middle polk consistently works with our retail friends up and down the polk corridor whether they are within our boundaries or whether they are outside our boundaries. polk street as we see it as a very interesting retail corridor within san francisco. filled with independent retail shops that shapes our very neighborhoods. there is no opposition to these individuals. we really don't know them very well and we have nothing against them but we do wish that we were included in the outreach for this particular project. and we were not. mr. -- ms. courtney addressed that this should be retail to restaurant. it's a huge issue to losing a

retail space. a very serious issue. when we talked to ms. garland we talked about the restaurant to retail issue. today, i understand that there is an issue of the closing time perhaps no longer being 10:00 on weekdays and 11:00 on the weekends perhaps 11:00 across the board which is not what we talked about two 2 days ago. ms. garland says they need time to see what will work. we know what will work which is retail space. we know that that will work

there. should we accept this permit where two 2 days ago we talked about something different. should we accept loss of our precious precious retail environment on polk street because a restaurant our would like to open another spot. there is nothing against individuals but there is an issue of losing retail on polk street because it's known as an interesting vital retail core. we want to be that interesting retail corridor. we appreciate your attention to this matter. thank you. >vice-president cindy wu: thank you. next speaker? >> good afternoon, commissioners, my name is angela. my family and i own the property at 2206 to 2216 polk street.

the subject property is one of our prized buildings. we inherited the vision when we purchased the property back in 2006. interior vision struggled to pay their rent from the beginning. we gave them numerous concessions and extra time to pay the rent and we helped them for several years since we owned the property. they voluntarily closed their doors in 2013 and did not renew their lease. we contracted gladys reality to assist us in renting the space and we contracted with them in san francisco and always been happy with the tenant profile. amanda and billy were presented to us and were not only the strongest qualifiers, but they are experienced with two other bay area restaurants and their concept

excited our family a lot and we believe that they will be a great addition to the block. the neighborhood and also the community at large. we believe in this project and we strongly consider an approval. thank you. >vice-president cindy wu: thank you. is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> good evening commissioners, my name is jerry gladys with the company and lifelong resident and third generation san franciscan. the company is 90 years old. i'm not 90 but the company is. i wanted to point out that we had a number of people that looked at the space, at tattoo par lour and that wouldn't make accepts to the -- sense

to the neighborhood and people would object to that. this is a nice family that would love to be part of this community. it's not aybar, it's not walmart. obviously i'm bias. i care much about the neighborhood and i live in the area. i urge you to support them and i think they would be a wonderful tradition. thank you very much. >vice-president cindy wu: thank you. is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner moore? >>commissioner kathrin moore: just to remind ourselves polk street falls into three distinct areas, lower and middle and upper polk. however this commission has looked at applications that come fln front of us who speaks of president chiu and as a neighbor in this area.

he has very succinctly extended his helping hand because the slow tipping of the scale from a balance of 20 percent retail and businesses now to 32 increasing to 34 has many times been a discussion and so cases we have taken precaution and denial of applications. that doesn't apply to this one. i think there is a sense of general comfort with the people in front of us, i do though object to the presentation being made to us that these are the reasons why we haven't contacted these neighbors. anybody in town knows that this is a group that speaks together, stands with each other and helps each other in the transformation of polk street. polk street has many many issues. however the point i'm trying to make is i happen to use polk street as a

retail street for nob hill which the primary board for any kind of source. polk street allows you to find the diverse mall local businesses where you can get your shoes done, where you can get your dry cleaner done, your optometrist and on and on including some of the larger folks that have supported trader joes on hyde and california. over the last 6 months, the transformation of polk street to a very difficult nighttime environment primarily with people eating on sidewalks has become actually from being comfortable to being quite uncomfortable because there is an element of rudeness and noise which many people in the area have complained to this commission and these are people that live mostly in the lower polk area and it is

quite notably a change. looking at this as a restaurant is one thing but looking at this restaurant with reasonable opening and closing time is another one. i'm comfortable with the offer of food they are trying to make but very sensitive with giving up as today ace -- today's own retail store. i'm in support is of it trying to make sure the conditions for which we are approving are very clear reflection of agreements with the neighborhood groups as mentioned by one of the presenters. >> >vice-president cindy wu: commissioner richards? >> can you comment on the mix between eating and drinking establishments and

retail in the neighborhoods? >> i can't. i don't have the numbers for those districts but i'm not able to. that's where that 20 percent came from. >> i'm in support of the project itself. i do echo concerns about the opening and closing times. they can come back to adjusting closing times. i want to make sure that things get documented as well. thank you.

