at 7th and natoma street. we don't want the one park we have to be shadowed from the building. we need shadow from the trees to emit oxygen and not carbon dioxide. it will be bad for the air and it will be bad for the environment. we need the sunshine. we can get vitamin d from the sunshine. and it's unhealthy, too; if we have no vitamin d. because the calcium absorbed in our body vitamin d from the sun. we need the space. that is the first park we used to dance and used to be a member -- there was a senior center there, and we danced there in the victoria manalo draves park. if there were any activities in

south of market, we always hold them in victoria manalo draves park because it's a big space. so if there are buildings there, more people, more pollution, more traffic and they emit carbon dioxide, which is bad for our health. so we oppose the tall building there, where people that live there and we don't want that. so please vote no, no and no. >> thank you. >> i will be translating. thank you. >> good morning, commissioners.

>> translator: i will be translating really quickly. so mr. juanita said he doesn't want the victoria manalo draves park to be shrouded with shadows because it's the one and only park in their community. it's the only place

where they have a space to walk around, to rest and to get sunlight. so he is saying that if there is a shadow cast coming from this one development -- proposed development, others may soon follow and this park may soon be totally in the dark. so he is asking that you don't allow the proposed development at 190 russ street to proceed as planned. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good morning commissioners. >> you can speak on this. >> good morning, commissioners i volunteer at west bay community center and student at the university of san francisco. i'm here to ask you to say no to the proposed development at 190 russ street from the center that helps student and seniors. the family and friends use the

victoria manalo draves park. it's the one park that we have in the neighborhood to enjoy sunshine and fresh air for everyone to play in with the students for the after-school program. if this and other developments begin to cast shadows on this park, we'll lose all of that. our enjoyment of this one open space that we have will be reduced. please protect victoria manalo draves park by say nothing to this development. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. if i have called your name, just come on up. doesn't have to be in any order. thank you. >> good morning, commissioners. my name is christina, and i am with usf and west bay. i am here today to urge you to vote no on the passing of the 190 russ street project, because of the shadow it will overcast -- it will add on to victoria manalo draves park.

victoria manalo draves park is the only multi-purpose park and green recreational open space in the south of market. and it's a critical community asset within the youth and family zone and cultural district. with three other projects in the pipeline, that is estimated to cast new shadows in addition, to the impact of 190 russ street project, cumulatively will have an adverse effect to the only park that serves the densely populated area in the south of market and approval of this project will set precedent and totally discard the value of open spaces and to the most deserved residents who actively use this park. we strongly urge you to vote no on the 190 russ street project

and furthermore, recommend that the recreation and parks commission engages with the community in developing policies to protect vulnerable parks in recently zoned neighborhoods that lack openly green and active spaces like south of market. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> my name is tan chow speaking on behalf of the committee for better parks and recreation in chinatown. we have no ob[skwr-ebs/] for the project, but we object to this proposed development that will have shadow impact on vmd in soma. like chinatown, soma is an open space and recreation high-needs neighborhoods and has a high concentration of holidays households under the post line and lacking open space

resources this neighborhood is also adjacent to freeways and family and seniors and children are highly vulnerable when crossing the streets as many don't have car. many in bays this neighborhood shrike our neighborhood, chinatown, and we see the concern over sunlight on vmd park. in 1983 the community fought for an ordinance campaign. having fought many similar battles over the right of our residents we join with our neighbors at soma. we sincerely request that you do not allow the proposed

project to vmd park and look ahead to policy recommendations that will protect vulnerable parks in the area in recently upzoned neighborhoods like soma. particularly those that lack adequate open space and activity space. thank you. >> thank you, let me make a brief announcement. we had expected at the beginning of the meeting to acknowledge another individual in the community and because of the mayor's state of city speech and the lack of presence of some of those people involved in that, there are people in the audience who have been waiting patiently for something that should have happened a long time ago and will only take a few minutes to do. with that i will turn this over to the general manager. >> thank you, mr. president and thanks to everyone here for your indulgence in taking a quick pause on the item. we have supervisor kim present, which is one the reasons to bring this issue up.

