new instruct structure and they said that they will not be developing or put in the hard scraping over 3 feet and the plans show it at 6 feet. >> i don't think that i understand about that. >> i do. >> yeah, help me understand. >> i don't understand what is going to go in there? i don't have a great imagination. what is going to go in that space? when you say that the structure itself? >> yeah, the building, or the back of the building will end, right, so i have it in the cans at the rear of the proposed building, that is going to be the back of the part that sticks out the 14 feet. >> and what about the red line goes out further. >> and so the red line, is that is what they are calling ground level of the structure that they are putting in. >> so it is all land? >> so they are going to have to create new ground and new hard

scape to elevate the existing lot up to that red line. >> because of the garage issue? >> that was discussed earlier? >> because of the way that it is designed. >> all right. >> i don't know how how much you can change the existing grade of a lot before it needs to be permitted and that is where i go in down here. is there another variance needed that they are elevating the back of the lot 6 feet above the existing grade to say that okay, now we are still within the and this is told where it is tight right there, that is pulled directly out of the vernal heights special use code that it will not exceed 30 feet above grade and they do meet that and at the end it says, the rear most eight feet of length cannot exceed 32 feet above grade. >> they are measuring that 32 feet from this red line. >> so they have to now

transform this lot and bring it up to that red line to measure up to the 32 feet. >> okay. >> and then the contract that i signed with them and the addendum said that they were not going to change more than 3 feet. >> i was not able to look and measure things. >> how is that going to impact you? >> it is going to be a lot more structure in the back. >> the height, the grade, i don't... how is the higher grade going to impact you? >> the whole rear variance is going to impact me. if that rear variance was not granted i would have a lot more sunlight and there would be more of that open green space that is very valuable if we go back to... >> the green space from the... >> yeah so as you can see here. >> you don't have much green space behind yours? >> i don't. >> the green space behind the property of the proposed

project. >> there is may flower and this is all green space and we have a lot of wild life. >> but you bought a property that had no green space. >> but there is an animal highway back here of all of this green space and stuff and it is you know putting one more structure where the rear set back next to mine is going to really cut that off. >> okay. i see. i can see it from the picture. okay. >> thank you. >> you have three minutes of rebuttal. >> i guess that maybe my last question or my last response or comment might be just to look at this project in reverse if we did not request the variances i think that my client would be greatly debtmented by the two adjacent

properties because on the already small 70-foot lot there would be a large front requirement set back because of the vernal height design restrictions the structure would be exceedingly smaller than both adjacent properties and both would then create or have privacy concerns on the proposed property. and both properties would then, or would also you know, cast larger shadows upon any open space that was provided at 639. and that is why this is set up to address these types of situations so that when we are not looking at a you know monopoly city and we are looking at an organic city we are able to respond to the correct context that we are working with. >> mr. sanchez?

>> thank you, scott sanchez planning department, i don't have much further to add other than what is in the letter and what i testified to previously, the section 311 requirements and there is also a white orange poster that go on that for 30 days and no limitations as to who may feel a discretionary review, because you may know there is no requirement for standing, you can be a neighbor next door, a neighbor in nevada, i mean there is no limitation. much as someone filing an appeal to the board of appeals does not require to be someone who is even impacted by the project. for the variance, there is a ten-day mailed notice to property owners within 300 feet and also a 20 day poster, 30-inch poster that gets posted on the building for the 20 days before the variance hearing. and so those are the

notification processes. i see that the disclosure agreement that was referenced earlier was signed in october of 2012, the variance application itself was filed in july of 2012, the application was on file and the item itself had not yet been noticed, i believe, and so that would not have happened in october. it would have gone out, poster 20 days before and ten days before. so again, we find that the requirements for the variance here have been justified and i do not take the variances lightly, and i think as noted we are to be you know restrictive in this, and i find that here given the condition of the adjacent properties that does have an impact and i see nothing in the state law that prohibits one from considering that, the fact that there is no citation certainly by the appellant and that sites with any clarity that prohibts that and there is references to the specific provisions in the different municipalities which

to me indicates that if they felt it necessary to include at the local level then it is probably not included at the state level and i just briefly looked at the state, at least the first part of the state ordinance and did not see anything that would restrict that and certainly this has been something that has been considered for variances and in this case, the size of the lot and the topogrophy and i think that those are all considerations as well and it is not just the condition of the adjacent property. the code complying would be 30 feet tall. they could actually extend the length that they are and they would need to make a set back in the buildable area and so they would have to create a larger zig zag, if you will and take away something in the build able area and in exchange for that gain in the rear yard. and so over all extension would be allowed, this was reviewed

