opportunity and they don't pocket any money from it. and really just to support. and thank you for your time. >> come on up. i am going to call a couple of names. >> david troop, and elizabeth hardenin hank, line, and richard shafer and andria, and david petras and courtney, shasla. >> the heart save the triangle is a organization representing the market and do both triangle neighbors. the san francisco examiner featured one of our attended community meetings highlighting our concerns with the over night camping and vandalism and crimes and trash in our

neighborhood. our neighborhood groups support the proposed starbucks coffee at 2201 market street. is we ca support another star buck to the upper market area. because, proposed location at the corner of market and sanchez, suffers from an excess of vacant storefront properties and because it suffers from the over night camping trash and graffiti and because the neighbors should not have to walk through the human waste and others every day, we know that starbucks will clean up this dorner, it does not. many ex-members of dtna has joined our neighborhood group because they seemed more interested in a political for the agenda, they do not care about the day-to-day quality issues that negatively impact in the area. >> we support the local merchants and want to see the

business district improved. the starbucks project is good for our neighborhood and adds vitality to our block and reno vaits buildings and benefits merchants by driving and creates jobs for san francisco residents, thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is denise greenbeger and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you, and i live in the, i have no financial stake in this and i don't have anything to do with coffee business and i just live in the neighborhood. and i am a sole propry [t-er/] as opposed to the cookie cutter, that everything looks

the same as you see in other cities. and you know as many other people i have nothing against starbucks, i just don't want it in our neighborhood. one of the speakers in favor of starbucks was talking about the impact that starbucks had in all of those other neighborhoods and that is an example of what makes a lot of neighborhoods look just the same. all of the same businesses. i don't want that to happen to our neighborhood. another starbucks speaker or two, and talking about the need for meeting places. cafes as meeting places. there are, you know, dozens of places where people can go and you know, some that have been named and some that haven't, in addition to sweet inspiration, there is church street cafe, the owner who was here for a long time expended up having to leave before it came up to the agenda, and there is the cafe and bakery. but there are plenty of places

to me that have coffee. and i also would just like to comment that just because starbucks was in that corner that would not necessarily cause people to remain from graffiti. and other misbehavior that people have described. please vote against this. >> i'm michael colton. and a lot of people have said a lot of stuff, i oppose this and i am hoping that you will as well. we have homeless and graffiti all up and down the street. it would be attractive if the landlord was held accountable. >> that is why, that is why i don't understand why the owner of that building does not have

to fix it. we have a landlord lease if anybody goes along our building we get it fix and we paint it. i don't understand why this guy can let this property go so long as it is. there are a lot of coffee shots, eateries and all of this kind of thing in that area, including three starbucks already. please, disapprove this. thank you. >> i am going to call a few more names, come on up. >> emily, crafilsa, manny torez and samar and chris holmes and alan, harnet. and karin lee. and andy new, and david pridwell. like a coupr pele,

i'm david troop. and there is no question that this proposal does not represent something that is necessary for the neighborhood with the other starbucks and numerous other coffee shops nearby. the neighborhood is under attack for removing that commercial uniqueness that is really the vitality of the neighborhood that brings the visitors, you know, when so much of the neighborhood becomes cookie cutter and homogonous to any other place in america, what reason is there for them to come and visit the castro? putting other neighborhood businesses that are unique, out of business, because starbucks is a very effective competitor, that definitely, makes this an

undesirable project. should you be inclined to support it and then i would really like you to think about the process issue that the preapplication meeting for this project had anything of you happen to have wondered in i think that you would have been shocked at how the starbucks used the abeguity and stifled for the local residents to learn of me concerns that might exist it was really offensive to me the way that they subverted a process intended to provide public benefit and turn it into something that actually did the opposite of that. so, thank you.