>> on another issue, the on-line purchasing, which i will not do, but i don't know

how to do it, if i did, i would not do it, the whole thing is looking at a bookstore and finding a book that you like and actually looking at the character of the book, and you know, and i think that it is sad because it costs jobs, and i tell that whenever they try to push me into on-line banking i say do you want to lose your jobs, if i don't come to bank you are going to get sicked out of here and they are cutting their hours, all of the time, and it is irritating when you go to a bank and they close until five at clock and it eliminates choice and it could have an effect on a neighborhood because of what used to be a type of retail that could be successful is almost precluded because of so much purchasing on-line and maybe it will turn the other way if they start to get clothes that don't fit and have the prices that don't turn out to what they think they were, and in any way, i am supportive and they did a little research

on the other possibilities and it sounds like the quality is much better than would have been the case with a couple of services that were mentioned and another nail salon or a tattoo parlor and so i think that it sounds good to me and i would move to approve. >> second. >> you know, with the hours, being as mentioned 10 p.m. on sunday, through, and i guess that it is monday through thursday,; is that correct?? and friday, saturday, sunday, eleven? or is it sunday through thursday. >> do you want it to be eleven p.m. closing on friday and saturday or friday, saturday, sunday? >> friday and saturday is usually justify the early hour. >> ten sunday through thursday and eleven on friday and saturday. >> yes, sounds good to me. >> commissioner johnson?

>> i would echo the details about the formula retail and we will start to look globally at the percentages of types of retail and in terms of this project, i don't think that if a retail business, thought that this was a viable, economic opportunity and not just making a neighborhood cute and nice to go to, as business owners they would have done it and it has not happened and so we have, you know, a business here that wants to operate and i think that we should give them the opportunity to do so. but i do echo, the commissioner's comments and the one thing that i would say about the hours is i would propose, i know that commissioner richards has suggested a 6-month look back. >> not for this project, no. >> not for this project, okay. >> i suggested if they wanted to increase their hours, they can always come back and say that it is working and there

will be the same type of process. >> thank you. >> the hours would be in the cue, if we conditioned it. >> correct. >> what is the process if we say that it is working and we want to be off on monday and we want to be opened through sunday and they have to come back and get another cue? >> correct, they would. >> honestly, i think that we should not split hairs here, i think that it should just be eleven or whatever. >> eleven across the board. and if, i think that it should be eleven across the board and i think that trying to split showers of an hour here and there and you can come back with the whole process with a cue makes zero sense to me and if their neighbors say that we will prefer that he be closed or i am sorry not closed, closed earlier on certain days and then they should do that. and then, obviously the single restaurant there will be at least one day per week where

they will be likely be closed for inventory and other uses and potentially that day could be sunday or monday, you know? given my understanding of the restaurant industry. so i think that we should not split hairs on the hours agreed. >> could i ask miss tung, is it? to comment on the proposed hours that you would like to operate? >> our intention all along is to on the week nights close at ten, because all of our restaurant are closed at ten. and we don't object to the ten on weekdays, but it is just, i don't like the feeling of someone telling me that i think that by law we can go to midnight, we actually like going home early and i don't like the restriction of it, but

i don't have a problem with it. it is fine by us. >> thank you. >> commissioner moore, would i just say that this was an integral part of the neighborhood discussion, which it apparently was, because it was a neighborhood representative who brought it to our attention and i do not believe that we should change it. particularly if you do have a mixed use neighborhood where you have the ground floor retail, or restaurant and then you have at least two or three, or four stories of residential above and it is a collective noise on the streets. and in that corridor, which is of such great concern to the neighbor whose live in this area. that is what some of the resistance comes from, the smaller street and four story buildings and echos back and forth and in many cases you