by the slope design committee in vernal heights and they did not have any issues with it. thank you. >> it is very rare that you support a variance. >> very rare. >> i like to think that the note of variances that have been applied for have gone down dramatically and it could be a sign of the economy or other factors >> i have a couple of questions. i am trying to remember the first one. were you personally involved. do you have personal knowledge for the original plan verses what is now and the one that was before you know subject to the 311 notice? and to what extent has it changed at all from that point. >> it was issued on the same day of the variance hearing and what was noticed under the 311 should be essentially the same as what i have reviewed at the

first hearing under the variance. >> the application itself was for the building permit was submitted in i think, april or no sorry, february or march of last year and our residential design team reviewed it and gave the comments back on it and i don't know to what extent the changes were made. and after the first application was made, i mean, i see that there was a notice of supplying the requirements that we sent on this in april, and maybe the project architect could address what if any changes the planning department had made to the project as initially proposed. but the variance was applied for in july and we had the hearing last year and that is when the notice went out. >> the next question that i have relates to the vernal heights east slope design board? do they have different slopes? >> yes, there is an organized east slope review board and we do ask for the people to go and

see them and have them review the projects. when you say the special use district is that because it is subject to these design review boards? >> no. because there is an over all special use district as legislated and that or has different requirements than elsewhere in the city given the unique nature of vernal heights and that was implemented in the late 80s. >> so what did that, what is the... >> i think that it is advisory only. >> okay. >> capacity. i don't think that there is... there is not a review process where there is an approval or a denial. >> but they are very organized. >> having the support, and i think that in response for finding it for and received endorsement from and is that a... i mean, what is the rate at which we should apply to that in terms of is there...

are there standards that are review more stringent than what the city will allow. my pdsing of the process and it has been a while since i worked in the south east. they are more restrictive than maybe what the codes would allow. the code will say that you can do this but the design review committee may say that we don't like the project. >> okay. that is all of my questions. >> thank you. >> commissioners the matter is submitted. >> comments? >> having dealt with the east side design review, they are tough. i mean, so they are very organized and they want certain things to be addressed in their neighborhood. so, given that i take weight in

the fact that rsea does not support the variances very often. looking at the project, i don't see that, it is a huge impact, the fact that there are two units that are under 1,000 square feet. and on that particular block, even though the lots are small, the homes that are particularly surrounded are the several of the larger homes on the block. and so basically, you are getting and it is just bringing the center piece into parody and so in that case, i would say that the zoning administrator is correct in his variance. >> no error. >> no error, no. >> thank you. >> any other comments? >> nods? >> no error, but a difference of opinion, but that is okay. we always have that.

i would concur with that basic finding. the fact is that on the frontage most of the homes there go up to the property line. and the two homes, and then the two speakers, who are appellants, actually have homes that are non-compliant with the current code. >> the question of, the impact and i am not sure that i quite agree with them on the level of impact that they foresee. the privacy issues related to the deck, the deck back there is visible to everybody, for half a block. and the shading, it was probably the over all envelope that has not changed from the documents that he was given when he first saw it and i don't see how the shading

mostly of his roof has significant impact upon his occupantcy. so. >> okay. >> and i'm inclined similarly. i think that i want to address, you know some of the issues raised by the appellants, i think that how to engage with them is a concern for the public and i think that is new home owners, and vernal heights, i mean there are a lot of things going on there with respect to wanting to insure that you can have a say so. and it seems to me though, that whereas there was some level of notice and some effort at attempting to organize, a response, it does seem to me that notwithstanding, not showing up for a discretionary review, their voices were heard in some ways maybe you did not

get everything that you wanted, with the variances but it sounds like some part of that worked. but recognizing the process and accessing it is a critical issue. >> and i think that the issue on principle of the green space that is an important one, i think that our city, i live in vernal heights in a different part in seeing the structures that i mentioned and i recognize that we want to maintain that on principles as well and the particular location of this property, next to and as commissioner honda was saying, it seems to me and in a comment from the variance holder that it would be very negatively impacted if it had to maintain ta small size that i think would be appreciated by the appellants but it would then be in some ways not benefiting from what is already in existence. so, those are just the additional comments or otherwise i agree and concur with everything else that has

been stated. >> we have a motion? >> i am going to move to up hold the variance decision on the basis that he did not error with his position. >> thank you. >> could you call the roll, please? >> we have a motion from commissioner fung to up hold the granting of the variances on the basis that the zoning administrator did not error or abuse his discretion, on that motion, president hwang? >> aye. >> commissioner hurtado? >> aye. >> vice president lazarus? >> aye. >> commissioner honda? >> aye. >> thank you. >> the vote is 5-0, and the granting of the variance is upheld on that basis. >> no further business this evening,. >> the meeting is adjourned.

