neighborhoods because they felt it wasn't lucrative. now they're coming back in and establishing branch banking in all of these previously under serve neighborhoods, they're being attacked. i guess you can't win. there is a point to be made about notification. that's important and the discretionary review process is a good one. i would leave it but there should be a method whereby the public is notified of changes use. there are situations where a bank could come in or another institution could come in and it would not trigger a cu for other reasons. i'm not sure this is a right way to do it in the case of financial institutions. certainly there was a call -- a mention of an analysis of the

effects of controls on formal retail economically in san francisco. it is something to look at. i don't want us to become like every place else and have only formula retail. i appreciate independent business and what we have done here, but we have to look the proper balance and we have to look carefully to see if there's a distinction between financial institutions and other formula retail. i don't think there is a competitor we are saving as is the case with most of the other services who are trying to be saved under formula retail controls. it's just one large bank competing with another large bank. i think there is a difference here. thank you. commissioner miguel: not to belabor the point, but maybe that is what we're doing. back when the branch system was started and what i was in the

retail business, the branch bank was some place you went to because there was a loan officer sitting there that new the district and probably knew you as a business customer or as a residential customer. you could not deposit checks at a kiosk some place, let alone take a picture of them with your iphone. the entire system has changed. the concept of branch banking has totally changed. a number of the branch banks in san francisco have a long leases have too much space. so they have become coffeeshops for half of them. there has been a big change. everything changes and maybe this is the time for this code to change. >> the neighborhood commercial

controls developed in the late '80s, the impetus for that was branch banks at the time. the code already in the neighborhood commercial districts had controls built in. of the 28 diffent neighborhood commercial districts we had, half of them the financial service use is either conditionally permitted or not permitted at all. we are looking at less than half the labor and commercial districts which otherwise have the misprints we permitted uses. -- have them as principally permitted uses. commissioner antonini: just to add onto what commissioner miguel said -- this is not the case for all banks and institutions, but we have seen instances where banks did have to much square footage on the project that was built recently

and there was a very large bank of america that condensed operations and parking was put underground and allowed for the production of condominium units. a market, restaurant and a think it's very successful. not every instance means banks have to look at whether the square footage is appropriate for their usage. i think there are situations that exist where they may be too much square footage relative to their service. >> i am glad supervisor wiener is engaging with this discussion with us. we will check in with the office to see how we will have this conversation because it is obvious that we don't always have enough time here to do

that. we would like to engage with the small business commission on some level and have a more complete conversation and we're trying to figure out -- as a result, we have been letting go of a lot of these policy discussions we need to have. we to look for to working with everyone who is part of this and figuring out just looking at this more closely, the pros and cons and everything else. we will be in touch with the supervisor's office and maybe land use is some place where this can happen. if you could look into some of the issues mr. welch raised.

>> i already looked at cex. in united states, they only have 10 stores. there -- it takes 11 or more to figure -- it takes 11 or more to trigger the formula used. its only domestic stores account and we will look into the american apparel. president olague: we're going to take a 15 minute rece >> i would like to make a few announcements to remind the public that regular calendar items 11, the special sign district has been continued to august 11. item 13, 5411 gargeary boulevard

has been continued. leland avenue has been continued to october 6. commissioners, your on general public comment. not to exceed 15 minutes. members of the public may address the commission on items that are within the subject matter or jurisdiction with the exception of agenda items. i have the one speaker card. >> amy o'hare.

>> i come before you because you approved a citation before -- i appreciate your correction. good afternoon, commissioners. i have lived in the city for 26 years. we on a home in district 7. i would like to suggest to the planning commission the recently passed a cell phone right to know ordinance has an interesting implication. the citizens have the right to know about other enclosures. should the planning commission recommend to the department of the internmenin vernon to -- cid and back. there is nothing that would prohibit such notification. since this results in a change of rf levels, the carriers

should [unintelligible] that have undergone changes at lay. an independent measurements database such as this would facilitate the city's ability to seek restitution. thank you. >> is there any additional off public comment? >> president olague: is there any additional public comment? of this might relate more to the health commission. this is something we may discuss at some point where to go with the issues that was raised -- that were raised. you have worked a lot on this issue. perhaps we could see where we might. go with this. if you have any thoughts, let us know. it seems to me it might be a health commission priority as opposed to planning. >> yes.

