vet services such as vaccinations and microchip, the majority of our clients are those that could not otherwise afford private services, we ask you for your support to allow pet food express to open on lombard street so we can be able to provide these services for people who thaoed them in the community. >> i'll call a few more names. (calling speaker names). >> hi, my name's ann lewis, i'm a lifetime dog owner, i wholeheartedly support the opening of pet food express on lombard street and i thank [inaudible] bullying tactics of the merchant associations and small shop owners, i go out of my way to support san francisco

small business. i shop at the animal connection on both washington and chest nut and will continue to support them if pet food exprez opens on lombard, however, there's both the room and the need in this community for a store like pet food express, iet assist company that gives back and offers a novel convenience of parking. i can't do that on chest nut street, so now my tax dollars are going to marine county, i would rather they go to san francisco. i would rather not to go to marine to buy my ten cases of dog food, and a little thing like a parking lot makes that easier, supporting this is good for the economy, good for the community and most importantly, it's good for the groups that work tirelessly to find homes

for the city's lost animals so now youz as a board have an opportunity to do what's right, don't reward the bullies but rather reward the free market, reward the other small business thaz will benefit from having a retail anchor stror on lombard street, reward the consumers that want business in that space and reward pet food exz press and michael levy that grew from a milgts guy to a big guy and opened a store that people liked, thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners, i don't envy your jobs. my name's jonathan parsons, i live in the marina neighborhood and i'm disabled, i had to cut in line, i'm sorry, because i really have to leave, i'm very much against pfe coming to lombard street as well as all

my neighbors around me are who couldn't come because they're on vacation, and they already have three stores here, there on california, you heard the story over and over again, there's been a decision made in 2009 and i'm not going to waste anymore of your time, thank you very much. >> my name is yvonne valencia, i have a catering business in san francisco, i sponsor small businesses and pet food express sponsored my business since 2006. we serve breakfast for the managers and its employees, they *f this time they open a small business, so i sponsor them too. so, thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioner, my name is andre, i'm a general manager of i print and e-mail, we're a print

and e-mail company based here in san francisco. we are a certified small business and minority owned business through the city's owned human rights commission. our owners are long-time residents of san francisco and 90% of our nroibacker employees work and live in the city as well, we have worked with michael and pet food express for over 20 years, over the year, we witnessed what good they bring to the community, they make the local economy more vibrant, they bring a lot of good will to the city's residents and pet owners, you have heard a lot of their testimonies today. in short, i support pet food express in this application, it's a darn fine company that had its humble beginnings in san francisco and to this day, they still continue maintaining their deep root ins the city and its communities. thank you.

>> commissioneress, my name is jennifer ferries and i'm here on the merchant's association to voice our strong opposition to granting this conditional use permit to pet food express, formula retail must be necessary and desirable in order to get this permit, then i'm not really sure why we're still talking about this after four years with 21 locations within 20 miles and another store barely a mile away, this won't add anything unique or necessary to the neighborhood, much of what makes us a great city is the diversity and character of our small businesses. the entry of another major big box store will harm the existing small businesses and the livelihoods of their employees and owners, we want you to protect them and deny this permit again. thank you. >> good evening, commissioners,

i'm eric messier smith, i live in the marina for over 23 years, i'll go down to cal fawner ya store or drive my truck down to market and that's a distance and i live in the marina, this location is closer, it's more convenient, i'm also very familiar with lombard street, all of you i know are too. it is vacancy after vacancy after vacancy and it looks just terrible and that location has people sleeping there in the evenings, there's crime at that location and this particular business, it looks like it would be a perfect fit for -- it would be certainly convenient to me, i would urge you to go ahead and grant their petition. thank you very much. >> good evening, my name is

