>> president hillis: you were, but your time was included in that five minutes. so we take public testimony regarding this item, if there's any. i don't see any, so we'll close public testimony and open it up to commissioner comments and questions. can i just -- sir, if you -- if you want to -- we'll give you one more here. >> good afternoon, commissioners. so i'm the husband. i grew up in the house in the 50's and the 60's, and it was cramped then. and it seems that modern times, people have more uses for their house than they had before. we just had a kitchen, one bathroom, three bedrooms, and a dining room, and that was it -- and a garage. but we would really like to take advantage of the space that we have. we would like to have a library or -- or a slash office, which

we don't have an office right now. we're both teachers. our office is the dining room table. so we would like to have larger bedrooms. the bedrooms, as they're constituted now are just really cramped. during the -- when we met with the planning department staff, they wanted us to justify the use -- why we needed bigger space, and so i thought i would address that. >> president hillis: all right. thank you. >> thank you. >> president hillis: commissioner moore? >> commissioner moore: i just wanted to briefly address that this commission takes the instructions and observations of trained planning staff as a baseline of how we look at a project. and that said, i -- i read three conditions that the rdt's recommending to this commission, and i do agree that those are the correct observations to a project. it is not the size of a building three properties over

which gives you an idea of what to do but is the general context of what is required within the zoning district and then structures adjacent directly to both of your sides. so the first thing we have here is that the horizontal rear additions should be limited to two floors, which i agree with, and it should not extend more than 15 feet from the rear structure wall which would be considered like a pop out. and we have this same discussion with everything that's proposed. there's nothing that planning is trying to stick to you, but that is what we're trying to do here, and we get these instructions again and again. and there are people just like yourself who would like to have a larger place, but what you're achieving in the limits that planning set, you still will have a very livable house was the floor plan as designed has a lot of extras which i believe for a comfortably sized house are really not completely

necessary. the second point planning makes is that the vertical addition should only extend to the extending rear wall structure as a maximum. and i agree with that, and there's an ask for decreasing the vertical addition in floor height from ten to 9 feet. 9 feet is still a very comfortable height. the majority that we see are eight, 8.5, so we are still within very comfortable size room heights. the comment i would like to make in addition to what rdt's says, the adu as proposed is not an adu because it is fully accessible from the main house which does not make it a singly identifiable unit, and that under adu definitions meet the requirements. you can come from the main

floor into the unit, and it becomes just an expanded space for a single-family house, so we cannot use that as an argument for giving this very large addition extra benefits of having added second units. that has not occurred within the rules that we normally have to apply. those are my comments. if the project would be modified as proposed by rdt, and there would be proper attention paid to the adu being fully independently accessible from the main circulation of the home, this project would be approved but it needs some additional work. >> president hillis: okay. can i just ask staff, can you put up a-102. it's always hard when we have a staff initiated d.r., and it's hard to view when we can't see the modifications that you're

proposing. can you just -- i mean, i get commissioner moore's comments was on that entry, but can you just walk us through the proposed changes, how they would impact that -- the floor plans there. >> sure. so with respect to the limitation to the depth of the horizontal addition, i'll just draw a dash line of the estimate. so for the first -- for the bottom two floors, it would be about 15 feet back, and the five-foot set back, so one moment. so for the bottom floor, it will impact what's currently

proposed as a living room and we're looking forwardly along both property lines. we only have one side set back currently. and then, for the second floor -- >> president hillis: just go back to the first floor. >> sure. >> president hillis: so how would that -- it seems it would be under where you drew it, difficult to get a one bedroom adu in there. >> so it would have to be reprogrammed. i don't have the specifics on the square footage and what the actual program will be. we would work with a staff -- architect accordingly to make sure we can accommodate the one or two bedrooms, whatever it may be. >> president hillis: just go to the second floor for a minute, and then, we can...so that -- so this floor is fine. i think you can get that bedroom in. i think you can kind of modify

the bathroom size. you've got the side set back is already there on the first floor -- or on the second floor? >> yes. >> president hillis: or it's a deck. all right. and then on the next floor, you eliminate the horizontal and vertical addition altogether. yeah. the only concern i have is the first floor, making -- i like the idea of an adu and just continuing to make that a livable one-bedroom unit. 'cause it's a ten -- i mean, it's a 25-foot lot. 5 foot set backs on either side would get you to a ten-foot wide -- i mean, 15-foot -- yeah. but why the recommendation on this first floor for reduced -- >> so our standard department comment for when we have adjacent buildings with a similar layout is to, similar