>> we are on the regular calendar. item 12, request for conditional you thought -- use authorization. >> i am mary woods. this is a proposal to convert a vacant and retail spaces that used to be they mervyns' and good guy's shopping mall. this includes 6000 square feet with the potential to add 14,000 square feet of vacant spaces become available for 120,000 square feet. there are existing parking spaces at the site. 600 regular vehicles bases and five freeloading spaces. there are 28 bicycle parking

space oncs. the product would -- project would add 14 bicycles basis for a total of 42. there are entrances on geary and others for access. this includes a use size of to 120,000 square feet. the department approves -- recommends approval with conditions. staff has received two letters in support of the project. this concludes my summary of the project. if you have questions, i will be here to answer. thank you. project sponsor. >> good evening. i am jim ruben, working with the owners of the shopping center for the last four or five years.

we're trying to take these six pending formula retail applications down to five with an approval today. you can check of one approval. one more powerful. during that four or five years we were told consistently as we did our travels around the city we should try to get target as our tenant. they listened, so we're pleased to bring target here today. the entire project team is here. there is a lot of people here. we have representatives of the ownership of real estate and target representatives that are here from minneapolis and additional consultants. it is hard for me to imagine a question that could come up that we would not able to answer. i'm going to introduce the owner of the center to speak next. i did want to divert on the sign legislation. you ask if if this was our

request. the department wants to do work on the sign ordinance and we were fine with that and consented to it. it was not us that asked for. i would like to introduce adam mileler to speak and we will show a the architectural proposal. > president olague: if anyone is here for the petco item, that was continued to october. >> is there a way of having -- go ahead. the project area is the shopping center located at geary and masonic. this is a slide. here are photos of existing conditions, looking off of the corner, looking back to a couple

of locations on farrell. as you may know, the property was constructed in the 1950's as a sears department store. it was purposely built for sears. in the 1990's, it was converted into multi-tenant retail and at that point, it was mervyn's and office depot. toys r us was replaced by best buys and the others are closed. the aerial views going north and south of the property, it points out an interesting condition of the property. when it was built in the 1950's, a single use prop., there is a number of these tiered parking lots that exist. they're not willing to. they act independently of one another. one of the areas of concern and

we heard from the community outreach was a desire of improving circulation are trying to help improve the circulation and the understanding of the property. given its current design. it is not something we can fix. we cannot link the parking lots easily. in conjunction of working with mta, we are contributing towards an upgrade of the existing signalized intersection at farrell and mason. we think that is one component that will definitely enhance the circulation around the property. separate from that, we will be contributing to a new signal at the union terrace intersection. both tied to -- both are consistent with a broader masonic plan. here is the site plan of the

property. it points out various parking levels. as mary had said, there is 601 prop. spaces. that will not change with the proposed target use. each of these services is a certain number of tenants. parking is not exclusive. all tenants and customers are used to this property. this slide shows the relative square footage breakdown of the property. currently, we have 202,00500 square feet. that is part of the approval -- as part of the target occupancy, we will be increasing the square footage by a total of 500 square feet. those areas are specific to adding a fire exit their and making a small modification to a loading dock to make a more

functional and usable. we specify initial square footage of 106,000 square feet. going up to 120,000 feet. that is based on target and some adjacent space. this next slide is the first floor. the proposed target use. this occupies 100% of what was formerly mervyn's. they will be maintained, one on masonic and one on farrell. we have to the right two areas identified as a potential expansion area. office depot is an existing tenant and property. that becomes available as a result of the downsizing of office depot. we're looking for flexibility to expand them. this represents the second floor of the proposed target

promises. this is basically 100% of the former good guys space and the mervyn's space that was located on the second floor. this is the layout. there will be utilizing this loading facilities are -- that are on site. the show's a general section or a few of -- this shows a general section oor view. this shows the area where target is proposed occupied. they will be on two levels. the first and the second floor. their location on the first floor is based on taking the former mervyn's space. the dotted area is not included for the expansion of office depot. the final slide shows the same sections and dotted areas where the proposed target tendency

will be. this shows, this is the same allegations which shows some of the proposed renovations that we're looking to do is part of a upgrading the property and freshening it up in kentucky -- in conjunction with target's pennine said. we're going through some of the design characteristics we are looking to incorporate as part of this proposal. >> good afternoon. i was going to quickly go through with a powerpoint presentation and continue it. and talk briefly about -- excuse me for my technical difficulties here. briefly about some of the exterior improvements that we are planning as part of target going into the space. when we started the project, we had some design goals that we wanted to incorporate into the project. the first was to activate the

pedestrian and straight edges and make the project more pedestrian friendly. we are increasing the amount of storefronts on masonic as well as adding additional display cases along geary and creating a higher quality and terrible environment. we want to increase the pedestrian lighting levels and the sidewalk level. another idea we have is to apply alamance and building facades to update. this is an interesting national -- international style building but it is not the most cheerful. doing some things we think are appropriate like taking the canopy and fin idea and increasing them. we have an idea of using screens to bring some color and warmth. and adding landscape to soften the environment especially around the perimeter and replacing the plant materials to freshen that palette.

