million world class playground in the heart of san francisco. this is just really a big, community win and a celebration for us all. >> to learn more about the helen diller playground in dolores park, go to sfrecpark.org. supervisor mar: the meeting will come to order. welcome to the monday, july 16, 2012 meeting of the land use committee for so this -- for supervisju

we're also joined by supervisor jane kim. would you please read the announcement? >> be sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. items acted upon today will appear in the july 24 board of supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. supervisor mar: although we have 17 items on the agenda, it is basically to items, the transit center plan followed by the continued hearing on different issues. could you please call items one through four? >> ordnance is related to the transit center district plan, a zoning map and general plan. >> thank you. we haveq)h2d from planning, our director. [oçsupervisor kim: i appreciae

honor of saying a few words. i have the pleasure of introducing for items that will in the planning code that will allow for the creation of a special district in the downtown san francisco area in district 6 that will help to fund affordable housing, open space, transit development and the trans bay terminal which will be the terminus not only for ac transit and the golden gate, but cal train and high-speed rail. pursuing a density for high growth and robust tub, we projected to spend 17% in the next two decades and activate the downtown neighborhoods with public amenities. in particular, it will be built on the side of the former terminal site and will serve at least 11 and transportation systems. including greyhound, and track,

paratransit, and the future high-speed rail. the downtown extension -- a downtown extension is something we have been working for since the 1980's and the five story transit center and its public rooftop city park would be adjacent to a 60 story transit tower with the design enhancing the skyline with an it -- with another iconic piece of architecture. i know we have several members from our new oversight( and i would love to hand over to them. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i appreciate the opportunity to bring this in front of the today. and project area that our partners and the redevelopment agency have been working on for several years.

on may 24, the planning commission took action to recommend approval to the zoning related to this and recommended approval of several general plan amendments to make this plan a reality. i will just make a few comments and then turn it over to talk about the work on the planned project and then the department of planning will go over some of the details. the plan has several goals being met with this action today. one is to implement a provision of the downtown plan that long ago recommended the increase in densities in this area to reflect this is the best and largest transit hub on the west coast. the second goal was to generate revenue for the terminal and downtown extension which this

plan does have a very robust way. a third is to provide for this fuel job growth and capacity in this part of downtown where we see tremendous opportunity for growth. fourth, to create a model for a sustainable high-density urban district. it's important to recognize what we are proposing is to create a high-rise district in a part of town that is the core of the high-rise district already. another important factor is the density allows the plant to largely pay for itself. the amenity shall hear about today, the transit improvements, will essentially be paid for as this plan moves forward. i might quickly review several reasons why the department feels strongly this plan is being done at the right time and why we

should move forward with it. it contains a significant amount e's growth that we have agreed to take on as part of the regional growth strategies. this allows us to direct the ost sense and away from where it does not make sense. the second is the need for office capacity. we believe that capacity occurs in two ways. one is in downtown high-rises and the second is in the type of space being developed south of market that there is a strong interest in now and we are working on. this plan lays out and it expanded historic district and changes some of the historic buildings in the area to recognize the importance that this is happening in a town that does have a significant historic heritage.

we think the plan will substantially improve the skyline and create more variety than exists today and we worked a lot on the use from many surrounding areas. the plan will also create a much improved street environment. this part oft sidewalks and all of the things that go along with creating a great neighborhood. it is one of the most comprehensive plans that has been done and i'm pleased to have in front of the today. with that, i will turn it over to maria who will talk about the trends the terminal and their work on that. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is maria and i am the executive director of the trends a joint powers authority. thank you for the opportunity to comment. i would likecfdg÷ to think the r

for his hard work and getting us to this point and think all of the supervisors for your consideration and assistance as well. the staff has done a wonderful job and worked very hard to get us here today. we have four city blocks currently under construction. we are scheduled to complete the first phase by 2017 in the second phase as soon as we get the funding, we could start as early as 2014. we have employed over 2000 people since the start and are providing a lot of economic benefits to san francisco and the bay area because we are a i have been asked to show a brief video on the project. in the interest of time, i will show the four-minute video. it does not show the rail extension but i want to emphasize with the good news of the measure being approved by

the state legislature and soon to be signed by the governor, future high-speed operations and it accommodates cal train and amtrak. happy to answer any questions. >> is the nine minute version available? váu like me to do that? >> if people want the longer version, let us know how we can do that. >> it is on our web site. the public can also contact our office and we can provide a free cd of the video or we can e-mail it as well. g but today, i will show the four minute video.