to commissioner moore stated, allow a pop out of sorts, but rather than the traditional 12 foot deep pop out, we're recommending a 10 foot deep pop out, so each side, 5 foot each. so that is a standard comment, and we've apply ied it to this property and each side, as well. >> president hillis: okay. commissioner moore? >> commissioner moore: i think when you look to see what's here, you really start to resequence what is proposed. there is a living room, there is a large number of bathrooms. there are quite a few nooks and crannies in there. you can get everything you want in there, just basically

rearranging the pieces and coming up with something which is quite workable. i've looked at it for quite a while. we're not here to design it, but i think the department has a very good understanding what pop outs should and shouldn't be in order not to impact other properties. the real issue on the extent of this particular proposal as it is given to us, the incredible issues of privacy with adjoining people, including, basically, creating a stepped section, which really megamansions, the block, which is inappropriate to the setting. >> delvin washington, southwest team leader. i just wanted to reiterate what staff said. the commission may want to consider, too, that we in this case are entertaining an accessory dwelling unit, that we do want to be livable, as

well. there are a lot of options on the upper floors for the project sponsor to tweak and adjust this so that they can comply with our suggestion -- our recommendations and still provide them adequate habitable living space. perhaps the commission -- again, as the commission, you do have the ability to use your discretion. we take a strict approach to this as staff, as we should. you are the commission, so thank you. >> president hillis: you know, and i get that. i just want to make sure there's livable -- the plans are a little bit confusing. as you walk in the ground floor, there's storage and irk iirk -- circulation. there's a bathroom and i think what goes with the upper floors, washer and dryer. i think there's a way to make it livable. there's a lot going on in the first floor entry. given the amount of excess uses

on the floor, it probably can be done with the staff's recommendation. commissioner moore? >> commissioner moore: i actually appreciate and i want to reiterate what mr. washington said. this is about looking at projects of this kind with an equitiable eye, and not just nipping and tucking. this is an rh-1, this is a standard lot, and i appreciate the department's neutral eye in terms of what is too much and how it works. so i think we should move to -- what are we supposed to do? take d.r. -- >> president hillis: take d.r. >> commissioner moore: take d.r. and modify the plan as perstaff's recommendation and miss flores and have the staff continue to work with the applicant so we get this right, including on you the adu is properly accessible from the

outside and independent from the living space. >> president hillis: that's the motion. is there a second? >> commissioner moore: yes. that's a motion. >> second. >> clerk: thank you. commissioners. there's a motion to take d.r. with the proposed modifications. on that motion -- [roll call] >> commissioner moore: would you please also read into the record that the adu has to be modified that is in addition to the staff's recommendation. >> clerk: and that the adu be modified to meet staff's -- >> commissioner moore: meet standard requirements. staff did not catch that, the adu's. >> president hillis: yeah. it's to make it independently accessible. >> commissioner moore: yes. >> president hillis: make that adu independently accessible. >> clerk: very good. on that motion, then, commissioners, to take d.r. and approve this matter with staff recommendations as well as making the adu independently accessible -- [roll call] >> clerk: so moved,

commissioners. that motion passes unanimously, 4-0. commissioners, that'll place us on item 19. neared. >> clerk: commissioners, please be advised that we did receive a request for continuance from the -- or one of the d.r. requesters who first requested a continuance based on the number of commissioners, that there were only four, and then later that he was traveling, already in florida or on his way to florida. it was not entirely clear. so i don't know if you want to take up the matter of continuance or just hear the item. >> president hillis: is he here? are you here? all right. so you're here. so let's take the item and see where we go with the item. >> good afternoon, commissioners. marselle boudreaux for department staff. the project includes

remodelling of an existing two story single-family dwelling with a vertical addition of a third story and a new garage at the street level. the project also includes renovation of the front facade and other interior renovations. the project is located within the rh-2 district. the concerns of the d.r. applications are outlined as follows. under the first d.r., there's too much intrusion into the midblock opening space relative to neighboring properties. a new driveway and curb cut would be dangerous to pedestrians and propose a relocation of the garage to the downhill side? and lastly, under that first d.r., a top floor should be required to lineup with the rear of the adjacent property, the uphill neighbor with a 5 foot set back to protect light and air? second d.r. filed, first point, the facade is too modern and not in keeping with the neighborhood character? second point, the total building height is too tall and

