would like to just go back to the old design where we have a five-story building and as you turn the corner we have a full expression all the way through the rear yard and to sutter street. and in this diagram we show that after looking at the comments we went back and looked at the concerns and the analysis we did in the past and so starting with looking at the neighborhood and the blingds -- buildings around, we look at the streets first coming up. we have smaller streets come up into a larger avenue. and with this larger avenue you have larger building expressions on the east side of the building here. with these buildings, these are residential buildings, they have a larger bolder massing expression. then on the west side of the street. we have institutional uses with the muni yard right across the

street and then further to the south and to the north. we have the fire station. we have the credit union and the ucsf laurel heights. and then looking at the pattern of the streets, this image at the bottom here, this shows diagrams about the historic street with the building height ratio in san francisco, and this shows that typically there's a one to one ratio. on larger streets a one to one ratio and on smaller streets we have a one to one ratio. that's why the planning commission really likes to seek to create that urban realm. our center street where we have a 68.9 width -- width, as i go into the design i'll show you how we've addressed that.

so here are the two elevations that face presidio avenue and sutter street. so on presidio avenue we have a larger massing expression. rlt taken from the building across the street here which is stronger horizontal, broken up by vertical windows. as we come down the block the massing decreases just as it does across the street is. with this composition we have the entry in the center is, the mid part of the building and that has a vertical expression that allows us to transition to the community center. and then with this we have a base, a middle, a top that is predominant in the neighborhood. with this base, middle, and top on the ground floor we have tile, pretty much a water course design detail at the base with plaster above.

we have aluminum windows, painted aluminum windows, but with this base we actually activate the street with uses of, first the manager's office and the residential commons which you see on the other side of the street, which is pretty much a standard pattern in the neighborhood where you have large swaths of parking garages. then as we to to sutter street on the horizontal dimension, first from the property line we set back the building 10 feet and then responding to the buildings across the street we have a 50-foot width and a 50-foot width of larger buildings. we break our building down into a 43, 10-foot width and then a 30-foot width and with this we step down coming down the block to relate to the topography of the street. with the first setback, we come back 13 foot 10, then on the

setback from the rear yard we come back 15 feet nine. then with the, on the materials of the building, basically once again we have a tile water course in the bottom with plaster above and then we have aluminum panels that kind of he chloe the middle part of the building, then we have a protected canopy at the top. then for the community center with the ground floor we have windows at the street level and then windows at the rear yard, trying to pull views through the building and to the street level. and then up above, we have a channel glass system which i've brought here and i can circulate that with you in a minute. that's -- that diffuses the light. it's a double channel system that makes a translucent appearance and it brings light into the building but it also

doesn't project light. it's really a gloge element more than a projected light. -- glowing element more than a probablied light. this is the building looking from presidio avenue. you can see the changes, we're pulling back at the rear of the building here. this is a bird's-eye view looking from center street and once again the new setback we have. and we've also changed the coloration of the rear of the building to let more reflectivity into the building, into the rear yard. and this is looking up sutter street. and this is a comparison from what we had before on the right. where we had a full expression coming to the rear yard and then as we break it down now and we create a setback of 13 feet from sutter and then the top floor is set back 15 feet from the rear yard.

and then looking from a biredsie perspective from the -- bird's-eye perspective from the year yard, we have a four-tier conceptual plan, the top tier for child care, second for gardening and a third and fourth tier for general use and then -- president olague: thank you. we may have more questions during the deliberation. thank you. >> the president has determined that public comment will be for two minutes each. president olague: and i wanted to recognize members of the youth commission. i'm going to recognize them first. they may be in the other room. tobias serrano, naomi, accompanied by mario yadida and

in the mean tomb i will call some folks' names here. brad paul. donald stroh. gary brown. >> my name is brad paul. i'm here today as an individual, as a father of an 8-year-old son, and as somebody who spent 35 years wrestling with the ideas of affordable housing in neighborhood. i have a lot of sympathy for you today. but having said that i'm here to support the project as you have seen it now in its current size. i urge you not to reduce it. not nine units, not one unit. for economic reasons, design reasons and humanitarian reasons. as jack gardner from the john stewart company said, if you reduce this at all it has tremendous impacts both on the development costs but more

