it is a 140 foot-long barge that is an unacceptable solution for the viewing of the race. there are other areas of downtown that are better suited to view events on the big screen. most of these events occur in the early morning. organizers must work with us to keep the bay area open during these non-racing *. will forward to a productive working relationship to ensure everyone enjoys the america's cup and is a success for all of san francisco. thank you for your time. >> hello. my name is keith howell. i memberam a of the dolphin

club -- i am a member of the dolphin club and have been for 30 years. much of what i have to say has already been said, so i will not repeat it too much. there is a complete absence of the recreational activities within an aquatic park. a lot of people are not much interested in spectator sports, but participatory sports, and that includes the 2000 members of the joint dolphin and south and club. it is surprising, the swimmers who are swimming 365 days a year, and yet there is no mention of it in any eir, and i would like you to look into it. thank you very much. president olague: thank you. [reading names]

yes. >> good afternoon, president olague, commissioners, and also planning director. i am is a familiar face to year, as much as i have been a citizen of san francisco. as a citizen, i also wear many hats. my apologies. user it also an architect, developer, a citizen of san francisco. this place is a special place.

in has its own heritage and culture by which activities that are undertaken are also at risk by the virtue of what is an emission by the reports with regards to the activities, and also the level of safety that is putting both rowers and swimmers at risk. the water quality is also at risk and the impact of access, not only to the club, not only for the members, but as the club is open to the public, it, too, is also at risk for accessibility. this is an invasion of land, sea, and air by which the impact will be strongly felt. not only by the club, but also by the community, and the environment, the businesses, the recreational components that have been undergoing this impact of what the america's cup

is going to do to that waterfront is also going to be significant. there needs to be a plan of action which also shows concern and respects in the current activities. along with that, this is a special place in that when you look at the environmental impact, what the report is supposed to do, it identified the biological needs of those users. your the last of the top clubs along the waterfront. -- we are the last of two clubs along the waterfront. we are an endangered species. if you do not respect that, we haven't lived and swam and being active in san francisco bay for 134 years, we're not

going to be around at the impact is significant to put us at risk and if the environmental impact studies take into account all these activities. [bell rings] president olague: if you merger name, just keep coming up to the mike. [reading names] >> good afternoon, commissioners, madame president. my name is ken coren. i have -- i think i am rather

unique in this room, the commission accepted. i have read this report. i have read this entire report. this report has to be taken seriously, but it was not written seriously, in my opinion. this report is supposed to accurately assess impacts, identify them, and address of these impacts will be dealt with. with regard to an aquatic park in particular, it has failed to do so in a disingenuous manner. i say there are no impacts. the only way that can be done is to close your eyes completely to reality. the overview that i get from this draft report -- which is really the report of the next comments and responses -- is that this event is seeking to use almost every square inch of san francisco's waterfront, and

this is the bay area, and that they belongs to citizens and visitors of the citibank -- and that they belongs to citizens and visitors of that city. in claiming every square inch of the waterfront, what the proponents of done is say we have primary viewing areas, and they get serious about that. in order to preserve their rights, they call them secondary viewing areas, and they make things up to justify the proposed use. aquatic park is one of those identified as a secondary viewing area. if i call your attention to section 5.11 0.3 points to -- 5.11.3.2, they talk about short-term recreational uses. and they say -- accurately in

theory -- that a short-term disruption does not necessarily mean a significant impact. they say if you have many bicycle paths and you restrict use of one, not a problem. they also talk about temporary disruption. that has nothing to do with the america's cup being proposed. we're talking about six weeks a one-year, nine weeks at the next year. if and when they win, at this event comes back. the course cuts off the shore line. president olague: thank you. feel free to submit any written comments that you have. >> will do. president olague: thank you. >> my name is lee hammick. i live in bernal heights.

