back so on the western side at certain elevations it is equal with the canadian consulate building on the opposite side of that alleyway called lamp sun lane and on the eastern side she has also pulled the building back at certain elevations to match the furthest point out on the building immediately to the eastern side. i think also in front she has pulled the building back 15 feet and those are sort of the usual and common changes to a proposed architecture so it doesn't have overbearing scale. and looking at the pictures i appreciate the effort and the outcome of the architectural rendering and i, too, have a -- this shows what you've seen already. some of the newer buildings, the

canadian consulate and then two others but then some of the buildings that haven't been remodeled they are also in height very high. it is a down slope lot and the other picture here shows my house, i'm two doors to the east, and immediately to the east of my house is a building that also is very tall in scale. so i think the way that the setbacks were created in the front and in the back both setbacks in the back forward and setbacks from the sidelines of the property inward help bring this into an appropriate scale and address many of the concerns. along the alley she has created a relief for plantings as well as set back on top of the garage, a fence structure as such, i think it says 28

seconds, i'm not sure which is right, the buzzer or me. probably me. and the garage also, it's interesting, the last 16 feet of her property or in the last 16 feet of the two neighbors easterly, of which i am one, we have an easement that affects only our 3 properties that gives access to the immediate eastern neighbor and then one further over, that would be me, access to the back of our property --. >> thank you, sir, your time is up. >> it's not a general turn around parking area. thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners, my name is patrick buskovich, i was retained two years ago on this house and during the last two years this project went from a de facto demolition to remodel

so i'm quite taken aback that people have said that this project is big. during my tenure it's been scaled down dramatically to now --. >> are you part of the project team? are you the engineer for the project? >> i was the engineer doing the soundness report but there is no longer a soundness report because there is not a demolition. >> you are not retained by the owner, though. >> when i was retained this house needed over $300,000 worth of work. during this hearing no one said it but it was in the dr briefs that this is an affordability issue. no one said it today because that's ridiculous. my family all lives within a thousand yards of this house. we own about 6 residences here. we're natives of the city. if you look up this alley you will see probably the smallest house in the neighborhood, which is earthquake shack no. 26. it's

not skewed. the problem with this house, and it has a fundamental problem, when they installed the siding they basically condemned this house to need major rehab because they trapped the water in this house over the last 30 years so this house needs substantive work. it's not affordable and when i was retained, this was a dramatically bigger project that over the course of the work with planning it's been reduced to a point where it's a remodel. thank you. >> thank you. any further speakers in support? >> my name is sky lane again, i worked with ian reed when they were going through the process with the design review team and the neighbor cooperation and i just wanted to speak to that process a bit.

this project really started with the design guidelines for corner property. the landmark status of a corner property and developed over two years working directly from the very beginning, from the conceptual stages right here, with both the planning department, the neighbors and the rdt, and you can see how the scale of the building really started to shift over that process and the architects took both the comments of the rdt and the neighbors into account and in that process were able to get of the de facto demolition by keeping the floor plates, were able to squeak out a little bit more air space above the building to lower it in the process, and were able to really create a prominent two-story volume at the street

level that worked with the stepping down of this part of the block. all of the -- the rdt gave provisional approval to this project and all the comments were addressed during this long process, as well as many of the neighbor comments, and i guess that's what i have to say. what we came -- what came up with at the end was a very strong modern statement that fits with the context that has warm neutral character of materials, that becomes part of this mixed neighborhood of old and new buildings. thank you. >> thank you. any further speakers? okay, seeing none, the dr requester has a

two-minute rebuttal. >> is the light on? this is very simple issue. it's really about the topography of 19th street. this is what we currently enjoy right now on 19th street, an uninterrupted pattern of descending roof tops that go down and follow the grade of the street. this house is going to pop out of that topography. many of the other people who have spoken just now are taking pictures from the rear of the building. that's an alleyway that people go to for the garages and so forth, it's not 19th street. 19th street is the public part that people are going to see. i have not heard the sponsor counter how this is going to not disrupt the topography and that's really a very crucial issue for us, it's going to really change the profile of 19th street forever. also they are taking, they are using, they are trying to qualify, this is a corner lot

to give them license to build a gigantic structure that's deserving of a corner lot. lampson lane is not castro street. lampson lane is an extremely narrow alley and i don't think it justifies putting such a large structure there and qualifying as a corner lot to do that. i'm going to leave the remaining time for ken, another dr requester. >> i'm ken calstein, i live at 4565 19th street across from lampson lane and i want to do two things. one, i want to show you the front of the canadian consulate now, this is how it was before. same height, same width. also when they talk about a habitable space of 2600 square feet, this building in reality is 5,000 square feet. there is 570 feet of garage, 470 square feet of