gail mametska, last weekend, we celebrated our 40th anniversary and for the past two year, we had a doggy pageant and parade, i reached out to many small businesses, even franchises to help support this event, the only organization who ever responded was pet express. pet express donated prizes, pet food, pretty much anything we asked, they were able to give to the event. i'm here in support of an organization that gives back to the community. i'm here to support pet express. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. let me call a few names. (calling speaker names). >> good afternoon, i'm john

daniel, i'm rep scents rocket dog rescue, every sunday, we have a mobile adoption event at pet food express, they've been gret supporters of rocket dog rescue and never once did we feel our support is contingent on us supporting them back. we had an opportunity to go to marina green, we attended with a few volunteers and the thing that was unique about that day is how many people approached rocket dog with asking for opportunities to volunteer, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters said if there's not enough for us, to find a way to volunteer in our community and pet rescue is something we'd like to be involved with, without pet food express's support, we wouldn't have that food base to have that to help save dogs, i ask you to accept their proposal and open the store at lombard street.

thank you. >> good afternoon f, planning commissioners, any name is yvonne jansky, i'm a san franciscan, i am proud to say i've lived here 56 years next month, i am here in wholehearted support of pet food express, i remember clearly when lombard was a beautiful street with bustling businesses, the many vacancies have brought in a rise of crime, i feel that pet food express will bring business back in the street and bring a wonderful and needed.service to our animal owning neighbors, they work with pets unlimited and animal care control, these

kittens and cats need homes and this can be provided with them, i have two rescue cats with pelting unlimited, i can't get the food from other places, i can get everything i need under one roof with pet food express, i strongly feel they would be a huge asset to the street and the neighborhood in general and bring back business to the neighbors on lombard, it's a win, win for all of us, the customer service is outstanding, thank you very much. >> good evening, my name is susan fry, i've been a san francisco resident for 23 years and i'm a parent to a 7 year-old daughter, two dogs and a cat. they are literally thousands of pet products, thousands and thousands, some available at pet food express store, some

available at small stores, i feel fairly representative of how san franciscans shop, myself and my friends, we shop at multiple types of stores that offer the same types of things, and we shop there for a specific product, we may shop out of loyalty to the business and out of relationships that we formed with them. while i understand the concern the chest nut pet stores have, i feel pretty confident that the loyalty they have gotten from their current customers will help them. the adoption center at the lombard street store will hopefully increase the pet owners and the pets in the community so that everyone will have more people shopping for their pets in the stores in the neighborhood. i'm fully supportive of pet food express on lombard street. thank you. >> my name is marita piazza,

i'm a resident of the marina, i am retired, i own a dog and i do not own a car. i would absolutely love to have pet food express on lombard street. if you have ever had a pet dog in your bathtub covered in shampoo leap out of you, shake away and run away, you would understand why it would just be so wonderful to have a pet wash that i can walk to. also i have a wonderful vet, my dog does, he's capable, he's on lombard street, but with the option of vaccinations at less than half the price, i go to pet foods express on the bus for my dog's vaccinations, the vented is sociable and kind, i would believe that probably more dogs in san francisco have rabies vaccinations because of

their service f, i heard foggy doggy mentioned tonight, it happens to be my dog's groomer, i told them that -- they did not give permission for their name to be used, and they gave me permission to mention that to you today. >> met l*et me call a few more napes, i think we're about 1/3 through public comment, so if you find yourself having some more comments and thoughts as previous speakers, you might want to shorten your message. (calling speaker names). >> good evening, my name is martin, i'm a long time resident of the marina and also serve for several years as the director for the marina

community association and some other local association, today i'm speaking in my personal capacity as a pet owner and a satisfied owner of pfe, i'll keep my comments if i can to two minutes but i've included more detailed arguments in my may 10th letter to the planning department which i believe is on record. i would like you to respect free enterprise, fair competition and consumer choice by allowing pet food express to open this new sto, many pet owners like myself and my wife very much appreciate the product and services that pfe offers while what is currently available in the marina district, some people want to prevent us from where we want to shop so we have to shop elsewhere in our case, that's

