i would like to remind members of the public that the commission does not tolerate disruption or outbursts of any kind. please silence your mobile devices that may sound off. when speaking before the commission, if you care to, please state your name. i will take roll at this time. [roll call]

first on your agenda is items proposed for continuance. 1 a and b, 2018-1356tzu and 2018-004477pca for planning zone and zoning map amendments and tax regulation. item 2, 218-006562cua, 50 quint street, conditional use, has been withdrawn. no other items for continuance and no speaker cards. >> president hillis: any comments about the items proposed for continuance? >> to get postponed past

september 13. we need more time and need to have a session of the that. we would like to continue to a later date. >> president hillis: thank you. mr. gladstone? >> fred gladstone regarding 701 new hampshire. i sent in an email and talked about a continuance until october 25. i represent the owners. the reasons are, we have an email sent to you from one of the tenants, who asked for more time to be able to conclude negotiations. the other tenant, linda, has been represented by kazahusta and they've told them that they need an assistance of an attorney and referred her to one and we, of course, encouraged her to have one and continue the

discussions. let's talk about the pros and cons of a continuance. so we have two units coming with two adus. we have a seismic upgrade. washers and dryers going into all the units and dangerous conditions, etc., and -- >> president hillis: let me clarify. i don't want to -- i think we're going to hear this item. it's not on our continuance calendar. so let's pause any discussion of 701 and then we'll hear it. >> okay. sorry it didn't get on your calendar. >> president hillis: it's on our calendar. >> i mean for continuance. >> president hillis: the plan is to hear that item. it's not on our -- >> okay. thank you. >> president hillis: any additional public comment on the items being proposed for

continuance? >> commissioner richards: the question i have for central soma, how many of the 40-odd things that we'll be hearing that are changes from what we've voted on are substantial and how many are technical? >> most of them are technical. there is a handful of concepts or changes. it's not the majority of the -- we would recommend that you hear it next week. >> commissioner richards: have we talked about it in other areas? >> no. it's not major policy changes. it's simply -- for example, there's a change with respect to one of the uses of the funds in the public benefit to create a new line item related to p.d.r.

it's that level of stuff. i would argue that it's not at policy direction change. it's not changes to heights or densities or anything of that sort. >> president hillis: commissioner moore? >> commissioner moore: the only reason i would support continuance of central soma is because the calendar is too full. when we focus on really important things like policy changes, and i would like to dedicate strong, awake, aware times, but we have so many items, at least what i saw on the advanced calendar, that i'm scared that we will be here until midnight. that's my only concern. that's a realistic concern about how effectively we can work and for how many hours. >> commissioner richards: one question on next week -- 2918 mission is coming back? i don't think it will come back to you next week. we have to do additional work. i can confirm that with staff.

we'll know by tomorrow. as a result of the board's decision, we would have to do additional work on that project to -- from an additional standpoint. [inaudible] >> clerk: it may just be on your advanced calendar by mistake. >> president hillis: i think we should hear central soma. if the issues are complex or need more information, we should continue it. we'll heard it before. if things are complicated, we can continue it. >> commissioner richards: move to continue the items to date specified. >> second. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners. on that motion, 1a and b to

september 13 -- [roll call vote] that passes unanimously 7-0. commissioners, that places us for commission matters, draft minutes, august 23, 2018. >> president hillis: any public comments on minutes? seeing none, we close public comment. >> move. >> second. [roll call vote] so moved, commissioners. that motion passes unanimously 7-0 and places us on item 4, commission comments and questions. >> president hillis:

commissioner johnson. >> commissioner johnson: there was an article about amazon and retail stores. we've discussed, trying to figure out the future of retail. a couple of key quotes, "a store closing set records last year. no class of retailer was spared, from madison avenue to shopping malls to big box stores." things look like they're turning around. americans have started shopping more in stores. many successful stores of the next wave of retail look like a cross between fast food drive-thru and hotel concierge, where you can pick up multiple items, get personal shopping and stores are returning to a user experience that is based on

community need. i think while this change, we know a shift is potentially coming. and the shift will be slow in its course. my favorite quote from the article, "it's like turning around the queen mary. you can turn the rudder, but it takes time to gain an actual purchase." in time, we'll be able to see the changing face of retail. but wanted to share with my fellow commissioners that there may be a change coming. >> president hillis: thank you. >> commissioner richards: i always look forward to commissioner johnson's corner. this is my second week of my second term, congratulate commissioner johnson, fong and moore for being reappointed. i was having a glass of wine with someone and they said, you need to focus on the three ps -- protect existing residents.

