commissioner olague: commissioners, i would like to indicate if you would like to see them. i need to have them back as part of the record. they should not be recycled. >> the department believes the proposal before the commission today is supportable and would provide up to 50 affordable housing units. it would retain the approximately one attend affordable senior dwelling units as of the originally approved in 2008. the project meets all applicable requirements of the planning code in the special his district. the project is consistent with relevant objectives and policies of the general plan as well as desirable for and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. the department is recommending the planning commission approved the additional use authorization

as revised in the august 4 draft motion to modify conditions 20, 21, and 29 to allow fulfillment of the planning code section by providing a combination of on- site bmr it is and payment of the affordable housing the. commissioner olague: 80. project sponsor? -- thank you. project sponsor? >> on behalf of the three project sponsors, i wanted to indicate that we are also in agreement with the hybrid resolution described to you. partners would be willing to pre-paid a good portion of the affordable housing fee.

that would allow the open house project to move forward with the ground lease payment at that time so the entire payment could be made together. both projects could move forward together. that is a prerequisite for moving forward. we're very pleased the consensus has been reached. we're thankful for the neighborhood and community organizations that came together with the mayor's office of housing and my clients to work this out. we're pleased with the consensus that has been reached. i do want to note this approval does not in any way change the physical aspects of the project you approved in 2008. we may be coming back to you in the future for modifications to that. that is not put before you today. the pod is intact and remains the basis on which we will be moving forward with the market rate rental project and the senior affordable project. i would like to introduce the executive director of open house.

>> my name is set up stillborn -- seth killborn. we work to create housing programs for gay and lesbian senior citizens. these units will be welcoming and inclusive of lgbt and all seniors. open house and mercy house strongly support as much affordable housing as possible including the 50 units of below market rate family rentals. we're very pleased that working with the mayor's office of housing and others consensus has been reached on how to achieve this critical goal. the need for the open house. it is very clear. i know others will be speaking to you in a moment. we need to keep in mind that thousands of lgbt people came to san francisco to find freedom

and acceptance. there are more than 25,000 seniors to live in san francisco. the development replaces in virtually abandoned site with a barbara, the verse community in the heart of the committee thus than one block from the lgbt committee center. i would like to submit an additional letter that came in today as well as 280 postcards' we have collected over the past couple of months in support of the 55 laguna project. we appreciate your support to move this project along today. commissioner olague: are like to open it up to public comment at this time. we have a few speaker cards. i would like to give people the opportunity to stand up to show your support for the public report to me not be inclined to speak. -- i would like to give people the opportunity to stand up to

show support for the project if they would not be inclined to speak. >> i am victoria grace. i did not know i would be first. i want to speak in favor of the lgbt senior housing at 55 laguna. it was mentioned how many lgbt people came out here to find freedom. i was one of those in 1976 back in the time of harvey milk. we need to keep lgbt seniors in the community connected to the community. i want to stay active in this community until the day i die.

i started looking for senior housing. most of the places on these lists work out of the city, way out and isolated. our worst enemies are in visibility and isolation. i am very much in favor of this to keep lgbt seniors in the community. thank you. commissioner olague: thank you. >> good afternoon. all of my life i have fought for things. i fought in the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the gayle liberation movement. now i am a senior and am fighting again. i am so pleased that open house

saw fit to include people outside their own building in terms of affordable housing. if i am a senior, i want to live in the america that i fought for all of my life. everyone should have an opportunity to have decent housing and achieve the things they want out of life. please let this go forward. do not leave us out in the cold. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is jesse florez. i want to add my delight and congratulations to the folks of open house who are here. they have wonderful programs better serving the lgbt community -- that are serving

the lgbt community and many others as well. my understanding is this project will include others. however, it is about time in this amazing city where people come from all over the world for safety and support, is about time to have at least one place that could eventually serve the kind of -- serve as a kind of cornucopia for other programs to be created for other communities and served as an inspiration for other communities who might gather and join together in discussions to help bring about new programs as well. i must say from my own personal experience, a few years ago when i did come here, i thought it

would be wonderful to find a place like the one being proposed because the safety issue is a huge issue, especially as you grow older. i was speaking with a friend. my voice was loud enough so that people around heard me. i was very interested in this. i was hoping somehow this would get started. as i got off of the bus, this person said they knew weather was a building and this kind of thing was starting. they said it was within walking distance. i walked over to this place he was going to show me. the streets got less and less crowded. something kick in. it was too late he hit me across the forehead with a tire iron. i have the presence of mind --

had the presence of mindand he . president olague: please don't come back behind this barrier again, thank you very much. >> i was able to get to safety. it was a huge and very personal illustration, we need something like this for a lot of people. there are many others that can't or don't or won't. [chime]

president olague: [reading names] >> thank you for allowing us to be here today. i am a 67-year-old disabled gay senior that has lived in san francisco for close to 30 years and loves living here. i had the misfortune of losing my apartment. i spent the next two months looking every day for an affordable safe place to live. it wasn't until two weeks and before i was about to become a homeless person that i found something, a small studio.

it is a market rate apartment, unfortunately. i have seen the savings i have replenished and such a fast way that it is frightening. and i am not the only senior in this city that lives like this. we would have a program that helps us get more housing that we need. open house has been kind enough to put this together. i implore you to pass what ever it is a need to pass to get the program rolling. president olague: thank you. >> i'm not sure how this works. president olague: flip it

around. there you go. >>i' i'm here with the save- the-laguna-street campus. this is part of a letter that they sent in december of 2010 indicating an old and the desire to consolidate the buildings from seven to perhaps five or six and at 34 units and 30 parking spaces. i called your attention to it because it appears the this quite a bit of additional design that will need to be done to make it work for the new developer. which means additional environmental reviews. the light to see any new review

take a lunch at the modified preservation alternative. which would preserve it by not demolishing in. perhaps we can reconfigure the residential building for open house to accommodate the amex. this is a national register historic district. we're asking you to prohibit the demolition of these structures in the modification by requiring full compliance for the district including the evaluation of the modified preservation alternative in addition to demonstrating commitments for 100%

construction financing. prior to the issuance of a building permit, a project is subject to the national historic preservation policy act. we just want to make sure that all of the possible alternatives are properly evaluated. 12 also raised concerns about the laver unemployment that former directors filed before taking the job as president of mercy housing. president olague: thank you. >> my name is jason henderson and the represent the neighborhood association.

