live, with a development, i think, that will take place hopefully at peer 70, and, of course, already issued the development for the park right across the street. so the comment about illinois, i think it be seeing some great improvement here in the near future, hopefully. >> there's several new businesses moving in within two blocks of the area and several higher-end businesses, actually, that have just moved in this year. >> the motion on the floor is for approval. on that motion, commissioner ant knee flee? >> aye. >> commissioner moore? >> reigh. [[motion passes unanimously. [ >> commissioners, you are now at public comment. president olague: we do have

speaker cards. mark kopka followed by kathleen johnston. >> good afternoon, commissioners, thank you for your time. i'm here to speak about 1731 15th street. and i appeared here last week for the hearing. spoke at public comments about the same building. and i addressed myself and others that we have grave concerns about this building. we are requesting that permit be rescinded. from the beginning of the process we've been perplexed about why a project with such a magnitude of issues, procedural issues, could have been issued without proper reviewing procedures. we now have a better sense of what's going on here.

an article published yesterday by the online news site, the building owner states that he plans to renovate and lease the property to recovery survival network. a nonprofit that manages nine single-room occupancy hotels in the mission and the tenderloin. recovery survival network operates a sober living facility based at 3032 16th street and is used to house the jerry hotel. and it's this property right here. it surrounded by properties owned by the jolish family. three large properties, which if included that property, would be a parcel of 160 feet by 122 feet. the area is zoned for

high-density transit-oriented development with heights of 85 feet or potentially higher. this is high-value san francisco real estate in a city that strongly supports its development. the properties are low rise and of little historic value. you can do a lot of things in san francisco, but evicting the tents of an s.r.o. is nearly impossible. if the hotel were to move and residents relocated, perhaps a few blocks away at 1731 15th street, problem solved. mr. jolish's entry into the development of social service housing is about a larger-end game. 1731 15th street is a small piece of a larger and lucrative property. he was enabled by inside influences and a process and in the end neighborhoods were denied their rights. thank you. commissioner moore: for what it's worth, after hearing a few speakers earlier, i checked

with miss avery about the next available calendar time. president olague: so we'll have an informational hearing about this, but even the bigger policy issue, and we're hoping the next available open calendar date is october 20. we'll try to fit something in at least for the initial conversations. and i'm familiar with the r.s.n., and they run, i think, some decent programs, actually, for what it's worth. i think we have to be looking at it from some of the issues you folks have raised and some of the bigger policy implications around just a lot of different things. so we're hoping to schedule it. maybe we'll invite mayor's council on housing, and it's something i've been approached by other tenant applicants as

well. it's starting to get complicated. >> i'm sure. president olague: yeah. >> i'm kathleen johnston. you guys know why i'm here today. i've been here before, and i have just learned that i can learn a lot about the mission by coming to these meetings. there is a lot that i learned about today. but i have to honey in the point -- hone in the point that there's absolute structural problems with the issuance of this permit. planning staff typically reviews the project and the intensification of use and the issues this one has that would have required a more extensive review to examine the issues of appropriate use, density, environment and neighborhood impact. although the permit application was filed almost one year ago, neighbors were unaware that building permits were under review and that physical changes and intensification of use were being proposed. had neighbors been made aware of this project, as is required by the planning code, section

312, neighbors could have worked together with the project sponsor or failing to resolve their issues. neighbors could have requested discretionary review by the planning commission. failure of the staff to require project sponsors to meet with and notify neighbors, as is common practice, has deprived neighbors a valuable opportunity to have their concerns heard and considered by the planning commission. there are so many issues that have come up with this project, as you can see by the one that was just presented, that you can't expect the board of permit appeals to unravel. it would have been before the planning commission before it went to the board of appeals. commissioners sugaya, you were out of the room when carle gave her testimony. she's the name that lives right next door to this project and i would recommend that you look at that, because she has incredible credentials as a progressive and she's done a lot for this city. you have no idea what this neighborhood was like, and i just want to quote something from the mission local article

that mark brought up. one of the residents of valencia garden said it was so dangerous in this neighborhood, so crime-ridden and drug infested -- and this is when the old valencia garden was there -- and so horrific that an old-timer told me finding a parking space in this neighborhood was never a problem. finding your car when you got back was, and that should be a concern to the people coming to these new restaurants that are being built. in case you haven't noticed in the san francisco papers, the way these prisoners are being released is not because they're good citizens, it's because we have a budget crisis in the state, and we're the ones that they're being forced on. thank you for your time. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i live on in the neighborhood and i'm here to protest for the