produce add itional housing, current residents who are overcrowded or newcomers yet to arrive. and the other p was preserve existing relatively affordable housing. and i thought it was a really good summation of what our charge should be. and i put it through the lens of the housing affordability study. those are the three things that now are on my mind rather than the 5 or 6 old ones that i have. for me, the next four years, that's where it needs to be focused. secondly -- and i look forward to the next four years. i had a blast the last four and look forward to the next four years. i was sitting reading the sunday chronicle and i glanced down at the insight section. i don't have it here. i forgot it. i have it on-line. and i was -- i did a double-take. the insight section is normally the editor has a big thing on the front, but there was a woman that comes here from the

commission quite frequently and she got the front page of the insight section. it was titled, "four things we can do to curb our housing shortage." the four were vacancy tax, which we've talked about and maybe housing affordability study can talk about that. preserve relatively affordable housing. supervisor peskin is working on demo definition and penalties, which is in the chutes. registry. i think supervisor fewer has been talking about that. the last, build 100% affordable housing, which is something we've been trying to do. so i thought it was a great article and you should look at it. this morning, i read an article in "the examiner." and it looks like we'll have more discussions around cannabis as it relates to how far it is from schools and if we should have carvoue-outs. so stay tuned. the cannabis story is not quite

over yet. >> commissioner koppel: quick comment. yesterday's paper, san fran mayor london breed sets aggressive goal to shrink carbon footprint to zero by 2050. really excited to see her setting the tone citywide for this. s.b. 350 has set forth some high marks for the state of california. i'm glad to see that mayor breed has us on target to align with these goals. so it will be interesting to see from here on out what we see as far as new projects and what the existing buildings will be doing to reduce their waste. that's it. thanks. >> president hillis: thanks. we can move to director's announcements. >> clerk: very good. item 5. >> thank you, jonas. a couple of things.

next week is global climate summit in san francisco that is being convened by governor brown. i think mayor breed's announcement is real eigal -- d to that. there are other events that are happening peripheral to that conference and it's by invitation-only, but there will be several thousand people in town talking about the issues at a very high level. so we're looking forward to seeing the outcome of that. it's funny that you mentioned the three ps, if you will. you may recall that last year as a result of the planned bay area. a working group was convened on housing and it's called casa. it doesn't stand for anything. it's just the name of the group. those are the terms that they

used as a basis for their discussion, which was to protect existing residents and preserve affordable housing and produce housing. so that's the mantra they're using and the results of that work are coming out, i think, later this fall. and i was going to talk about president hillis about scheduling a hearing on it, because i think it would be important for the commission to hear the results and the recommendation from that group. >> clerk: item 6, review of past events at the board of supervisors. there was no board of appeals meeting yesterday or historic preservation commission meeting. >> the board is back in session and they start off by finishing off some unfinished business. the rezoning for the properties on 19th avenue between cantara and rivera. hours until midnight for

nonconforming uses. prohibiting cannabis retail in chinatown. and the accessory dwelling unit in lieu fee for street trees by supervisor tang passed second read. allowing massage establishments in union street commercial district, passed first read. as did the affordable housing projects on undeveloped lots in s.a.i. districts, supervisor kim. three hearings were scheduled this tuesday. the appeal of the final environmental impact report for central soma. that was continued until next week, september 11. the appeal for conditional use for 123 corbett was continued until october 2. lastly, the board did hear the appeal for the mitigated declaration for the ferry project. the national park service would enter into a long-term agreement with the port commission to make

improvements to the alcatraz ferry embarkment site at pier 31 1/2. it would allow for the berthing of three ferry boats at the time, which would accommodate ferry service to fort baker. it would begin in 2023 and run on weekends only. the city of sausalito appealed because of transportation and public safety impact, however, the changes to the project agreement that were approved by the port commission have addressed the concerns. sausalito could not unconditionally withdraw their appeal. the board of supervisors cannot take action until the appeal is resolved. there were no speakers in support of the appeal. and none against the planning department provided

a brief response, and that sausalito fails to provide any evidence that it would have an impact on the physical environment necesitating a d.i.r. that concludes my remarks. >> president hillis: any questions, commissioners? thank you, mr. starr. >> clerk: i cannot remember what happened yesterday. historic preservation commission did meet and initiated landmark designation of the paper doll and 524 union as well as several landmark businesses. if there are no questions, we can move on to general public comment.

