been system. -- coming from the san francisco state university campus, i am really expecting to see a three- bin system. i feel that since the san francisco city is so progressive, i feel this is important that residents interests have easy access to places where they can easily dispose of their waste. high-traffic areas that attract residents and visitors should exemplify and promote such goals. and i am asking for your support today, and thank you for allowing me to speak and for your consideration. >> if i may before you leave the podium, the golden gate bridge district is a separate legal governmental agency with its own board of directors. it is the agency that would be in charge of that, not this one.

>> i will look into that. thank you. >> hello my name is caitlin, and am also a student at the san diego state university. my concern is the buildings are the number one use of energy and climate change. in order for us to achieve the 20 percent said emissions decrease by 2012, commercial buildings must be strictly but they did -- regulated in regards to their energy consumption. we can transfer it every building into their own grain at my progenitor. i strongly believe the only way this can be achieved is by strict regulation when granting building permits. additionally we need to enforce the use of solar panels, efficient lighting system and water conservation techniques

and all of these infrastructures. i have a concern for the lack of marketing and social media is that can get younker community members to get involved in these issues, and i think it is of very easy tool by the use of facebook, twitter that younger people do use every day. it is very easy, and it is hard to find meeting such as these and get people involved, because these are very interesting issues. thank you for your time. president olague: any additional public comment? seeing none, additional public comment is closed. >> we can start your regular calendar with item number 10. case no. 1 2011.0716c.

>> this is a conditional use authorization to allow sure when williams, a form of the retail paint supply store to operate within the vacant senate space between california and sacramento streets in the poll street neighborhood commercial districts. the subject and the space has been vacant since 2008. with regard to conditional use authorization for retail use is, the planning commission is required to consider the following criteria in addition to the standard conditional use finding. one, the existing concentration of other formal we still uses. the ability of other similar retail uses, the compatibility of the proposed formula retail use with aesthetic character. the existing retail vacancy rates, and the existing mix of city-wide serving in neighbor wide city services. due to buildinthe length, they e

previously used the subsection when of formulating the criteria. the subsection use for the department analysis bands from sacramento st. to polk street. within that section there are eight formula retail uses. they include two walgreens, subway, gnc, and and out the door sthrift store. there is another simular business with in this portion that specializes in paek sales. the gnr pay sales. there are also to hardware stores that stock paint and paint supplies as part of their larger offering of products. this includes brownie's hardware and nob hill hardware.

the project will be compatible with architectural and aesthetic character of the neighborhood. furthermore, the proposed conditions of approval would require the store front remained visually open and an apparent -- transparent through unobstructed windows. in addition to the subject and is based, there are approximately 12 other vacant commercial store fronts throughout this portion of polk street. these are mapped on the exhibits in your packet. since your packet went out, the department has received three additional levellers opposition -- letters of opposition. this would allow a store front that has been vacant for the past three years to be occupied for an active retail use. due to the existing vacancy rate in the area, the proposed business would not preclude a locally-owned independent business from establishing their business in the area. sherman williams would provide

paint supplies and services than any other retailer in the polk street corridor. -- sherwin williams. this concludes my presentation, and i am available for questions. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. in virginia. please to be here representing sure when williams -- sherwin williams. we certainly hope we found a tenant that can go there and clean up this space. we do believe they offer a unique opportunity here and a unique product line that is not available. in the second i will turn it over to gary garcia, the district manager for this infants as go bay area. he has been with sure when williams for 38 years. -- sherwin williams.

he can answer questions about their specific operating. i will turn it over to gary. >> thank you. sure wsherwin williams is an american company founded in 1877. our sole business is the manufacturing and distribution of paint. we manufacture paint for very -- various business segments. however, the primary purpose of the polk street vacation is the do-it-yourself consumer. we find a professional painting contractors, the property maintenance painter, the painter who does regular maintenance on apartments and condos and the small commercial painters, those individuals who specialized in

painting office buildings and health-care facilities. now, i have been asked several times why we would want a paint store on polk street when there are other suppliers there, the other suppliers as have been noted are all in that vicinity. however, we have done it research, market research, and what we have found is there is approximately a $36 million retail gap between the need for a building products and the supply of building products in that area. quite frankly, the paint department in the hardware stores are small. the existing stores will not take a big hit if we come to the neighborhood, because many of the consumers are making purchases outside the district. while many of you think paint as

paint, we offer many products that are not available to current suppliers. several examples would be the brazilian it exterior product and decorative concrete finishes and sealers. it is an exterior coating that can be applied in 35 degrees and attaches and 30 minutes. this is a born to the professional painter because of the body and voice conditions in san francisco. this technology was developed in san francisco and not available to any other competitor. -- this is important to the professional painter because of the foggy and moist conditions in san francisco. besides paint we offer a wide variety of items including spray and repair parts, specialty primers, specialty calking, wallpaper tools, wood