doesn't appropriately step down the hill. the residential design advisory team reviewed the project following a submittal of request for discretionary review and found the project does not demonstrate exceptional or extraordinary circumstances and therefore -- and meets the standards for the residential design guidelines. the department has received from the project sponsor nine form letters signed by neighbors within the vicinity of the project who are in support of the project. the department received a two-page letter from a neighbor who resides at 769 tajaro street supporting the two d.r. requesters stating his concerns that the project presents the issue of noncompliance with the residential design guidelines and it's the legal basis for his concerns. with all of that information, the department finds the project to be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood and recommends you do not take d.r. and approve the project with the modification that the arkt tekt ral drawing confirm the elevation change for the driveway and the property which will be reconciled on-site. the project sponsor has

provided this additional information. this concludes staff presentation. i'm happy to answer any questions. >> president hillis: all right. so we'll take -- are both d.r. requesters here? [inaudible] >> president hillis: all right. so we'll see if they arrive, but go ahead. >> my name is michael montgomery. i along with my wife and two children reside in the neighboring property. over the past few months i've attempted to work with my neighbor to address the concerns of my family and neighbors. my neighbor was refused to make even a single change to their plans to accommodate to our concerns. i have tried to be flexible in my approach. i've been very clear and consistent with my concerns which are threefold.

first the project will eliminate light and irrelevant a, access to grandfather windows on three sides of my project. third, the curb cut provides danger for pedestrians, and the project design materials are incompatible with building materials in the neighborhood. i will now walking through our proposal. can we get the frengs presentation. first, for the grandfather property line windows, you can see the four grandfather property line windows. these provide the only light and access to my children's bathroom. the project as proposed would require saling all of these windows, there by significantly affecting the light and air that comes in my windows.

the project could easily be modified to minimize the impact of light and air if the second floor plan is redesigned modestly. as you can see from page a-202 of the plans, this is a two story ceiling that can be used to accommodate light or access to a windows via set back or light we wills, again without a reduction in habitable space. second point with regard to the garage, as you can see from page a-301 of the proposed project plans, it will create an unacceptable change in sidewalk grade along the common property line that makes a steep sidewalk even steeper. the project sponsor has refused to discuss this with the bureau of street use and mapping until after the project is approved by the commission. this is a particular concern to me because my wife and i have elderly parents who visit frequently, as well as a daughter who's two.

we use that garage door of our property as our primary entry and exit. the main reason for the steep drop off is due to the decision to place the garage on the steepest part of the sidewalk in front of the project sponsored property. as you can see from page a-120, the project plans, this is noticeably steeper than the downhill side. given the narrow sidewalk on our street, there's only 10 feet between the street and the house frontage, we don't have the space to create a safety wall or railing or anything like that that would create additional safety, so i am proposing the project sponsor relocate the garage to the left side of the property. finally related to the project facade, perpage a-301 of the proposed plans --

[inaudible] >> -- happy to walk you through houses on our block face. although there are multiple styles, nonof them resemble the vertical bans proposed by the project sponsor. [inaudible] >> in summary, i'm requesting that the commission approve the following conditions -- [inaudible] >> thank you. >> president hillis: all right. thank you very much. you have 23 seconds, if you

need them, but you don't have to take them. >> i don't need them. thank you. >> president hillis: all right. so the other d.r. requester is not here, so we'll take public comment in -- in opposition of the project, in support. d.r. christopher cole? >> good afternoon, commissioners. first, i join in the comment about the driveway. it is a steep area, and my understanding is that the bureau of street use and mapping does have certain requirements, and i really think that that's something that should be available to the commission and to the -- to the neighborhood, to know whether the driveway can be constructed in such a way that it's safe. it's a -- a steep hill going north, and then, it's also a steep hill going east. so that is a concern that i have as somebody who walks down

that street at least five days a week, just safety there. but i really want to -- twante the balance of my comments to be about the design guidelines because i really do feel those have not been given the weight that they -- they deserve. i attached a copy of the williams case, and i'm sure all of you have probably seen 50 times, the williams case. it says that the residential design guidelines have the force of law. they are as -- as important and must be taken into account as much as the zoning or building codes. and this just has not been done. the short shrift that this has been given, that we took it into account, and we found that there were no exceptional circumstances. well, there are exceptional circumstances. i was part of getting these residential design guidelines together before they were voted on. so it -- it's sort of a