at this time, members of the public may address the commission on items of interest to the commission in subject matter jurisdiction except for agenda items. with respect to agenda items, you can address the committee when we get to that on the agenda. i have one speaker card. >> hi. good afternoon. over 3 1/2 years ago, i sent an email to the commission and to the director and to mr. huey and the mayor's office and some of the supervisors on land use at the time talking about the demolitions and i basically said the developers changed the buildings and it's demolition and they do not meet the planning code for 101b prop m for neighborhood preservation. that was sent 3 1/2 years ago. here i am today and i brought with me the zoning controls on the removal of dwelling units,

which is put out since 2010 and it includes the fact that the zoning administrator can raise the numerical value. he sent it three times. you also, according to section 3172d, i think it is -- i gave the handout to mr. ionin. you have the ability to change and raise the criteria. that's why i sent you the letter about that. so i'm requesting that you now use your powers, granted in section 317. the planning commission has not adjusted the criteria since section 317 was enacted and that's 2007, i think. mr. sanchez has raised it three times in the last four years.

i know supervisor peskin's proposing legislation. i don't think it conflicts with it. could put this on the consent calendar next week and you could fix the numbers. and maybe the city attorney will say, you can do it three times, like mr. sanchez did. i don't know if it will solve a problem, but it's helpful, because it's not working. i will show you this on the overhead. i attached it to the letter i gave you. you have it in pdf and you have a copy now. here's the overhead. sorry. someone filed a complaint, not me. there it is. i think you all know it was originally and d.b.i. is looking at it and they apparently moved it on to planning enforcement. so i really hope you will

consider putting this -- your power. it's in there. it's in that section. i gave it to mr. ionin. using your power and adjusting the demo calcs. and hopefully it will be something different, better from supervisor peskin's office, but i don't think it will conflict and i think it will be a message that everyone needs to hear. >> president hillis: mr. david? >> good afternoon. todd david, san francisco action housing coalition. i was not here last week, so i don't know if mr. commissioner talked about the projects not getting built. >> i did. >> and it was followed up by nbc did a story on that. i'm surprised that no one at the board of supervisors is calling a hearing. maybe it's in a plan to have a conversation about what is

happening. when you look at this week's agenda packet and last week's agenda packet, it's fairly light when it comes to new construction of multifamily homes. i'm not sure if there's any. so there is something going on. and the other thing that's happening or we're hearing is happening that we want to get clarification on is because it seems like the market rate housing is not happening, what we're hearing is that fees to the mayor's office of housing is way down. of 100% affordable housing projects are not moving forward because the mayor's office doesn't have the funding to do that. so we have said that the changes work together. market rate helps to fund the affordable. so i'm hoping that maybe we could have a conversation here to have what is happening.

is it land costs that's causing it? is it construction costs? is it both? what is happening and what are some adjustments that we can propose to get this moving again. thank you. i'm sorry. 1 minute left. i don't know if anyone talked about the housing bills in sacramento that made it through that are on the governor's desk. we had a handful of significant ones. senator weiner's sb-828 that would take a look at how we calculate. that made it through and waiting for a signature. unfortunately, phil tang had a fantastic piece of legislation and it got held up in committee. i think there was some internal sacramento politics that got in the way of that one. those are a couple of

significant bills. >> president hillis: any additional general public comment? seeing none, we can move to the regular calendar. sorry, sorry. commissioner richards, my apologies. >> commissioner richards: two things. interesting points around the demo calcs. i've been waiting for supervisor peskin to get something out there rather than do an analysis. maybe if staff can work with supervisor peskin's office to get an idea of where we are on that, that would be great, before we would embark on any additional look at the demo calcs. 1369 sanchez was a d.r. and one that came through this commission and looked closely at this. and made some changes to it. it would be ballsy to demolish

without a permit. and i know d.b.i. slaps on it. i can't wait to see if it's a demolition. that would be astounding for such a high-profile project. >> commissioner fong: i know we've talked about it before but i think there's a need for us to look at projects that have been entitled and look at the matrix and analyze them. we know that highland costs are there. at what point did prop c take an effect on some of these, if not all of these? i don't know. looking at other factors that may have affected that.

if we can add that to the calendar and look at that. >> i would be happy to do that. i will talk to the office of economic and work force development, because they're looking at this in a little more detail so i will talk to them and see what their timing is, and hopefully we'll have something like that within a couple of months and have a hearing and more information on that. >> president hillis: and can you give us an update next week on department's efforts on demo? we had a meeting with d.b.i. and we were looking to sync our efforts. supervisor peskin has an idea, but it would be great to get an update on where this stands.