property at 1731 15th street. i'm an interior designer and architect for 30 years in san francisco and work a lot with builders and developers. as we know, it is very difficult to have permits and review every site. and basically what is bad here, this property is made for 21 rooms, and now it will come to 53 rooms. and basically what we ask for you, commissioners, is not just to make a decision, but also to help us to send back to the planning code for us to be sure this is the code and the permit for san francisco. and we don't -- we understand

it is not only for you to decide it, but for us -- for you commissioners to help us to go forward with that issue. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> commissioners, back again. i'm in district 5, and this issue of priority warehousing came up years ago in district 5, and the whole neighborhood became outraged. it was actually proposed by reverend brown and right next to the fill more. and i didn't pose them coming in, the patrolees, because i happen to be a good friend of amos. and it was just that simple. but the fact is after hearing the interpretation today of section bull tin number -- it's only bulletin number four, section 312-b, which the effective date was december,

2001, i really became concerned, because now what's happening in the mission is going to happen in every district throughout this city. if we're going to take the new interpretation by the zoning administrator. so i'm asking for a clarification from the zoning administrator of code section 312-b which says subject notification of change of use in n.c. districts. because what controls who's coming in and how you're going to facilitate whatever is proposed is the change of use, not the designation, whether it's group housing or institutional housing. and so there's no exemption within 312 to exempt out paroleees in group housing. unfortunately, the zoning administrator gave that impression today. that was my take on this. and i might say at that time the emotions were so great in the district that people told

the reverend brown, if you like the parole ease so much, why don't you rent out a room in your house to one of them. that's what it came down to, because we're really looking at the quality of life here. what is upsetting is we don't want to happen in district 5 what's now happening in the mission district. because the fact is there was a bifurcation of the process, and while we all understand the jurisdiction in question that the board of appeals and commissioner sugaya, the fact is it's only after the planning commission had taken the question of jurisdiction up that, on an appeal of that question, for instance, was there an increase of density can the board of permanent appeals then direct it. you're making the board of permanent appeals the primary interor of this question which is -- interpreter of this question, which is outstanding.

we are now getting ready to go for a full-blown initiative process, because we're not take anything chances. because families and neighbors want to restructure to help the quality of life. and no one is against president olague: thank you. i think as we start to see more training programs and people being re-integrated into the city, that i think we do have to look at where folks are going to be housed and how. and i think we're all on a similar side. we're all progressive. we've all supported these types of projects before. so thank you guys for bringing up these issues. so we just have to -- hopefully october 20 we'll start some of those conversations. is there additional general public comment? are you here for general public comment now? ok, seeing none, general public comment is closed and the

meeting is at journed. >> thank you. [meeting adjourned at 8:45 eastern time.] . . . . . . . >> welcome to "culturewire." today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency

programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago. our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can the public has an artist engage with?

>> for the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptual artists, at installation, photographers, videographers. >> that has really expanded the program out. it is becoming so dynamic right now with your vision of interesting artists in gauging here. why would an artist when to come here? >> mainly, access to the materials. we also give them a lot of support. when they start, it is an empty studio. they go out to the public area and -- we call it the big store. they go out shopping, take the materials that, and get to work. it is kind of like a reprieve, so they can really focus on their body of work. >> when you are talking about recology, do you have the only

sculpture garden at the top? >> it is based on work that was done many years ago in new york. it is the only kind of structured, artist program. weit is beautiful. a lot of the plants you see were pulled out of the garbage, and we use our compost to transplant them. the pathway is lined with rubble from the earthquake from the freeways we tour about 5000 people a year to our facility, adults and children. we talk about recycling and conservation. they can meet the artists. >> fantastic. let's go meet some of your current artists. here we are with lauren. can you tell us how long have been here so far and what you're

working on? >> we started our residency on june 1, so we came into the studio then and spent most of the first couple weeks just digging around in the trash. i am continuing my body of work, kind of making these hand- embroidered objects from our day-to-day life. >> can you describe some of the things you have been making here? this is amazing. >> i think i started a lot of my work about the qualities of light is in the weight. i have been thinking a lot about things floating through the air. it is also very windy down here. there is a piece of sheet music up there that i have embroidered third. there is a pamphlet about hearing dea -- nearing death. this is a dead rabbit. this is what i am working on now. this is a greeting card that i found, making it embroidered.

