from the earth. i do not know. [unintelligible] maybe our own [unintelligible] accumulate these things and [unintelligible] to the lives of these people. thank you. >> i am here on behalf of j.r. to speak on behalf of this conditional use. this b been of a similar use. there was an auto body shop there prior to the most recent tenet for 10 years of this is not -- tan and for 10 years said this is not the most recent use of the space. i would like to say that if anything, he will improve the look of the building and improve

the neighborhood. his plays well -- employees will support the neighborhood like they do my store which is 2 days -- two doors down from his current location. his employees eat in restaurants and go to the shops and support the neighborhood. they support the neighborhood. employees will support the small shops of this neighborhood. i would urge you to support this use and his ability to take his homegrown business and move it to a larger location. that is sort of what we are trying to do here as small- business owners and i hope you give him the opportunity to do that. president fong: any additional public comment? >> my family -- owns a bar located next door to select auto

body. and so we have that -- have had that since 2003. in that time, the concerns raised by the neighbors at the new location, we did the odor and sounds and all that have been so minimal we have not noticed and the hours in which they operate are until 6:00 p.m. and we never had any issues and i have been a positive contribution to the -- they have been a positive contribution to the neighborhood. >> i will make my comments brief. i know them and our kids go to this same school. he told me what they were trying to do here. i explained the new procedure he will have to go through -- i want to make a comment here. the planning department

[unintelligible] to a guy who came down and did not have that much experience. with regard to the latest comments, i was there and the outreach was done there. he did a very good job especially with the auto body people and the issues of the chemicals that are used there. the good news here is the preservationist part. the building stays the same on the outside which is great. i know a lot of commissioners have to [unintelligible] and different zonings and this is the exact type of industry you are trying to protect. there were literally put out of the spaces -- and the spaces were not available.

this is what the commissioners have fought for to keep these types of industries here. j.r. is going to be one of the outstanding business owners in this town. i personally hope that you can approve this here today. a lot rides on this. his family is watching and the whole shop has come to a standstill to watch on tv. this is the kind of stuff this commission is trying to keep in this town. hopefully this gets all boats this needs today. -- all the votes this needs today. president fong: is there additional public comment? public comments are closed. commissioner moore: there are many reasons i am in support of this particular cu. the support of small businesses,

this is a perfect example of someone who has grown and established bellair reputation in one neighborhood and who is moving and finding -- a building that is more than appropriate to be reused for its intended use. we had a struggle with this building type on hyde at union street and it was difficult to see an adaptive reuse. here we're having a building which is intended for its use where it is being reused within the same category of uses. as listed in the case report, previous use was golden gate tank for removal. that was -- there was an auto repair and we are moving down the line in addition to that. any concerns about adjoining residential, today's

environmental regulations are so severe by have -- that by having the guarantee that new equipment is being bought that meets the latest standards, there should not be any concerns. we more recently had a case like this for an auto repair which rarely focused on repainting of autos in the residential live- work area. the project was approved because we were comfortable that the impacts were more imagined or perceived than actual ones. i think we have the regulatory environment and the controls in place to make sure that none of those fears and dave are justified. i am in support of it and make a motion to approve. >> second. commissioner antonini: i am in support and this has been historically auto repair and even a body shop. it is a continuing use although there was a break with a

slightly different views. the speaker concerned about the fact that these types of things do not exist in all neighborhoods, actually, they do. wagner's is a body shop on green between goff and octavia, nobody complains, they have been there forever and it has been a saw after -- sought after area. and again, these are uses that are very -- seem to coexist very well with the neighbors and we have talked about the great -- steer their -- state of the art. the project sponsor is purchasing the actual building. he is creating pdr jobs that will in play 10 -- employee toen

to 20 people. he saves his customer base. this is not necessarily a factor. i identify with the project sponsor as a guy who is involved in a lot of civic things and coaching at his kids' school and getting involved in the merchants association and so i think that is really important -- that is an important thing we have to encourage. i am in support. commissioner wu: at want to echo the comments of other commissioners in support of this project. it is great to see a proven track record with neighbors, both residential and business, with regards to being a good neighbor, noise, and on and on. for those that are concerned about noise, i want to point out that the noise ordinance is governed by the department of public health and there are standards and a process to go

through with that department. commissioner sugaya: i wasn't going to say anything but i was quite in support but since we have an audience. i want to say that i am quite familiar with this building tight because i have spent some time in -- and surveyed the ports in the tenderloin. there must be 10 or 20 similar garages with similar architecture. i am pleased that this is being reused for the purpose it was originally designed. the idea that keeping the facade and >> the motion on the floor is for approval. [roll-call]

