left is yain jane and our clerk is ms. andrea ausberry. i would like to recognize sfgtv who are the techs helping us broadcast this committee meeting on sf govern tv. madam clerk do we have any announcements? >> yes. please silent all electronic devices and submit all items to the clerk and maybe on the future board agenda of the board of supervisors unless otherwise stated. >> thank you very much. can you call item 1. >> item number one is for large residential projects for a 18 month period. >> supervisor wiener is the arthor of this item and will make some brief remarks on item 1. supervisor wiener. >> thank you very much madam chair and thank you for agendizing this item today for

the committee. colleagues these interim 18 month zoning controls before us today would help apply to the corine hietd and it is corona heights neighborhood help to bring order to a pretty chaotic trend in the neighborhood now in terms of smaller single family existing homes that are expanded or replaced by very large single family homes leading in a series of discretionary reviews to the planning commission. this proposal would bring some order to the process by providing that under certain circumstances that these kind of massive home expansions would require a conditional use permit from the planning commission. this proposal has been endorsed by several neighborhood associations specifically cobet

heights neighborhood, the other neighborhood association in the area and the booth triangle neighborhood association. several neighborhood associations this year came to me to ask for help to ensure that we have a strong meaningful and productive comunltd process -- community process as part of the process of expanding regular sized homes into massive single family homes. there was a lot of concern about the way the process was playing out and particularly the large number of discretionary reviews that were arising from what is really a small neighborhood. to be clear this legislation is not about adding additional complication or delay to home renovations to situations where families are wanting to add a bedroom or to -- or a modest expansion to their homes. in fact projects are exempt from these controls

if they are below 3,000 square feet or even if they're above that number but are increasing the square footage by less than 75% or 100%. these controls to be clear only apply to situations where we are seeing a dramatic expansion of the size of the home and only to projects that will then as a result exceed 3,000 square feet. nor does this legislation ban anything. in fact there have been i think misperceptions about this legislation. this is not a moratorium or a ban. it bans nothing. it simply changes the process of discretionary review to a process where certain significant pa -- expansions of home will need a conditional use. use is a well established process in

san francisco that applies in many situations in many neighborhoods and is one to which our community and our planning department are very accustomed. it is a process that sets a clear timeline up front so you can avoid some of the discretionary review process. the legislation will provide an incentive for all parties to work together to shame specific projects so they're productive addition to the neighborhood. and for those who state that this legislation is in any way anti-housing and it is not the conditional use process can actually result in increased density. in fact in a recent project on 24th street in noe valley which requires a conditional use the developer proposed four units and there was significant feedback in the first conditional use process meeting, significant feedback from the community asking the

developer to consider eight units instead of four units. specifically this legislation would do the following: any project that is proposing a final product of 300 square feet or less -- 3,000 square feet or less would be entitled like it is today and no change and this would ensure that people adding a bedroomoir expanding the kitchen or adding in in law unit would continue the way it is now and products with greater than 3,000 square feet the controls would apply for a single family home if it's increased more than 75% or additional unit adding by more than 100% and in those situations conditional use is

required so there is significant latitude in terms of the size that it can be increased without triggering a conditional use. these controls only apply with truly dramatic expansions. on a vacant lot the controls would require conditional use only when the final project would be greater than 3,000 square feet. the legislation would generally require a rear yard open space of at least 45% of the lot area and the current requirement under the planning coat. the exist tg requirement is of a 45-foot -- 45% of a lot area in terms of rear yard. however, there are loopholes that have under mined that clearly stated requirement, and you so this would tighten up that requirement given the importance of rear yards in many

of our neighborhoods. there have been some concerns expressed as i indicated that this legislation is somehow anti-housing and that is not the case. the legislation does nothing to reduce density in this neighborhood. this neighborhood is generally rh-2 or rh-3. the legislation doesn't reduce the number of units that can be placed on a lot. in fact much of this neighborhood is encompassed by the castro legislation they authord and we passed last year that effective increases the zoning in the area that allows people to add an additional in law unit within the existing envelope of the building and just to give an example under the interim zoning controls if someone has a 2,000 square feet existing family home on a rh-2