refinishing tools, respirator, ladders, and safety products. most of these products which is not available when i was visiting competitors. sherwin williams has the most stringent quality. this is a perfect product for schools, hospitals, and in the occupied space. our pro mark 2000 is a complete system for the professional painter. both of these products carry the green seal designation providing reduce environmental impact and improved sustainability. besides selling paint, we offer a different services that many of our current competitors do not. we offer free delivery, in-store color is civilization, computer matching, and color rendering for the professional painting contractor. finally, i want to ensure you

sure when williams remains committed to being a good corporate citizen in every community we serve. since 2004 we have completed 17 homework projects. that is a painting enrichment program developed it as a partnership trai. today we have trained over 350 residents from the housing authority, with a 65% and job placement rate. in 2006, gavin newsome declared november 8 sherwin williams dayl . finally, we have joined forces with the way to st. donation to donate 500 gallons of paint per year for the minutes of their facility. in closing, i would like to thank you for your time and hope that you approve our application. president olague: public

comment at this time. stephen cornell, and nick bolan ey. i'm not sure. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am rick harp. we have four locations in san francisco. one of which is on polk. the polk street corridor is much longer than what staff has presented, as you know. in fact, there are about eight places where you can get paid, both hardware stores and professional paint stores. this is an issue about formula retail. this neighborhood when you

stretch it in the upper freeway is filled with many local independent businesses, and also a share of formula retail folks. sherwin williams who's basically the slogan is cover the earth. there currently trying to cover the city. they have three stores right now. they're hoping to get seven or eight throughout the city. i am sure they will be here on other projects as they are protested for their development in the city. in essence, they are basically trying to take money out of san francisco, send it to corporate headquarters come and take it out of locally-owned businesses. when someone buys of a gallon of paint from brownie's hardware it cetera, money from that sale is recycling and recirculating in our community in doing well in sentences go, versus the money

going outside. i think you need to consider that business like a formula one business that comes in and hurts the local young of businesses that contribute more to our community. basically i think there is no good reason to have them in the neighborhood. regardless of what they say, what they're saying is there a half-dozen other brands that are located in the area, and there is no sherwin williams, and by bringing them in a basically dilutes the paek store sales at other stores and puts a foot . i would like you to consider turning down this project based on the formula retail in keeping locally-owned businesses active and alive in the city. thank you.

president olague>> hello, i ow's hardware, a store that has been there since 1905, part of the merchants association. formula legislation was brought to us because we had a proliferation of video stores in san francisco. that is why it came in. that is why we had it. some of the formula legislation has had problems. this particular case is exactly why it was brought in. sherman williams wants to dominate san francisco with paint stores. it seems clear to me that the legislation says look at the ncd and do a survey of it. polk street is 14 blocks along with various widths. having asserted that stops a half a block from where the store is going in is ridiculous

to me. if you had 14 blocks, u.n. more paint stores, more hardware stores, and you had a lot more formal stores, at least 10 more in that area. if you add van ness, which is not in our district but only one block away, i cannot count the number of formula retail stores that are on van ness, one block away, and that is part of our trading area. the report talks about how it is going to enhance hardware stores. 20% of my business is in paint and sundries. that is a lot of business to be worked on in my store. but what is worse, sherman williams is the fourth largest paint dealer in the world. they owned lots of sun drink companies. i buy those things. 238 of the items in my store are sherman william products. i will be competing against the person down to block where i am

getting stuff from. makes no sense. gnr payne, a full line paint dealer, their main product is also a sherman williams product. sherman williams is trying to eat their young. they will go out to the independent dealers and compete against them. they are coming to independent hardware stores and going down with them. they now have three stores. all these stores will be within 2.9 miles of each other. that is not very far, and they have plans for seven more stores the way we heard, all within san francisco. that is a small marketing area. thank you for your time. >> good afternoon, commissioners. how're you doing? i will make it short. what i want to say is -- president olague: can you state your name for the record? >> nick.

sorry about that. this has been a store that has been empty for quite some time now, and if you look around the city, we have a lot of storefronts batter and deep. i live in the richmond district, and we have major halls on geary street and clemmons street. anytime somebody wants to come in, you need to look at it on a case-by-case basis. i think this will bring more traffic to the area. that is one thing i here on geary when i talk to the merchants, there's not enough traffic, not enough people walking the streets. i think this will bring traffic to the other stores in the area. that is really all i have got. have a good one. president olague: thank you. it jennifer, followed by elizabeth. >> my name is jennifer ferris, president of the polk district

merchants association. quick five blocks from the proposed site at the sherman williams star. i own a studio gallery that is two 0.5 blocks away. i can assure you that i use more pain in my store that carter has pills. we repaint every month. the association in my business are both very opposed to this project. as other people have mentioned, there are loads of formula retell. for some reason the neighborhood was that it to a strange shape for purposes of the report. if you go just another two blocks away, there are far more formula retail stores. we have a lot of retail stores is still pained, including a paint store that sells only paint, a very large space, which opened directly across the street from me six months ago. so there is a lot of paint. there's a lot of the book patient -- a duplication. there's a lot of formula retell. the thing i also want to discuss today is the commercial