have cornered out the seating areas and it is by the later hours and the applicant came in and spoke to the hours and i don't think that we should open it all, although i agree with you that some of these great variations are not what makes it easy to administer. >> commissioner richards. >> i echo what the commissioner said and also what she said, took me on the permit creep. and so, i mean if you started to discussing the ten p.m., and then 11 p.m. on friday and saturday, and i think that is the good faith negotiating that you should keep to. >> commissioner johnson? >> yes, i agree with you, i just don't know that, that good faith, needs to be codifieed in the ceu, where the business may need to come back and if the good faith is saying, let's say a year from now, everyone is like this seems great and everyone loves the restaurant and it is great if you guys are opened later and now we are burdening the restaurant with

coming to us to get another cue, and first the question is what are there other restaurants in the ncd and was in that area and are they opened to eleven? >> i see everyone shaking their head, i feel like i have seen some and i just want to ask you. >> there are bars in the area that are opened later and in the polk they are permitted to stay open to 2 a.m. any of the uses by right and so when we do a cu, we can condition it to reduce those hours and that is what the discussion is. but they are permitted to open to two. >> yes, thank you, again, and i guess that i will not belabor this and i feel that i respect, obviously the negotiation of the neighborhood groups and i feel like the business can stay on their honor, and honor those hours that they negotiated without having to be in a cu, that to me, sort of burdens them with, you know, an

arbitrary decision over hours, that i just, i just don't understand why we need to codify that and a planning commission, and i don't understand it. but i am not going to vote against a ceu and keep us here all night to do that, that is just my thought. >> thank you. >> please call the question. >> there is a motion and a second to approve this conditional use authorization with conditions, as amended to include operating hours of or closing hours at 20 p.m. at sunday through thursday and 11 p.m. on friday and saturday o that motion. >> antonini? >> aye. >> hillis. >> aye. >> johnson. >> aye. >> moore. >> aye. >> richards in >> wu in >> aye. >> so moved, that motion passes unanimously and places you on

16 ab. for 2014.0419 cv, and request for the variances, and condition use authorization. >> and good evening, president wu and members of the commission. sarah of the department staff and i have a few additional letters of support that are ready to be distributed to you. and the item before you is a request for the conditional use authorization to permit nihonmachi little friends school to construct a building on the property, the school is located on two parcels one on bush and one fronting suter and this will consolidate all of the programming to the suter street program and this building will be located on the west portion of the lot and replace off street parking and circulation and a playground. and existing programming on the site is located on a building in the east side and the two buildings will be linked

through doorways, the school serves 90 preschoolers and it may result in a slight increase in enrollment. conditional use authorization is required pursuant to planning cold section, 249.31 for uses over 4,000 square feet in the japan town special use district and section 209.3 for a child care facility providing less than 24 hour care for 15 or more children. by license personnel, of the state of california. in addition to the cu, request, a variance from the rear yard requirement is necessary pursuant, to 134, as it projects into the rear yard to the rear property line, the zoning administrator is in attendance to hear this item, at this time the department recommend as proval, based on the findings provided in the draft motion, and this concludes my presentation and i am available for any questions. >> thank you. >> project sponsor?

>> good evening, commissioners, my name is adrian, wu and i am the chair person of the board, and cathy, who is our executive director of nihonmachi was unable to make this hearing and so i was asked to read a message from her, dear planning commission members i am sorry to not be able to attend this important hearing in person for 40 years, they have provided exceptional preschool and school age after school program for over 200 children each year, here in san francisco. we are a japanese and bi lingual that strives to offer service to populations of family in san francisco. it is proposing this school preschool edition to provide a secure home for the agency to