lot they could double the size of that home to 4,000 square feet and add two additional units given the castro in law addition without requiring a cu because the increase is not more than 100% so this legislation will not in anyway inhibit the ability of people to add additional units and much needed housing. i also want to say for some people that have been critical for me for espousing this legislation that my record in terms of supporting and pursuing increased housing supply in this era of our affordable housing or housing affordability crisis my record speaks for itself. i mentioned the in law legislation in the castro and i have additional in law legislation to allow buildings under going seismic retrofit to add these units. i

have arthorred legislation to incentivize developers to add more affordable units into their units and i authored the micro unit legislation that will allow for greater number of units in the same building envelope. i authored legislation to make it easier for universities to build student housing and i have been strongly supportive of increased housing in district 8 whether along up ermarket street or valencia street or elsewhere. one can be very much in support of increase the housing stock while still understanding that the fabric of neighborhoods matters and that when you start seeing a trend where modest size and regular size homes are being not doubled but tripled or quadrupled in their size from one size single family home to

another size single family home that is not adding housing. that is not addressing our housing crisis. that is creating a massive single family home and so colleagues i ask for your support on these interim controls, and at this point if there are no comments or questions i would propropose that we open it up for public comment. i do have to say we have minor amendments that i have distributed to you. the city attorney informed me they're not substantive so we can adopt them today and if you choose forward the item out of committee. >> thank you very much. to the public -- sir we haven't opened public comment yts. public comment is going to be two minutes. you will hear a soft bell and indicate that you have 30 seconds more. i have a list of cards that i will read off. line up over here to my

left your right hand side of the chamber. first up is kevin followed by rick walsh. jenna balay. -- sorry, i can't read this one and pat dowd. kofen you're up. thank you. >> thank you. my name is kevin rear and i live on state street. supervisor wiener the corona heights neighborhood want to thank you for recognizing this magnitude of this problem and bringing it forward today. while the legislation is not perfect but probably the best that can be expected given the time constraint it is from the onslaught of development in our neighborhood. you maybe familiar with the four home towering development adjacent to the meassume and a photo was on the san francisco chronicle in january. after a complaint from the museum they removed the fine

for illegal removal of trees and the same project agent has a another project and asking to construct two homes in the zoning restricted rear yards. they reported mow significant trees in the -- alert the city there were two significant trees two, 3 feet in diameter decades old that hang over state street. nothing is deterring them from tearing down the trees and having yards. the planning department recommends approval no matter out of scale they are or trees are removed legally or illegally. one planning commissioner lamented that the project never came before the commission and cost us cities and arorrists and others to get a crash course on city

processes. neighbors have volunteered hundreds of hours towards this effort. we have learned hat precedent setting things that will happen to the neighborhood and this development. it does not stop a project. rather it questions -- rather requires questions be asked. is the development necessary or desire in maybe will cost planners -- [inaudible] >> all right thank you. next speaker. rick. >> hi. i am rick walsh and my partner and i have lived in the area for 20 years and we watch watched the renovation of the neighborhood. it was good. it wasn't in great condition 20 years ago and most of the renovations that -- they were performed by the people in this room and we're just trying to fix our homes up and it was cool. then no one of added

3,000 square feet until about two years ago. two years ago something changed, and something changed is suddenly the middle class people who were trying to buy fixer uppers in the city were out bid and developers were spending huge sums of money for really, really small homes. one just happened two weeks ago, 1500 square feet home, 3200 horde street, bad condition. $2 million for a tear down. okay. >> can you speak into the microphone? >> in the old days that would have been bought by a middle class person and fixed it up and families would move in and be part of the neighborhood, and so why are the developers doing this spending that much money? they make a lot of money when they add the square footage and get a thousand dollars a square foot and the middle class can't

out bid these people so from the bedroom window today i see 12 small cottages under going this transformation by developers, not by residents and what i ask is the legislation that supervisor wiener has proposed it will slow it down. it can't stop it. i get that but we ask for it to be slowed down and add some sanity to it and thank you for considering it. we in the neighborhood, most of us really appreciate it. >> thank you very much. just as a reminder speak into the mic. jenna next and followed by marcos, pad dowd, grace gillerman and robert quinn. >> good afternoon. i live on state street. would like to thank wean for developing this legislation.in there are protests coming from the development community. the only community that benefits from this rampid development over taking our neighborhoods. i