personal -- personal thing with me, as well, that light and air are not something that should be ignored or given short shrift. here we have an example where these side windows can be given light and air by giving a 5 foot proposed set back on the side that it matches the d.r. requesters. the d.r. requester put up a picture of showing how much unused space there is in the project. some of that space can be reconfigured to allow a five-foot set back next to these side windows and allow the 745 property to have light and air. that was one of the whole purposes of the residential

design guidelines, is that something that's not required by zoning, something that's not required by the building codes is required by the residential design guidelines, it was an effort to have some good neighbor policies given the force of law, and they do have the force of law. those are my two points, and i would ask that the commission take discretionary review and assure that those two points are taken care of. thank you. >> president hillis: all right. thank you. any additional public comment in support of the d.r.? seeing none, project sponsor, welcome. jonas, normally, they would have ten minutes, 'cause there's two d.r.'s. >> clerk: they would, but the secondary d.r. requester didn't speak. [inaudible] >> president hillis: can you do it in five or -- i know you prepared ten. [inaudible] >> president hillis: all right. so let's go seven. >> thank you.

hello. my name is jamie austin. i am the owner of 739 tejaro street, along with my husband. we purchased our home in 2010 and lived there with our two children, ages four and seven, we are deeply involved with the local potrero hill community. from our house, i walk our son to a local school, and then i work at the california college of the arts at the bottom of the hill. >> president hillis: you just may want to shift that up. >> we want to live in san francisco for the long haum, but we really face the need to right size our home for the future. question chose ann fougeron --

[inaudible] >> -- meets all san francisco codes and residential design guidelines, involves nothing exceptional and extraordinary, and has explicit support from nine immediate neighbors. we've spent a lot of time with the d.r. requester at 745 tejaro trying to find a solution. we've met with them over ten times. we just don't understand why they keep claiming we did not do anything for them. we did all this without being asked by the planning. our voluntarily concessions include 5 foot set back on the top floor at the 645 property line to help preserve light, air and views. we've limited our ground floor extension to 6 feet versus the allowed 12 feet. we've limited the building to two stories. we are 18.5 feet below the allowed height. the total increase in our home

is only 7'9", and there is more than allowed by code, and we have a simple facade that blends with neighborhood set back. this is a picture of our block with our house highlighted in blue in the center, and locations of neighbors who have signed letters of proper highlighted in green. the two d.r. requesters are in yellow, both uphill for us. the vast majority of the neighborhood supports our project including three adjacent neighbors, and our neighbor directly across the street. this is a similar overhead view of our block. our building envelope is highlighted in green, adjacent property building envelopes are in blue, and the rest of the block face is in gray. as you can see, our proposed rear extension is very modest. most of our neighbors intrude much further into their back yards, and we have voluntarily

limited this extension. our rear extension is also voluntarily set back on all levels? first, let me explain this drawing a little bit? the shaded red area represents what we are allowed to build on each floor according to the code and design guidelines? the gray shaded area is what we propose to build? and here, you can clearly see the concessions that we've made on every level of the house. at the basement level, only a section of our house is extending to 6 feet versus the 12 feet allowed? our two downhill neighbors go to full depth. on the first floor, we are only adding a small kind of window angle? and on the second floor, we have added a 5 foot voluntary set back from the d.r. requesters property line angling back, and again, no one told us we had to do this. we chose to do this for the benefit of the neighbors. the top floor, we know is sensitive, given the d.r.

requesters nonconforming property line windows. here's a drawing showing the rear elevation of the d.r. requesters home. i'd like to highlight a few things. as well know there's nothing extraordinary or exceptional about closing or covering up property line windows. for example right behind us, our rear neighbor, they covered up property line windows of their uphill neighbors just this year, and that's a five story project, much large he were than ours. our downhill neighbor also covered up our property line windows when they remodelled, and it is clear that the d.r. requester will have ample, even enviable access to light and air including two full height sliding glass doors opening onto a main deck, a picture window that will remain, and we have noted throughout our planning process the windows that were meant to be covered up. now let's have a look at what this will look like from inside of the property? this is a picture that the previous owners took while marketing the property?

