area. we have to make sure it is properly sprinklered. if there is a garbage chute or anything like that -- is all the types of things that are on the list given to the property owner as part of a routine inspection program, to tie -- try to minimize those problems happening in the city. this program has existed for the past 25 years. we will continue to work with a property owner, but if he is of a different philosophy, we will consult with the city attorney to gain access. commissioner murphy: the picture that was taken of the pipe, where was that taken from? >> when we had the routine inspection, he did not show up, the next day, we were at the adjacent property. commissioner murphy: is that the policy of the department? >> if we can see it in plain

view, which the inspector was, in the adjacent property, that is ripe for writing a notice of violation. especially because of the particular history. commissioner murphy: isn't that trespassing if we go into somebody else's property? >> we were lawfully on the adjacent property. we were doing an inspection here. the inspector was here. he saw it the peeling paint on the adjacent property. commissionerit is part of the pn the corner. he was let into this property to do this inspection. what he was doing was what he did with this property, walking around the outer edge for a scheduled inspection. as he got to hear, he could see the peeling paint. >> ok, i understand. it is not our policy to go on

property without permission of the owner. >> no. that is why we send that whole package to the property owner, requesting the inspection, why the inspection, the code section, and a whole list of things that i am going to look at. so that the property owner knows. sometimes they may have minor items that they can fix before we get there and it is a reference for them. >> we just need to be careful with trespassing issues. >> absolutely. we were not. but it was in plain view. >> got it. thank you. >> was the one that took the picture the same inspector that had cited the violation? >>njvncy i have him here. >> rosemary, back to my original question. is this the first time that something like this happened? >> this happens on occasion.

how did the other ones -- >> how did the other ones get resolved? >> we keep trying to get in. when we have a property owner getting up, it tells us that we have to do something else. in a situation like that, where it has happened before in the code says we have to do the inspection, we get an inspection order. they generally do not come up because property owners usually cooperate when we and -- when they understand what we are trying to achieve. i readily acknowledge the work that we did from the street. but we are saying is that we did see some things that have to be corrected. we needed to be able to get in to verify on site but was happening into the routine inspection. >> you would go to the city attorney's office to get an

order form? >> in this particular instance, if you vote to uphold the order, be will try to work with the property owner for a little bit. if he is adamant about not doing a routine inspection, not letting us in, we will consult the city attorney. all we have done is gotten inspection warrants in the past, when we were not able to get in. >> were you not able to get an inspection warrant before it reached us? >> because that is not a process in the city and county. the code says that these buildings are subject to inspection. most property owners cooperate and let us in. the other thing that will happen is, if we have to get a warrant, the property owner bill be billed. most property owners do not want to do that. there is case law that says the property owner is obligated to

let us in without a warrant, but if he refuses, that is the warrant that week -- that is the course that we take. >> anything to add to that? is that correct? >> the only thing that i wanted to make clear was the order of abatement that was near something that needed to be visible. the fact that they did not allow the routine inspection, i do not know that that is within your jurisdiction. blacks there is a reference to them. >> the inspection of the work that you reserved to have done. >> so, the abatement order is for the paint? >> and the step. the ability for the the city to make the inspection -- the inability for the city to make the inspection to confirm that the work has been done. >> if you visibly solve these

items without the property owner present, could you not go back and confirm that they were done without the property owner consent? >> now we do get back to routine inspection honor -- issues. because you failed to show up the day before, when we were at the adjacent property and saw the condition, and we were there for a scheduled inspection with that particular property owner. we're not going to call him to the inconvenience him because would not let us in. that is not policy. >> i have something for clarification. abatements. obviously, the front steps, you could see them from the streets, but you could not fully inspect the paint issue from the street. >> correct. >> that would still be outstanding. >> correct. >> as far as we're concerned, no

matter what was done unless we inspect it and see that it was done, it is not done. >> thank you. >> ok. commissioners? >> i have a motion to except the abatement order. >> i feel that there is too much time being spent on this already. i do not know how it is in valley forge, california, but we are in an economic downturn here. we are running inspectors back and forth. i want to second the commissioner workers motion. >> the motion is to uphold the order of abatement and the assessment of costs. >> and commissioner murphy seconded it.

>> there will be a roll-call vote on the motion to uphold the order of abatement and except the assessment of cost. >> president lee? >> yes. >> vice president walter? >> yes. >> commissioner when? >> -- [roll call] carries, unanimously. item f, the general public comment. items not on the agenda. is there any public comment? seeing no one, item g, adjourned -- adjournment. the abatement appeals board is now adjourned.

>> we will take 15 minutes? >> it will take approximately 15 minutes to set up for the building inspection commission.