we are going through some before and afters. this is a view looking at masonic towards geary. this would be the ground-floor entrance of the city target. you can see some of the elements we would like to address. you can see the typography and the steps of parking lots. we have a lot of exposed, dreary retaining walls. there are a series of strip windows in parts of the project which are interesting but for decades, they have been closed off because water retailers are not using them. they want -- they blank out elements in the assaad and we would like to address ways of making that more interesting. >> president olague: thank you. how much time do you think you will need?

>> can i have five minutes? >> president olague: locating -- ok. negotiating time here. >> this is an after one of our proposals. we're looking at graphics and landscape treatment along the retaining wall. in place of the windows, we're proposing that you have some screens that would have colored panels, maybe glass that would glow and night as well as during the day to add some warmth and texture to the project. you're coming to the main entrance. along masonic. there will be new revolving doors. there is a bus stop at that location. we're proposing to have the target cafe animate that corner. back to that corner of masonic, looking up. the corner had display windows

that were closed off. we're trying to reanimate the corner and can see this thing of canopies and fins. we wanted to give the building which is pretty banal, some rhythm and texture. once again, you can see the corner cafe that we're proposing there. and reopening the windows, new displays, the screens that will animate the facades. the fins and we will -- that we are proposing. we are adding two more display windows along the street as well as canapes. the idea is this is the north side of the building, it is a little bit dark. this will bring light and interest along the sidewalk as well and lighting from the

display and the canopy. we are refurbishing the landscape planters that are along geary which will be more pleasant. as you come down towards the entrance that is -- the parking entrance off of geary, we are refurbishing of the bus stop. we're redoing the railings and it can see more pedestrian light enhancements we are proposing. -- you can see more pedestrian light enhancements we are proposing. if you are coming off the exit ramp from geary and heading up, we have this large retaining wall. which is this blank wall and it is very high as to head toward the east and the building is a little bit hoking on the top of the hill.

-- hulking on top of the hill. we are proposing landscape improvements that will help make it a lot more attractive as you come up to the building. we are expanding on the idea of canapes and fins to give the building more articulation. you can see more of those display windows that we're proposing. and the fins. we are coming to the masonic and geary intersection where we will have more display windows and the corner cafe. there is not a lot of opportunity for landscaping. a lot -- the opportunities that are there, we're going to take advantage of. they happen along the perimeter.

along farrell. and those retaining walls. we will have a graphic and landscape treatment of those. also that large retaining wall that becomes this steep element which will be nicer with landscaping and soften it. our -- we're not finalized on the colors of the material. we want to do with color scheme that works in the character of this midcentury modern building but introduced through color panels some color and interest and a laittl-- a little bit of vibrancy that will make it fit into the neighborhood. that is the presentation. thank you. >> president olague: opening up for comment. we have some speaker cards. eric holmgren, jennifer, and

jennifer dever. i do not know if anyone is still here. you can come to the mike in any order. >> thank you. i am resident of san francisco along to 41 masonic. i'm extremely excited and hopeful for this project. i lived nine years in that area. i have been waiting for something to go in the bacon's murdering -- vacant rinse building. there is this fear of retail in san francisco. we want to help the mom and oppp stores. the ability to walk down and buy some underwear, that would be

great. that is -- there is nothing in the city i can walk to. i'm excited about the potential. as a voter and taxpayer, two thumbs up for target. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am a 25-year resident. 16 years near geary and masonic. i used to shop at sears and mervyn's and i am looking forward to target coming in. we need -- and has a history of retail. we need a strong anchor tenant. it would provide local jobs. it is occupying the existing footprint, not displacing any mom-and-pop stores. there will be working with the masonic corridor project. with traffic lights and signals and traffic engineering. and ewing terraces. -- a feeling terraces.

many of the strongly support this project. we urge you to support it. >> it afternoon. i also live on ewing terrace and i am in support of target. i have a history of a back to sears and i am excited to see a strong anchor replace what has become a blighted and on safe- feeling area in the neighborhood. the mixed use there will support smaller retail spaces in the same city center. and i am encouraged to hear the issues around traffic are being addressed in coordination with the masonic project. i wanted to voice my support. thank you. >> president olague: thank you.