it's publicly accessible from a local realtor website, and it shows the interior of the room where the property windows will be covered but all of the windows and doors highlighted in red will remain uncovered. specifically there will be a large picture window and two, yes two separate sliding glass doors that open out onto a deck and this alone offers ample access to light, air, and view. this all adds up to light and air access that is comparable if not better than most properties on the block and indeed enviable compared to san francisco in general. here's another view of the same room. okay. the nonopening windows were outlined in black, and those were the ones that will be covered up, but as you can see, right next to them were other windows offering light and air. we just don't understand why the d.r. requesters are so worried about driveways and curb cut, honestly, they're the

norm in our neighborhood, and they're often adjacent to neighbors just as we proposed. we live on a steep home, walking to and from the car with our children is exhausting. we're proposing a one car garage that impacted only one parking place. seven other places on the block have javt or double wide proje -- adjacent or double wyatt cuts. adjacent driveways and curb cuts are common even on steeper streets than ours. here, as 20th street just around the corner from us, they're on a 24% grade, and you can see they have four adjacent driveway and curb cuts, and the pedestrians, including us are just fine on that street. for voidance of all doubt, we've submitted detailed descriptions of the new

driveway and curb cut to show very modest elevation changes and no warping of the sidewalk in front of the d.r. requester's house. our house is set back approximately 3 feet further back than the d.r. requesters house. all right. in summary -- >> president hillis: you'll also have a three minute rebutt al. >> all right. >> president hillis: or two minute. so hold those thoughts. we'll take public comment in support of the project if there are any here. >> hello. my name is emil williams. i live across the street so i'm a neighbor. and i just wanted to come and support jamie and dave on their project because i think that they're exemplary neighborhood citizens. their remodel doesn't seem out

of yark of a number of other remodels that have taken place on the street. so to say that there's some kind of sort of conservation that needs to be taking place because the neighborhood is so preserved for its original facade is i don't think is very true, and it would total be uncharacter. this remodel isn't extraordinary, and they've made very -- they've been -- made very concerted efforts to reach out to all the neighbors and make sure that we are all well aware. if we had any questions, they were open to us asking and talking to them. and they've been very accommodating in my interactions with them, and any other issue in the neighborhood, they've been very accommodating.

so i'm -- so i wanted to support them to make sure -- you know, so their project can go through. i know they have a growing family, and i can totally sympathize with myself. i'm expecting my second, and it would be a loss to the neighborhood if, you know, they weren't able to size their home -- resize their home very modestly to accommodate that. so, yeah, i think those are all of my points, but i just wanted to say that, you know, they're really great neighbors. i really think they've been very accommodated. they've reached out, done their due diligence, and they've made many accommodations to their neighbor, and i just want to say that let's push this through. i think it's well worthy to be pushed through. so any ways, great. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you very much. any additional public comment? seeing none, d.r. -- [inaudible] >> president hillis: yep. we'll give you three minutes

here. >> so i've lived on potrero hill since 1978, and for the last 21 years, on tejaro street. so through those years we have successfully convinced and/or fought for keep the row four gable cottages, keep that feature. i'm hoping that the project sponsors respect the neighbors request to retain this particular feature of the gabled roof in their remodel, no matter how big they want to go. in addition i hope they can respect their immediate neighbors' concerns who will be losing a lot of light and air because of this remodel. i respect their need for more space and a garage, but i'm hoping they are respectful of us as well. our neighborhood has always had a cooperative spirit. i realize that the neighborhood

is changing, but i hope that we can convince the project sponsors -- will listen to our concerns and make adjustments. so far there has been no effort to do so, much to our frustration. >> president hillis: all right. thank you. so you've got a two-minute rebuttal, the d.r. requester, the original. >> so first just want to clarify, we are not attacking their character. we also want their project to go through, but with some modest modifications, get them the house they want, the space they want. we're not challenging any of that. i want to reiterate the fact that they have not made a single change to their plans since it was first submitted to the city, so all the accommodations they walked through were accommodations that they decided to make after they submitted the plans. when we requested changes, they were ignored. in talking about support from the neighbors, we have three immediate neighbors who are all here who have written letters to the commission. of the nine support letters,

all were form letters. five lived on the block. of the five, three have moved, are in the process of moving or are not their primary residence. related to the property line windows, obviously, there are lots of examples where property line windows are boxed up. there are also many examples where the commission or neighbors just being neighborly have allowed property line windows to receive additional light via light wells or a set back, so look, i think what we're asking for are modest modifications to the plan, and we're hoping that that can be pushed forward and that the project can move forward. >> president hillis: project sponsor, you've got two minutes. >> regarding neighborhood character, we just want to point out that it's mixed with several modern facades. this is just around the corner that also has some of the same privacy screens that we're proposing? and that's just around the