thank you. that motion passes unanimously. you are on now on item number 13, 4399 fremont street. -- for 399 fremont street. >> good afternoon, commissioners. we're here requesting the extension of the motion which expired on june 15, 2012. for additional 12-month for the compliance on the planning code section 301. the proposal is a new residential project that will consist of parking unit and for under 50 bicycles bases, granting exceptions to allow one parking space every two units and to provide exceptions to the separation of powers

requirement. the approval be for june 13, 20 -- for june, 2013 and the proposed design modification which is before you is an information item only. the project is consistent with that general panic -- the general plan and applies the first source hiring program. the program will provide a rich environment and play a key role in that neighborhood. the project will provide a 450 dwelling units to the housing stock. with that, the department recommends approval of the project. thank you. >> project sponsor? >> i'm here on behalf of the project sponsor. it's always fun and exciting to be here talking about a project

close to getting it under construction. this is working its way through the city's system. a structural peer review is underway and we hope to get it underway before the end of the year. it has been good working with ben. the only thing is the extension. we want to show you the evolution of the design. we are excited about the current prospects and i'm going to turn it over to chris to what you throw a quick power point and you can ask questions. >> a good afternoon, commissioners. i'm going to run you through some comparative slides that show the design and where we are right now. a couple of rendering views and some shots that the building into context with what has been

entitled and is coming in that area. in summary, the basic premise of the zoning setbacks are identical to what was there in the previously approved design. the number of units has been described before. 452 units, 40% to veterans, 150 bicycle slots and we have 238 parking stalls which is the same as what was there before. we're looking to add 13 publicly accessible car shares basis. we think that is a good thing. the images are side-by-side comparisons of the previous design. as i go through these, the placement of the tower and setbacks are similar to what was

there before as are the workings of the ground floor and how we position the car entry and egress points. we are looking to give the building more residential character and i hope this is evident in the addition of balconies stocks that were not there before. we also tried to give a certain prominence to the corner of harrison and fremont street. as you can see, the tower is placed in the same location as before. the podium elements and things meet the requirements of the district plan. we have introduced a certain orientation to the tower to give it the vertical element i have described. we think it makes it more dramatic and attractive as you come across the bay bridge approaching this city. these are a couple of the views

looking at it in three directions. this is the fremont side. a couple of comparative slides showing the features again. we try to accentuate the residential character of the design. there is a simple and elegant form for the top of the tower as it meets the skyline and we have a vibrant and active base with the podium element and residential and trends and at retail along the base. these are some renderings -- also included it in the packet from different sides to help you visualize the design of where we are right now. i think this is a nice elevation that shows you the character of the podium. it is quite a vibrant and alive. you can see the base of the tower set back of a little bit and going back across harrison street is all retail which has been introduced into the plan.

this is the top of the podium. we have tried to sculpt the sloping roof there. those are residential units. we have some of our three- bedroom family units in this location around the swimming pool. there is an opportunity across the bridge to show some of the potential excitement we can show at night time. there's a rooftop garden for residents to use and we can think it can be an attractive addition to the skyline. this is another slide here showing the overall massing of the tower. i wanted to show the building in context with what has been entitled in the past. these shots, you can see the tower closest to the bridge. phase two is coming along and

the new design for the infinite the phase is on the right hand side. this is another one which shows all of the buildings including a 45 lansing. you can see phase one and phase 2 and you can see 45 lansing to the right continuing over are the to the new entity towers which are just beginning to get started now. this is another shot to show the placement of the tower again. you can see it is gestured toward a phase one and phase two. a neatly across the street to the project is 340 fremont which is in progress again and you can see the in vanity towers to the

left and i will circulate these images so that everyone has got them. you can see 45 lansing which is getting started as well. that concludes my presentation. i just wanted to give an indication of the direction we're going. thank you. president fong: thank you. public comment on this item? >> good afternoon commissioners. i did not power point commission and i didn't bring any more trees for a color pat -- colorful packet to hand out to you. this is simply to grant the developers more time to get this project under way.