importantly on the operating costs over time. if you reduce it i think you also affect the design as a previous speaker showed. you go to a blocky building without the setbacks and for humanitarian reasons because you would serve nine fui -- fewer of some of the most vulnerable youth in the estimate i drove by the site the other day just to remind myself -- i've been there many times -- but it's very clear that this is not a small, little, narrow residential street. it's on a major boulevard. the buildings on both sides alon presidio are very large. across the street is the muni bus yard. but i think this design and i don't foe if -- know if you can get it on the overhead for a second, this is what i think is the most telling picture. can this go on? right here is the current proposal. this is what the former proposal looked like. someone earlier mentioned, one of the opponents, the need for a reasonable alternative.

that's the original design. it was 110 units. this is the reasonable, preferred alternative that we've been looking for and i think to change that, to reduce it by one unit would be a tragedy at this point. the people supporting this project have already compromised from 110 units to you -- to 48 units. i would not are you d.c. -- reduce it one more unit. the design will get worse. >> thank you. members of the commission on youth are here to address us at this time. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is ava and i'm the legislative affairs officer for the -- of the san francisco youth commission, a body of 17 12 to 22-year-olds charged by the city charter with advising the mayor and board of supervisors on issues affecting our population. in 2005 after noticing a severe lack of housing for -- affordable housing for

transitional age youth we did exactly that. we recommended that the mayor ordain a task force on this legislation. i repeat this history which the members of this commission are likely already aware of with the goal of reminding everyone here today that the needs of housing for youth who have just left the city's public services remains great. should should -- this project as well as all of president other housing projects in -- commurnt -- currently in the pipeline all get built we'll still be only at 119 units, just over one fifth of the recommended amounts by 2015. timely i'd like to emphasize the task force came up with 16 recommendations to protect this population, so wile we focus on just one of them here today, it's important to keep in mind exactly how in need of government assistant -- assistance this population actually is.

so please approve the plan you saw five years ago. thank you. >> thank you. my name is naomi and i'm the community outreach officer on the youth commission. i'm a senior at st. ignatius high school and as a youth representative in city hall we, the youth commission, are charged with, like my colleague ava said, with address the unmet needs of the san francisco youth. and as our history points out, the youth commission has consistently advocated for care and oversight of some of the city's most at-risk and vulnerable members, the transitional youth. we commend the efforts to complete the 400 housing units promised for our community and at all -- our last meeting we heard the dire need for

affordable housing for this community and finally i would just like to extend my support for this housing initiative not only as a youth commissioner but as an 18-year-old san franciscan in solidarity with my at-risk counterparts. so thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is tobias. i don't want to take up too much of your time. i'll be brief and i don't want to be redundant. i don't need to say too much because i don't want to take up too much time. the number of people here today that kind of speaks to why this center should not only be renovated but should include these extra 42 units of housing. this is an overwhelming population and we don't see the at-risk kids, but it's a small

fraction of what was promised in the t.a. task force. so to be brief, i totally support the renovation of the center and the addition of the 42 units. thank you very much. >> thanks, commissioners. my name is mario and i'm the director on staff at the youth commission. i think the commissioners kind of articulated our points pretty well. we are charged bit voters of san francisco with representing young people in this building and in policy and legislative debates. i'm chart -- quoting from the city charter which sar voters voted on in 1995. right? we're supposed to identify the unmet needs of san francisco youth and what you are considering today, these recommendations are of a piece with that charge. we've all decide we know that the need for housing is exceedingly acute for this population.

i think it's been said on the public record, i'm the fourth person to say it but i would like to note that on june 21, 2010, the youth commission voted to support former supervisor-to--to- -- supervisor alioto pier's motion. i understand that has lapsed and a subsequent one was introduced but we are on record supporting that for all the manifest reasons i think public commentors to come about will really bear out. so thank you kindly for your time and note that we support this project as part of and in the context of a commitment we hope the city follows through on. again, we're only at 119 units of 400 with this project so thank you. bye. thank you. >> good afternoon.