corner. in addition, we have an image of the other side of our street that you'll see the same trends. our street has many different styles, particularly here at the top of the block. these are quite similar to what we're proposing, and like our side of the street, the vast majorities have driveways and curb cuts, three of which are double wide or adjacent just as we are proposing. [inaudible] >> president hillis: you just need to speak in the mic so we can hear you. >> i'd also point out there's no consistency of gabled versus flat roofs. >> we've made a lot of effort to reach out to all of our neighbors. i would disagree. i think all of the letters of support of people who are really engaged in the process with us, and you know, i think in general the vast part of the neighborhood is supportive of this? so in summary, we just really

want to show that the current project already compromised for the benefit of neighbors, it meets all san francisco residential and code design guidelines. it involves nothing exceptional or extraordinary and has explicit support from nine immediate neighbors. we'd really like to request that the commission make a decision today. we've been waiting since march 7, 2017 when we submitted our plans, and we're excited to build our house for our family that will enable us to stay in frisk for the long haul. thank you. >> president hillis: all right. so that will -- >> clerk: you should probably afford secondary d.r. requester rebutt tal rebuttal, as well. and ma'am, what is your name because i have the second d.r. requester as a barry minnow.

>> so all these houses used to be little cottages, but the owners who developed them to be bigger spaces always retained that gabled a-framed shape, so could be reminiscent of potrero hill's character of that -- of that time. so i'm hoping that we can retain that. >> president hillis: thank you. that's all -- that's all we have. we'll close this portion of the hearing and open it up to commissioner comments and questions. i just have -- to the project sponsor, you had that picture of the -- of the interior of the adjacent home, and just so we can get -- you ran quickly through kind of the windows that were being covered. on the whole, we see a lot of

kind of additions, this one's pretty modest. i think you kind of respect the pop owegraphy -- topography on the height. i don't think there's anything extraordinary or exceptional, to be honest. we run into this a bit on lot line windows. these aren't protected but there's a view to that side. can you just run over which ones are being proposed to be covered. >> all of the windows highlighted here. actually you will "au" see two of them are actually full height sliding glass doors that open onto a deck. that would be this one here and this one here? these are picture windows that you can see. all of those will remain uncovered. >> president hillis: and the fall line between the cabinets, that's into the adjacent -- that's not into your property -- >> that's right. that's facing south. this is another view, so this -- you can see, this is

the north facing side -- >> president hillis: those are the same two ones that you showed us to the south. >> that's right, and these are two facing north that would be covered. so you can see, yes, light, not coming in from here, but right here, adjacent windows that'll provide ample light in our opinion. >> president hillis: and you have a comment. >> so you show two of the windows. i would say i get the direct sun light from the northern facing windows for four months out of the year. they're showing two of the windows. the other windows, two more, one is in a bathroom. the only access to light and air. two of the windows they highlight are in my neighbor's lot. it's in an open lot with trees. i would get more light if it was a while wall because it's mostly leaves. i am significantly impacted on

the back of my home, and if a light well were created, i could get light and air access to the back part of my house without any modification to their floor plan. >> president hillis: i'm generally comfortable with the project. i think it's a modest addition to a small house, but not making it anywhere near what we see kind of in other projects. i guess there's going to be an impact to you from the covering of kind of lot line windows. we see that often. it's unfortunate, but they're kind of there, and not protected under the rule. so i'm comfortable with the project as -- as proposed. commissioner moore? >> commissioner moore: mr. fung -- commissioner fung was before me, but that's fine. i would have liked to see a 3-d massing, and i don't see any materials. obviously, the architect is well known, does very good work. the building is a little bit self-centered. that is, it's hard to

understand what is behind the window screens there, but it is code compliant, meets the residential guidelines. does its stepping. it is a modern addition versus a gabled house, and it is difficult to take d.r., other than looking for a neighborly gesture that didn't occur. and we cannot really enforce it because while i believe property line windows on all the buildings perhaps should be a neighborly gesture, we cannot enforce that. i would have liked to see a certain recognition of that gesture, but i believe there seemed to be a little bit of animosity between the parties. why, how, i don't know, but this is nothing we can physically deal with. we cannot take on getting in between that nonresolved discourse between the two parties. so i'm not making a motion.

i'd hoped that there would be something, but it's not happening. >> president hillis: thank you. commissioner fun commissioner fong? >> commissioner fong: the gabled roofs, while i think there are a number of them in a row, they're not necessarily sister houses, and so i don't see anything exceptional or extraordinary here, and move not to take d.r. and approve project. >> second. >> clerk: seeing nothing further, commissioners, there's a motion that's been seconded to not take d.r. and approve the project as proposed. on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: so moved, commissioners. that motion passes unanimously, 4-0. >> president hillis: all right. and that's the last item. the meeting is adjourned.