relocate and expand our bush street preschool program from its current leased location. and we have leased space on the japanese language school for over 36 years. and currently we have a 5-year lease that will expire on october first of 2014, the landlord has asked us to seek an alternative site and a lease extension will need to be negotiated with the assurance that nlf will vacate the premiseses in the future, there is great urgency to make it a reality and continue to serve the young familis in san francisco. the proposed building edition will consolidate both of our preschool programs, in to a permanent facility, on property which is owned by our organization. and it will preserve all of our preschool slots and allow expansion by adding another 8 students. the program has a very long

waiting list of families needing our services. and it is therefore, crucial to maximize the classroom space and roof top playground for the preschoolers as well as to make the project economy feasible, and the loss of these services would be detrimental to working families please help us to continue to operate our preschool program with support, families in san francisco, and promote the vital japan town neighborhood by approving our project as presented, thank you. cathy executive director. >> good afternoon, commissioners my name is tad sinico and i am with the architects and the architect working on this project and i just quickly wanted to put out a point what we have done here in terms of our architectural goals here. and one we put up this elevation here that you can see what we are trying to do with

the julia morgan building which is the existing building on the site, we are trying to be a nice young sister to the building and be there for and support it. so, we designed this building in mass so that it is not taller than that building and it is set back, to be cohesive with that building, actually and it gave us a little front yard that we could kind of open up and have a garden in there in the front. and then we had and we made a need for an entry, because the morgan building has a much more difficult entry where you have to go up the stairs and turn and get around, this is a direct entry to the new portion of this building and it has an elevator so it makes both buildings accessible and simply that was one of the important parts of what we were trying to do and in this building, and in the japanese community. so thank you.

>> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners my name is karin kii and i am a member of the building committee for nlf and i also have been the co-chair of the jland use committee for japan town and serving on the land use committee and one of the projects that i have been working on are the design guidelines that will be enacted turned js and will soon be before you and as we were shaping up this project one of the things that i realized personally, was that this building, really presented a wonderful opportunity, to test what we are trying to do through js. and because there are very few building spaces available in japan town, and so, anything that goes up, and i want to stress, that this was being planned before there was really

anything in place that was mandatory. and when things are not mandatory, people are not always really well or willing to just leap out there and say, oh, yeah, i am willing to take on a little extra work and a little extra, possibly restriction in what i have to do. but, little friends, and hkit architects said, that would be great because we are part of japan town, we want to advance what is going on here and we want to be sure that we are compatible, and we believe in our community. and jhs is the product of a collaborative community process and so we work together, with hkit, from a pretty basic model. that did not actually have a lot of japanese character, in my personal opinion. and to something that grew as we collaborated, to have very specific points of cultural accent. we looked at how it related to

the julia morgan building. and then, when we looked at the staff, they looked at it carefully because we are on the look of the historic landmark, because to look at this as a potential landmark and they wanted to make sure that what we were putting up and what we are presenting was compatible with and did not clash with and did not upset the julia morgan building. and i have to say, that i was so pleased with the way that everyone worked towards a common goal, people understood that this building is more than just wanting to put up a nice building, it means something to the future of japan town. little friends board and staff want to see this building really present not just an omage to the past of japan town, but to its future.

to be looking forward in its modern design, and being a portal, for our young children to move into japan town's future, hkit understood that concept and ran with it. and the planning department challenged us, made us look through all kinds of different permtations and little tweaks and we went back and forth several times until we arrived on the final design that mr. sekino showed you, and so i really feel that this is a good process and it is a really good building, and it is a wonderful organization. and that this will be something that we will all be proud of having been a part of, thank you. >> i am a alumni parent with the little friends and they say

that it takes a village to raise a child and that absolutely wrang true to me when we walked through the daos of nihonmachi little friends and my kids are in high school and college and they are in a family with great diversity and so my husband and i had pondered when they were younger how we were going to insure that they appreciated their rich cultural heritage and as soon as we walked through the doors we knew that we were going to be okay. as with the richness of san francisco there were kids from all different backgrounds, there were a multitude of languages being spoken and our kids made friends with young people with whom they continued to be friends now. we were friends with parents, who we continued to be friends with now. and through that process of being empowered by being part of little friends, we began to explore other resources in japan town and the larger city and we realized that there were a lot pp