twice as much on site. that is a huge improvement. we're proposing better urban planning. the element of the existing approvals is a driveway that spans the site and going from washington. there is a drop off. we are looking to remove those and replace it. this has been replaced with a building to maintain the urban fabric of the street. that is something that planning suggested and that we embraced. we are proposing a different exterior design. i am trying to print my company possibly on architecture. we put forth a more interesting design.

we're trying to outreach to the community. despite our efforts, we have been informed of some misinformation posted about the neighborhood. my team has tried to contact the people responsible. we will have that information available. in regards to the approval we're asking today, in addition to the recommendations of planning, we're asking for more car share spaces.

we're asking for four retail spaces. i want to make two quick clarification. i am a mountain bike rider. i live in a condo. i would like to provide every unit with a bicycle space.

and >> good afternoon, commissioners. can we get this light show? a point of reference to some of the items that were talked about. a very quick comparison between the project and the project that we are proposing. you can see the differences that were mentioned.

>> this vehicular -- the project is coming forward today for people which we believe is a contextual modern interpretation for the site. this is masked by the tree over here.

we see more of the building as we get closer. this is not dissimilar from what we have seen. also, this is a view from the corner of polk and clay. you can see some of the buildings as we go up the street beyond the project. the project on the right side of the street. if we were coming down from frankland, that is the building on the left. you can see some of the buildings of similar height on the left as we head down to the site. a very quick overview of some of the buildings that are within this road. the general trend for some of the historic buildings that are there ought to have averted

cavity and have a hierarchical breakdown and architectural elements. they mentioned there might be a subjective opinion on this, but we believe the design we are putting forward has a vertical breakdown as we look at the main eight story buildings. a few more examples of the neighborhood of buildings that are like that, some of them are eight stories, some of them shorter. and then within a block or half a block of our site is a number of buildings that are similar if not greater heights and the ball. some of them, by and large, they have at criticality that is a subtle and they have a syncopation and rhythm that is appropriate to the district. the defense sought, this is a

little bit stretched to based on the aspect ratio, but it has a combination of syncopated rhythm, and lobular expression of modern architecture with a vertical days, if you will, somewhat of an interpretation of what you see up and down and in san francisco in general. as we turned the corner, we start focusing on a couple of elements. we break down the scale somewhat. the california club is immediately to our right. it doesn't quite step down, but the intent is for the building to start to step down towards buildings in the neighborhood.

again, as i jumped back and look at that view from clay st., here you have a better sense of how that works with the neighborhood at large. the materials of the building are modern. we were looking at a combination of the darker material, an earthiness with some life to it, beating someone gracefully. and that will sometimes be -- it is a metal panel, a metal clad building with a significant amount of glazing. it is somewhat of a tricky issue. it would try to manage it as best we can. this building will meet and exceed the san francisco and

california's green building regulations and the title 24. along washington, we have a smaller building, he see the context for the building is adjacent to it. again, we see a modern interpretation of the existing vernacular up and down clay street. this gives a quick overview of what is happening on the ground. to the top right is the shared a courtyard space with the main entry. the curb cuts that we have, we have a single one for the main building into the raj as well as the loading dock. it is the small expression, the small brick in the curve. a further classification to what is in the packet that you have

seen, this is a response to some of the questions you might have had, the height of the retail space itself. it does enjoy the benefits of almost a 14-foot clearance. that is not relative to the street. in order to take full advantage of that, you would have to interface, step down at that space, and relatively speaking, on the street, the expression is a 15-foot high base. it differentiates itself from the building that is above it. up in the building, we are already looking at smaller design units that are appropriate for san francisco given the market place we are in. i live two blocks from here and i moved away when i had my child.

but the units generally speaking are smaller, the building is an officially planned building, and we leverage that in the architecture with the sense that we are expressing the fact that this is the billing that is inhabited and lived in. that is the building. if you have questions, i will be available. president olague: i would like to open it up for public comment at this time, we have several speaker cards. as i mentioned a name, start coming into the microphone, please. >> i live about a block away from the project. i am very concerned about the change in density that has been

brought about by the shrinking down of the and that's to a very small size. there will not be families there, obviously if you have that type of sizing. more importantly, what concerns me is that normally in this setting, we have an environmental impact report. we lifted the density study, we comment on it and point out a fair argument that can be made on the question of density. when we called the gentleman here from the department, he did not tell us that we had to file an objection, he just said to come. so we came. we asked if we can see the environmental impact report and there is none. i don't understand how we can comment on their findings about density without seeing an environmental impact report. in any event, the density is a problem.

many of us that ride the number one of us know what a sardine can make can become and if we start adding large volumes of people within a block of the bus stop, that is a problem. parking is a problem when we have guests to our home. they find it full signs on the parking lot exit for the parking lot where this project is to come. i'm not suggesting that it is not in the city's best interest, but the density problem is going to create a problem for parking, for bus travel, the 4749 bus lines. i think we are entitled to have this commission understand and know what the density situation changes going to be. many of us in the neighborhood, people did not come forward and early contests the project that

was approved. and my age group, we figure we can move down the street someday when i need assisted living. that was as project, i think. this change is going to increase the density. president olague: whatever order you want to come up, i thought i would call them all out. >> i am opposite the product we're talking about. before i get started, i will mention something that came to me during the earlier presentation, that the current project site is being used as a car passing space presently.

there are approximately 30 cars parked there in that area. all of those guys will need to find parking spaces once worked on this project commences. additionally, i will mention that the ratio of dwelling units in this building, to a parking spaces, has diminished and decrees to since the original proposal. there has been a lot of confusion in the communication about what this development was. i recall from the april 2010 meeting of the planning commission that i attended myself, there was some confusion among the commission members as to what the designation of the building was. some commission members thought that the building was exclusively for senior living. there were reminded that time that in fact it wasn't strictly so.