>> all right. so good morning, everyone. thank you for joining us today. you know, for the past four months, as mayor of the city of san francisco, i have from reside residents across our entire city up and down the ladder about the streets of san francisco. our streets are filled with trash and debris, and it is unacceptable, and i've said from day one the cleanliness of our streets is going to be one of my biggest priorities as

mayor of the city of san francisco. san francisco residents are fed up with the conditions, and i am the first to say that i feel their pain, and we are doing something about it. so last week, along with a number of people who are here behind me, we announced a comprehensive budget proposal that we're going to move forward with to aggressively cleanup our streets here in san francisco. we are no -- we know that our conditions on our streets exist across our city. it's not confined to one neighborhood. every single neighborhood is feeling this pain, including right here in the castro district. so this plan that we announced last week includes 44 new street cleaners throughout the city of san francisco, four in each supervisorial district that will have material impact in the conditions of our neighborhoods, in particular our commercial corridors. we're adding five new pit stops to address the feces and urination issues that we are seeing in many different neighborhoods here in san

francisco. and also talked about and announced a dedicated team to picking up syringes and needles across the entire city of san francisco. family members and individuals should not have to step over needles on the way to school, on the way to work. it simply doesn't need to be part of our landscape here in san francisco. and we are also growing our fix it team, sandra, who runs or fix it team, and does such an amazing job. how about a round of applause for her. [applause] >> the hon. mark farrell: we are expanding it to ten new districts in san francisco. because they do such an amazing job in san francisco. when there are areas to be picked up, when there is anything that needs to be done, they are there doing it, doing such an incredible job. but we need to do more. we need to put our foot on the gas pedal, and as mayor, until i leave office, i am going to

do it, and street cleanliness is something i am going to address. we have a big effort to cleanup our streets. san francisco residents do, as well, and now today we're going to have some bigbellys to help us with that effort. and sorry, i had to go there with that line. so today, we are announcing five new bigbelly trash receptacle here in the castro district and 15 others in different neighborhoods throughout san francisco. now these bigbelly trash cans, as you will see, there's going to be a demonstration at the end, are different than your normal trash cans. they have automatic compactors inside, allowing them to hold five times the amount of waste of any normal garbage can. they tick recycling, compost, and trash, and they're outfitted with wireless technology, real-time technology that alerts those when these are full to come pick them up and empty them. that means no more wasted trips

to pick up half full garbage cans. you know, we are the technology capital of the world. we should not be afraid, and you know i believe as mayor, we should embrace technology to benefit the daily lives of our residents, and we are doing that today. we are making this investment now in partnership with our small business leaders. our community benefits districts are the ones that really do the work on the ground. i want to thank andre who is here today for all of your work in the castro, and we are partnering with them to install these new bigbelly trash receptacles, but also to maintain them going forward. we are going to cleanup our city here in san francisco. we made a number of announcements last week. today is just another step in

that direction, and i want to make sure to reaffirm my commitment to the residents of san francisco that cleaning up our streets is going to be one of my biggest priorities, and we will not stop again until the day that i leave office. i look forward to seeing these trash cans across the city of san francisco. we are going to swallow up the trash with our bigbelly garbage cans, once again. so with that, i want to thank everyone for being here. we have a number of speakers, and i would like to introduce and bring up supervisor jeff sheehy, who's right behind me. and i want to make a quick comment about supervisor sheehy. there has been no one, since i have become mayor, who has been more forceful in his advocacy of cleaning up the streets of his district than jeff sheehy. you can clap. it's great. we have gone on neighborhood walks. we have walked this commercial corridor right here with our department of public works. there's no supervisor more focused on cleaning up the streets of his neighborhood than supervisor sheehy. and with that, i'd like to hear