called protectionism, and they do not -- they are not the majority. [inaudible]. isn't that something the consumers should be allowed to decide for themselves, formula businesses like the gap, walgreens, etc., etc., these are all formula retailers but very much appreciated and welcomed by marina residents, in summary, i hope the commission will defend free enterprise and consumer choice and reject unfair protectionism, please allow pfe to open their preferred store, it will be welcomed by marina residents and will strongly benefit the local economy. thank you very much. >> hi, my name is barry

leonard, i've been a san francisco resident since 1976, also i own a small pet shop in glen park since 1984, i came to meet michael as a competitor because he had his store up at west portal, mike and i have become friends, currently i have a shop down in redwood city and i'm bracketed by two of the pet food expresses, he's never gotten a leg up on me, michael doesn't compete on price, he competes in service f, he does a good job, i respect him, i think he has a right to do business, just because he's successful, you shouldn't bar him, if michael's going to face a community of people who don't want him, he's going to have to go away. i think it's up to the store owners themselves to keep their customer base, and not to

worry, i've always thrived in his shadow, i don't think it's a problem. thank you. >> good evening, commissioners, henry of the san francisco council, district of the merchant's association, i'm going to speak of what my feelings are, the marina merchants did not really make a presentation to us because what you heard before from the presence of the marina association, bottom line is what i did hear from most of the merchants around town, had pet food express reached out to the neighbors right from the get-go, if they didn't keep the place vacant, if they kept the main storage warehouse over here rather than moving it across the bay, they would have a lot of support from the merchants that i have spoken

to, but however that didn't happen. did i deserve to be punished for that and not be able to open up, that's for you to decide. i'm really torn about this. i think they're doing a great job of what he's given to the police dog training and all these other things that he's done, the contributions he's done for these non-profits, he's done a great job in has ropt, but the other small businesses, what have they gotten with pet food express. i want to say that that's where we sort of came if we didn't come up to a decision, i would like to leave it up to your wise decision. thank you. >> hi there, my name is richard shu and i own a small pet boutique in the castro and i'm a member of the castro merchant's association and we oppose chain shoes in the

castro neighborhood because we know it will change the neighborhood adversely, people come and dine in the neighborhood, allowing pet food express to come will deny that aspect, keep the character of the marina and the character of the city, thank you. >> hi, my name is lisa freed man, i live 5 blocks from this location and i oppose the project and if r the sake of brevity, i can walk to the store, the pet food express to if i wish to from my location so i don't think it's necessary and i don't think it's desirable either, thank you. >> next speaker, please.

>> good evening, chair fong and commissioners, 20 years ago, i made the decision to change careers and to go to veterinarian medical school primarily so i could be a more effective animal welfare advocate, as a san francisco resident and veterinarian, i am here today to speak to you in support of pet food express's proposal to open the lombard street facility. the most compelling argument for me is the cat adoption center which i hope other time will expand to include more species, san francisco has many animals in need of homes but too few adoption centers. we must not kill, and i use that word intentionally, i will not use the word youth nao*iz

which is a medical term, we youth nao*iz animals to end suffering, so we are killing animals, and it's because we don't have an effective means to find homes for them, according to dr. rebecca cats of san francisco animal care and control, cat adoptions have gone up by 652 since the relationship between acc and pets unlimited began in august of 2011. i have a second reason for supporting pet food express, one that i don't think has been raised, and that is earthquake preparedness, as the neighborhood emergency response team coordinator nert for glen park, i worry about earthquake preparedness for the people

and the animals, and as most people know, the marina district is at high risk and i worry about the animals. thank you very much. >> hello, i'm here to present a letter in support of pet food express on behalf of the co-president of the president of the sfpga, so, this is from jason, dear commission, i am writing to express the san francisco spca's support for a new pet food express store in the lombard district, as you may know, canted are surrendered to san francisco..[reading].. on market and debose will help

raise cats, both of which will help animal ins our city. pet food express has been an important and generous supporters donating money, food, toys and other goods, their work to feature..[reading].. to do on-site adoptions and to provide discounts demonstrates they get it when it comes to improving animal wet fair and the communities that serve. i would also like to speak on behalf of the voiceless, the homeless cats and kittens that will be impacted by this proposal, i think they would support the store as well. thank you very much. (calling speaker names).