garage, rather, 350 feet for a workshop, two storage units of 660 square feet, so what started out as an absolutely huge building is now 5,000 square feet. thank you. >> thank you. project sponsor, you have a two-minute rebuttal. >> thank you, vice president wu, commissioners. michael smith from the planning staff and his residential design teamworked pretty hard with this project architect and the owner to come up with the best possible house for this setting. and i think they have done a really good job with it. they have created a house that is both responsible and respectful of the character of the block. it follows the contour of the topography. the setback at the top is very respectful of pedestrian experience along 19th street. but what it also does, it

presents gifts to the block just as the corner block -- corner houses on the other corners of the block do. the front setback area gives us an open notched courtyard with the terrace above so light will come through. it is not a maxed-out property by any stretch of the imagination. there are opportunities to create living space where architectural details were placed and placed carefully. the rear building wall was sculpted very specifically to address view issues that were of real concern with the canadian consulate. we met with them several times before the application was filed and discussed exactly what their view quarters were. it is important to them because they view them as being an important reception area for their governmental duties so we are being very respectful of that

and we did not extend beyond the point at which their building wall ends, despite the fact that our lot extends considerably further. this is a well designed project, it's a project that needs to happen to this house, it's not habitable in its current sense and it does not meet the level of exceptional extraordinary circumstances required for you to take dr today. thank you. >> thank you. the public hearing portion is closed. commissioner hillis. >> so first cunningham, it was a fairly civil dr from what we normally hear. you can all get along after this process. what's more to the -- i mean, it is a big addition and a big remodel to the home, but i think it kind of works with what we see as very different

size of homes uphill in smaller homes, downhill, it has a set back on the side and a decent set back in the front. so i am generally supportive. i mean i think i could look at kind of addition of a setback, additional setback in the front along 19th street, that's the only thing giving me a little trouble, but generally i don't think there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances here, i think it's generally well designed and kind of responds to the homes around. certainly have been major changes to the housing stock, especially to the uphill side of the building. i'm generally satisfied. >> commissioner moore. >> i would say i'm generally supportive, i just have one question and that ultimately goes more to the area of the jurisdiction of the zoning administrator. i'd like to ask the architect, as you were

observing the neighborhood, the adjoining buildings up and down the street, is there rear yard open space on grade? >> there's a mix. uphill there are one or two that have a portion of rear yard grade, but by and large the newer developments have a stepped-down yard that steps down to the garage. >> appreciate you having observed that. question i like to ask the zoning administrator, as we are identifying the city it is very difficult for me and i think also for some other members of the commission to give up that open spaces as required are on grade. we just took the 1601 larkin to mention the second

time today, a major redesign in order for that to occur. my question, is it a fact that this particular project by choice is larger than perhaps an addition would allow that would provide the required open space on grade not to inflict a difficulty by which it might be a little more difficult to step away from a variance? >> thank you for the question. so first, just a couple of things on usable open space. the code does not require that usable open space be located at grade, it can be located in numerous ways, either by a roof deck, a balcony, at grade. in this case these open spaces are being provided by the garage, on top of the garage, they are developing that as usable open space and also an underground connection or near connection from the main living level of the building to the rear

garage. in reviewing this and reviewing the variance request i'm actually quite supportive of the proposal and think it's a clever way of dealing with usable open space issues here for this lot and if we were to have usable open space at a lower level, in fact it's actually at the main living level here at least for the unit that's being added so i think that it's a reasonable solution. additionally it's been noted by the neighbors that the rear most portion of the lot, and it is a large lot, a longer lot, is dedicated as an easement for access to adjacent properties so that's an at-grade area that could otherwise be developed for usable open space except it can't because it's dedicated for access. so they are taking the roof, dedicating it for usable open space and i see this as a fine way of satisfying the requirements of the code. certainly i would be

supportive of the proposal. >> if i may engage for another minute in a conversation, i think the joint agreement for not having land locked lots which do not have rear access is a discussion between three neighbors who i don't believe that the turn around itself is de facto open space any more, it is an agreed-upon circulation space by which all people together reduce their lot widths in order to have the garage with rear access. the only question i would ask, that's not only looking at this property but looking at other properties and similar circumstances again reflecting on what we had on larkin where in the larkin case the adjoining neighbors were seriously impacted by the lack of open space on grade and do you see that possibly in other circumstances to be an issue? >> depending on the project,

certainly having usable open space at grade may be preferable to having it located elsewhere. i think this project that's before you now the location of usable open space is appropriate and satisfies the intents and requirements of the code. >> i am in support of this project for all of the reasons but i like to send a message to the department that we're starting to look more carefully on the larger patterns of sun and light and collective open spaces including the wall effect on narrow properties it creates to either side. in this one case we have an alley which was green which makes it greener on the alley side but generally i am concerned about that becoming a standard way of doing things. thank you.

