agree, these are both very important needs. we also appreciate the need for affordable housing and building housing without investment for transit would lead to longer term problems and i would echo the desire to see that and have additional conversations about that by next week's hearing. >> thank you. so if there are no further questions at this time, i did want to start calling up members of the public to speak. i do have a little over 40 cards at this point. so if you have not filled out a card, please do so. otherwise you can speak after we have called everyone up. i will call the first ten names and feel free to line up on that side of the chamber. [ reading speakers' names ]

>> thank you supervisor, it's great to see you here after eight years of working on this. my name is fernando marty and i'm representing the council of community housing organizations. i am also the district 6 representative in the eastern neighborhoods cac. and i worked at asian neighborhood design while this plan was under process. we have been here before, where we encounter a tendency to pit affordable housing and public transit as though it was a zero-sum game and something that is very interesting about the plan, that it presents itself as building a complete neighborhood. creating a balanced between the many needs. over those eight years people came, argued, discussed, created compromises and came to conclusions about how to best serve the many needs to make those complete neighborhoods. we talk about the impact fees that exist, the housing fees,

transportation fees, which are by the way, one of the largest pieces there, $22 million for public transportation will be created through this plan. and the many other needs that are needed, parks library, child-care. one of the things and perhaps corey teague, i know he is back there discussing, might be able to correct me. any understanding that the discussion where some fees go down by 33% and others go up does not affect the base line of any project that gets built. any project that gets built to permanent amount still pays what it would otherwise. the compromise that was reached and the compromise that eastern neighborhoods reached was how communities being impacted by luxury development, except increased growth and way people look at how do we create stability? how do we fight gentrification? we need to create more affordable housing out of that increased growth. and the decisions that were made through this tiered zoning was to allow developers the

choice of increasing heights in exchange for providing more affordable housing. this is a plan for stability for neighborhoods facing large scale gentrification, discussed over many, many years. >> thank you, mr. marty. >> good afternoon, supervisors, my name is john nulty. the committee approved the plan because of it going through a community process, adopt it is in its entirety, without amendments. i have been authorized to do so on believe behalf of the following organizations, foundation of san francisco, alliance for district 6 and

city democratics. thank you very much. &thank you, mr. nulty. >> good afternoon supervisors. i was one of the original members of western soma task force when it was formed in 2004 and i'm going focus -- we have been talking about the red, and the red residential enclave districts, and in western soma, the buffering came in to not restrict, but to level the noise level within that area. those areas had not been addressed this thorough before, even before the pullout from eastern neighborhoods. on the eastside of soma, this was to ensure that those there was more safety focused around

reds and the alley ways that have very narrow and some alleys are wider than others. and affordable housing that you can afford though live in. i will wrap this up by saying western soma community planning is a moil for how the planning department can work in partnership with real stakeholders to drill-down and craft thoughtful, balanced and comprehensive community plan as the city continues to grow and face difficult planning decisions. it's a reminder of what we can accomplish together. >> thank you and thank you for your service on the task force.

x hi, my name is daniel winn and i'm a property manager. that is one of the reasons that i want this plan to go through is our neighborhood really needs the improvement. one of the biggest things is the alleyways between natoma. it's just really time that we need to refocus on this area. when there are more and more people coming in. i can guarantee you more and more people are moving from out-of-state into the city, because i rent to them all day. and they increase the rent revenue in this part of the area by 18% compared to 2008.

and on top of that, there are tons of issues that they bring up, when they do move here. i want to commend supervisor kim's office for really being in the community and going to community meetings and learning about this. i do have some photos if anyone wants to look at them about all the crime that happens back there. i just wanted to say i want this to move forward and anything that we can do to help, we would love to help. we do provide affordable housing in our community as well and any new development we're building i'm pretty sure is going to have some sort of fractionable affordable housing as well. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi my name is ken hornby. i just wanted to say every since they put the pause in between mina and natoma, we have had nothing, but problems, homeless encampments, drug use,

needles, defecation and it all happens right in front of a playground. >> mr. honda, i want to clarify our office will continue helping in safety of this area. it's not included in this west soma plan. so please do just speak to the plan. thank you. >> all right. >> we're here in support of the western soma plan. many of our clients live or work in those alleyways and we want to prioritize residential development, specifically affordable housing and really urge the committee to support plans and projects that invest in the current communities and invest in our residents and small businesses that serve the

existing needs of our community. thank you. >> thank you, miss calderone. >> hi, my name is andrew naris. i wanted to thank the west soma task force and planning department for working on this plan. i know a lot of work went into it, but i want to talk briefly about slim's experience with residential neighbors. one neighborhood in particular was able to threaten our business, and performing citizen arrests on these young night managers, who are to go to court on their own time facing charges, just doing their job. the charges were eventually dropped, but it was a huge disruption from their lives. the complaints from one particular neighborhood led to

the california abc suspending slim's license. the next violation would be a 30-day closure and the next violation would be revocation, meaning the end of our business. i wanted to thank the task force and planning department for recognizing the existing uses on 11th street for zoning uses that are complimentary to that. i did want to touch on the building at 340 11th street, the purple building. i would urge the commission to take a look at other uses for that building that would be more compatible were entertainment that is existing on the block. thank you. >> thank you.