>> good morning. my name is ann crone enberg, i'm director of emergency management here in the city of san francisco. i'm here dem, our role is really to prepare for large disasters, the disasters that happen every day, too. i'm very excited today to present a new idea that the sharing community in san francisco has come up to partner with us in preparing for disasters and in responding to and recovering quickly. last month we had a very good drill mimicking a 7.8 earthquake. we fed 6,000 people in the tenderloin with no electricity. we had set up a shelter up at st. mark's.

it was just an incredible day. and that's what working with our community partners with the faith-based community and with the sharing community. ~ so, when mayor lee came to us about six months ago with this idea to partner with the sharing community, we were very excited and we said yes. we had our first meeting, first of many figuring out how we can build a platform together to make it very simple for our residents in san francisco to be able to get the resources they need and to be able to connect in a disaster using the tools that already exist in the platform. so, on that note i'm going to introduce mayor ed lee who knows disasters like no one else. he is the biggest supporter of our preparedness in san francisco and it's an honor to work for you, mr. mayor. >> thank you. thank you, ann. good morning, everybody. the good news this morning is

that there's no city-wide disaster. but we take this opportunity to remind ourselves that everything that we can do ahead of time to better prepare for disaster is going to be incredibly beneficial to our residents, to our small businesses, even to our major businesses. and, so, i have been very glad to have been working with board president david chiu to be working on the working group that as we review and understand what these new companies are doing, the technologically oriented companies that are part of a share economy, get more people involved in the economy in general, and creating ideas about how people can participate. we came across a very great idea that as we go through more exercises in our disaster preparedness, ann and her staff have been great at that. in fact, the last one i kind of had fun in, how do we feed 10,000 people in the middle of the tenderloin in a major

erredthtion quake disaster. we walked through that. we saw how meals are served. we tried to do it in the proper way. ~ earthquake we know we're going to need a lot of help. the main message that we wanted to have was after a disaster hits, we want the message to be out before disaster, during a disaster, and right after, that we welcome everybody to participate in our recovery. and the best way to recover quickly and faster is we engage everybody immediately about how we can help and assist each other. and that's partly a philosophy of the sharing economy as well. and whether it's a need for space, people need to have space as they did in the aftermath of hurricane sandy, or now in oklahoma, or whether they needed to get a car because their car was damaged, or they needed some repairs in their house, they're trying to relight the pilot in the stove and they didn't know how to do it.

they can't find the big utilities enthralled in a great effort elsewhere. these sorts of things people can help each other and we can access the companies that are part of bay share and the share economy to get some help for people right away. it's all in the general effort that i want people of san francisco in every single neighborhood to know we want them here as part of the recovery, that they're not going elsewhere, we're not leaving them alone. we're not leaving them isolated. i learned that big lesson as myself and others who went with me to new orleans a few years back a couple years after their levees broke. we tried to understand the frustration of people in the ninth ward, and we kept getting these testimonies. local government and the businesses didn't ask us to come back. they didn't register a note for us to want to recover with them immediately. i want that to be a philosophy

that is so strong, not only with our inter faith community, but also with our businesses, with our residents. and so, we're tasking up for that already with dem's leadership by saying that companies who have already figured outweighs to share in the economy can also join us in the planning ~ of what we can do to bring residents back quicker. and if it means, like i read this morning, somebody who wants to donate mattresses to fire victims or any disaster victims in the city, they have that ability to do that through a website. my job is going to be to make sure we have the power on and the big stuff happening so that our companies can help us. so, we're figuring that out through the life lines council, working with all the utilities and sharing information there. but today was about bringing companies, whether they're task rapid or air b and b or the car

