as a matter of right, including entertainment news, residential use, etc. what is being requested is a stop gap use since other kinds of tenants are not interested at this moment. if you need to find out why, there is an agent for commercial properties here tonight to can discuss it. as you know, the preservation element of your general plan encourages owners not to leave historic buildings like this vacant. the parking user today is a well-known parking operator as a tenant. that tenant has every incentive to keep this historic building from further deteriorating. this temporary use does address current problems that all of us hope will be temporary. for budget reasons, caltrans and muni have reduced services to this area. transportation people have told us that when giants fans want to

go from montgomery station to the ballpark, they are often taking part to civic center or beyond to make sure the can get on the train, just standing room to get to the ballpark. that is not a very efficient use of bart. in five years, the area will have a new transportation hub in the trans bay terminal. there will be nil muni line south of market that are being proposed not financed. most economists believe in five years we will have a much stronger economy. we believe there will be higher and better uses than this one. although this used did begin a year ago, this is not a situation of a party knowingly violating the law. i think it is pretty clear, when you look at the use in this neighborhood called "community commercial barrage -- garage."

that use allows a parking news which provides parking for " operators, employees, clients, and/or visitors of a primitive or approved conditional and non- residential use in the vicinity." naturally, restaurant visitors, visitors to pdr and creative arts businesses, and their employees, do park there. on evenings and weekends, there are some ballpark parkers. because that definition is what seems to be happening there, we were perplexed when we filed the applications to legalize it and were told that is not the appropriate category and that we needed to do a conditional use application for a different category that edgar manchin, called public parking garage.

in the future, he would be good for staff to take a look at those terms and maybe make some changes. there is south of market parking legislation going through the board of supervisors. it is a little confusing. of course, the transit-first policies have provisions for city car chairs -- car shares, bicycle parking, and motorcycle parking. after notification went out, we were contacted by lia and andy grass, neighbors who live on clyde street. it has a vehicular entry to the use, but the main one has always been rich street. however, apparently the neighbors have had problems with

a restaurant user on that alley and feel that if the entry from that allied -- that alley is permanently closed to cars that it will benefit neighbors on that alley. the have asked for that condition of approval. my clients have agreed to that. it is in your package. it is not in your staff report. after staff report came out, it is only then that we had the discussion. our architect indicated that you cannot go with the exact wording of the staff report because the staff report before you actually forbids even pedestrian egress. the fire department building code, according to our architect, does not allow the portion on pedestrian emergency egress on to that allied -- that alley. therefore, the condition we drafted is one that says no

vehicular access of any kind in the future, access for pedestrians only, and only on an emergency basis. we have talked to the neighbors, and they are happy with that language that we can read in for you. therefore, rich will continue to be the only access. just to wrap up here, the section of the planning code mentioned by edgar that is very important this section 803.5a, which states that restaurants and bars in the soma area should have adequate off-street parking. this area is full of restaurants and bars. there used to be a lot less competition to find parking. when momo's opened, parking was

all over. however, there have been about a thousand new residential units. now that they are there and now that public transit resources are strained, for a few years, especially during the years our world-champion giants will be having full stadiums, we request during those same years that you approve this temporary conditional use. thank you very much. i have time to read into the record that condition, if you do not mind. one moment. this was agreed on in writing between the neighbors and the project sponsor, and sent to your staff person. "the existing door with opening onto clyde street shall not be used for ingress or egress of vehicles or pedestrians, except pedestrian use shall be permitted in an emergency to

satisfy the requirements of the building code." thank you very much. president olague: i would like to open it up for public comment at this time. we do have one speaker card, and that is corrine woods. >> good afternoon. i served on the ballpark mission bay transportation coordinating committee before duvall park was built. i am hoping you will be here a lot in the future, but you never know. i opposed this conditional use application. we are desperately trying to put

together a coordinated traffic and parking plan for the ball park. we are working very closely with mta. we have extremely good transit. the 30 and 45 stop almost across the street from this lot. the 10 a half a block away. of course, we have caltrans, the m, and the t. evenings and weekends in this neighborhood, if there is no ball game going on, there is tons of street parking. if there is a ball game going on, that is who is going to park there. ballpark fans are willing to pay 10 times what anybody else will pay to park in the neighborhood. the manager of the china basin building told me he was getting $100 a car during the world series for ballpark parking, which is pretty outstanding.

if you do approve this conditional use, and again, i think it is a mistake, because we have already got a lot of congestion in this neighborhood before and after ballgames, i would suggest you do it with the condition of a pending peace of legislation, which anne-marie can tell you more about, which is an amendment to section 155g to discourage commuter parking by putting rates in place that do not allow for early birds or discounted monthly parking. because this legislation is not coming to you until the end of april, if you approve this now, they are grandfathered and do not have to comply with the conditions that are going to be going in place for the rest of soma. if you feel that this is an

appropriate use of a ground floor street space for five years, please discourage commuter parking and try and figure out a way to minimize the impact on the neighborhood. thank you. president olague: thank you. is there additional public comment? >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is chris kelton. you have a petition my wife and i put together. we got 50 signatures in less than one day. my wife and i own a small patio cafes it right next door. we have been there since 1993. we are in favor of this lot. our customer base, who basically signed the petition, art software designers, graphic artists, and creative people.