>> mr. chair, supervisor my name is mark reney, i have live merchandise west soma continually since 1974 and have co-own a number of businesses. you am currently a partner at restaurant at 2nd and folsom and i was develop involve in the 1990 rezoning and somewhat involved in this plan and although it was a herculean effort by mr. niko, toby and others, i have to somewhat dispute the contention it was all balanced, fair and inclusive. i went to a number of meetings at betsy carmichael school and as a nightlife supporter, i think i'm in favor of the plan with some amendments. but i think san francisco needs vibrant nightlife. tourism for better or worse is

our no. 1 industry and tourists need something to do after dark. we need the tax revenue and we need places for our youth to go and what is more logical than downtown and west soma, next to regional transit, next to the san francisco tourist hubs and tourist hotels? i understand some of these are going into trailing legislation, but i would like to speak for a second on uses of the second floor for restaurant and lounge uses in west soma and if if this is approved, if you look at chinatown and other neighborhoods, castro district, this has worked well. and it hasn't caused a problem from the neighborhoods. the people will have to go to conditional use on this and be part of extensive neighborhood outreach and discussion. but i would ask this board to approve that second floor usage as this would expand the

opportunities to enliven west soma and bring it back to the great tourist destination that i remember in the '80s. >> thank you, i remember that west soma is the birthplace for love and thank you for that comment. [ laughter ] >> i will call up ten more speakers before our last speaker of this pile. [ reading speakers' names ] >> my name is karen nolan and i was one of the original members of the task force, but had to resign after the first year. i am here today to support the plan. i do have concerns when i hear talks of plans for nightlife.

i am not against nightlife, but i live next door to the 1015 club and i know that the problems that we had over the years in trying to mitigate those problems, i think what mr. reney just spoke of, maybe second-floor lounge, jazz trios, something like this. but the nightclub scene of it's not neighborhood-serving. i know it brings in tax revenue, which is great for the city, but i would like to see folsom street more of a neighborhood-serving retail, and shopping. the nightclubs are dead during the day and their only open friday, saturday, sunday sometimes thursday. i just don't see that as a good use on a busy commercial corridor. the second-floor idea, that is great. thank you. >> thank you miss nolan and thank you for your service on the task force as well.

>> we have a video that we would like to plug in? is that possible, mr. teague? >> sfgovtv, is that possible? maybe we can allow another speaker to go while that is happening. >> miss holiday. [ inaudible ] i also want to bring up 340 11th street and the reasons i would be opposed to the grand father status. this was when we were closed down by the abc, after working with our neighbor. we did try mediation and agreed to certain terms of mediation, which we exceeded and it didn't work out. we tried every

possible step that properly would address her concerns and concerns of the other neighbors that she was working with. they stepped out. they were happy with results. it ended up with a $750,000 lawsuit. we broke no city ordinance. the city backed us up, the police department backs backed us and the closure impacted our staff, our business. i believe that in good faith i would have a very hard time seming any kind of condition that was put on a building that wasn't stamped. because of the experiences that we had. i think the work that has been

done, emotionally, and timewise, i completely support them. but i have 90 staff members and a business. thank you. >> thank you, miss holiday. >> good afternoon. i'm alphonz [speaker not understood] i came here primarily with some of my board members today to thank you, supervisor kim, for your support of our existence, through this plan. and also, mr. niko and his organization, we try to teach our students from very early that collaborative problem-solving is a great skill for modern life and this is a great example for how that works. thank you to corey teague for all the work he has done. we feel a strong sense of commitment to the neighborhood and serving diverse families not only through proving an

excellent bilingual education in chineseand english, but a program and scholarships for students and early drop-off and extended care for families who work. we'll continue to be good neighbors. we treat each other nicely. we eat our vegetables and we wait in line and keep our neighborhoods clean and safe and we're happy to be included in this plan. thank you very much. >> thank you, and thank you for patiently working with our office. >> i have a short video for presentation. ladies and gentlemen welcome to 11th street between folsom and

harrison. >> can we take another moment? >> sure. >> we'll take mr. lewis. >> good afternoon supervisor. i am here to plead to not let the pursuit of the perfect be the enemy to the good. not to let loud voices screaming for a single issue be the enemy of the plan. no plan will satisfy all constituents and all needs , but looking at the eight year process and the hundreds of meetings of the task force. it was an impressive process

and actually an example that any community should use when trying to plan their future. there was a lot to be learned from the western soma task force and hue they went about their business. i know supervisor wiener you have concerns and i am concerned that as you press your concerns you will derail the plan and you will further delay it. while it won't be undone, it really is in a way kind of disrespectful to the hundreds of people who put thousands and thousands of personal hours into this plan to try to get something that is as good as can be. and yet, people will never always be satisfied with this. i think it's a good plan. i hope you adopt it. i hope you adopt it as-is. and i think it will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. and that is sort of my ethical standard, serving the greatest good for the greatest number of people. thank you. >> thank you, mr. lewis.