sharing companies together with us and not only brain storm, but plan for the event so we're already have the task -- we can practice that. we can actually practice this today and involve neighborhoods through s.f. car, all the wonderful programs that dem has set up, we can actually practice the sharing economy after an event happens today. and i think that will get people not only expecting to be here, wanting to be here, but know that they'll have help to be here, help on the ground, help in their small businesses, help in their neighborhoods. so, this is what bay share's operation and work with dem is going to be all about. this is why we have decided to welcome them onto the disaster council so that they can work with us on an ongoing basis, work with all the other utilities, bring our small businesses into action in a major disaster. and we're already seeing those

efforts across the country when air b and b experimented what they can do to help people find some space with all of their memberships. they immediately said, we've got to turn the fee side off of the website. we've got to get people going. people wanted to help. they actually wanted to help. and for the kind of philanthropic spirit we have in san francisco and the bay area, i think there will be a lot of people that want to help. they just need to have that medium to be able to connect up. so, working with bay share, we decided it's got to be one port at for that to happen so that you're not looking for different companies and what they're expert in. you just have to go to one portal, through the dem process, and we'll set that all up. and then you can access different tasks that people are willing to help you out on. i think this is incredibly helpful to us to have more people involved on the front end of preparing for disaster so they can help the city recover quickly. this has been a philosophy that i have wanted to have in this city. i'm so proud of our dem and our

bay share groups that come together today with all the other people who have been committed for many, many years, helping us even improve in what we do, we know we're going to be there for each other. we'll be there with resources, with skill sets, and with even a higher level of appreciation for everybody. so, great announcement. thank you to bay share and all the members for coming together to be with us and for your work on an ongoing basis to help the city prepare for disaster, recover quickly, and invite all the residents of the city to be part of it. thank you. (applause) >> thank you, mr. mayor. now it's my pleasure to introduce president david chiu who would like to say a few words. >> thank you so much. good morning. this announcement today is about how we best prepare being ground zero. ground zero in a number of meanings. first of all, san francisco, we are ground zero when it comes to emergency preparedness. i want to thank the department of emergency management and all of the folks who as a community

ensure that just as we had to recover after the 1906 fire just as we recovered after loma-prieta in 1989, we know that the big one will hit us with a certainty over the next 30 years and we have to be prepared. but san francisco is also ground zero for another wonderful phenomenon, and that is the sharing economy, the collaborative consumption movement that many of the folks here represent. i want to thank those of you who are innovating, thinking about how can we better use resources, how can we better share services, how can we ensure our housing, our transit, our tasks a shared among each other to maximize benefits for all our local communities. today obviously we are merging these two things, emergency preparedness and shared economy. mayor mentioned hurricane katrina. before i became a supervisor i spent nine years running a technology company. a few years after hurricane katrina, i was asked with a national team to go visit new

orleans to figure out what we needed to do to get literally hundreds of websites up for nonprofit and city agencies that were looking to provide help. and at that time it took us months longer than it needed to do for recoveries that still years later have not yet come to be. and from our perspective, today's announcement is really about how we take those months and years and compress them into hours and days. the fact that on top of our emergency preparedness, on top of our local volunteers and i want to thank our churches, i want to thank our nert volunteers, community members who are already prepared what we need to do when the next big one hits. account fact we are layering on top of our emergency innovators to think today how we prepare for the future, i've been excited about, gratified to work with mayor leon our sharable economy working group. this is one of the outputs of that. and i look forward to many, many ways in which our community will learn how to share both before and after the next big one hits us. thank you very much. (applause)

>> thank you, president chiu. milicent johnson is the leader of bay share and she's going to tell us a few things about bay share and how it came together. >> bay share is so thrilled to have the first of this kind partnership, to work with the city, and to really pitch in to help our hometown, the bay area, become stronger and more resilient. bay share is a collection of companies and stakeholders in the sharing economy who see the value of coming together, to pitch in, to start initiatives, to be a resource, and to collaborate with our city officials and our communities to help build a stronger community. a more connected community is a more resilient community, and communities that are connected are communities that share. and, so, it's a natural partnership and a natural collaboration for us to work

with our cities and the bay area to help build a stronger community. we are incredibly excited for our users to engage in department of emergency management initiatives. we are powered by the citizens of the bay area. whether they share cars, the city car share, or get around, share space through liquid space or para soma, or air b & b, or share stuff through yerdal, those are the people that come together and help each other in good times. those are the same people that are going to come together and help each other in disasters. and, so, we have a bunch of bay share members that are here and they have ideas for how they want to work with different city departments and want to pitch in to help create a stronger bay area. our next speaker is actually going to give you a concrete example of one of our member really stepping up to the plate and lp