[inaudible]

>> muni is right across the street from a primary entry to the transit center where passengers will stream to the trains downstairs. on the street level, at the west end of the terminal, there is additional circulation as well as retail and other services. the mezzanine level will have more retail, office spaces and intercity bus operations. a bus that level provides an elevated waited -- waiting level for passengers a with a dedicated connection to the bay bridge. the station is about a million square feet, four city blocks

long. capping all of this is a new 5.4 acre park designed by peter walker and partners and it will feature a children's playground as well as an art, cultural and educational center. there is also music amphitheater. the park will feature a water fountain designed by an artist and it is all designed to accommodate the people live in the neighborhood and to?o+o coe into san francisco s transit riders connecting to various parts of the bay area and eventually the entire state of california. today, this is one of the most blighted areas of the trans bay redevelopment area. yet in the not too distant future, it will be a true destination for residents and businesses and san francisco alike. with retail and commercial activity similar to what we see

in grand central terminal in new york. the plaza will be shared by the transit tower hadn't new station. the current design feature of redwood trees, calif.'s own state tree reaching upward toward the canopy above. an exciting feature proposed by the architect is a funicular the for one of the ways to access the rooftop. the mission plaza leads into the ground hall, the ground level of the new transit center. it is a light and open space which welcomes the public to regional and state why transit systems. it features a floor designed by san francisco artist and a corporate type comic images of california are. light serves as anesthetic feature and that element of the building's structure.

on the bus back level, passengers will be greeted by permanent58hi÷ installation ac transit, greyhound, muni, treasure island buses and amtrak shuttle buses will operate in this light and modern space. the vision is a convenient and seamless station surrounded by the densest and most beautiful urban neighborhood in the bay area. >> that concludes the video. i'm happy to take any÷ thank you for your consideration. supervisor mar: thank you. we have joshua from planning.

>> in good afternoon, supervisors. >> i will go over some of the core components of the transit center plan for your consideration today. j 2006, an interagency group recommended a new land-use plan for the core of the downtown transit center, one of whose primary goal was to raise substantial revenue to build a downtown extension project. the plan was published in november, 2009 and this past may, the planning commission approved it as well as the

historic preservation commission. just a couple of words about the years that led to the initiation of this plan -- the plan was premised on the notion of downtown being compact and walkable. at that time, there was a lot of development pressure north of market street to tear down historic buildings. the downtown plan, the desire to shift the balance of growth to the area around the trans bay terminal as a focus of the transit network adjacent to market street. at that time, the highest heights allowed in the city were about 550 feet. that transfer program was adopted to shift growth pressure from historical buildings to the area around the transit center. a few years after that, we had the earthquake which resulted in

tearing down the the embarcadero freeway which formed the southern boundary and opened up a number of publicly parcels transferred from the state to the city for the development of a new residential neighborhood that also coincided with the new plan for the hill and created a plan for about 8000 housing units in total. the other major thing that happened was the pursuit of the new trends bay transit center project. this is a new major multibillion-dollar investment in downtown and it deserves a fresh the luck. this plan includes the entire area of the redevelopment area, including the this will not affect the development controls for someone.

the primary is bounded by market on the north and just to the east -- bet transit center is the heart. the primary goal was a new land- use plan and a public realm plan to make sure the amenities supports the growth in their area and generating substantial revenue for the transit center project. we did extensive urban form modeling and analysis. the plan proposes a strategic increaseqia of height limits on the transit center. the prayer site is the transit tower site which you saw referenced in the video. the importance of that site is that it is the heart of the

downtown network and shed emphasize the fact that our transit network is the heart of the city. there are a number of sites immediately around their being proposed for increased height limits and a constellation of buildings around the transit tower to provide a more graceful skyline and increase the capacity for transit-oriented growth. here are a couple of in -- couple of images of what the skyline with look like. these are the additions of the new buildings. you can see the focus concentrated on down@#xv town f with the transit tower but candid and and the sizing the crown of the skyline. here are couple of other digital

