at a location where the neighbor to the east has no harm and supports it and the neighbor to the west really needs the sunlight, it is an impossible situation on a variance. you asked the developer to come back with a three story building. this is a very narrow street on the side of a hill. it goes up the slope of and one of vista -- of buena vista.

you have a context that was developed in the 1800's. this is an important vacant lot. what you need to do is to give instructions on an envelope. my clients do not care how they arrange their space inside it. they can do anything they want. we support two 3-bedroom units in a three-story envelope. if you flip the building so that the masked is to the east, and reduce the height to three stories, you have people that will go away happy. what we are not asking for is a continuation of the process, because it has been not the most functional. i do not want to call it dysfunctional, but it has not been the most functional process

on this. there needs to be, we are asking -- we want the process to be over. we do not want to continue it. we want you to fix an envelope. because you do not have plans that allow you to do that envelope today, the staff is going to have to work on the design. we would ask if when the design is done that you see the plants. do not have a hearing, but see the plans. let us see the plans, obviously. get this over. we do not want to be going another year on this. but the solution is an envelope solution and the variants by shipping it over to the east, but not another variance. president miguel: thank you. are there additional speakers in favor of the dr?

>> my name is kenneth. i spoke to you last year. commissioner fong, welcome to the commission and good luck. [laughter] the picture here -- i want you to think about it in context of the last hearing. talk about burdens and the effect of the glass walls on birds. think about the picture you saw of the backyard with all the trees and plants. this invites birds. this is exactly what you were telling the department not to do in that portion. so please keep that in mind when you are redesigning this building. additionally, i wish i could support this. that was my hope tonight, that i would be able to say what they have done meets the needs of what you have asked for. unfortunately, it does not. i do ask you to take discretionary review and make

sure that they are constrained on the envelope and that they understand that if they build on the finally approved plans, the permit will be at best problematic. thank you for your time. president miguel: thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is dennis turner. i live at 27 scott street. my garden is adjacent to six other gardens in the center of the block, including a few feet of the garden the developers are proposing to build on. i have lived in that building since 1993. i want to say that even with the modifications that have been proposed, and which you have

seen demonstrated in the pictures here, the building remains a four story building with a roof deck on top of it, and therefore i believe it is out of scale with the existing block. the other buildings on the block as the presently exist -- as they presently exist. i ask you to approve a building that is in keeping with the character of the existing building and the block as a whole, which is, as you know, in line to be designated as a historic district. i request that the neighbors envelope -- that you take discretionary review. president miguel: thank you. are there additional speakers in favor of the dr? if not, project sponsor, you have a two minute rebuttal. wait, there are.

>> thank you very much for your time. i want to first of all wish you a happy new year. the reason i came here is i live on 49th street, directly across the street from the building site. as i spoke to you back in october of last year, i spoke to the developers myself. they came around the neighborhood asking for support for their building. i told them i truly support a building -- a structure there. but i also need to go with what our neighbors in general want, which is a three-story building. beyond that, we really -- since they are just there to develop and sell the property, they will be going away. i do understand in our economy

that the real-estate industry is our main industry, so i want to make sure that you guys know that we do not want to stop the development of this property. but we do want someone to take concern in to our needs and what we want as people who are going to be living on beyond the year or so that they are going to be their building. we do not want to take any of their jobs away. i know contractors are here. we do not want to take jobs away. we want to build something there. thank you very much. president miguel: thank you. are there any other speakers opposed -- in favor of the dr? ok. speakers in favor of the project?

>> good evening, commissioners. my name is kevin, and i am a lawyer. i am a realtor and a mediator on the community board. i worked in the neighborhood at the office of the of our company. my best friend lives there. i always walk his dog with him in the park. i want to speak in favor of this project. one day, actually do want to live in this neighborhood. homeownership is a dream of mine. i help represent clients entering the market. i notice there are not any homes in the area that have energy efficiency, that have modern amenities. i think there is scarcity in the market for that right now. it is also a very difficult item for neighbors to

acknowledge that change is coming. i have mediated many a dispute with that happened. but the important thing to keep in mind here is that kevin is a good person. they are trying to make a living. they are trying to provide jobs for everyone else. they have gone through numerous procedural hoops and such. i feel that since they are local developers who are going to employ local contractors, some of whom are here, that the project is beneficial to people. in concept, the idea may be more intimidating than the actual product itself. but change is change, and i think this is a positive change. maybe one day, i will be able to buy it myself. it is something i think the neighborhood needs to have in a vacant lot. it will be put to best use. thank you for your time. president miguel: thank you.

>> good afternoon, commissioners. i am the president of the haight ashbury association. i have known todd and kevin for a few years now and have worked with them on other projects. what they have consistently prevented -- presented to you in the past, as they have with this project, are good designs that really meet housing needs in our neighborhood and other neighborhoods around the city. i frankly in listening to the dr requestors feel they are disingenuous. they are basically saying they would like to micromanage this design to their specifications at the expense of pot and kevin moving this project forward. -- of todd and kevin moving this project forward. they have been over backwards to be reasonable.

there are things they have done to accommodate neighbors' concerns. keep in mind they have remained within the code for everything they are doing. there is nothing unusual about this project. i took a walk around this neighborhood recently to refresh things in my mind. i notice there is a mishmash of building styles around here. it is not all victorian or arts and crafts. it is a mishmash, including a number of '60s buildings. this is a building at the end of the block that powers by -- that tower by 30 feet over the building next door to it. there is nothing unusual about the structure. i would ask you to work with the developer to finalize the design and get it going. get the jobs going. get money going that will result in a positive gain for housing in san francisco.

