>> ok. commissioners, if there are no other concerns -- commissioner antonini: 1 more. if you will pardon me. the payment to the and parks program was paid by san francisco beautiful. >> congratulations. president olague: commissioner sugaya? commissioner sugaya: i guess as long as we have some time -- >> now, now, now. commissioner sugaya: it is an ad that shows the clarity of the glass by showing it landscaping, which does wonders for birds. [laughter] i will pass this off to the bird

people, whoever they are. i do not remember the website, but this does show the outline of an owl fwn into a window. it apparently flew away, because they could not find the al. but the outline is clear because the owl had some kind of powder on its others or something. anyway, i will e-mail this to you guys. president olague: thank you for that. can you keep us posted on when this will be at the board? i think some of us may want to go and give support to the department recommendations. commissioner sugaya: ok. >> commissioners, we can move on to the director's report. the directors announcements. >> thank you, linda. good afternoon, everyone.

i want to give you a short updates on staff working with wholefoods on the situation at -- did you get a memo in your packet today? from a wholefoods -- whole foods. the bottom line is the neighbors are not completely happy with the situation, but we do believe they are now in compliance. there are two main issues that i think we're part of your conditions of approval even one as the hours of loading and the other is the staging of trucks on the street. your conditions did allow them to load between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.. we believe 4:00 a.m. is the time when the conditions would allow that. primarily because we did not want to stage trucks on the street during traffic hours, and because when they are using the building without making modifications, the trucks have

to go through the parking lot. it is very difficult, if not impossible to load during store hours. that is the challenge we have. it is a very early hour, admittedly, to load, but that was consistent with the commission. we did have the department of public health test for the noise conditions, and we believe they are in compliance at this time. did you have a question, commissioner? commissioner moore: do they unload with the motor is running for the motors off? >> i believe with the motors of f. obviously, that is an annoyance, as well. we have tried to do that in such a way that they have agreed to minimize the amount of time they are backing up. but i believe they do turn the engines of. i will clarify, but i believe that is true. sense we will be in -- since we

will be in right after this meeting, i want to give you a heads up that in the packet you will have a memo from housing on housing information, updating the commission where we are, meeting the various categories of housing, the various affordable categories, as well as market rates. you will see that in this packet. bottom line is we are doing a little better on meeting the low in come -- low income goals. president olague: low to middle income? >> that is right. it is low and middle. there are four categories of low market rate. two categories are doing better than others. we are slightly ahead of the market rate, but i was surprised it is not more than 113% above bowl. finally, i will be out of the

office starting tomorrow through june 22, and kelly will be in charge of the department at that time. then i will be out again the week of june 29. bill will be in charge at that time the banks got sanchez will be out at the same time i am -- bill will be in charge at that time. scott sanchez will be out at the same time ibm. president olague: i guess my question -- do you know what the neighbors in the haight are concerned about? >> i believe it is the early loading our. i believe that is the key issue. president olague: i just glanced at the report when i got your. 50% to 70% of the ami, at 15.9%.

moderate, those of the categories were we seem to have not achieved our goals. >> that is right. president olague: commissioner sugaya? commissioner sugaya: wasn't there a neighborhood complete about trucks on the street and in the early morning? >> yes, there was a concern about that. whole foods agreed to pull them off the street. >> thank you. >> sure. >> for review? >> board of appeals? there are three items scott thought would be of interest to the commission from last night's hearing. one is that the board presented an award to lawrence for his years of service. as you know, he is serving as the special assistant to the city administrator working on the earthquake safety program.

at the mayor's office. second has to do with 2334 market street, the site of the trigger bar. you heard the code enforcement case. the board heard a jurisdiction request related to the violation and the penalty issued on may 7, 2010. trigger requested the board to reduce the penalty. is currently at $50,000. they are able to go to the board to reduce that penalty, but in this case, the board voted to deny the jurisdiction request and the nob remains in effect. the third item has to do with 1727 union street, the brickyard restaurant. the board heard that appeal on june 22, and continued to allow

the petition holder to me with neighbors and address of noise concerns. the permit holder did not meet with neighbors and did not submit alternatives and until august 3. the board addressed that with them, that they did not meet with them in a timely fashion. they voted to continue the item until september 21 to allow more time to meet with neighbors. that is it for my report. >> just for the record, commissioners, the board is on break. the historic preservation commission did not meet this week. commissioners, we can move to general public comment. at this time, members of the public may address you on items of interest to the public within the subject matter jurisdiction of this commission, with the exception of agenda items which may only be addressed during

