development, it is commendable that the sponsors include a recreation and health facility to maintain this neighborhood amenity and planned a public park west of pacific avenue to enhance the neighborhood. for years, the site has been used in part as a surface parking lot and as a private recreation facility whose members, understandably, are displeased with change. while the concerns of the immediate neighbors always require attention, deciding the best use of this site is the city wide significance, if not even a broader matter. [bell rings] this is a critical waterfront location manned to help define the city's appearance to citizens and visitors. the project presents an opportunity to restore san francisco's historic pattern of buildings meeting the waterfront. at this stage of the cities live, contending with the surface parking lot and private tennis courts protected by cyclone fencing as the face of the city would be a highly disappointing planning decision.

[bell rings] the urban designers i have spoken to commonly agree that a well-design structure add 8 washington strengthens the cityscape facing the embarcadero. as with all great cities, -- >> thank you. thank you very much. >> let me just finish. >> your three minutes is up. >> ok, thank you. >> paul, justin, lydia, eric. >> whoever is ready -- >> hi, my name is nina, 23 years old, a resident of the city. i just graduated from university a year ago. i studied geography and had

courses in urban planning. i support the 8 washington project, mainly because i think that, although the tennis club sounds like it was a great place, a city in a prime neighbor midget care for the needs of everybody, not just the people like to play tennis -- i believe the city should care for everybody. we need to reach out to people including interesting sports facilities and we should have restaurants to make use of the space. having this mixed private-public land with a great park for everybody to use is a perfect example of smart planning that does that. and, yes, i mean, it is not poor low-income housing, but realistically that is not the best use of this land. this is prime real estate right next to downtown where there are jobs. and having a new development

that enabled everybody to use this land and also to make money off of it is wise planning. last, it is smart planning to create more density in a dense area of the city. it does not make sense to me to have an area that is not being used very well when right next to all of these high rises, we could continue to work on the city so that in the future as population grows and as people live to san francisco, there is housing available to them so that they do not have to build big houses on the outskirts of the city and commute in every day. i support this project. i think it is a wise use of the land. i urge you to do so as well. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, i am going to interrupt us here and take a couple-minute break for our court reporter. so we will recess here and come

>> we are back in session. commissioners, i believe for -- we are in the midst of public comment. >> if i call your name, please come and speak. >> thank you. i am the founder of waterfront for all. we are a grass-roots investors -- a grass-roots organization. this provides a wonderful opportunity to update land uses. we strongly support 8 washington and recommend the commission approve it. we ask that 8 washington you consider 8 will provide. -- we ask that you consider what 8 washington will provide. i received virtually zero benefits from the site.

it has an out of date jim. it cost $200 per month. this is not the ymca. this is a private club that i cannot afford. there are two parking lots and the infamous blocking of our view and prevents it public access to the waterfront. contrast that to what 8 washington provides. i think the 99% will benefit from this project. we will take down that horrible greenwald, which is necessary, by the way, for it tennis players to play in the background. it will provide new housing in the number of other benefits that you of offered. >> i think it fits perfectly in character of the neighborhood. i realize it is concerning to

many of you, but this project site would be distinguished from any future development down the waterfront because of some of the proximity. the slippery slope argument is not a strong argument. in addition, the fact that these are market raise -- market rate houses, that will be more tax revenue. in the final analysis, the status quo only serves a small elite trying to preserve their million-dollar view. given our deteriorating infrastructure, i believe this is an opportunity we should not pass up. just as an aside, as a newly- married person planning on having a family, the reason i would leave is because of lack of planning for our school and lack of housing. new housing at any level is important. it reduces the demand and it will bring prices down across the board. we urge you to support the

project and recommended its approval. thank you. >> thank you. kim, corin, and daphne. >> good afternoon, commissioners. money mess lydia. thank you for your time. a i am -- my name is lydia. "dear commissioners, we urge the planning and recreation-park commission to approve the 8 washington item for march 22. so many items have gone before public hearings. few projects proposed such a positive use of under-utilized land, which is certainly 8 washington case at and the embarcadero.