from him. supervisor jeff sheehy. >> supervisor sheehy: thank you, mayor farrell. thank you for those kind words, and i really want to thank you deeply for your leadership on this issue. it's been a challenge, but the inno-nateti innovation that you're bringing to this, the resources, it's making a difference, and i know the people in my district, we're grateful. i also want to thank the department of public works because they have been so steadfast, so diligent in cleaning up this neighborhood, in cleaning up the district. it's a struggle because we know that this is an ongoing problem, and i think your new initial initiatives are going to help us turn the corner on this. we are moving forward on this. i want to thank the community benefits in the castro for their leadership. these things are great. compacts, signals when the

trash is full. and i do want to note that recology is here. recology is doing a great job. this is allow them to be enormously more efficient, so as the mayor said you're not emptiying half empty trash cans, you empty them when they're full. we've seen the problem. we have the open trash cans, people rummage in them. they overflow, and sometimes that creates a mess. so andre, thank you for your partnership with recology, with the mayor. i'm going to address you, but sandra zuniga, i can't say enough about you. she comes in, she solves problems, she works so closely with the community to identify problem areas and find solutions. she was telling me, for instance at glen park park, we

have a little flower stall that was graffitied up. and you know, she just went and painted it herself. that's the type of attitude she brings towards san francisco. that's how much she cares about this city, so i am honored to introduce sandra zuniga, who's director of the mayor's fix it team. >> good morning, everybody. thank you for that introduction and thank you to both mayor farrell and supervisor sheehy for their leadership in this city. special thank you to mayor farrell for giving me this assignment. being able to work on these bigbellys has been fun. so fix it, i run the fix it team, and what we do z we work closely with communities, talking to residents, listening to residents to find out what concerns they have, and we want to act quickly and effectively to help address those. in the castro, we've been working here about two years, and we've seen improvements, a

lot of great improvements to the castro. one of things that's a great concern is litter and the amount of litter we see around our city, especially trash cans, when they've been rummaged through or overflow especially when the wind blows and blows them away. so we're happy today to show you not just an efficient can but a very pretty tran ca-- trh can in the castro that we hope will bring new life, new energy to people who are shopping here, passing through here to use the handing, throw their cigarette butt or bottle away in the right place. today's announcement is part of a larger strategy that fix it has to make improvements in neighborhoods based on what we hear about from residents, so we plan to implement new strategies in neighborhoods across the city, and find out what works and when something

works, we can replicate it in other neighborhoods with confidence. i really would like to thank all of the community benefit districts who are working with me on this project. of course f andre aiello with the community benefit district, and several others who will see their bigbellys this summer, and a special shout out of course to public works, recology, economic and workforce development and kevin from bigbelly, who will give you all a demonstration soon. so with that, i would just like to introduce a wonderful partner in this who has been tremendously hard working and really fast at turning around a lot of giving us, you know, ideas, information, feedback, andre aiello, for getting

the -- from the castro c.i.d. for getting the first big belly on the ground. >> thank you for that. the castro community benefit district is so excited to be the first neighborhood that will be getting these bigbellys in a special program that has been sponsored by mayor farrell, and i want to thank the mayor so much for his dedication to keeping the neighborhoods clean, not only just downtown but the neighborhoods. and we are -- we'll be working with the city to develop metrics on how do we evaluate and measure these to make sure they're effective. and as everyone has been describing, the bigbellys work because once you put the trash in, you can't take the trash out, and that includes limiting and preventing overflowing trash cans, which i think we've

all seen all over the city. the wind is blowing, and the wind takes the paper or the cup out of the trash can, and there's a mess all the way down the sidewalk, and it blows it all the way down the sidewalk. so we're really excited that this is going to help keep the benefit district really clean. the castro neighborhood benefit district works tirelessly to keep the neighborhood clean, keep it vibrant. we have a lot of different strategies around cleanliness, around safety, economic vitality, greening. we have live performances in the jane warner plaza? the summer every weekend. everything fits together in a puzzle to encourage more people and more pedestrian traffic in the neighborhoods and in an urban environment. cleanliness is probably the first thing because nobody wants to walk around a neighborhood where there's trash and other things, and worse than just trash in a neighborhood. it's community benefit districts working

collaboratively with public works who has been absolutely fantastic as a partner and recology all working together to pitch in and keep san francisco clean -- or cleaner, and a great city. so i want to thank everybody and thampg the city family. they have vust been absolutely great. we've pushed through this contract in like a month, so that's unheard of. so thank everybody. i want to thank the mayor for hez creativity and initiative on this. and now, i think we're going to have kevin give a demonstration on how these wonderful things work. take care. >> one, two, three, go! [inaudible]