their time on the calendar and not during this category. each member of the public may address the commission for up to 3 minutes. i have no speaker cards. president olague: is there any general public comment? if you can come to the microphone at this time, ma'am. >> hi. i came here at of concern for people who are working and are employed, but they are living at below poverty levels of living. there is in and out prison movement in my community. we do not want to live in the jail system. we want to be able to afford to live and thrive in san francisco. we need to reiterate the reentry program for people who are getting a second opportunity to work. there is a lot of work in san

francisco that we are more than capable of doing. we need a better quality of life. the teenagers that hang on the street corners, stuff like that, there is not a lot of places for them to go to have something to do. the community is isolated. and there is a liquor stores on every corner. you know what i am saying? we want opportunities to work, not just in the bayview, but all over san francisco. we need someone to take us on. give us an opportunity to improve ourselves so we can stop recycling our children in the prison system. president olague: thank you. and you live in the bayview? thank you for your comment. is there any other general public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> commissioners, we begin your

calendar with item #5. and then the to planning code section 602.10.607.1.608. >> good afternoon, members of the commission. before you, this is a special sign district ordinance. it would amend the planning code, and it was introduced by supervisor farrell for the existing shopping center located -- it is bounded by masonic avenue, geary boulevard, lyon street, and

o'farrell street. it has a proposed senate amendment today, and it proposes an exterior changes to be building that require a building permanent -- building permit application. after the july 11, 2011 meeting, you approved the request for the conditional use authorization. that is case 2010 -- to allow it to occupy former retells basis to occupy the first and second levels of the shopping center. after that hearing, we have the special sign district ordinance pending ceqa review.

at the july 28 hearing, commissioners did express a variety of concerns. of particular concerns, the compatibility of the exterior modifications and. in approving a conditional use authorization, they pledged to work with the product sponsor on these issues. the department has two sets of recommendations. the first set specifically addressed to commercial sign district ordinance. the department recommendations regarding the sign district is that the proposed freestanding sign on masonic avenue near o'farrell, that it be reduced

from 35 feet to 25 feet in height. in addition, the department recommends that the freestanding directional signs be reduced in height from the proposed 15 feet to 70. -- to 7 feet. the project sponsor also proposes the following changes to the project. first, the four new projecting signs for geary street, the department recommends those four sons be visually distinct from and subordinate to the existing signs, that they be at least a little bit smaller. the second is the copy on the existing projecting sign up for geary street should be oriented

vertically. lastly, the existing cyanogen the building exterior should be visible, and that would entail removing the proposed -- decorative panel. it should be located in a way that does not obscure, where there are no existing windows. in some, the department report a composed or in as to create a new special sign district to approve the senate and facilitate single use for the subject site. modifications to the proposed signing to better integrate the proposal with the character of the surrounding neighborhood.

it would ensure better compatibility. the project sponsor is here to make a presentation as well. >> good afternoon. good afternoon, members of the commission. i am representing in the project sponsor. we were here four weeks ago for the conditional use authorization for the target that was approved. we are back here tonight for this afternoon, showing you the sign ordinance. we had to wait on that. we work calendar couple weeks ago. -- were calendared a couple weeks ago. it will show you some of the

design elections we have made. adam miller is the representative of the ownership group, and he will make that presentation. we are all here to answer questions. thank you. >> thank you, commissioners. i will walk you through a brief presentation highlighting some of the aspects that are before you. we had three main goals as relates to sign district at the property. one is to create a consistent program across the property. right now it is very inconsistent between the various signs the tenants have put out, other locations, etc. we wanted to replace the antiquated silage that is there today and we wanted to have this ability and circulation. better something that has plagued the property over its time, especially when it is

changed from a single tenant used to multi tenant use in the early 1990's. to give you some examples of the current condition of the property -- there is one existing sign where the former merchant had a sign on their right now. best buy put up a number of signs within the existing window based. they have also hung banners for potential hires. each of the tenants have mounted their sign edge on the passat. these are all prior to our ownership. they are consistent with what the code allows. the other important thing to note is these are allowed per the leases at the tenants have with the property. we cannot just take down the signs. we do not have the ability to do so. we are proposing integrated signed it and we need to provide them with other options, because