we have a special monthly recognition to call up kelly and sergio lopez and others if they are here. [ applause ] >> this is a very special recognition to a group of people who are really doing wonderful things in their neighborhood park. this certificate of appreciation is presented to the group. they are a community organizing project and resource center for latino familis and individuals living in the tenderloin. they were founded in 2005 by community organizers seeing that many latino families were moving to the tenderloin neighborhood and needed greater advocate for their needs. it has expanded to include public safety work,

neighborhood improvement campaigns, parent support groups, leadership development program and parks. most recently they have been active in building community around mccalley park a small .2 acre park in the tenderloin and it has enormous potential and enormous importance for kids to play. over the last several months they have so positively engaged our department in partnership to work together to improve the site, the physical aspects of the site and to improve programming. i have had the great pleasure of attending a couple of stunning events. one on halloween, one celebrating the winter holiday and next wednesday we have our book club event at the park, a partnership with the library, in which they bring their mobile library to the park. so this very special recognition

is to recognized lavoce latina

[ applause ] >> thank you commissioners and thank you phil and thank you for making the time in the middle of public comment. i am kelly and i have the tremendous honor and privilege of working with la voz latina. this campaign is something that is close to our heart and really represent everything that la voz is advocating for. without further ado, i would like one of our leaderships to speak about her participation and then i will translate after. >> thank you. >> translator: she says hi any name is phillipa and i'm very proud to be part of this organization, where i have had many beautiful moments and recognition, like today's. i have lived in the tenderloin

neighborhood for eleven years and often felt nervous for the safety and well-being for my family and the larger community. she says now she can see through the work we have done it's possible to make changes and improvements in the park and by extension, into the neighborhood. thank you for your support and we hope to continue working together to improve -- for the good of the community and especially for our children, because the children deserve a safe neighborhood and safe parks

>> muchas gracias. >> we'll now continue with the public comment period. >> i will just read the names. [ reading speakers' names ]. come on up if your name was called. you don't have to come in any order, just come on up. >> thank you. >> translator: one second. >> that is fine.

>> we're going to start again and we'll have double the time. >> good morning. >> translator: good morning i'm part of the program and we're against this project 190 russ street project. we're against this project because it will cast shadow on the park, especially in the summertime, the time when the park is most utilized and we're asking for to you help us with the problem in the capacity

that you are able to. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. [str*-frpblt/] she says good morning her name is mariam. >> good morning. >> translator: i'm concerned about our families, we would like to use the parks on the weekends and how it will impact them?

i will try to do justice to what she said. she is speak interesting that the park serves not only as a physical space to get sun, but also for our souls regenerated by being there and families use this place with a spiritual component for the community. and this area is important for all of us for seniors for families and the entire community.

there were other families that would have liked to have spoken today, but due to the time constraint had to lead, but she is expressing on behalf of those families as well, thank you for your support and your time. >> thank you. >> next speaker please. >> my name is fred, good morning commissioners. executive director, i am also a member of a community leadership for the neighborhood, for the tenderloin. a community organizer for justice leadership in the tenderloin. i'm here to support building 190 russ street to build, more affordable housing for the

neighborhood. there are many homeless people that are seeking to find a place to live, that i believe that the shelters's priority than the park for amusing ourselves and look forward to a new generation for our families. i would appreciate for you to consider the support of this project. the park can be more resourceful. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hello, my name is sarah with housing rights committee of san francisco. we're a housing rights group in san francisco. for us, it's really important that quality of life isn't just about -- like san francisco apartments usually don't have backyards. in soma, there are a lot of

families living and people are getting more and more doubled up in their apartments, because they have no other choices. places, parks and public spaces are crucial to quality of life. 6th street is teeming with roaded that also have no public space. what little green space like this is an important part of people's housing in san francisco. as the city keeps fast-tracking high-end condo it's important to take familis into the formula and lower income residents who have less access to public space or going away to public space. if you go down to the park, i actually often take my lunch break there after i go and meet with families; it is always parked. it's teeming with children. it's actually really nice in san francisco. you actually don't get enough placess that are like lots and

lots of children. a lot of elderly folks who out and sit for part of the afternoon with their friends and have some public space someplace to go; that you can get some sun in a neighborhood that has dense, tall buildings. this is really crucial to what is actually about housing. thank you very much and i oppose this project. >> thank you. >> i am going read a few more names. [ reading speakers' names ] go ahead. thank you. >> good morning commissioners. thank you for convening this hearing. my name is tony robles and i'm housing organizer with senior and disability action. our organization advocates for seniors and people with