my name is barry brown. i live at 2646 post street, which is a building that backs p to the bookie t. washington site. my adjacent neighbors and i support the mission of this project but are very concerned about some of the impacts to our properties. currently the existing gym is housed in a modest one and a half story building 65 feet from my property. the revised building is now a six-story edifice on the done dianahill side at my back yard fence. i would like to get assurances that they have noise, venting, light pollution considerations at the top of their design criteria. frankly i would like to see a green wall or something less opaque on that side of the building. noise impacts are something you must technically disclose to

homebuyers, and some day if i sell my house i would like to tell me buyer that that gym is sound proofed on my building side. the proposed building elevations show a green curtain wall with back yard spaces. the bright sports lighting and noise and cheering from such events as dances, concerts and assemblies will have an evening impact upon us. also we do not want mechanical vents dumping forced air on our back yard porches and back yards. with 50 young adult youth males and females will -- there will be social events, which is fine. i would hope there are at least some controls on curfew, noise, and some way for the neighbors to have recourse to correct any things that may arise that impact the live ability of our

properties. thank you. >> thank you. i'll keep calling names. if you are in the other room just make your way over here and i'll recognize you when you arrive. rose hillson. andrea alfonso. dean anpurn. >> hi, good afternoon. my name is dean pairen and i'm the co-founder of first place for youth. we are a sitewide -- statewide organization committed to providing housing and intense services for youth trancioning out of foster care. we are a partner on this project and i am very proud today to have a number of young people from our program who will speak. i'd like a -- to take a minute now for them to stand.

just so we're clear, foster youth are kids taken out of their homes in cases of abuse, neglect or parental absence. they've done nothing wrong. they've just been dealt a bad hand. we have collectively decided that we're going to bm -- become their parents but we don't do a very good job of it and at the age of 18 they faced ultimate punishment and they're pushed out and forced to live on their own. their out comes are dismal. 65% face imminent homelessness. only 5% will go and graduate from college but first place has worked over the last 13 years to ensure that we can put an end to these statistics. we help young people become productive, successful, tax paying members of society by combining access to permanent

affordable housing and very intense employment services, employment support, educational support, emotional support grounded in the principles of accountability and natural consequences. our program was achieved incredible results. while 65% of kids face homelessness in california, 85% of our young people maintain permanent, safe housing. while 64% of california's foster youth do not complete a high school diploma, 75% of our young people do. this is when i -- what i think i'm most proud of -- [bell ringing] -- >> thank you. >> we're in full supor. >> good afternoon. president olague, commissioners, my name is rose hillson and i live in the jordan park neighborhood. and what i have to say today is very hard for me because i realize this project is very important to the youth. i've worked a lot in the public schools and i know that a lot of students there also need a lot of help because they don't

have parents at home and it's sort is of like that in this situation. but as far as looking at the design element, we've met, i went to the coalition of san francisco neighborhoods meeting and i had discussions with supervisor farrell and they're all still talking and this last iteration that counsell -- counsel barkley has shown is, i had not seen the indentation on the sutter street side, but when you look eau -- at it from the front on presidio you can see across the street, as i noticed on one of these posters here now, the building across is about 43 feet high. if the number of units is in question, there's 21 parking spaces and if we're going toward less parking i'm not sure how these pashing spaces are going to be used but maybe some of the units could be switched around with the square footage of the parking. at the top level it really is sticking out. i guess it's called the parapet. the conversations we've had

we're just kind of trying to see both sides and see if we could compromise and get the parapet off. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> hello, commissioners. my name is andrea. i represent 2646 post street. this property backs up to the rear yard of the proposed project. i recognize the need for affordable housing in san francisco. i'm not opposed to the goals of the booker t. washington project. providing housing and structure for the youth. but i just feel like the project is misplaced. it makes no sense in this location. i mean i'm a little annoyed that the other speakers have said that project sponsors have compromised in bringing the building down. the current zoning in this area is low density residential, 40