they come to work and have a difficult find -- a difficult time finding parking because the lots on the next block are full at the times these people show up for work. it is important that they do have a place to park. not only does it allow them to go and do their work, but they also support the small businesses that are in the neighborhood. most of my clientele parks at that location, along with two of my employees. to throw them out on the street and make them look for other parking is a disservice to them and would not have a good impact on already-strained parking numbers. i am in favor of the parking lot with a five-year period. it would be a temporary use. it is needed now. as far as the early bird specials go, i have never seen

that listed at that particular parking. thank you very much. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am lia grass. we did call in because clyde street alley -- you cannot pass two cars. when the company initially opened, they were using our street and we would have maybe 200 cars going down there every night, maybe four feet from my recliner in my living room come up because our sidewalk is may be 18 inches. we did address this with the restaurant that was using them for valet service. it took some time, but eventually that door came down and was not used any more. our neighbors in the homeowner''

association are agreeable to this for several reasons. one, that building is sitting vacant. it is a beautiful art deco facade and was not being used. we would rather have something in there. we were getting the broken windows thing happening, a lot of broken windows. a lot of graffiti. a lot of new restaurants have opened around there and we are not able to find adequate parking ourselves. our building has no parking. when my window was broken into, that parking garage let me pull my car into have my window repair happen in the rain, because there was nowhere in the neighborhood to park a car. with the condition that was put in, which i wanted to say how grateful our homeowners are to edgar, who took this call from us and was very responsive and got us in touch with counsel, who was very responsive, the council for the business -- we

are obviously open to it. we hope something better will come along five years from now, are right now we would rather see something there than nothing. we appreciate your time. thank you. >> my name is arthur laing. i am the real estate agent that was employed to find a tenant for this property. i have 24 years' experience south of market leasing and selling commercial industrial warehouses. things have certainly changed, haven't they, in 24 years of? in my efforts were a solid 90 days of marketing the property. i know all the agents in the business on a first-name basis, and i know a lot of the users and tenants. user for furniture, a nightclub,

a restaurant, or other uses. there were very nervous about the economy, saying, "i cannot do that with a year term." we cannot do a year term either. when it came to concepcion, we all thought it was a fine use for the property. the building is well suited for it. big role of doors, single level, concrete, no noise, and they do not use the one-line side street. i hope you grant them a short- term use of five years, which in my business is a short-term use. we can all look forward to getting our heads together about transit first. truly, we need to start thinking that way. thank you very much. president olague: is there additional public comment?

seeing none, a public comment is closed. vice president miguel: i got interested when i saw this building. i think it is a good example of something that at some point will be subject to the preservation hearing. [laughter] but it is not good to happen right now, as the real-estate agent's testimony says. in the meantime, the last we want in this city to -- this city is to have empty buildings. the problem is far more than a parking garage would add for the neighborhood. it is a stop-gap measure, obviously. in five years, hopefully things will turn around so someone will be able to use their imagination as to what can be done for this building. i would like to move approval of

this. i think the condition, as was read into the record regarding the use of the alley, is totally appropriate and correct. i would leave it up to other commissioners if they want to put in a condition as to the proposed commuter parking legislation. commissioner borden: i will second that. if there is legislation coming down the pipe, we should put a condition in that this project would be applicable to that legislation. it makes sense. we do not want to specify what they have to do, but there is pending legislation in this area -- >> i have some familiarity with that legislation. i have been in conversations with supervisor kim about it. the legislation would apply to

any existing law that is open to the public. it is not planning code legislation. we cannot retroactively require it. it is adman code legislation. i am pretty sure it would apply to this lot. commissioner borden: we have had cases where we have approved vacant lots that were going to be developments as for parking lots. unfortunately, right now we are not seen the development in many places we thought we would. as opposed to having bacon slice -- vacant sites, having an active use is much more preferred. i know caltrain have cut back some of their giant's service, which has caused a major issue down in that area. i like that this garage is not planned to be open in the evening. it is only expected to be a daytime garage, which is a good thing. it relieves the congestion

issues in the evening with the noise you might be concerned about. i think that is definitely a much more amenable approach. i think it is great that this building is historic. at this point, if there is a use that can help maintain it, we know what happens when we have historic buildings that did to be vacant. other people get ideas about what could happen to them. i support the project because of that. commissioner moore: this is an interesting problem. here is one of the parts of the city where old meets new in the most explicit way. i think there are wonderful beginning points for residential and mixed use, including our recreation and entertainment part of the waterfront. i do believe that supporting a five-year interim use is the right thing to do. i like the way the code reads

with providing adequate off- street parking for existing eating and commercial use. i think that has a sensitivity when it comes to the narrow, older buildings which lie right behind it. in particular, many of the live- work loft conversions do not provide parking on their own either. i think that combination for the time being is the right thing. i am in full support with what ms. woods said. ultimately, as our transit first policy matures, we are very supportive of that changing over into a higher and better use. in the meantime, i support and appreciate the director's explanation on the administrative code, making this an automatic part for all garages. with that, i would be in support of this.