a lot of the residents in the neighborhood have in their minds and i don't know how it got there, residents thought that they were going to see, as we just heard, assisted living building. the point that i am making is that the communication about what this development is has been very confusing to the residence in the area. also, i let the record from the april 2010 meeting and there was a note that there was no public opposition to the project. i was confused by that because i spoke at that meeting in opposition of the project. i am aware of two other people that spoke in opposition. [talking over each other]

[chime] [laughter] commissioner moore: very strange. are they going upstairs? >> ok. yeah. i would like to say that there has been reference made to presidential associations. i lived in this building for 11 years. i didn't even know about the association. we did receive a mailer inviting

or informing of the project. this looks like a piece of junk mail. it was an anonymous folded piece of paper. there is no reference to the product on the front of the envelope, so a lot of people in my building just threw it away. i will very briefly say that there has been a lot of -- recently we heard a of the units, apartments of $500,000 to eight of the thousand dollars. there have been changes to the plan. president olague: thank you, sir. >> ok, thank you. >> good afternoon, i have been a resident since march of 1986.

i am for change that enriches our lives, i am not in favor of change that takes away things that we value. the new construction will affect our building in terms of light, air, and sound. with 28 windows in the open space. a five of them will be removed and others will be blocked. less natural life equals more artificial light needed. and we will lose of ventilation. we recently endured a modification, maintenance, and repair to our building due to the change of ownership. demolition and construction are not quiet. sound transfers differently in light wells. the large eight-story building will change the number of hours of daylight. it'll be like the sun setting

behind a mountain. our avocado tree is eligible for landmark status. president olague: we will make arrangements to the gentleman can use the bottom mic. >> my name is carl rodriguez, directly across. i have lived there eight years. i am aware that the building in the area needs to be developed, and i want them to do what was originally planned because the density is a little much. i pay attention to the surroundings, i work at night. i also see how many children are in the neighborhood because of the school's that are there.

there is a lot of congestion when they are dropping off children. i don't mind them doing the project within whatever the neighborhood seems to work out. i just don't think there has been any communication with most of the residents. this association only caters to the east side. the people on the west side are not part of that because they think we are part of pacific heights. many other residents feel the same way as we do. and we brought 50 petitions that were distributed through the neighborhood. in that time, someone came into our buildings and took our petitions and threw them away. we have a police report that shows that on video, somebody was coming into the buildings

and throwing away the petitions. he still managed to get 50 of them, so we can give those to each of you guys. here you go. there are seven copies of the 50 and with a letter on top. if you would like, there is also the police report #if i could just read it off. or i could give it to you guys. the number it was california 112921018. we just want to work with guys and make sure things are done. president olague: someone can -- yeah. can use assistance. ok. >> good afternoon,

commissioners. i live at 1753 washington. a building that is immediately adjacent to the proposed project. my concerns are, first of all, i am a 72-year-old retired senior citizen living on a fixed income. i am homebound and wheelchair- bound, so it is difficult for me to go downstairs and thus i have assistance because i can't really walker anything. i would say about 99% of the time, i am at home and in my living room. the limited view that i get from my living room and my dining room is going to be cut off by this building. we're going to have very little light.

the air and the sound is all going to be very limited and i will feel like i am living in a prison, in a cave, in my own apartment. that makes life very difficult for me as a handicapped person. that is why i am opposed to this building. >> i also lived in 1753 washington. if is a little bit like double jeopardy. these people already have purchased property that had a permit to a building, and now they're going to put another building of that will block it off. naturally, i would prefer that they stick with what they already have. they have a lot of nice words.

a vertical, syncopated, interface, blah, blah, blah. the -- the actuality, i'm sure, is driven by the numbers crunching and not by some higher idea of what should happen there. i notice that there is -- i know that there are also three other letters that were delivered before 9:30 this morning that should also be from residents of the building stating opposition to this new permit. thank you. president olague: is there additional public comment on this item? >> i live at 1735, which is kind

of diagonal from the building. there are several things. i know that the development company says that they notified people in the neighborhood of this project. however, the majority of the people in my neighborhood knew nothing about it and within two days, we were able to collect 51 letters of opposition to this project. and these people then nothing about it. i am sure if we continued, we would get more. i think the architecture is like a las vegas albatross. it looks like a glitzy, mirrored, black building with metal. it sounds horrible. i don't want to look at it for the rest of my life. i am a senior citizen on a fixed them, and i can't move. i am disturbed about that. i don't understand why development is being made when

there are 3000 empty condos in the price range of what they originally said which was 700,000-900,000. now they have lowered it to 500,000-900,000. is there a need for more empty condos in this city that aren't selling? i don't think so. affordable housing is needed, not more condos that can sell because of the price. how do we know, in these difficult times when money is scarce, that this building was built with quality of construction and won't be deteriorated into came quickly because of money? but overall, it is just ugly. president olague: is there additional public comment on this item?

>> can you speak into the microphone? >> i live across from the proposed site. i have been a resident of the area for a very long time. i find my neighborhood to be a very nice residential neighborhood that has improved every decade over the last. i find it is becoming more and more family friendly, and i would like to see that trend continue. i like to talk about a couple of things about the neighborhood that the planning commission, the plan that was submitted by the planning department and the photos that were presented by the developers, i don't think they really do justice to the kind of neighborhood is.

it is a very open space, bright, sunny neighborhood. very good access, a very vibrant business community that all of the residential buildings frequent. there is fairly decent parking. it is and vince it is, but it allows for her out of town -- i mean, out of neighborhood people to come to the area and frequent, patronize the restaurants, the retail establishments that are there. i think what this building does with its density, with its height, with its impact on parking is that it will bring a very great change to the neighborhood that will not be positive.