>> ladies and gentlemen, welcome to friday and saturday night. you are seeing a representation of the density in and out of the area within the timeline of the top right-hand corner of the screen. please keep in mind the legal occupancy for 11th street within these blocks is 5,000 people. imagine that you are one of the 200 people on either side of the street, in the early evening. keep your eye on the purple building and you can see the potential for conflict. it's just gearing up for a live band to go on stage and the line is starting to form outside. the crowds are young and

energetic and the businesses cater to that clientele in a smart and responsible fashion. as the evening progresses, nightlife is in full swing and the tempo on the street is rising, too. if you are a young person, this might feel like a fun place to live, but is it a fun place to park a car? carry groceris,? have friends over? raise your family? as the street scene grows in intensity, it makes sense as a business owner, a resident and planner to keep the energy on the street positive and mutually beneficial. 11th street prides itself on being a good neighbor, but at 2:00 a.m. it needs the right kind of neighbor, businesss with appropriate hours to handle the vitality of the weekend and as san francisco residents we and deserve the home that suits our needs. would you consider 11th street the home for you?

>> thank you, mr. ang and thank you for perfectly timing it for public comment. very impressive. >> madame chairman, supervisors my name is terrance allen and i'm just going over that momentous cold, so pardon if i'm a little hoarse. i guess i have to begin my introductions by saying that i al one of those people who represent an interest group, but i need to qualify the negatives that have been said about someone like myself, by saying that a was also one of the people that jim niko invited to join his task force and for many years i sat through the meetings with my neighbors coming up with a plan that spoke to everyone. i found my voice was not listening to and the issues i was trying to bring forward were not respected and for that reason i dropped out of plan. as i know planning is involving more than just the citizens'

process. it involves the planning department, the board of supervisors and ultimately the mayor. we are are participating now in bringing issues that we felt marginalized wringing d bringing up earlier. where could that have been? not blaming anyone, if you read the eir, you will find it was based on faulty data regarding nightlife and nightlife communities. and we think that based on those errors conclusions were made in the plan that moved forward that now with a few minor modifications can be adjusted, affect very little and improve the plan for the overall neighborhood. thank you. >> thank you, mr. allen. >> good afternoon supervisor, henry carnalo. i was on the western soma

planning task force since 2006. and i want to congratulate and commend jim niko for what a great job he did. as ken said a second ago, i know a lot of people came and left and there ways was a group of local residents who were not happy about what was happening and tried to create disruption, but it wasn't possible. it was left up to western soma to say what was said. so particularly when it comes to entertainment, this is where i think it was left out. and i think we need to protect, preserve and promote live entertainment. we cannot allow to have residential in areas like 11th street, as was said by another person, these people move and know what is going on and at

the end of the day come back and [kpra-eupb/]. i have another run related not entertainment, but someone building a garage and the people bought their place a couple of years back. when the person went to build the garage, you can only go up 14', because we don't have the yard that we are supposed to have. well, this is a situation that we're not required to have an open space at the ear. so i really urge you to amend this plan. also, limited live performance. i wanted to see it throughout south of market throughout the corridors. >> thank you, and thank you for serve on the task force >> helloo, my name is cassmith, an architect and also an arts commissioner. i am here and congratulate the

task force and i'm here on a detail. i think good things are great, but they need well-defined details as well. there is subdistrict called sali, which used to be ten blocks that follows bryant from 12th to 5th and as written design professionals are excluded from that area. design professionals include architects, engineers, graphic designers and landscape architects. for many reasons, i really believe we should be included as a principal use. what we do as architects is not very different from arts activity or pdr. we build models, that is pdr, if there ever was one. we're essentially an arts activity and we're supporters of it. our staff goes to art openings within two or three blocks i meet with sheet metal shops. i meet with furniture producers

on what we're designing. and we're just good neighbors. we're also part of pioneering this, thank you. >> thank you, mr. smith. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is caroline -- [speaker not understood] i am here on behalf of our client, flared diversified properties to discuss a proposed well-reasoned amendment. you should have already received copies of the proposed amendment, but i have additionals here. as currently proposed the planning, building and code section would be amended to generally prohibit lot mergers.

as set form in the proposal such merge would only be permissible if an alley is provided result of the merger. i would like to everyone emphasize this would be an additional public benefit. to be sure existing session 270.2. the requested amendment is particularly important to our client's proposed project along townsend street and would provide 21 century space for digital media users, consistent with plan policy 1.2.3. notably the amendment would allow for pedestrian connection from harriet to townse