feet high. why would you even conceive a project that way in this location if you were envisioning such a large building and up needed such a large building? there's plenty of abandoned buildings in san francisco that could house this program. other speakers have talked about the muni barn and it being on a dense street, i mean a busy street as being a reason to put it here. i say that's not a reason to put it here. it's already very impacted by the muni barn. the muni barn is a very bad neighbor. the employees come early, it starts up early. they idle. coming home in the evening they honk at people trying to pass them as they are idling. there is dire traffic congestion going on in this block. i just feel badly that we have

been shamed to accept this overlarge building, you know, just because of the youth and we, all the things i have heard is that the neighbors oppose the size of the building and the scale and it coming outside of the planning nfl -- envelope as it is. we would jut like to keep it within the planning envelope and we don't have a problem with the youth. i feel like the architectal fees that have been spent -- >> thank you. thank you. >> have been wasted. it's not right. president olague: sherwin adams. jacinda, jaclyn. if your names have been called, please come up to the mike. oh, thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. i'll cherilin adams, co-chair

of the san francisco tay steering committee so i'm going to speak in both my roles gust -- just about the need for supportive and affordable housing for young people as part of my role as a tay steering committee chair it really is to make sure that the housing recommendations in particular get implemented. as already said, there -- we have a goal of 400 units and we're making some headway with the project being at full capacity for having -- but the 24 units for kids aging out of the foster care system is critical. we estimate there are 5,6000 -- 5,600 young people every year who are at risk in youth in san francisco. larkin street is served 4,500 youth last year that that -- who were in the foster system or aged out of the foster

system. the booker t. center will do a -- an excellent job with these. it is critical we have the full number of housing units just so we can begin to tap the needs. thank you. >> hi, thanks for this opportunity. i'm the executive director with youth radio in downtown oakland, california and i want to express full support for this amazing community center that will be a national model and youth radio just finished a capital campaign a few years ago and since we've been in downtown oakland we've seen amazing community transformation. our board of directors said they were tired of poor toys for poor kids, which means these absolutely well behaved and amazing students who are probably bored out of their minds right now deserve the best. they come from schools that don't have toilet paper, from homes are where the parents

have to work late and they need a place that treats them with respect, that is professional feeling and that has a variety of offerings and services. so what pat scott was -- has assembled are some of the most amazing youth development organizations that have more than a 20-year track record. youth radio for one, youth first is another one. as you can see, i mean the practitioners have them doing their homework and that's why they're so quiet. i'm very impressed. are we talking about a building or are we talking about the kids in it? i keep hearing this is not about the kids, but i think it might be about the kids. we had a lot of problems in berkeley renting a store front. people just didn't want teenagers um coming from east oakland to berkeley and it was a problem. i do they we need to look at it and it could be an amazing, amazing national model. it could bring media attention

and bring tech skills to the people in the center and i jut -- want to express that youth radio is very excited to start a san francisco bureau. it's time, and it would be at booker t. washington center. so thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, president olague and members of the san francisco planning commission. my name is jaclyn grant and i'm here on behalf of the john burton foundation for children without homes to express our support for the booker t. washington community center and affordable housing project. the john burton center is dedicated to alleviating homelessness among children in california with particular focus on children leaving our child welfare system. we are particularly enthusiastic about the booker t. washington probably because it will create 24 units of much-needed affordable housing for transitional age youth in

san francisco. access to such housing is critical. without support in their transition to adulthood, think face tremendous challenges in employment, housing, education and more. one in five become homeless within 18 months of leaving the foster system. over half experience unemployment in that amount of time and less than half the youths that exit the foster care system have a high school diploma or g.e.d. when they leave and are on their own. last fiscal year, 182 youths aged out of the san francisco youth foster system and given the challenges they face it is critical to provide support so they can work toward their personal goes. we have seen across california that providing supportive, affordable housing can make a difference to transitional

youth. last year for example youth that participated in similar programs across the state made substantial gains in educational achievement, income and housing stability. 63% of youth across the state who participated in supportive housing exited the programs with a high school diploma compared with only 57% when they entered and 43% were employed when they left the program. with housing and support, young people can move beyond barriers. thank you so much. president olague: steven schum, arnold townsend, richard wu. followed by julia sullivan. >> thank you. president olague, members, my name is arnold townsend, reverend arnold townsend. tonight as first vice president i'm representing the san francisco naacp and president of the board