>> sure. >> vice president melgar: i also would echo the request for having that, commissioner fong. after reading that article, it bothered me that it was the greedy worker. from where i sit, there's been a tremendous amount of land in san francisco and we don't blame that people pay too much for the land. i do want to get to the bottom of what is driving this. in terms of the in lieu fees, it's supposed to be mitigation fees. it's supposed to be a

replacement of the harm, but not to create more affordable housing, which we desperately need. we've talked before about the need for more consistent, sustainable, consistent sources of affordable housing that is not subject to the counter cyclical effects of the market. and i know other commissioners have made some suggestions, which i think we should explore. here we are at the other end of the cycle and looking at drying up funds. and i think that we have a new mayor that's very committed to affordable housing and i look forward to policy that creates such a fund. >> commissioner richards: i want to echo commissioner melgar's comment. i think one of the columns in

why something isn't getting built is there could be a column that they never intended to get it built. they wanted to sell the entitlement. i know that developers have told me that there are projects that they never intended to build, but intended to be resold. i liken that to me investing in a company that will create jobs for the community and then i lose my money and i cry that i should be getting something back because i speculated on it. it's an investment vehicle, but there are the ramifications that housing will not get built. let's take a look at that and be honest with each other. >> clerk: if there's nothing further, we'll move on to regular calendar, item 7, 2018-004644cua divisadero,

conditional use. >> david weissglass, planning department staff. pursuant to planning codes 303, 303.1, and 759 to establish a formula retail establishment doing business as corepower yoga, with hours 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. it's at 619 divisadero street. the establishment is 3,119 square feet. it was occupied by a small grocery store. there are 12 letters of support and representatives of 25 businesses as well as 30 letters of opposition. since publishing the report, staff has received 13 additional

levels of support, support petition signed by 359 individuals, 318 of whom have identified as san francisco residents. and a petition signed by five additional local businesses. staff has received 35 additional letters of opposition, including opposition letters from the divisadero street merchants association, grove rights resource, neighborhoods united and haight asbury neighborhood council. in total, staff received 25 letters in support of the project, a petition signed by 30 merchants, and the petition signed by residents. a the objectives and policies of the general plan of the project. thank you. i'm available for any questions you may have. >> president hillis: thank you. project sponsor.

>> good afternoon. >> president hillis: welcome. >> thank you. i'm stephanie rubenstein and i'm with corepower yoga and i'm excited to be here today to tell you more about the yoga studio that we'd like to open at 619 divisadero street. corepower yoga has been teaching yoga across the united states for 15 years, bringing our students a unique blend of a mindful workout that is also intensely physical. while each student's relationship to yoga is personal, many find a sense of community within core power, a connection to their teachers and fellow students. this connection we actively celebrate and cultivate each day on and off the mat.

when we were looking for our next studio in san francisco, there were several reasons that we were drawn to the alamo square neighborhood and in particular inch 19 divisadero. we're inspired by this neighborhood. it's diverse. it's unique and vibrant. from its residents, many of whom are already corepower members, to the eclectic blend of shops and restaurants, from popeye's, to nova, to rare device, it really does have something for everyone. when we found the space and began talking to the owners, ted master and his family, who are here today, we became even more excited about the possibility of opening a yoga studio in this location. ted is the former owner of health haven and pet haven, two local businesses that served the community for many, many years at 619 dividadero.