[gavel] supervisor mar: the meeting will come to order. this is the land-use and economic development committee meeting for this february 6, 2012. with me is supervisor cohen and supervisor wiener.

ms. miller, please read the instructions. clerk miller: items will appear as on the agenda unless otherwise unnoticed. please turn off all cell phones. supervisor mar: ann i want to thank sfgtv. please read item number one. clerk miller: item number one, public infrastructure improvements, mission bay south. supervisor mar: thank you. and we have barbara from the department of public works. >> thank you. this is for public infrastructure improvements of mission bay. those blocks include portions of four streets, mission rock

street, china basin street, mission bay boulevard north, and mission bay boulevard south. as you can see, there are streets that have now been redone. fourth street years ago did not go all of the way through. it went on a diagonal. fawhat you have is mission bay n a new grid pattern. fourth street now formally over there. what we are asking the board to do is to accept public infrastructure that includes sidewalks, other things. the department of public works has determined that the project has been completed and was done in accordance with the city

standard and is ready for its intended use. the director of the planning department has determined, and his staff has determined, that it is in conformity with the general plan, and the agency has determined that it is in compliance with the mission bay south plan. if you have any questions, i am here. supervisor mar: seeing there are no questions, let's open it up to public comment. seeing that there is no public comment, colleagues, can we move this without objection? thank you. [gavel] ms. miller, could you please read items number two and three together? i believe that mr. chiu is on his way. there he is. clerk miller: item number two, the planning code for the

chinatown transit station, and item number three, the zoning map amendment. supervisor mar: thank you. president chiu? president chiu: thank you. i would like to ask to have a continuance. i would like to ask that this item be continued until next week and that we have it listed next week as a committee report so it can come out to the full board on tuesday. we do have a tight time frame for that, but i want to make sure that we got our eyes -- we dot our i's and cross our t's. if you would like to make any presentations at this time, it is up to you? >> thank you, supervisor mar, president chiu.

i think if we are going to be coming back, we might as well just wait until next week. we will be working with staff to make sure we have any unanswered questions answered that we are able to present and move things forward next week. if that is ok, we will do that. supervisor mar: if i can just add for some other residents from chinatown that have raised issues, i hope that we threw mou's -- through mou's we can address the people being displaced. >> that is the intent, but and we will perhaps be able to confirm more clearly for those who have those concerns, but that is our intent. we are working with the mayor's office on housing to make sure that that happens. supervisor mar: great. set to continue for one week. president chiu: to do public

comment? supervisor mar: yes. is there any public comment? seeing none, president chiu, to continue this. president chiu: and to have as a committee report. supervisor mar: as a committee report to go the following tuesday. [gavel] thank you. and that was for items two and three to be continued. ms. miller, could you please call item number for? clerk miller: a hearing on improving the taxi service. supervisor mar: thank you, and i think this one is sponsored by supervisor wiener. supervisor wiener: thank you, mr. chair.

but think our goal is to have a city where not everyone wants to have their own automobile. we have prioritized giving people other viable options for getting around the city. of course, muni is a key part of that, and many of us were very, very hard to make sure that muni is as good as it can be. but regardless of how excellent we make muni, regardless of how much bicycling and walking we have, there will always be situations where people need to get somewhere quickly or need to go somewhere where muni does not go as regularly as they need. in other words, we need a compliment to the muni system. taxicabs, in addition to car sharing, or a critical component for having a true transit first city. people need to know that they can get a taxi cab when they

need it and that the cap is going to get them where they need to in an efficient and safe manner. we have many, many great taxicabs and a cab drivers in the city, but we need it to be better. taxicab service is not adequate to meet demand, and, in fact, i believe there is a hidden demand of people that if they believed they could get a taxi cab when they needed it would probably get rid of their car tomorrow. people actually do not believe that now, and too many people have had too many terrible experiences when they simply cannot get a taxi cab when they need it, and they do not think of doing it anymore. last year, i submitted a resolution that the board passed unanimously that indicated that the board has a unanimous belief that the taxicab service is

inadequate. i believe that when the taxi cabs were merged into the mta, at least for a while, taxicab's overshadowed muni, and muni is the 800 pound gorilla in the agency, but recently, i believe the staff at the mta have refocused and are working very, very hard to try to improve service in the city, and in my personal view, improving service means two things. primarily, 1, increasing supply of taxicabs. we do not have enough in my view in the city to adequately serve our residents, our visitors, and our businesses, and number two, improving our dispatch system, either by a centralized dispatch or a coordinated dispatch to make sure that taxicab's can officially be sent where they need to go, including to the parts of the sitting that are not saturated, whether it is

parts on the west side or the southeastern part of the city where it is extremely hard, even harder to get a taxi cab than in some of the more central geographic areas. so as part of the resolution last year, we requested quarterly updates from the mta on where we are with the taxicab system, what progress we have seen, what the plans are to increase service, and this is the first of those quarterly hearings, so i want to welcome the mta. i look forward to the presentation, and i know you have been focused on this a lot, full time, for a while, and i want to thank you for your work in helping to improve our system, so mta, and, colleagues, i am sorry. were there any