that is what is important here. i think these people are within their rights. i would ask you if you have concerns about the design to talk to the department began about what their view was on how this process has moved forward until today so that you really understand what todd has been working with with the department. i urge you to ultimately approve this project. consider the benefits that far outweigh any of the concerns of the neighbors. the developer has done more than good faith effort to move forward with this project. thank you. president miguel: thank you. additional speakers in favor of the project? >> hello. president miguel: please speaking to the other microphone. thank you. >> my name is vittorio. i rely on this type of job and project.

that is all i have to say. hopefully this project is going to go through. thank you very much. president miguel: thank you. additional speakers in favor? >> my name is ben lewis. i am one of the neighbors that live in the neighborhood. i have owned property there for 10 years now. if you look at the neighborhood, it is very diverse. there is a diverse made up of people and properties. there is a huge scale project. there are two-story buildings over a garage. there are four story buildings. across the street from the, there is a four story 10-unit building which has been there for 70 years, 80 years. around the corner from me is a two-unit building, two stories over a garage, which was built

in the early 1900's. it actually had a renovation done probably 18 months ago. it actually added a penthouse which is set back, very similar to the project they are proposing here. it is not inconsistent with the neighborhood that we live in that these kind of projects are being built that are actually making our neighborhood nicer and continuing to allow families to move into our neighborhood.

neighborhoods for a number of years and when i think of development below me, i always wonder how high the billy will be. i was heartened to see that the sponsors have gone out of their way to deal with the height restriction. i believe that the lot is allowed it 40 feet and they come in with a 36 foot structure. it is very clear listening to people on both sides that the sponsors have gone out of their way to address issues of concern to you and i think there is a question still the need to be put to rest. both of the units need to be large enough to actually allow families to live in a habitable dwelling. to make an argument that people should live in small rooms simply because someone else lives in a small room is not sufficient.

if for stories are needed to create units that will actually allow families to live and it will not live in a cramped scenario, and then i think that we should support that. we are in a situation where the state need some revenue. i.t. urge you to include that -- the plan. >> good evening, mr. president. i am a recent home owner in hunters point because this is a beautiful neighborhood and this is where i could afford to buy a house in san francisco.

i love the character of the city. i really of four urban sprawl. this comes in to this own allotment. we should allow house and buildings within the selling we have decided upon. i urge you to support it. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. but i am the structural engineer. why are we so afraid of a four- story building? seeing challenging. we know that structurally, we have we were able to do this at

36 feet. -- it is challenging. it can be done tastefully, it can be done with architecture. it will be expensive. we will have to take a fairly aggressiveness and drive into the garage but we can do it. it has been done. not only has it been done but the contract sponsor detained -- retained my firm to do it. i understand that the neighbors have an architect to come up with the concept that you can fix the same type of housing and

resource. i look at those plants. they rely on magic for vertical and at lateral support. the design is not need a structural engineering. isin's that you don't have to have a frame to support the building. they assume that you don't have to have fire-rated walls. -- they assume that you don't have to have a frame. those of our assumptions. our drawings are not assumptions, our drawings are the structural drawing sellout and consider all of the restrictions of the site. the project sponsor spent the money ahead of time so that we can prove that we can build a

four story building and we can do it tastefully. . this is a beautiful design. please approve it. >> thank you. >> i have lived in this neighborhood for two years and i would like to say that what is attractive about this area that is that you go out and you see people with big families, children, young families, people walking their dogs. i really like the idea that this building would provide two condos that are intended for family. i hope and believe that this would be a nice addition. i hope that you approve the project. >> thank you.

>> good evening, commissioners. i am a president -- a resident of the city of san francisco. i speak in support of the sponsors proposal. chiefly, the sponsors are extremely reasonable people. those in favor of the dr that the sponsors have met to meet their needs and have resulted in successive plans to try to meet some of those needs. this is new construction for new jobs that will allow two new families to enter san francisco. the proposal sponsored by the opposition is a proposal that no one will build and no one will buy. that is the bottom line. i urge you to support the sponsors and their efforts to try to bring jobs to the city using local contractors and subcontractors and to bring two

new families to the city. we need that kind of civic involvement and that sort of leadership that the sponsors provide. bernanke. -- thank you. hon>> the first request for said that even the sponsors don't like that current design and that is a bit disingenuous. this is like looking at someone killing aggressively on a lollipop and say that they don't really like it. this does not convince me that this is true. -- this is like looking at someone chewing aggressively on a lollipop. this is a process that slowly creep into existence where i i

hired mr. butler to be my designated architect and pay him appropriately for his services, you will not allow the day to occur where someone else can come along and decide the role and the responsibility of designing the project that i and the sponsor of. i think it is important to maintain some separation there and to maintain processes that are appropriate. i think it is unfortunate that a kind of sweeping disregard for the presence of people who are here to support this project for reasons of genuine interest the that they have.

they have a legitimate voice where they can speak english or spanish. they are equally important. if they speak chinese only, they have equal access and rights to be represented. they're not the only ones being discounted. homeowners are also affected by the success of projects like these. the coalition for responsible growth knows that it will always have an objection for every project that if ever tries to support. the coalition for responsible growth knows that we have to be careful and support projects that make sense for everyone. having reviewhe