unfortunately in 2016, both businesses were forced to close around the space has been vacant ever since. ted and his family are excited to have corepower as a tenant, as we will continue the legacy that the family created in the space, serving local residents by continuing the tradition of health and wellness. after many years of failed attempts to lease the space to other tenants, mostly restaurants, they've finally found the right fit with us at corepower. i understand that as a formula retail business, corepower is judged more strictly, as we should be, to make sure that we will truly add something positive to the neighborhood. today i will address the various concerns we heard from our many meetings with neighborhood groups and their leaders and ask that you please keep the family in the back of your mind as

well. they've contributed significantly to divisadero street paving the way for the bars, restaurants and shops thriving there today. they now want the opportunity to enjoy retirement by finally leasing this space and continue the legacy of health and wellness that they began on divisadero street. when we held the open house, i was asked, what we plan to do to make the entire community feel welcome, so that anyone would feel comfortable walking into the studio and signing up for a class. he was concerned that the storefront, as depicted in this photo, would not be inviting or unique. in listening to his concerns, we took the initiative and commissioned a local san francisco artist to create a mural that was entirely unique

to divisadero street and truly reflected the neighborhood and its character. there is is a rendering that serge created for us deep iktding th iktding -- depicting this mural. it evokes alamo square park, painted ladies and even a muni bus. by leaving much of the glass transparent, we wanted to invite the community into the space. so here's the floorplan. this is going to be a one-room yoga studio of about 2,500 square feet. it will have full locker rooms, showers, and area for retail. and i want to stress that this is a small neighborhood studio. it's meant to serve students walking from within 1/4 mile or less to the location. the next concern that we heard from the president of alamo

square neighborhood association is that corepower was not affordable and that many residents would be priced out. so as you can see from this chart, corepower really falls in the middle of the pack when you look at other local fitness providers in san francisco we have open gym at $300 a month on the higher end. and yoga garden at $145 a month at the lower end and we're at $189 a month. so this brings me to my next point. our discounted memberships. approximately 63% of our members nationwide and 67% of the members in the bay area receive an average discount of 20% off of their monthly membership fee. so this brings their average costs even lower to about $150 a month for unlimited yoga at any corepower anywhere in the

country. so for group fitness or a gym membership in san francisco, i would argue that we are reasonably priced. another concern we heard was that there was too much yoga in the neighborhood already and corepower would harm local businesses. we see that differently. in researching, we found only one other yoga studio within 1/2 mile of 619 divisadero and that's yoga garden. i've had several conversations with the owner of yoga garden, once at the open house we held and one at the divisadero merchants association meeting. he told me that he did not feel threatened by corepower moving into the neighborhood and that more yoga was, in fact, good for the community. another concern we heard was that of diversity. that corepower doesn't indicate tore diverse population and

we're not for everyone. so i just want to point out that over 90% of our employees are women and that we see members from all age groups. we don't keep hard demographic data, we've found that corepower reaches every ethnic and racial background. in fact, we have members from every nationality and find that the unique makeup of each studio reflects the neighborhood it serves and we would not expect alamo square to be any different. >> clerk: thank you. your time is up. the commissioners may have additional questions later. >> president hillis: thank you. >> i thought i had 10 minutes, sorry. >> president hillis: we'll do 7 minutes on the presentation and 2 minutes for public comment and we may have questions. >> okay. thank you. >> president hillis: i have a number of speaker cards. reama shami, muriel mendoza,

netta jotta, rhonda nasser, and scott browman. if your name has been called, come up and speak in any order. you can go in any order, if your name's been called. welcome. >> good afternoon. i'm joseph johnny. i have a business on 1800 mcallister street. i have a yoga studio next to my location. the neighborhood seems to be thriving of the demographic it brings in and out is good for business, good for the restaurants, the juice bars, the coffee shops. doesn't bring rif raf around our area. i don't see where it would be opposed. and that's all i have to say

about that. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. tess wellborn. a half dozen neighborhood associations oppose this application. we believe that this chain business is not needed and not wanted in the divisadero corridor. they have another location 1 mile away. and while they have a large number of signatures, those signatures are people that live all over san francisco and are not walking 1/4 mile to this location. please, do not support this. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> scott broadman. i think it's not needed or appropriate for the

neighborhood. there are too many formula retail businesses already there that have displaced places that i like, like my cheese shop, which is gone, for a bank. we've know this is what happens. the people with deep pockets move in and rents go up for everybody else and they move out and then we have more, i don't know, mcdonald's and citibank and others moving in. it will happen here. and also on its own. if people can't get healthy by walking a mile to church and dubose, they need to rethink they're healthiness. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. i'm a resident of the area and i think that this would benefit the area a lot. i've been to many studios of corepower and i believe that they promote diversity, awareness. it brings out a higher benefit to everyone in the community.