jamie would occur asked if i had a chance to testify to please send a message to the developer -- please clean up the site before you grant them an additional 12 months, i would hope you would impose conditions to clean up the debris accumulated on the site and insure for the next 12 months it remains clean. thank you very much. president fong: any additional public comment? i would like to start off. i appreciate the drawings that show the buildings in place. that's a sort of a first look at what the skyline is going to look like. i think by those of renderings, they seem to be fairly well spaced out amongst themselves. there are highrises in that particular area but that is what

i have been looking for, what the new skyline is going to look like from different perspectives so i am in favor and it open to other comments. commissioner antonini: i am in favor but it points out something that were fortuitous. no one was happy when approvals were made and because of the downturn in the economy, many of the approved buildings were not built until now. but we have seen this was fortuitous because the design is much superior to what you can -- what was there as you can see from the contrast of the to and not only the appearance but the fact the building is slanted it had a 45 degree aspect which lessens its impact to some degree and it is a better appearing building. i would agree -- am sure it will

be a problem because i understand we're going to be under construction but if there is anything that needs to be done to clean up the site, let's do whatever we can to clean it up though there might be construction before the cleanup crews are finished. i'm very encouraged and as president fong point out, at the drawings of what the area with look-alike. now we're finally seeing that realization and i think it's going to be a very attractive area and having the additional buildings will make it more of a neighborhood and less of a single building or two as it has been for the last three years. commissioner sugaya: i would like to have the project sponsor and the architect work harder on

the blank walls on the north and east sides currently as depicted. i believe you have two panels of green stuff along their but it looks like they have sort of been pasted on as an afterthought. i understand that the east property line you guys are right up against your own property line so what looks like an alley way is the other property owners that it did not build right at to you guys. it is not a public right of way at the moment, but if you guys could get together with the other development and see what could it get done there, that would be great. on the north side, is that a public right of way? >> that is the required mitt block connector. all follow-up on where you are going -- there is an excellent

relationship between the project sponsor here and the apartment building behind. there are lots of opportunities for synergy and there's an awkward connection between getting over two main -- there will be an actual connector that is going to work and part of the reason it is going to work is these property owners are closely related. it is it going to work much better now. thank you. commissioner moore: thank you for implementing what has been asked for many times before. what the real known one in the buildings are. this is only one side and we will be asking for that more and more as we discussed this morning as we were looking at

the market-van ness area, that's the new way of doing it. i appreciate that our is finding its new language in a more readable facades variation. i'm not happy seeing this for the fourth time. it is an extension being granted for the fourth time and i hope by december you are in construction because i believe we need to create new boundaries around how often we are extending. this is a relatively new operation that started in 2009 and others are doing the third and fourth extension dating back to 10 years and we see that as a problem. taking care of of the site -- we have often talked about

maintaining sites in the interim and mr. john king has written about it. maintaining this site as a clean site is a minimum expectation. however as sites stay vacant for eight years here, i would ask you that this be done consistently with all of your clients and i think you will see a happy commission. otherwise i am in support and it see the design modifications the department has been working on is indeed creating the results we are interested in. >> -- president fong: i will make a motion to approve with conditions the previous approval. >> second. >> the motion on the floor is for the approval of the extension of the previous

approval. [roll call] >> thank you. at the motion passes unanimously. commissioner moore: i would like to encourage staff to put these three-dimensional renderings on to the web sites of those people wondering what it is get a better understanding. i think it's fair to the public that cannot attend the meeting. >> agreed. thank you. >> commissioners, you are on item number 14, 459 geary street. >> good afternoon, commissioners. before you is a request for authorization for construction over 75 feet in height with a

request for an exception for height of over 80 feet pursuing to planning code section 263.8. this is a rehabilitation of the six story over basement 80 foot tall retail and office building at 459 geary street. the building will be 85 feet in height and contain it one dwelling unit. the historic preservation commission approved a major permit to off -- to alter the proposed site, proposing exterior alterations, including scale, height, and materials of the proposed addition are within the requirements of article 11. the proposed design has been

reviewed against the aspects of design review as well as the requirements of article 11. the proposed project is within the standards of the criteria with the design of building tops with the surrounding buildings and the conservation district. it maintains a street wall and does not decrease some light on the sidewalk and will not impede traffic. the proposed addition has a contemporary character that is minimally you visible from the street and is in keeping with the historical nature of the district. the project requests an exception for height. the request exception meets the criteria reference in to hundred 63.8 in that the height of the new roof will be 85 feet and the absolute height including the

elevator penthouse will be 91 feet which is well within the maximum height for the district. it the additional height will be set back 14 feet from the front facade of the existing building, minimizing the ability and any potential to cast shadows on the adjacent public sidewalks. the setback will allow the existing building to maintain the continuity of the street wall and allow it to provide a transition between the lower and higher buildings that are adjacent. staff has received no public comment regarding this project. the project is consistent with article 11 and will provide a mixed uses that will activate the streetscape throughout the day and evening and provide a residential unit and meets the requirement for the exception to height. the recommendation is approval the recommendation is approval with conditions.