vacancies. there have been a number of vacancies on that particular block. there have been four stores that have turned over within the bloc within the past year and a half of those spaces have generally rented within three months. the space that we're talking about here has been empty for quite a long time but there are many reasons for stores to be vacant. i actually have correspondence from colleen schmidt, who owns a business in the neighborhood and has been working with the owners to try to lease the space since january of 2011. i think you just got this in the mail. i am sorry she was so late. i do not know how many of the people have been talking about renting the space, but it is something you need to think about in terms of preserving the quality of the neighborhood, the uniqueness of the neighborhood, and honoring, respecting, and value in the existing small businesses in the neighborhood. sherman williams has only been around a little bit longer than

brownie's, and we have lots of the venerable businesses in that neighborhood. we ask for your help to try to preserve the neighborhood. thank you. >> commissioners, my name is elizabeth. i own the gallery on polk street, and i am the treasurer of the polk street merchants association. i just want to say that i completely agree with my colleagues. this is not the type of business that we feel would add anything to the neighborhood, and we hope that you will reject their request. thank you very much. president olague: thank you. is there any additional public comment on this item? >> good afternoon. my name is david tutor, a commercial real estate broker. i have been involved with commercial real estate in san francisco for approximately 35 years.

i wanted to submit to the commissioners a list of currently published rental rates in the polk street area. starting at two dollars a square foot, which is what the current owner is asking for his party, running up to $3.33 a square foot. larger retail stores, in my experience, and the formula of retail stores do not tend to drive prices up a matter of fact, they usually draw the hardest bargains, mainly due to their credit balances, their availability of funding, and they're strong financial positions. sometimes this is not available with smaller tenants. we do not feel that the price has been set high, and it should cause no problem with the additional properties in the neighborhood. thank you very much. president olague: thank you. don trenor.

>> good afternoon. good to see you all, hope you had a great thanksgiving. i am the chair person of the middle polk never had association. we have a very neat neighborhood, and it is unique because of polk street and the independent and unique merchants. it is our lifeblood. polk street is the lifeblood and the greatest asset of our neighborhood and one that needs to be protected. the neighbors have been given two terrible choices to pick from here. that is keeping this predictably high priced space vacant. one that when it was being built was billed as a very large space. they knew that the taxes would be very high. they knew that this would be a very expensive place. the other choice is allowing a formula retailed there. formula retail always being a threat to our great independent nature on polk street.

not only for miller retail, but a paint store. we have an abundance of paint stores in the area. i know it has been set, but it is thought that this subsection of polk street strip that was steady dose of 2 sacramento st., not even a full block north of where this proposed site is. as i said, this space was known to be expensive, known to only be able to be filled with some business with deep pockets. the neighbor is given two terrible choices and to choose from in voted 60-40 to fill this space, and that is because of this year that we will see a dark space with vagrants in front of it every day, as we have for the past few years, and we do not want to see that go on indefinitely. but we really feel that the neighborhood should have a better choice to pick from here.

thank you. president olague: thank you. is there any additional public comments on this item? >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is andrew smith. my wife and i are owners of the subject property. i want to put on the record some discussion of the economics of trying to lease this vacant space. it is a small commercial unit. the square footage is within the >> no. >> -- within the ncd regulations, so it is not a large space. i have a chart that shows some of the economics of the building itself, the mixed use building in which the subject unit is sitting. this unit is 5% of the square

footage of the larger building. the building was built by myself between 2003 and 2008. this space has been on the market for rent since 2006. this part of the building was completed in 2006. the building was built in accordance with the city policy for buildings in an ncd, but commercial retail use is on the ground floor and with residences above. the office thinks this building is worth $19 million, so that was about $1 million worth into this commercial unit. the party taxes on this or 41 cents a square foot per month. we have been paying those on a vacant unit since 2006 despite unresolved appeals to the assessor's office. the current evaluation is assuming a commercial rent of $ 2 a square foot, a very conservative estimate of the rinse available in this neighborhood. the capitalization rate is difficult with this type of mixed use property. the offer rents for comparable

space is in the neighborhood are well above this, at around $2.50 and up boards. and this chart, these are actual compare insists the but comparisons based on leases signed by an independent appraiser. the show offered rents in the neighborhood, $2.50 up to $4. the cost of these buildings are expensive to build. we basically do not make money on this building at the moment. the cost structures penalize new buildings in neighborhood commercial districts because of property taxes through prop. 13, through affordable housing. [bell rings] i wish to submit some other letters from neighborhood merchants who are in favor of it. thank you very much. president olague: thank you.

is there additional public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner miguel? vice president miguel yes, i am is somewhat familiar with the area, but there are three firms in the immediate vicinity that my family frequents quite often. they are directly in that area. yesterday -- and i may have missed something, but i went from o'farrell to pacific. i found in those 11 blocks eight vacancies that were apparent to me. there may have been more or less. that is including the subject space. one is a commercial condo that has been vacant for some time, and it is a different situation.

but i also found, and they were all mentioned today, a number of firms that deal fairly specifically in these types of products, as well as others, were the products are more of an accessory situation. and there is also, as was mentioned, the fact that the sherman william products are actually available at other stores along the street and the immediate area. i did not check the side streets. i do not have time to start doing all of that. i think that the conditional use it requirement necessary and desirable as to formula retail