commissioner fong: i am also in support of the motion. i want to remind you that it has been a decade park has been built. part of the magic of that part is that people arrive by transit, but some are not able to do that and need to arrive by car. i think this serves that purpose and it is important to keep that inventory specifically for the ballpark. in addition, it already is a great restaurant corridor on which street. hopefully, it becomes a more vibrant nightlife area. commissioner sugaya: project sponsor's testimony indicated car share space and bicycle parking, yet they are not indicated on the plans.

>> i have the building permit application plans on file and they do show at the front portion of the property that they are providing bicycle parking. that portion is title bicycle parking here. -- is titled bicycle parking here. i will take a close look to make sure that what they are promising, we get. on the architectural plan, it is clearly shown. vice president miguel: it is on there.

commissioner borden: it is on this page. vice president miguel: yep. president olague: you can walk over there. commissioner sugaya: all right. my apologies. vice president miguel: it is hard to read. commissioner moore: i normally do not do this, but i want to acknowledge mr. ortiz as being the master of standing strong and kind in difficult situations. i hear from both sides on the public side, where we get most of the phone calls, but also on the project applicants side, that he is able to not only do a competent job as far as i am concerned, but also handle the public component in a very

skillful way. i want to thank you for doing this. if we had gold stars to award, he would get one. [laughter] president olague: i hear that also from members of the public, so thank you for bringing that up, because it is deserved, absolutely. i wanted to come in for what it is worth that i think this is a steady building. i would like to see in five years that it does go to a better and greater use. but i am glad that the building will remain, at least the exterior, with some integrity. i think the potential is great. see you in a few years. mr. sanchez, did you have something to add? >> before commission more had spoken, i was also going to acknowledge mr. ortiz for his work. he has moved to the planning

information counter to better serve the public. the commission's loss is the public game. thank you for your comments. -- is the public's gain. think you for your comments. >> the motion is for approval. commissioner borden: aye. commissioner fong: aye. commissioner moore: aye. commissioner sugaya: aye. vice president miguel: aye, and that includes the condition read into the record? >> that includes the condition read into the record. president olague:aye. and we are going to take a 10- minute recess. >> good afternoon. the planning commission is back in session. if i could remind everyone to

turn off your cell phones or electronic devices that may sound off during this proceeding. at this moment, at this time, you are on item 9a and 9b, for 1945 high street. as you consider the request for discretionary review, the zoning administrator is hearing the request for variance. just because i understand there is a question about it, the various hearing and dr hearing are concurrent, happening at the same time, so if there is someone here who wants to speak in opposition to the variance, they would speak at the time those who are supporting the dr or are in opposition to the project. there will not be separate hearings. >> good afternoon, commissioners.

i'm rick crawford, of the apartments that. this is a request for discretionary review of the reuse of the two-story over basement existing concrete parking garage, containing 58 parking spaces, to a three-story over basement including 14 parking spaces, provided with seven staffers and one commercial space of approximately 860 square feet. the project also requires a variance in the rear yard for the change of use to residential and for the construction of the third floor addition. the existing building is considered an historic resourced. the project includes construction of a new third floor to the building. the addition has been set back from the front and from russell street side of the property to protect the historic integrity of the building. the department is encouraged to add that. the addition would add 10 feet in the rear where 25 feet are

required, and assessing the requested variants. the dr is our concern with the loss of parking in the neighborhood and also with the mass of the resulting building. 23 of the 58 parking spaces are used for long term parking by the neighbors. the remainder of the parking spaces are short-term hourly parking used by people going into the neighboring businesses. the department has received nine comments from the public supporting the project in addition to the two neighborhood groups, the department has received five comments from the public opposing the project. our position relates primarily -- the project has been exempt from review in addition to respond appropriately to book the historic nature of the building in the neighborhood. the firm recommends that the commission approve this project, as the project will replace a parking garage with seven new residential units and

neighborhood-saving commercial space. the project contributes in response to the city for affordable housing and the proposed project complies with the planning code with the exception of the requested variants, promotes the projected new policies or the general plan and advances the transit first policy. i will be happy to answer your questions. thank you. commissioner olague: thank you. we have two dr requesters. you each get five minutes. >> i have 168 signed petitions against the currently proposed project, and the affirmation i will be presenting to you today. thank you for hearing this. we are currently opposed to current proposed projects that 1945 hyde street. the largest complaint is because