images from a treasure island. in terms of the zoning changes -- they are relatively simple. the plan proposes to reclassify the parcels. importantly, there is a sub area of the plan. you can see the orange outline that creates a new special use district and we're seeking to emphasize job and commercial growth to be connected to regional trends that. large sites would be required to focus on the commercial space -- supervisor mar: could you give us some sense of the heights? >> there is a peek at 100 feet and there is about 700 feet and

about five other buildingso4e would peak. can you give a sense of thes2k2f america building? >> the transamerica pyramid is about 850 feet. the transit tower would be roughly 200 feet taller. the tallest buildings are right around where the transit tower are are about six under 50 feet. the millennium tower is about 640 feet. total d out for the plan area -- all built out, all sites are built out and there would be a little

over 9 million square feet of additional development. two-thirds of which we anticipate would be office space. this represents a 50% increase in that development capacity in this part of downtown. a few words about housing -- i mentioned the new neighborhoods created by the development plan. it is important to that state law requires in the redevelopment area, 35% of all units have to be affordable. to accomplish that, the city is building as much affordable housing as possible balance with the desire to sell the sites and build a transit center. additionally, the redevelopment plan requires that for the privately built sites have to buildzç>' below market rate unn

site and that is simply out of practicality because there are no sites to help meet that obligation. the other commercial sites we anticipate would raise about e2 the linkage fund to build affordable housing citywide. all told, 4500 units in the area, we anticipate over 1400 units would be affordable. supervisor kim: may i ask a question about the affordable housing mandate? the mandate to build one of the highest levels of affordable housing -- 35% is important given the trends that we are planning to include. i am a curious if you have an update at the state level in terms of what is going on?

i know there have been some state bills that moved through the assembly regardingóó7! the oversight authority possibility to bond particular to this redevelopment plan today. >> there was a recent assembly bill that clarified many things as it relates to the solution every development. there are many changes and that legislation or beneficial to affordable housing act clarified the use of proceeds and clarify the bonded proceeds may be retained for its use and we have

a lot of bond proceeds in san francisco dedicated to affordable housing. in terms of the existing funds that had been detained by the redevelopment agency did not put into contracts, we have greater assurance we can spend them for affordable housing in san francisco. what the legislation did not do was to verify the bonding ability for affordable housing. if clarified, the ability of this agency to bond the enforceable financing agreement with a master developer which we have for a portion of the trans bay center for hunters pay, there is no similar agreement for affordable housing. this is among the things we are to try to figure out what we can

ability to bond in the future. maybe through subsequent legislation we go back to the state to seek authority for san francisco to bond in its approved redevelop project areas or it may be some other related legislation so we can take advantage of the ability to balance the anchorman we could receive for affordable housing, but at this time, it is not clear whether we will have that ability but we're working on it. link electronics, inc. model number: pdr-885 software version: 2.0a have proposed. the state is requiring us to do this. are we hopeful we will have what

is necessary to meet the mandate? %%5r>> i think the issue for the state and throughout this project is the dissolution of the project is to try to o'rs÷minimize the payments and t the solution in terms of our future ability to parliament this anchorman has to be structured in such a way that it does not have an impact on how the state interacts with other redevelopment agencies. xpú toward the ideal solution for san francisco to continue to bond. >> i hate to ask this final question -- if there is not a solution, what happens to the plan? i have only support this and wanted to move through, but what if the state doesn't allow us?

what happens is affordable housing its to late. we will fund affordable housing on a pay go basis and there will be sites available for r;óññaffordable housing developt that are stand-alone developments for which we will can accumulate it, those projects will be delayed. it raises some questions about affordable housing better part of the mixed market+ag quickly those developments can proceed if we do not have the subsidy to pay for the affordable housing that is part of those components. the short answer is if we dos get the capacity in the future, affordable housing will be delayed and potentially some

market rate housing might be delayed. clearly we will try tou1u toward a solution that will allow us to proceed in a timely manner. we know one of the goals of the plan is a complete neighborhood and we support the creation of affordable housing in this transit-rich environment. >> we are joined by supervisor christina olague. i have concerns we don't end up where we did with a treasure island. we lost several hundred units of affordable housing. the financing peace will be of for lack of a better word to use at this time.