>> i'm courtney, and terry bennett asked me to come for her and speak today. instead of reading the letter that you all have already heard, i wanted to say that, we overwhelmingly supported this new store, and she wishes that she could be here to say the same, thank you. >> good afternoon, i am a resident and a proud supporter of this project to move forward with the starbucks renovation, i manage an after school program called america scores the area, it is all literacy for public school use, first through 8th grade and we have been so blessed with the support that starbucks has provided for us, in so many ways, we had a previous speaker talk about community and that is what my program is about, i have a quick story and we

recently had a poetry presentation at one of the starbucks nearby, believe it or not, it was the neighborhood right here, we are talking about off of market. at first i was skeptical, but believe it or not, more of the community was receptive to the children reciting their poetry and looking at the art that we had hanging up on the wall, just know that one starbucks and all of the community is what this project will support, hundreds of families, who may not come out to this side of town. i support please move forward, thank you for your support. >> commissioners, good afternoon, my name is tina and i am a long time resident of san francisco. as my friends and colleagues visit various neighborhoods in our city to support our local merchants, i find myself being friends with a local merchant on 18th street, namely brandy hose. lamb who is the owner of that

business and a neighbor of starbucks in the same block asked me to read this letter, which i believe was forwarded to you just this morning and so bear with me. it was addressed to supervisor weiner. as the owner of the brandy hose restaurant on 18th and castro i am writing to say that i am in favor for the starbucks to be located on market and sanchez. good businesses benefit the community, it is going to provide jobs and also put more eyes and ears on the corner that is currently an invitation to over night camping and trash and it will help to clean up this corner which has many vacant buildings, additionally, more people walking to starbucks, are a plus for local merchants in the castro and further up market, it is just good for business, the new coffee shop can restore a important block that is the gateway to the neighborhood. please support the proposed

starbucks, we welcome the investment and look forward to the increase prosperity for the community, sincerely jimmy lamb. toshop, and eat, and visit with my friends in all of our various neighborhoods. and i firmly believe that through the merchants of this room those local regional and national, i wanted to choose who i support and if you treat me right as a customer, you have me, i support you with my pocket. thank you for your consideration. please support this. >> good afternoon, commissioners, my name is ganum, born and raised and i work in the city currently, my family owns the berger meister around the corner in the castro and we do support this project. the corner has been vacant for two years now. there are multiple other vacantcies in the area.

and we feel that starbucks can really rejuvenate this corner and encourage other small businesses to come in the neighborhood with foot traffic that starbucks would bring. when we took over our location, market was a similar thing and it was an eye sore to the block, we came in, we invested, the way that starbucks is willing to invest in this location and we have made it a nice business there. and since, then, it has been over 12 years since we have been in business and multiple other small businesses have come into the neighborhood. so we believe that this will be the similar effect and we would love to see starbucks come in and rejuvenate this which is right now an eye sore, thank you. >> good afternoon, i'm (inaudible) and i support this

project. i think that either small or big businesses both help the community. and in the city like san francisco. they said that... they stop for everything. the people that eat in the local, small, places and the local small places and the people that eat in the big court places eat in big corporate places and so i think that there is room for everybody and there is a lot of good things about everything, and just denying a place is denying the job opportunity, i think that it is the most important thing that this creates a lot of jobs right now, and this is a big opportunity for a lot of kids, that they don't have the training. they don't have the school, they cannot do it to get a job to get themselves toegtd and to progress and to become somebody some day, thank you. >> i am here to support the

store and i am a business owner and i think that the competition in general is a healthy thing and promotes, progress and innovation and so it does not matter how many coffee shops are in the area and from the standpoint of a new business owner, i think that it is, the neighbors should be blessed with this project because those who have small, limited resources, cannot finance, you know, the big projects. and this building, requires a lot of investments. so i support that in this project, thank you. >> >> david, pruit and i am a residents close to the proposed location, i like to thank the commissioners for the projects

that you sponsored in the area and a lot of the things that you have moved forward and you have much of a ten asty for seeing the future and how to revitalize the certain communities and i have appreciate the things that you have done and i believe that this proposal is in the vision of what you are trying to do in this area. and i believe that it continues on with revitalizing those areas and bringing in a unique perspective that we can all appreciate as a community regardless of the locations that are there. again, i believe that it goes with what you are trying to do in our communities. and so i appreciate your moving forward with the acceptance of this proposal. >> commissioners, i am a propose nent of this proposition and being a four year residents in castro, this

is the corner that i pass on a regular basis, up and down market street there has been much turnover, and due to local small businesses that have not been able to thrive. starbucks would be able to kind of put a strong hold on this corner, allowing further small businesses to expand and grow, and kind of revitalize the unique character that this neighborhood provides. the castro has been my home over the last four years. what i have seen at that corner has been graffiti and numerous homeless and other people that have provided, and i, you know, it would be nice to have a change. it would be nice to have something new and different in the neighborhood. that is going to be at that corner. and i know that the restaurant association has been opposed. they actually don't hold