i was involved in the meetings where we came to a consensus. thank you for delaying this two months. it was very important so we could have a discussion about inclusion area housing. we accept visa agreement, the hybrid. and the one year to find funds. after some prodding and nudging from the community, it turned out to be a very good process. that was kind of beneficial. we didn't get in an awkward situation in the hope that is not repeated as some of these other large scale projects come forward today. the desire for walkable communities. developers are coming in.

we really need affordable housing in these big developments. seeing out is a problem from our perspective. another issue that i would like to put out there is when you rezone, it gets messy. we have another one that has that for parking and so on. and i am a little bit uncomfortable with the project's sponsors suggesting that they might come back for more modifications. i am not sure what that is about. >> [reading names]

>> we stand in favor of this project. it is a long time coming, they often find themselves in residential hotels are round the sixth street corridor. and for transgendered, it is difficult for us to find adequate housing. this would be a very good project for our community to be able to meet the same rules and to socialize with each other in a tight-knit community that has been ostracized for living their lives in a being who they are. it is a good project. please support the project of the developers can break ground

and get the project under way. very rarely see a project of this magnitude coming before the commission. >> i'm here on behalf of the housing action coalition, and we have been looking at this 1 cents a least 2004. i think i have lost count how many times i have been before the commission supporting this project. we were pleased to have posted the discussion of the stakeholders that led to this agreement. we stand in full support of our members. i also want to draw attention to the under appreciated job. if there is one city agency that has been hammered, they had to scramble hard.

it is testament to the work they did. the one thing that we cannot and will not support is any further review of this. this project has been reviewed it to death. it represents the values we should support, and there is not a single advantage to holding this of any further. >> in the afternoon, commissioners. i wanted to make a comment about the process that was undertaken by our office at the request of the community members and the developer. we appreciate the community really holding us accountable to the modifications were proposing, and the think we

ultimately end up with a better project as a result. where are more than happy to come back and report on our ability to find the financing once we have looked at our fiscal situation. i wanted to address the comment about the ethics issue. at the beginning of this year, shoemaker was no longer involved. i was involved, thank you for the opportunity to bring the project to you. president olague: is there additional public comment on this item? anyone who wants to speak, please come to the microphone now. >> i am here on behalf of some

seniors. i have arthritis, but i don't want to talk about that we needed because of that. i feel that with the lgbt people, it will be a history kind of thing because we are the history of the gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered people. the people that want to study the city and us, they can find us and they can come and be with us. [laughter] it is a little area where we can rest our bones. we are history, and history should be easy to find. we saved buildings because they have been around for centuries, let's save us. [laughter] [applause]

>> i am a screaming queen, a legend, an icon, a diva and a fantastic woman. i asked the original screening queens, i came to san francisco was around 15 years old. and even before drag came out, we were drag hair fairies. the only way we could make money was by prostitution, drugs, and alcohol. i have been molested and beaten up. i have been raped. i am a 65-year-old transsexual woman.

i fought in the cafeteria rioting and i have been hiv- positive for 25 years. and i am a survivor. have been in the community since 1962, and i strongly support open house because i have then a volunteer for five or six years. we go to different organizations and tell them how we would like to be treated. i turned 65 years old last week and i am very proud of all the people that were cut open house, because it is about time. hollywood has triangle square that just opened up senior housing in hollywood.

we are supposed to be the guests townhouse - -ga -- the gayest town in san francisco. thank you for wokrking. please, commissioners, we need to feel like the straight community can come together and we don't have to be scared of our neighbors or how noisy we are. president olague: public comment is closed. commissioner miguel: let's start out by saying i am in full support of the project and have been for many years. to transfer state teachers college to a more useful situation.

the least it was carrying on some of the educational commitments as a complex and there that was designed to create a fortress. totally removing it from the community. the plans and the concept archery connected to the community which is something that this commission has pushed for many years in this and other situations. i like to complement the mayor of's office of housing -- the mayor's office of housing for finally crafting something that can be brought before us.

if there are substantive changes, i am sure it will come back to us. i have followed this from at least the start of the market octavia discussion when that neighborhood was coming together. i was the representative from conservation to open house for a couple of years. i am very familiar with it. san francisco has a lack of senior housing, particularly below market rate. it exists outside the city, so you have to be removed from where you have established everyone you know and everything in know. that has to be corrected.

senior housing is hard to find. lgbt senior housing is next to impossible to find. miss collins mentioned it was a long time coming, and that is exactly what this is. i would move the present conditional use draft motion. commissioner borden: i am not going to reiterate what commissioner miguel just said, by want to thank everybody that shared their stories. my heart goes out to sell many because a lot of people were not able to maintain their housing in san francisco because of the lack of osrsort of housing. it breaks my heart to see that

people can't access resources they need in this city they loved her because we don't provide of affordable housing in general. i am thrilled to be able to be part of making this happen. i want to thank you all for sharing your stories with us and reiterating that importance. i want to thank the community for advocating the inflationary housing. it was one of those terrible situations where we had a terrible bargain that we had to look at. i am so glad that we were able to figure out a way to maintain inclusion rehousing and also have a successful project. i know there was an article in the paper