it is for a very special friend. >> while we were looking at this, i glanced down and this is amazing, and it is on top of a book, it is ridiculous and amazing. >> i am interested in the serendipity of these still life compositions. when he got to the garbage and to see the arrangement of objects that is completely spontaneous. it is probably one of the least thought of compositions. people are getting rid of this stuff. it holds no real value to them, because they're disposing of it. >> we're here in another recology studio with abel. what attracted you to apply for this special program? >> who would not want to come to the dump? but is the first question. for me, being in a situation that you're not comfortable in has always been the best. >> what materials were you

immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here? >> there are a lot of books. that is one of the thing that hits me the most. books are good for understanding, language, and art in general. also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. >> job mr. some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. -- taught me through some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. >> the first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. it was actually a poster. it was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. in terms of the flatwork, i work with a lot of cloddish. so being able to cut into it come at into it, removed parts, it is part of the process of

negotiating the final form. >> how do you jump from the two dimensional work that you create to the three-dimensional? maybe going back from the 3f to 2d. >> everything is in the process of becoming. things are never said or settled. the sculptures are being made while i am doing the collages, and vice versa. it becomes a part of something else. there's always this figuring out of where things belong or where they could parapets something else. at the end goal is to possibly see one of these collage plans be built out and create a structure that reflects back into the flat work. >> thank you so much for allowing "culturewire" to visit this amazing facility and to learn more about the artists in residence program. is there anything you like our viewers to know? >> we have art exhibitions every

four months, and a win by the public to come out. everybody is welcome to come out. we have food. sometimes we have gains and bands. it is great time. from june to september, we accept applications from bay area artists. we encouraged artists from all mediums to apply. we want as many artists from the bay area out here so they can have the same experience. >> how many artists to do your host here? >> 6 artist a year, and we receive about 108 applications. very competitive. >> but everyone should be encouraged to apply. thank you again for hosting us. >> thank you for including us in "culturewire." ♪

the call to order. >> roll call. approval of minutes for the august 15, 2011 meeting. item three, public comment on executive session. any public comment?

seeing none -- a move that we adjourn to executive session. all in favor? i. executive session, existing litigation matters. performance evaluation and performance upper all in favor? aye. >> please be a is the ringing of electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. please be a vice the chair may order the removal of any person responsible for the ringing, or use of the cell phone, pager or other similar electronic device. please be advised that a member of the public has up to three minutes to make pertinent public

comment on each agenda item on this support commission -- unless the support commission adopts a shorter time on any item. >> good afternoon. it is great to hear so many of our partners here today. thank you all for coming clear yet i have two items on my executive director report. one is the annual coastal california clean of take, which is this saturday, september 17. that is terrific. as you know, we are the lucky recipients of a number of the ports properties, which consist of mission creep, pier 54, warm water cove, pier 94 wetlands, and parents at the end park. -- and heron headland port. we have a number of our never

counsels that are all organizing volunteers to help us clear -- clean the close along the southern waterfront that we control and in the waterfront here in san francisco bay. we're really looking forward to that. volunteers could come to want cotter -- warm water cove from 9:00 until noon on saturday. we look forward to seeing as many of you there that would like to enjoy the weather and it could exercise and help the bay. the second item is to report on pier 70 20th street historic building request for information, and the next up, which is to issue a request for proposal. we're making progress on the peers of the project, which we have defined to you and many staff agendas. after reviewing this ponces --

responses to interest some of the report is moving to our request for proposal stage. the 20th street buildings are six buildings at pier 70 in need of rehabilitation. in february we began talking about having individual entities partner with the port to rehabilitate these great building set on the street, and now it captivated over 100 people half -- and now we up calculated over 100 people have toured these buildings. beginning september 23, 2011, we will close the process. anyone having responded to the process will request to summit

in the proposal process. we are looking forward to the creative ideas we seen so far and coming back to talk to about what great things the future holds for these fantastic buildings. of all holds true to plan, we hope to be back in the winter to talk about the request for proposal. not your head enthusiastically. thank you. that concludes my report. -- knod your head enthusiastically. in items on the consent age. item eight a, request authorization to award construction contract #2744r, roadhouse to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning central plant upgrade project to evra construction come in an

amount not to exceed 453,000 and also offer a stop to increase the contract item by 10% through contract not addition or a change order, for total amount of 498,300 in the event of unanticipated contingencies. item eigh8b, andand 8c, request approval of the school year 2011-2012 executive director salary. >> so moved. >> second. >> any public comment on this item? all in favor -- >> aye. resolutions have been approved. item nin