so i think it would benefit the community a lot. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. i'm nita i'm here in support of corepower. i'm -- i own a business on mcallister and i work in san francisco and corepower is a great thing to bring to the community. no harm to the neighborhood even. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. and i will call a couple other names. jason gervais, gus hernandez, connor ryan. >> i'm the daughter of ted nasser. my father missed my plays, musicals, sports activities, devoting his life to the neighborhood we're in and i lived with an autoimmune disease since i was 16 years old and my daughter does as well since he was 17.

so my parents truly understand the meaning of health and wanting to contribute something positive to the community because it takes a community to raise a child. he devoted his life to running the business that he was pushed out of because a stronger, more competitive business pushed him out and forced him into early retirement. it's unfortunate that most people don't even understand or have heard the true story that happened to my father and my uncles that worked and devoted their lives to this community. they've lived without an income for three years the people that voted against it probably never even heard ted nasser's story. he's been written in neighborhood articles, newspapers, that have talked about what he's done and so many people loved him. i would go as a child and the whole community loved him, supported him. and i truly believe it's unfortunate that the people that are voting against core studio to come in and contribute and carry on the legacy that my

father brought to the neighborhood did not hear the story, did not vote correctly, because they were not told the whole story. and it's just really sad that we're in this position that we're in today. and i want people to know that many lives are affected because people don't think it's a good idea. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is rhonda nasser. i'm one of the owners of health haven. our business has been vacant for the last 2 1/2 years. we have no income and are losing or savings to pay the expenses of our business. the insurance, the property tax, and the home association for the business.

and then we have to take care of our bills that we need for ourselves for our house, our health. at this point, i feel that we're really worried, extremely worried, and we are frustrated, because we don't know what to expect in the future. we really worked very hard. i have been here 41 years and my husband 47 years and since we emigrated to this country, we've been in small business. and that means 7 days a week, long hours. many sacrifices, as my daughter told you. many times, the teachers don't recognize that i have a husband. he's always in the store, while i'm with the kids. we did a lot for our family and our community. and i think if you say no to this project, it will hurt our

retirement, our security and our financial peace of mind. i wanted to say more, but i want our neighborhood to give us a chance to harvest our hard work. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. gus fernandez. i'm a resident of the neighborhood and i oppose corepower yoga. i'm also the president of the alamo square neighborhood association. and we wrote a letter to not support this location. i believe you have a copy of our letter. i will put it up here. so this is a difficult decision for us because we -- it's true. we do like the nasser family and we don't like having to come up

here and oppose this proposal, but we have to look at the bigger picture and that's the entire neighborhood. corepower yoga was approved earlier this year into the location. so they're opening that less than a mile away. there are other yoga services. i believe you have a letter from yoga garden in opposition, as well as from betty roy, that just came in. even center sf officers yoga services. and i want to reference the community aanalysis did by affordable divis. is this formula retail use necessary or desirable? i want to compare the proposal at church and dubose to this proposal.

in sharp contrast, corepower yoga had the support of the neighbors there, and upper market and castro and castro valley neighborhood association. no letters of opposition were in your executive summary. in contrast, we have affordable divis, hank, grove residents, and neighbors in opposition. the community has spoken. please oppose this project. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is connor ryan and i'm a member of neighbors united and i'm in opposition to core yoga being in the neighborhood. the reason is not because of yoga and i'm sorry about the situation with the nasser family, but when you bring in a chain, whatever it is, it's

going to put an upward pressure on all the other retail rents and this eventually will hollow out the neighborhood. they will drive out small businesses and it will create a situation very much like what's going on in brooklyn, where the neighborhood is gentrified and small businesses cannot survive. so you have chains and empty storefronts. if we really want to retain diversity in the neighborhood, in the community, we need it put a check on large, big box or chain businesses. for that reason, i urge you to oppose this business. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon,

commissioners. i'm jason gervais. i live in the neighborhood and have lived there for 12 years. through that time, i've seen lots of changes happening, most of them great changes, some of them not so great. i'm here to speak in opposition, frankly, because i think it's the wrong fit for what the neighborhood needs. not only is there already yoga offerings, but less than a half mile away at fitness sf, you can do yoga, swimming, weightlifting, all kinds of services for less than 50% cheaper than what corepower is currently offering. furthermore, i believe that corepower yoga is a threat to the existing homegrown businesses. we need to think about whether this organization is going to be able to extend real economic opportunities for the younger folks that are on golden gate