i am a dolphin member and swimmer since 1985. i appreciate the opportunity we all have to speak, but i have this nagging feeling a lot has gone on already on this feeling and hopefully this is more than window dressing. i hope you take what everyone is saying seriously. aquatics park used to be called black. cove -- blackpoint cove. it has been an historic area for the city of san francisco since it was settled and it remains a today. -- remains so today. i looked at the report in detail a few weeks ago and scanned it

again today, and my feeling is the eir is incomplete at best. whether these items were skipped, i do not know, but they have to look at aquatic park and the activities. a lot of questions come to mind. how big is the super jumbotron? how big will it be? will the super jumbo yachts be going in and out of the code? will there be america's cup staff imposing restrictions on swimming or rowing or other uses of the cove? i would like to see those details addressed. i think we all would. thank you. >> my name is diane watson.

i lived at 1410 taylor in san francisco. i have the privilege of serving as the boat captain at the dolphin club. the disparity between some of the sections that have been referred to and the lives that we lead on the bay are striking. i would say that you look at the respect that has been given to recreational use, and we can give you numbers and pictures and stories and all kinds of things, but really, just to take that into very serious consideration, because it has been given short shrift. the other piece that is -- and i would prefer to look at it as a point, the cultural aspects of the cove and the bay. there are structural aspects

that allow swimmers and growers to be safe. me interact with commercial traffic. we have ways to do this. that is also not known from somebody to just read that report. thank you. president olague: if you heard your name, you can start coming up, in the order really. >> good afternoon, commissioners and staff. is executive director of san francisco bay keeper. i am here on behalf of approximately 15,000 members in san francisco. yes significant impact with the mission and the -- we have significant impact with the mission and the dolphin club. there may be other dolphin club members to, up, but i will segue

into water quality issues. there are groups working together in close coordination with the city to support good environmental planning. to that end, we worked with the city to provide an early administrative draft of the document and cemented over 90 pages of impacts and recommended -- submitted over 90 pages of impact and recommended mitigation. we feel like we will make progress through the supporting plans for the city. i will say we were surprised to see so little of our comments in the actual draft. our main concern is a level of

detail. if they are going to be brought in the ceqa process, they have to be finalized before the final eir. our legal team and science team is very concerned the eir will leave the city open to litigation. we are not interested in knowing their. we're working very hard in advance proactively with the city, but there are many to take that opportunity if the city does not get the final eir right. i thank the commission for its serious review of the document. we look forward to continuing to help staff. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> commissioners and staff, i am

here to comment on the draft eir. thd is a member of the council and shares the concern the draft eir has inadequate mitigation measures. i will focus on one of the primary issues with the dir here. this dir is prospective in determining properties to be transferred to mr. ellison's organization after the america's cup, even though if it meant there is no information on these future projects. the strategy driving us eir is a program being cloaked as a

project eir so any ceqa -- will tilt the playing field by disguising the true nature of the eir. it will limit or avoid ceqa review of future development projects resulting in the post- agreement. the draft eir concludes that it analyzes "long term" development issues at a conceptual level because there is no detailed information. because the long term development portions of the project are not knwn, -- known,

review is not possible. even if this is considered a project-level eir, it is inadequate to define it as a project-level eir. thank you in advance for addressing these matters any final eir. -- in the final eir. >> hello. my name is brian gilbert. i will be honest with you. i have a serious personal interest in this thing.

i am partially disabled by joint pain. one of the only things that is efficacious is it immersion in cold salt water. if you have never had this kind of pain, then congratulations. [laughter] it is a wonderful therapy. there are a lot of people in the dolphin club and who are themselves in the same therapy. it is mental therapy as well as physical therapy. the project that is proposed with impact -- would impact this really severly. you can not seriously put these things inthe cove and not seriously impact the swimmer's.