would like to clarify for families that mistakenly believe it prevents modest addition. it does not and large additions can move forward with the legislation. it's only huge additions that will be not stopped but looked at more carefully. this is a last ditch effort to protect the unique and family character of our neighborhoods. san francisco suffers from an income disparity -- >> i'm sorry, do you have something on the overhead you're trying to show. >> yes. >> please continue. >> san francisco suffers from income disparity between rich and poor between 2007 and 2012 than any city in the country. this is an article documenting this occurrence. there are all types of single family homes in san francisco. it is the smaller young type that allows families to get foot in

the door and if we allow this type of development there will be no starter homes left, no room for nith and working families and no income diversity left in the city and characterized by the very rich and poor. today's legislation won't stop the trend but it will slow it down in one neighborhood so we can re-examine our values and rules. i ask that the legislation be be sent to the fuel board for adoption and i thank you for your time on this important topic. >> thank you very much. next speaker please. >> good afternoon i am ary marcos and my partner and i have owned and lived on museum way since 1985 and this property was developed at one end that run in the area that define the

character of corona heights. neither of us likes [inaudible]. we would like to see housing density increased where possible and appropriate and we strongly support the owner's rights to do this consistent with the zoning controls and the guidelines. we agree that variances and exceptions should be granted when there are compelling reasons to do so. we are concerned with the proliferation of out of scale developments in the area and whose costs are largely out of reach for most san franciscans and these projects were made possible in granting variances where 91 necessary and allowing developers to skirt guidelines provided by the planning code by which "are intended to promote design that will protect neighborhood character enhancing the attractiveness and quality

of life in the city" . we believe that if an enacted the interim controls proposed by supervisor wiener would be a powerful tool to help the administrator and the planning department and commission more forcefully ensure that the rules the city has wisely adopted to preserve its uniqueness will be enforced. we thank supervisor wiener and we urge you and the board of supervisors to support this resolution. >> thank you very much. next speaker. >> good afternoon. my name is patrick dowd and i live on ordinance street and for 19 years. >> >> i wanted to thank supervisor wiener for sponsoring this legislation and i urge you to support it, and the rest of the board of supervisors hopefully will also get the chance to support this legislation. one of the items that i think is very important is the fact that there is a 45%

open space requirement on development in on lots, and i have found that this requirement is being you shoved aside over and over again by the planning department and by the planning commissioners who are granting variances and filling in the entire lots with building with no green space whatsoever left in the lot, and i think the planning commission should follow their own rules and not allow this to continue, and i think this proposed legislation will hopefully remind them of that requirement. i would also like to take note of the large turn out of our neighbors here, and remind everyone that it's 130 in the afternoon and most of our neighborhood is at work, so

i think it's impressive the number of people that have shown up to support this legislation, and who in their hearts would like to see our lovely neighborhood stay as a lovely neighborhood. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker will be grace. [applause] grace followed by robert followed by judith and ed scruggs and henry esher. >> hi. i am grace and i live on vulcan stairway for four years. we look out on to six properties in the surrounding area -- >> grace, can you speak into the mic? >> can you hear me now? >> better. >> i lived in the area for four years. we look out on six properties and the immediately surrounding blocks all owned by

dwerps in various stages of development with proposed increases to the respective existing envelopes. the surrounding properties in this panorama are small older houses that developed the history and scale of the neighborhood. the slopes of the considerable local hills have formed the lay out of the streets and are narrow and predate automobile traffic. this area is particularly unique and important element of the character. state street is the longest uninterrupted street in san francisco and [inaudible] is the narrowest and the grid pattern is replaced here about a less conventional layout and the dead end into other street and pedestrian streets and small egresses. i think the current trend to replace these houses with larger buildings with reduced open space would alter the scale and champl our neighborhood so i want to thank you for introducing this legislation. >> thank you very much. next speaker is robert quinn.