>> hi name is toer ri paten and i'm the resident of the marina for the past two and a half years but a fifth generation bay area native and i live directly across from the pet food express and i'm a huge supporter of it, i see homeless people out there, people urinating and i think this would help the lombard corridor, so i'm in full support. i also understand that your staff reported two weeks ago in their formula retail report that pet food express is typically not associated with formula retailer, it hurts regional retailers, your planning code says that retail uses are most critical to success of commercial district, it would be a catalyst for investment and upgrades on lombard, i urge you to support's your staff assist recommendation and improve lombard street and the small

businesses on that street that need this project. thank you. >> hello, commissioners, my name is john toesh, i own a pet store on dairy boulevard and it's good to see you again, i think it's the third time in front of some of you. as far as -- i've heard a lot of people say -- or some of the reports say that pet food, independent pet food companies thrive under a pet food express existence. well, let me tell you about some realities, when they opened up their store on california street, six months late e we experienced a 15 to 20 percent loss in business. that's a fact. i don't know where these folks get these facts from. secondly, let me tell you quickly what the two or three or five stores down there on chester that's going to be in for when pet food express

arrive, they called my store asking for prices that they apparently wanted to match. this went on for months and once they figured out that we got -- we were on to them, they had their customers at their counters call us, and how i know this, because i asked the customers, are you standing there, and they said yes. so, as far as, you know, having this integrity about pricing and the fairness of pricing and buying, it's a fantasy because i'm living proof that that has happened. if you approve this particular pet food express which was already decided four years ago, all you're doing is adding to the domination of this company, they want to dominate the entire area of the pet food industry. this is a seminal moment for

this committee, the moment is if you decide to let this project go through, you are going to open up the flood gates for all the rest of the big box stores that are watching this carefully. i urge you to reject this. thank you. >> thank you, let me call a few more names. (calling speaker names). >> commissioners, my name is earl atkins, i'm the publisher of the marina time, i ae peer you before to keep the record state, misrepresentations have been made to members of this commission to sdret the marina times and our support for pet food express, specifically it is said that i told a number of local area merchants that pet food express pays our print bill. i'm here to tell you tonight

that is false. as publisher, i am responsible for managing the company finances, i am well apair of the cost of doing business and the sources and the amount of income we receive. let's be clear, pet food express neither pays our print bill nor do we receive income from them sufficient to pay our print bill. pet food express and the marina times entered into a cooperative relationship to promote rescues and save animals. the financial contribution from pet food express covers only a portion of the cost of this program. the marina times makes up the rest. it's our commitment to saving animals and we're glad to do it. there is no way pet food express pays our print bill or even comes close to paying it. the statement that they do made by the opponents of pet food express is a falsehood and

serves to illustrate to me the extent to which they will go to misrepresent the facts and sdret others. i urge you to grant pet food express a conditional use permit because it is in the best interest of the overall community and i urge you to exercise caution with regard to claims made by the opponents for they too may be false. thank you. >> good evening, my name is warren spaoeg l, my daughter owns independent pet store, and on two different occasions when she had to remodel her store and another one to move the location, while she was doing it, she went every day for over 6 months to keep the front of

the store clean. did pet food express do that? no. four years, they have been paying rent and never went to paint or clean the parking lot until when? until they had to appear here. that's wrong. they're not interested in san francisco. they're interested in pet food express and pet food express only. everything else that's been said to you, i hope you do not let them come in for obvious reasons. thank you. >> good evening, my name is marlene sansiloti, i was raised in the marina so i saw it in the old days when it was all small shops and it was enchanti,