it is a great comfort to me. i go down and i am hours myself in the water, and for some reason, in better. there are 1000 members of the dolphin club who will come to my assistance and help me out. this will not have been with the jumbotron kind of thing that is going into the cove. as george pointed out it will have to be supported by cables from the shore, for to be a source of noise and pollution. if the cables go from the shore, all it would take is a momentary short, and anyone in the water would be electrocuted. this is a serious consideration. been known, i am -- you know, i

am distressed because everyone comes to san francisco gets some kind of compassion, but the residents seem to be overlooked. i had to drive around and have been prevented from driving by everything from parades, movies being shot, a sports car rally going past my house one saturday morning. a sports car rally from city hall. please, think a little bit about the residents and not so much about the taurus. thank you. president olague: thank you. good afternoon. i am peter straus. in years a member of the san francisco transit riders union. we have been working with the

city's team for the past 6 months and very much appreciate the opportunity. appreciate the amount of work that has been conducted in a very compressed period. i hope there are lessons here, but that as a topic for another day. below forward to improving the city fell preparations for these events. in the meantime, i think you heard from other people today who feel there is some concern and frustration that they have not received feedback nor are the concerns we have expressed today and expressed in the d-eir document has released. i will not going to the detail today, of course, but a broad concern is the document, massive as it is, seems to understate

the impact of the race on the city and the bay. also, last specificity in many regards. the impact is on the bay, understating the impact to areas such as inspiration point and the effect on the new system and its writers -- riders. we are concerned the funding will prove inadequate to address the city's needs. we will not be prepared for the increased cost to the city.

to avoid that, good planning is necessary. thank you. president olague: thank you. if i have already called her name, please feel free to come up to the mic. >> good afternoon. i am donald harrison. i joined the dolphin club in 1 980. i have conducted quite a numbers of swims. i would like to second what is said by the others. welcome, america's cup. i am excited. i hope mr. allison wins. i cannot understand anybody spending the money in

preparation for this they plan to spend and not have an impact. no impact seems like a poor return on investment. think about that. there is an alternative. just at the high street pier, quite a large number of dollars were spent to house the facility for tying up fishing boats. that is not used all the time. that would be an excellent place to more a barge or two, up the power boats and the sailboats. -- tie up the powerboats and

sailboats. that would likely have no impact or much less impact than aquatic park. there is a viewing area for the jumbo drawn -- jumbotron on the high street, probably equal in size to what there is from aquatic park. i would like that to be considered. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon. i am at 10-year member of the south side boating club. thank you for the opportunity to address this eir. my colleagues have spoken eloquently about the culture of the bay. also, there is serious this may

for this inexplicable omission of any discussion at all, complete a mission of the activity -- complete omission of the activity in aquatic park. we do it swam from golden gate bridge down to the bay bridge, but particularly -- we to swim from golden gate bridge down to the bay bridge, but particularly -- we do swim from golden gate bridge down to the bay bridge, but particularly in a quiet part. -- aquatic park. thank you. >> good afternoon. i am a life member of the san

francisco dolphin club and i've been swimming in aquatic park since the old days of the old high-school. that goes back to the 1950's, late 1960's. i am a little embarrassed to bring this up, but this is going to be public record. is a great disappointment about the way of aquatic park restaurants are being handled. we are a world-class city. we have at our own people to be considerate of and those coming in from around the world for this affair. de gria -- the gria and up dissipating as they should be in sanitation and hygiene. we have people urinating and defecating on our beach. if you are going to have this event and the quality event, may i encourage you through the city

and county government to address this to the national maritime museum to get those two restrooms working? they are now dysfunctional. they are now working. people do not know at times where to do their thing. in some cases, it is unhygienic to be on our beaches. user it also the coordinator for the presidio, and i think this is an issue of public safety for all those. get those restaurants open and this will contribute to the success of this event and it will also keep the water quality control up for the thousands of swimmers to participate in the dolphin club and the south end running clubs. i thank you out for addressing this important issue for all the people of san francisco. thank you.

president olague: thank you. [reading names] >> hello. my name is robin rome, and i am also a life member of the dolphin club. in the report, a recreational and that does not really been specified. to think of us as being an aquatic life, there is a lot of an aquatic life to be concerned with. bottle nose dolphins. we are out there -- i added up over the winter, many people. they swam 5,700 miles, and that us