we do not have the right to take down the signs. this is an image that you all saw a couple weeks ago. this shows, this shows the integration of the additional signs all along. -- along geary. it shows the signs we have introduced along geary, masonic, o'farrell. from some of your feedback we have heard two weeks ago, we're looking at a couple options we wanted to show you. these are some of the recommendations. we have approached the signs and we have reduced their scale as you go down geary. the main sign, the other as you go down is smaller in scale,

hopefully tying into the recommendation of having more subordinate blades has to go down. instead of the panels that we have previously -- the place themselves. just trying to respond to your previous comments. the other comments, as it relates to the screens, the colors, that. we have shown you one other element where we changed it to a singular color. as we continue to work through with planning staff, i think there are a lot of different options in your. between the green, the yellow, and the orange, i think the intent was not to have something that would become more prominence than the building itself. the set its is to replace an update antiquated signs at the property.

this is the sign proposed at lyon and geary. it helps as an integrated britt -- as an integrated plan. as you know from the property, we have these separate properties. you cannot go to another area from the parking lot. you have to make an informed decision. as you can see -- this is a

rendering of what we proposed. these are the structures along o'farrell, and it is important to note the cited as we proposed and the height is to ensure we get over the obstructions. it would not have two-hour parking typically surrounding @. these are the major way finding siphonage -- signs as you go into the parking lot. would cut down on the contest and issues and also cut down on

traffic that could seep into the surrounding neighborhoods because people make the wrong decision and the need to circle around, given that o'farrell is a one-way street. these animations will take you up and down o'farrell. the first reflect our proposed sign its height. we will show this first and then we will show a second animation that shows the proposed seven- foot level. the instructions and everything else, both animations are identical. it shows a difference between the 15-foot and the seven-foot height.

we are driving up and down -- sorry. i apologize. the key is we have cars on the street. we cars going into the parking lot. the key for the signs is to get above the instructions. as people are driving down o'farrell, they can make an informed decision. and they are not making a last- minute decision either. the cars that will be on the street and pedestrians coming from the high school -- it is really keep that decisions can be made and we're finding will be visible well in advance of

the decision making time to make the turn. we have on suv there, just as an example. the sine it can be seen with larger vehicle obstruction's. -- the sign can be seen with larger vehicle obstructions. this is the science we proposed. this one shows the signage at the acceptable level. all the conditions along the street are the same. in this case come up we have the second parking lot. the signs are not visible. there was an obstruction in the drive aisle. as you drive up, you see a sign. now you see it coming into making a last-minute decision to make a turn. this highlights the importance of having be signed it to be

viewed from the streets without obstructions, and drivers can make decisions well in advance of their turn. giving that this is multi-tier parking, this is the way we can cut down on circulation issues, cars coming in and out of the neighborhood. so, just to show you again -- the 15 and the seven-foot examples. and thank you very much for your time. president olague: i would like to open it up for public comment at this time. is there any public comment on this issue? on the issue of the -- ok, the presentation that was just made. >> as you did talk about

integration. i am thinking about the neighborhoods surrounding the area. how are you going to integrate them into being part of that process? we spend our money in these communities. we are the biggest conglomerate as far as buying of any community, and i want to know how are you going to reintegrate people who live there into the building and into working and being a part of that process in that community. president olague: thank you. is there any additional public comment on this item? >> i am president of the neighborhood association, and we are the association that abuts the center right on o'farrell

street, and i would like to speak in support of creating the special sign district. the center has been struggling to attract customers and key tenants, and as you know, a large portion of the city is currently situated -- the center is an important shopping alternative for our neighborhood and the city in general, and the committee feels it is extremely vital decenter survives. will support all the changes -- we support all the changes. we need the center to make this a viable again. i have lived across the street from the center on and off since 1957. there have been several owners. this group is the only group of owners that has actively engaged our neighborhood. they are constantly kept us up to date, informed, in the loop.

we also feel that the proposed monument signs, the 15-foot level across o'farrell, currently customers are confused as to which lot they should enter. every day, several consumers overshoot their parking lot, and several tried to head the wrong way on a one-way street. i did not even know -- i have lived there almost all my life -- i did not know they were there. they have got to be high enough that cars can see them. the situation right now creates a very hazardous situation. they do not look both ways. they are looking where they think the traffic is going to be, if they look at all. they are not going to see those cars. the plans include