>> would anyone like to make a motion. >> i'd make a motion to approve the project. >> second. >> not take it up. >> second. >> commissioners, there a motion to not take dr and approve the project as proposed. roll called. that motion passes unanimously 5-0. >> on the variance, the public hearing (inaudible) grant the requested variance. >> commissioners, that will place you under your last angendized item, public comment. i have no speaker cards. >> is there any general public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. meeting adjourned. (meeting adjourned).

>> i love teaching. it is such an exhilarating experience when people began to feel their own creativity. >> this really is a place where all people can come and take a class and fill part of the community. this is very enriching as an artist. a lot of folks take these classes and take their digital imagery and turn it into negatives. >> there are not many black and white darkrooms available anymore. that is a really big draw. >> this is a signature piece. this is the bill largest darkroom in the u.s.. >> there are a lot of people that want to get into that dark room. >> i think it is the heart of this place. you feel it when you come in.

>> the people who just started taking pictures, so this is really an intersection for many generations of photographers and this is a great place to learn because if you need people from different areas and also everyone who works here is working in photography. >> we get to build the community here. this is different.

first of all, this is a great location. it is in a less-populated area. >> of lot of people come here just so that they can participate in this program. it is a great opportunity for people who have a little bit of photographic experience. the people have a lot, they can really come together and share a love and a passion. >> we offer everything from traditional black and white darkrooms to learning how to process your first roll of film. we offer classes and workshops in digital camera, digital printing. we offer classes basically in the shooting, ton the town at night, treasure island.

there is a way for the programs exploring everyone who would like to spend the day on this program. >> hello, my name is jennifer. >> my name is simone. we are going on a field trip to take pictures up the hill. >> c'mon, c'mon, c'mon. >> actually, i have been here a lot. i have never looked closely enough to see everything. now, i get to take pictures. >> we want to try to get them to be more creative with it. we let them to be free with them but at the same time, we give them a little bit of direction.

>> you can focus in here. >> that was cool. >> if you see that? >> behind the city, behind the houses, behind those hills. the see any more hills? >> these kids are wonderful. they get to explore, they get to see different things. >> we let them explore a little bit. they get their best. if their parents ever ask, we can learn -- they can say that they learned about the depth of field or the rule of thirds or that the shadows can give a good contrast. some of the things they come up

with are fantastic. that is what we're trying to encourage. these kids can bring up the creativity and also the love for photography. >> a lot of people come into my classes and they don't feel like they really are creative and through the process of working and showing them and giving them some tips and ideas. >> this is kind of the best kept secret. you should come on and take a class. we have orientations on most saturdays. this is a really wonderful location and is the real jewel to the community. >> ready to develop your photography skills? the harvey milk photo center focuses on adult classes. and saturday workshops expose youth and adults to photography

classes. okay good afternoon, everyone. thank you very much for coming happy new year i'm ed reiskin i'm the director of transportation and happy to kickoff the new year. san francisco has been a dynamic city during the break i was reading the history of muni how things have changed and required the city to view. we're in a lot of change including in our transportation system a lot of change is good but it needs to be managed and it's safe and a consistent with the transit first policy. we're here to talk about that.

we've got a lot of great partners partners if commercial transportation from the private be sector and companies that they service and our participates in the city. i think you'll hear from the mayor and other speakers we're chronically this issue head on and really going to address something that's are bringing benefits to san francisco and we'll continue to realize those benefits while addressing any issues that this corporate employee shuttle are bringing. without further ado happy to bring up our mayor mayor ed lee >> thank you (clapping.) well happy new year i want to thank supervisor weiner and

supervisor chiu they're for better and improved transportation tom nolan is here as well as his assumes a fact not in evidence i want to thank them and tilly. i want to thank the bay area council jim has been a great contribute to us here in the bay area as we should tell our transportation issues in the city. it's better to start up the conversation with the corporations that are employees and resident are going to figure it out better and working with the commuter shuttle companies as well as the companies that are hiring our residents. it's a great opportunity to talk about this because guess what our transportation needs are great and we reflected that i think in a serious document we

recently rolled the transportation documented that ed reiskin 2rikd so much to envisioning our needs. today, we're talking about a challenge something that is a recent phenomena but been in the eyes of the folks it's the commuter shuttle that have been taking our resident and others to their jobs and be it a silicon valley company or medical compass or university the shuttles are here and they've been helpful in that but for them possibly we could see 45 thousand additional vehicle millions on our roadways or some 11 thousand tons of cashing