disabilities. i'm also the board president of manila town heritage association. there is a youth and family zone that we're very concerned about in south of market. from what i understand, there are two public parks in soma. anything that is going to compromise the quality of life or quality of access in that park is something that the community is very much concerned about. i think anything that would compromise the quality of the park has to be looked at. i think vmd park, victoria manalo draves park has to be considered, has to be off-limits to the shadowing, regardless of what the developer is saying about the innocuous nature of the shadow. the fact remains that it is a shadow; which begs a bigger issue in the notion of private

versus public. we have of a public space, vmd park and we have a private developer that wants to effect -- have an effect on the integrity of that public space for purposes that we do know, for money-making purposes and for speculation purposes and we know that the city is in a very severe housing crisis right now. let's not adversely affect the integrity of a public space such as victoria manalo draves park which all of us have a right to enjoy. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> next speaker please. >> good afternoon. i think the shadow of homelessness is more important than the shadow -- i mean i'm not against open space or sunshine, but i think homelessness, over 6000 people

in san francisco, crowd homeless shelters and other places, the streets because they have nowhere else to go. i understand that sunshine is very important to people who surround the area, but you have to take into consideration, deep consideration, that homelessness is a little bit more to me important than a shadow on a park. if i can sleep in a place, in a bed, in a warm house, i would take that under consideration more than sunshine. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good almost afternoon now. i'm going try to be quick and respect everyone's time. i know that the amount of shadow may seem small, but it's so important tom soma for a variety of reasons and i will explain what those are. in our neighborhood after dark safety become and issue. so most people try to do what they have to do before the sun goes

down because it's not always safe in our neighborhood. there are many challenges that i don't need to detail. so people cram what they can in the daylight hours and just again the lacking access to open space in soma is a huge deal. so every little bit that we have is that much more important. the families and youth that we serve are not traveling to the maldives and going to tropical places, but their enjoyment is the park. a couple of times in the day, i have heard one and two-bedroom housing, and they love the space because they can stretch out and don't hit anybody, unless it's on purpose. [laughter ]you know everyone is so densely compacted in soma, to spread out and have space to

themselves. the last multi-use park built in soma was -- anyone? south park in 1855. so i mean, so you are new. that is 100 years ago and it's the issue in our neighborhood. we would like to begin a conversation about amending the memo. it was 1985,25 years ago. victoria manalo draves is an important institution in our neighborhood and we really want to project protect it and oppose the project. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> congratulations on being renominated. i live in the neighborhood. and so i got real ties and affiliation with the park, my

family and my team here. what i wanted to say, who is victoria manalo draves? she is a filipino lady that was never acknowledged and there was a shadow built upon her legacy in the '60s when she was an olympic swimmer. she was half filipino and half white, but they never acknowledged her as a filipino woman. so after many, many yeared and i am born and raised in the south of market and i never knew about her until they wanted to build the park. in 2006 she came to the park and was there to cut the ribbon. so now you have a filipino woman, who a park is named after and probably nowhere in the nation is there a filipino woman who has a park named after her this. is [h-eufgts/]. i am a filipino with a lot of park and to see her again being cast a shadow upon her name again is a disrespect.

they didn't look at the historical elements of her. and so me, i oppose this, one, i'm really proud of what my park and not only educating us filipinos, but educating everybody who didn't know about her. i urge you not to let one brick be on there, not a shadow or a brick. >> does anyone else want to speak? okay. come on up. go ahead. >> good morning, my name is heather phillips and executive director youth and children's rec center that utilizes the park for plenty of our programming. south of market is booming with development and i feel like for a lot of our families they already feel like they live under the shadow of that

development. the park is really sacred space. this is something that we urge, even though it play be within the allowable limits of shadow, and particularly that last shadow hour of the day you see the park used more than i think any other hours. folks are getting off work and taking their kids to the parks and taking their dogs out and spending time together. so for that to be time when shadow is going to be most affected, would really just be a shame. again we just urge you to vote to disapprove this project. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker and i will read a few more names. [speaker s' names read] so if i have called your name, come on up. it does not have to be in any

order. it doesn't matter, we'll go back and forth. how about that? go ahead. >> yes. thanks. my name is david martinez. i run a small studio and art space off of sherman alley right next to the park. i'm will everyday. we have been around the cinema, a couple, three decades, i see the park everyday and that hill, those two little places, that is where everybody sits and eats their lunch during the day and it's really the sunny place in a foggy city. i know, they say soma gets more sunlight but there is a lot of shadows and this would block the one sunny area. as everyone says the park is used a lot by all different people all during the day, yes even homeless people si