the project proposes new open space, of view, for the water from. -- for the waterfront. as redesign, the 8 washington project will provide residents with a modern aquatics center, create a children's sculpture garden, and restaurants and retail stores. the san francisco chamber of commerce urges the commission to take all actions necessary to approve this significant project. thank you very much. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is jim, i am a resident. i have had a project to look at

this project in detail. i think it is a fantastic project that should be supported. like so many things in our life, we have changed. this is a project in an under- utilized area of the city that solves many problems and would be an asset to the city. any new housing in san francisco is an asset, regardless of price. i think it is a fantastic project that should be started and approved. thank you. >> hello. i am new to san francisco, so it is exciting to be participating in something like this. i moved here a year ago from brooklyn, new york. i support this project for two reasons. the first one is i work

downtown. i often take walks with my co- workers to the pier, passing through the site. it would be great to have that area developed with green public spaces, and i would definitely patronize the retail and cafes their. second, when friends visit, i always take them here. i think the project would contribute to energy and vibrancy in the area. i think it is important to san francisco. that is why i support the project. thank you for the opportunity to speak. >> if the folks can speak right into the microphone, that would be helpful. diane, marcy albert, paula h ouston.

>> good afternoon, commissioners. 9 amiscorin woods. -- my name is corin woods. i a fall of this project since the first rfp. i followed the embarcadero planning study, which was extremely well done. i think the developer and the port have come up with a really good plan. i supported it strongly. i think the one thing that has not been talked about here today is how difficult it is to develop public trust property for anything other than maritime use. and the fact that this project does of trust land swap so that the state's of california and

the citizens of the state of california have those benefits, but at the same time, the project has a financial basis where it can succeed are both very important points. you cannot build -- the port could not have bills on what was the parking lot, which is public trust land, anything other than public trust consisting uses. to fact that the pacific waterfront partners have figured out a way to do this, to combine those properties, do all the things -- i do not know that i went to all 100 meetings that they had, but i went to a lot of them, and i think they were very responsive to the community and what -- into what the poor needed to get out of this. i urge you to -- and to what the port and needed to get out of this.

i urge you to approve and let's go forward with this. thank you. >> paula. i am at a resident of district 3. i am all layperson. i will not repeat what others have said today. i am not an expert, but i have been paying attention the last few years. i have seen this project evolve and change and be tweaked and i think it is time to fish or cut bait. i think everything is in order theeir -- with the eir to be certified. i urge you to do so. thank you. >> maureen, cecelia.

>> my name in marcy albert. i also live in the area. i like walking around the waterfront. i urge you to certify the eir. thanks. >> i will call some more names. -- i will call some more names. june, terra angela, toni. >> good morning, commissioners. i am at 21-year resident of san francisco. i am here to speak in favor a 8 washington of the project -- i

am here to speak in favor of the 8 washington project. the private the way club is not disappearing. the developer is building a new $12 million fitness facility and four new polls. secondly, and most important for those of us who cannot afford to belong to the private club, it opens the project to the public. the proposed project is dedicated to public space. 8 washington opens up the eastern side of the waterfront to all san franciscans, including wide landscape areas along the embarcadero and jackson street, about 20,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, a new 4500-square- foot public park with various facilities for children to play. the project as onto many public

parks and recreation facility is located nearby. the eir says there are 10 publicly-available parks in the neighborhood. i urge you to certify the eir and approve a 8 washington project. it opens up a part of the waterfront that since the 1970's only a select few could enjoy a. with 8 washington all san franciscans will be able to recreate, lounge, and stroll on the waterfront. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is jon stewart. i am here to speak in support of 8 washington. i am , a practitioner in the affordable housing biz. we have done a lot of brain damaged deals are the last few

years, and i look at this transaction through the prism of affordable housing. i do so also in the context of what is probably the worst environment financially, in terms of financing, in preferable deals, that i have ever seen. at think the governor foolishly aided -- i think the governor, foolishly, aided and abetted by very -- by various organizations, eliminated the last zero in his quiver which is tax financing. we're not getting new fees. as if by magic, when i look at the city's report on affordable housing, i found it had $42 million in 2008. now it has zero. i looked at what this budget produces, and a sea of $9

million -- some have suggested that is a mere bagatelle. i do not think so. i think that is fuzzy math. i talked to doug shoemaker earlier this week. if you run that arithmetic, it assumes you have taken $9 million as a grants on the housing. that is crazy. all housing deals, whether they are 4%, or 9%, are leveraged. we are clear to go with the north beach project, the north beach. the city put in $10 million. that is $48 million worth of equity. we actually spent $300,000 per unit, but the city only put in