>> thank you for your time. i have been a resident we bought the place in 1978. have been there ever since and a victorian built. when i moved there it was the tall est building on the street. no no means it is now. it's dwarfed now. for a number of years there were homes in certain states of disrepair and people were coming in and doing very nice jobs fixing them up and the neighborhood felt on the up swing but in the last two, three years this whole secretary that we're talking. >> >> subject that we're talking about just came out of left field baste. i mean all of a sudden the homes were doubling, tripling and more in size and being -- having lived there for so long i like a lot of the charges that happened, but some of these new homes just feel so

out of character for this small cul-de-sac street and i would like to see if people are building things that are so sizable that it really gets looked at hard by both the city planning commission and also includes the neighbors because that's one thing that i have heard time and again is that somehow some of these things just got snuck past everybody and the first time you find out how big the project is is when it's finished. thank you very much. >> thank you. [calling speaker names] if you could get in line and queue up so we could move quickly that would be helpful and move the mic to your mouth. >> i am judith. good afternoon supervisors. i lived in the area at the foot of

corona hitings and the valley for years. you have a letter supporting supervisor wiener's efforts to balance the need for housing growth in the city with the needs of settled residential neighborhoods in eureka valley and existing neighborhood character. speaking as a member of the planning and land use committee i wanted to personally thank supervisor wiener and his legislative aid for responding quickly and strongly to the neighbors' request for help. our committee feels that the interim legislation is reasonable and thoughtful and we support it. the affected neighbors and we who are active in these land use matters don't want to stifle growth in the city and the neighborhood but we want it be respectful of the housing that currently exists in the valley and respectfully the unique kaish reach of the neighborhoods and have strong efforts to preserve affordable housing and the creation of more of it. we don't want the neighbors turned into enclaves

of the wealthy and want corona heights and currently diverse to be an [inaudible] on the hill side. we believe that this interim legislation will provide the city and the planning department with an opportunity to produce permanent legislation to address the needs of all concerned in this rapidly changing housing environment in the area in the eureka valley area. we ask you to join supervisor wiener in voting yes on this legislation today. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. [applause] all right. ladies and gentlemen just as a reminder we have a board rule of noaa. applause. i know it. >> >> kind of takes the fun out of a committee meeting but we have a nice alternative and do spirit fingers that you approve up and move the meeting along. we have a lot of people here and everyone has an opportunity to speak. are we in agreement?

all right. there we go. next speaker ed scrubs and followed by henry and dirk. sonya. >> good afternoon. i'm a member of eureka 17th street neighbors, a long-term resident of the castro since 1968 and a homeowner in the castro since 19 79. i strongly urge you to support supervisor wiener's proposed legislation to curb [inaudible] further of proliferation of over sized housing which too often is poorly designed, ugly and unaffordable for a majority of the people in this room with me today. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker henry. >> good afternoon supervisors.

i prepared a three minute and a one minute -- >> i suggest you get it down to two. >> the three minute is so much better but i can't edit it effectively, so first i would like to thank and commend supervisor wiener for introducing this legislation. i don't personally live in the area covered by it but i believe it's a step in the right direction. what our city needs is greater density, not simply larger buildings. the development this legislation targets serve only the needs of an exclusive few. if we let market forces run ramp end they will shadow every parcel they can buy and unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anyone in the planning department that has the hands on the reigns. if we want to protect the beauty of and character of our city we need to

exercise governance. please adopt these controls and consider similar controls in other neighborhoods around the city. thank you. >> thank you. very good henry. dirk. >> good afternoon. i am dirk aguilar and live in the area that would benefit from supervisor wiener's proposed legislation. please allow me to begin by stating my support for remodels that rem brace the character of corona heights and are managed in concert with our community. my support does not extend to massive development that shows no accountability for the long-term implications on our neighborhood, especially if it doesn't solve the housing challenges anyway. to our immediate left and right are two large developments, 226 and 32or d street. the latter turns a charming hill side house on into

a 5,000 square feet single family home. protecting our house, our neighborhood and helping other neighbors has become a part-time job that is costing us tens of thousands of dollars. in action is not an option and in fact it would have been dangerous for the instruct url integrity of our house. the situation has become alarming and we need your help now. i would like to thank supervisor wiener for proposing administration emergency legislation that these are reviewed with neighborhood input. the targets the controls in the larger thresholds considering the context of our neighborhood. home homeowners can still expand their homes and this meets our need and and will what we want. the respectfully ask the committee to support this legislation and urge the board of supervisors to pass it. thank you very much.