residents on that corner, so they really don't have any authority to speak to what we have going on in our neighborhood. and i know that they kind of mucked up the trader joe's proposal down the street. and since then, they have not had favoritism in the castro, so again thank you for your time. >> good afternoon, commissioners, my name is karin lee and i am a resident of the neighborhood i live on 19th and castro, i am in support of this as i believe that it will help to clean up the corner and make it safer for residents like me. i believe that starbucks does play a large role in the community and coordinates new events and my hope is that the new store will have a positive impact and i have heard a lot of discussion about how starbucks and the design of the stores are not unique but the design of 18th and castro has evoked many feelings of the

uniqueness of the designs and so my thought is that the sanchez location will do just that as well. >> good afternoon, chris, holmes long time san francisco resident, born and raised in the bay area. starbucks has been a big part of my life for many years. i have visited often not as a place to hang out but a place to grab a cup of coffee, these stores are not all the same, this store as i can see is a phenomenal design and it would be an excellent addition to the street. i am a strong supporter of the growth and cleaning up corners like this one and thank you very much for your time. >> good afternoon, i'm a resident in san francisco i have been in san francisco for 20 years and the coffee stores are co-existed but they thrives. i would just like to read a segment from the phil's coffee

who are in support of this proposal. having starbucks nearby is a good thing because they attract customers to their location who later patronize us as well. we believe that the competitiveness is come mri men triand they have gone nationwide over decades and the starbucks will contribute to that. and much of that growth comes from small businesses like theirs. and i am in support of this. thank you. >> thank you. >> is there any additional public comment? >> excuse me. members of the audience, standing near the door in front of the doorway, please find a seat or move to the other side of the room. >> good evening, members of the commission, peter cohen in upper market and the triangle. i support the recommendation of the planning department staff and it is actually a very

thorough and thoughtful analysis and basis for the recommendation. i read through the entire planning staff report. and bottom line, i think that your staff demonstrates and you have heard today that starbucks at this location and in this community is not either necessary, or desirable or compatible with the community for a variety of reasons. and this is not about starbucks corporate philantropy. and it is about whether it fits with the community and i think that you have heard why it doesn't. >> i would like to use the overhead and show you the map that is from the staff report. and again the question of whether you can get a cup of coffee in the upper market. i think is well answered. the green dots here, you know, within a two-block radius, i count 13 different viable places to have a cup of coffee, including a couple of other starbucks. so it is not a question about need. it is a question about what to do with that particular space

and i want to emphasize the point that i think has been made earlier. that there are places that are held off the market we are finding because the rents are high. and they are essentially inaccessible to any business but a chain store and that is why you see some places that are sitting vacant for a long period of time or they are not maintained and allowed to deter ate and so you hear the folks that get frustrated about the condition of the property. it has nothing to do if there are local businesss that could fill the spaces it has to do with beat behaviors of the land lords. i ask you to deny the cu request for the starbucks. >> my name is marie sorenson

and i am here to speak on another project. i have to say please reject this, there are a number of coffee shops, cafes in the neighborhood and starbucks talks about how they provide jobs and trying to fill a need. well they are really try to fill the need, go out to the bay view and open some starbucks. because there is definitely people out there that could use jobs and as far as i am concerned a really mediocre cup of coffee. we have had the united way and teachers trying to buy there, actually paying their respects to starbucks that is not the issue, the issue is that it is a saturated market you don't need a big chain coming in. because i live in mission and we have two starbucks that is more than enough, i think that san francisco needs to keep its

uniqueness and i think that putting a starbucks on sanchez and market is a terrible idea. i think that the landlord needs to be held accountable for the crapy condition his property is in. and also, the fact that i agree with the last speaker. that there is no commercial rent control, so they just hold properties off the market. any way, i hope that you say no to the project. >> good afternoon, my name is steven guard and i am a resident of san francisco, the upper market neighborhood. and i am here tonight, in support of this project. this project will resolve one of the last three remaining lighted properties on market street, so the home restaurant and this particular location and the old gas station, it is going to make a tremendous