$10 million. why is it we get only 29 units of $9 million. something is wrong. i suggest there is a positive -- there is an unspoken asset here. i also suggested if you want to get a harbinger of future quality, look at pier 1 and pier 3 and 5. they are first rate. >> my name is gina marie. -- good afternoon, commissioners. my name is june marie. i have lived in at san francisco for 47 years. i am a bit nervous. i am not used to doing this. there are always going to be people who will go against some

things peeping but being a hiker, and i walked in the embarcadero all the time. is very good for my health. i walked there and i am able to study all the areas, and i think it would be wonderful if we had the 8 washington project approved. it will be very good for the city and for many other people who spend time in that area. it will be good for the children. we will finally have children in the playground. there will be so many things. it is just a dirty eyesore. i have seen young people drinking in cars there. is time for change. we need to go forward, not backward. sometimes we can go forward, but you have to. must do it. then we will see progress. thank you very much for your time. >> at this time, there are seats

available in this room. if you're listening to this, watching this in the overflow room, if you want to come up to him to 50, please do so. -- come up to room 250, please do so. >> commissioners, good afternoon. the northeast waterfront -- its beauty and grace is an unmatched. for several generations, there has been a consensus on the nature and type of development on the northern embarcadero. today, that consensus is being challenged by supporters in city hall who have a sensibility about the fragile and unique nature of the northeast waterfront. they seek new development along the northern embarcadero.

in the column "san francisco," -- "ever tumor i give my duty, first in rapture, first in ud, glad of the light god gave, cleanly and strongly she is my cool grey city of love." thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is sarah and i am it proud to stand before you today in support of the 8 washington project. we believe this development is a significant improvement on a key

intersection of the city's no. waterfront. this project is, as you heard earlier, of the city wide importance. many people testified the embarcadero is a tool. is -- a jewel. the 8 washington project proposes to provide publicly- accessible open space, housing, renovated clubs, and underground parking. not surface parking, but undergrad. we are pleased with the design of the project, which includes the addition of green roofs to the project and playground area. we support the current project, which we believe are perfect for the area. the project sponsor has made adjustments to the design and scale of the building,

protecting surrounding buildings. the scale of this project is modest inappropriate. it is important to note the project's location. it is enclosed proximity to many transit lines like bart, muni, ferry lines. it is unlikely that residence -- it is likely that residents will be encouraged to walk, take transit, and make use of sustainable transportation modes. we are impressed with the public access part of the project. and we appreciate the effort to reconnect the city streets to the waterfront. i would also like to mention, i am a resident of north beach as well, and i often walk along the embarcadero on my way to the

ferry building. those of you who have done so will note the western side of the embarcadero is problematic in a variety of ways. many of the sea wall lots are surface parking lots, and it is our real shame to see the gap in the western side of the embarcadero. i believe this project will greatly add to the pedestrian experience on the western side of the embarcadero, and i would urge you to move it forward. thank you very much. >> michael mckenna, louise ray. >> i am here on behalf of my brothers and sisters at local one of six and all the other sisters and brothers in the trade. i have only heard from people

today and not wanting to lose their racquet club. i think it is time we move forward. i think this project will do more for the city them bad for all the people involved. please pass this so we can move on. i would like to interject, the jobs it will create, not only from this project, but from the redevelopment, that money can be used to create jobs also. let's look into the future. pass this thing so we can move on. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is mike mckenna. i represent the 2600 workers of electrical local 6. i am a sixth generation san franciscan who lives and raised his children here in san francisco. the purpose of this hearing is to pass the eir report. i apologize to the parks and

recreation commission people who have not heard much talk about the shallows through the park, which is there -- their portion of it, although it is a very minimal shadow cast from all the reports i have heard. i will miss the fact that i can easily park on hickey walk because it is a ghost town. when i go downtown, i drive right to that spot where the tennis club is, because i know there's a spot available to me almost every time of the day, because that area is not used at all. the environmental impact of that is right now is far worse than any impact that is going to come from this fabulous development that will create jobs. the stranglehold that is held on all these projects that come

before you through every single step of the way -- e.r. are -- eir , planning commission, board of supervisors, that hold up the job for years and years and years, that keeps workers from working, keeps revenue from being built, it is just devastating. that these projects can be held for so long until they become economically unviable or until developers throw up their hands and say, you know, is that worth it to me to go through all of this, the hearings, the court proceedings, the supervisors. is just incomprehensible that this could happen -- it is just incomprehensible that this could happen. that they could get anything to the city and be locked up. i encourage you to approve the eir for this project, move forward to the next stage where we have to wait and see if we

can get through that, until this project can be built. i hope, on behalf of myself and all other members, that we can get these things build and get to work. thank you. >> [reading names] >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is john wang, a member of local 6. i agree with what mike just said. on top of bringing revenues to the city and creating jobs that are much needed for our members, also i wish one day i can bring my two little children to come to the park and be able to play. to the park and be able to play. you know, in the open space that