improvement of the condition of the neighborhood as well as deal with the homeless encampment neighborer to the needles and and a place that is safe to walk your dog in, thank you. >> good afternoon. i am my name is stephanie longextra and i am actually a partner of starbucks. in the reason that i wanted to come up here is to share i have been with the company 20 years. and i want us to look at this and we have been talking a lot about, you know, whether it is the landlord, whether we have formula retail, well, you know what? we helped to develop the economics of the communities we go into. we have proven that time after time but not only do we do that, we don't just fill jobs, we build careers and i am an example of that. i started in the stores, in 20 years later, i am here a

resident and i spend money here and i contribute to the independence as well as to the organization that i work at as well. so i would like us to consider not only just the development, but the development of the economy within the communities we are in and the careers that we build for the employees that work with us. so obviously for it, thank you. >> hi, my name is stephanie sly and i am here to read a letter on behalf of the san francisco council of district merchants who could not be here. >> it is not the policy of the association, to support formula retail. but from the reasons provided by the merchants upper market and castro, we have decided to act and solidary with them and to support starbucks in occupying the space at 2201 market street, we feel that

starbucks will be a good neighbor and an asset to the neighborhood and will generate traffic flow which will positively impact the other businesses in the castro area, thank you. >> good afternoon, my name is craig and i am a resident of the inner sunset district, i am not employed by star buck i am an electrician an, i have visited the starbucks on 18th street and it seems to embrace the neighborhood very well. it does display, our artwork and it also has a gay pride flag hanging proudly. i feel that a starbucks at this location would benefit, not only the neighborhood, but it would also benefit commuters and our tourists who visit the area. thank you very much.

>> good afternoon, commissioners, my name is kevin, and i am a small business owner of a sign language interpreting agency. and besides my own personal experience with competition from national firms, i do have a lot of personal experience of how local businesses do keep resources and employ local people, and it is not top heavy, we keep the money in the community. >> the main thing that i would like to consider is the obvious and i urge you to vote against this for quality of life reasons and business vitality reasons and to consider the other neighborhoods who do have a much lower percentage of this short of formula retail and how economy vibrant they have become, the haigt area and these are the kinds of neighborhood that i want to go and spend my money and the castro, i believe is at a turning point and so perhaps this is symbolic and there is already a great deal of this

sort of thing and this is not the direction that you should be going. thank you very much for your consideration. >> is there any additional public comment? >> okay, seeing none, public comment is closed, opening it up to commissioners, commissioner antonini? >> thank you for your comments and very interesting, and someone told me yesterday and i thought this was an exaggeration but there is a certain amount of truth in the remarks that this person made, you try to do something nice in san francisco and invest a lot of money and make improvements and you have a fight on your hands and you often get rejected. and i think that this is kind of the instance here, often times, we tend to fight good, clean, progressive businesses, because they happened to fit into a profile we don't like. and there is a couple of things going on here that i think are misguided one is protectionism. somebody talked earlier about the increase in the number of coffee shops in san francisco before and the united states,

before there was a starbucks, which was the beginning, there were very few coffee shops. now the spin offs are a lot of other chains, and independent coffee shops, modeled after starbucks have taken the place of where there were none and they have become neighborhood gathering places and places where people often do their work and socialize. and so, i think that it is not a competitive situation. it is competitive but it often has the benefit of helping the independence to work. and the other misconception is the formula retain in particular, something like starbucks is going to raise the rents for everybody else. well, if you look at some of these model neighborhoods that have almost no formula retail, i am not sure about the rents, but the prices are through the roof in haze valley and even in north beach. so i mean that it is not

necessarily true that formula retail drives it up, sometimes the prices at formula retail places are a lot lower than they are independent. these are broad generalities that i don't think are correct. also the points have been made about the fact that there are a lot of other coffee shops in the area. and therefore. and i am sure that most many of them are very good coffee shops, but some of them are kind of hybrids, there are bars and coffee shops, they are not really quite the same place. and you know, people go to a starbucks because they know what they are going to get. it is going to be neat, clean, and accessible bathrooms and they know the kind of service and they know the staff that they are going to get and they will be well groomed and polite and i am not going to say that they are not going to happen in independence but they have a model, and that is why they are successful because they have kept true to their standards and the people from other places as was pointed out by i think that it was mr. richards, rl