and fillmore that i see by the mcdonald's and the liquor store that lack the opportunities to learn about service or business management. as someone who started my own business in san francisco, i understand the difficulties that the nasser family are going through and i sympathize and empathize with that, but there are other options. there are other options in terms of divesting from the property and relieving themselves of the burden. so i urge you to oppose this project. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. and i will call more names. reama tizroni, lawrence real, denny shamish, bryce wabshel. go ahead, sir. >> my name is henry. i've been in san francisco since 1962. first street i ever lived on was divisadero. i appeal to your conscience and

to whatever you hold precious in your heart. i'm talking about myself. and if it wasn't for yoga, i wouldn't be here. 19 1990, i had a tumor in my inner ear. so they removed the tumor, but with it, they removed the nerve for balance and nerve for hearing. i have no balance. so i was 50 years old, four kids. so i have tears in my eyes and here comes a man that took me in and he helped me and taught me how to do yoga. guess what? i'm here because of this man. yoga is energy, it's power. how can you deny that to other

people? i am here because of it and i want to spread it to other people. and i would appreciate it if you allow them to have that business. god bless you. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> my name is johnny shammy. i live and work in the city and son-in-law of ted nasser. i'm against big, franchised business, but given the fact that -- i don't look at corepower as the mcdonald's or the burger kings of the world. they bring great energy, positive impact, health benefits to the neighborhood. definitely a fan of it. the price is right, versus what the market is. look at the situation as a hole

and that my in-laws are dependent on this, thank you very much. >> i'm lawrence israel. i'm in support of corepower yoga because i do yoga myself. so i think that is promoting good health benefits in the community and i also live and work in the city. >> president hillis: thank you very much. >> i wanted to say that i support core yoga. there's not a lot of places that offer that kind of stuff to do at that time of the evening. and it's needed and i think it's something that can touch lives. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. i'm bryce waxell. i work in the city and fully

support core yoga. it's a benefit to the neighborhood and only positive things come from it. exercise is a very important thing to anyone's regiment and i don't see any downfalls in terms of big brands like mcdonald's coming into the neighborhood. >> president hillis: thank you. >> i'm a resident of the neighborhood for 25 years and a business owner there. and i think core yoga is a great addition to the neighborhood and it would complement the other businesses, the restaurants, the bars. so i'm in support of it. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hi. i'm in support of opening

corepower yoga. i believe in promoting healthy habits. i'm in support for my friend and his wife to reap the benefit of the hardworking years and have a secure retirement. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, and i call nancy roberts, denise nasser and adell nasser. >> i'm in support of corepower yoga. i'm a property owner on divisadero. i don't see any harm in it and i urge you to support the project. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> tom hamilton, game scape. i'm in opposition of corepower yoga. allowing a company of this size to enter the area is against the interests of san francisco residents and there are better

options. protecting small business and the business owners in this community is what we should be focused on. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you. >> hi. i'm nancy roberts. i used to live in the neighborhood. i continue to work in san francisco. i've seen the neighborhood change a lot over the last 20 years since going to school at san francisco state to now commuting into san francisco, working here in the city. and i've seen the neighborhood shift from what it was in the early '90s to what it is now, today. i feel that the nasser story speaks volumes in that he was pushed out by a larger business that took over the neighborhood and competed with his business and now he's willing to work with corepower yoga and as a practitioner of yoga myself, i think having that available resource would be fantastic. i'm in support of corepower yoga moving into the neighborhood.

>> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> my name is anish nasser, native of san francisco and ted is my uncle and i know the area very well. i think my uncle is fully aware of the fact that this business is a formula retail business, but it's not a starbucks, where you get unhealthy shoes or a subway. it's a health-related business, which in my opinion is not detrimental or have a negative impact on the area. for those complaining about the price, i can walk into buy right and pay $10 for hummus and no one is telling me if it's too high or low. i support the project 100%. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. i'm edwin nasser, former

business owner 1/2 block down from the proposed location and still current property owner and i think core yoga would be good for the neighborhood. i support it. >> president hillis: thank you very much. next speaker. >> hello, everybody. my name is sid nasser. when i moved to san francisco in 1971, i was 23 years old. my uncles were before me in the city. they had businesses on divisadero street. in the '70s and '80s, it was a place to be. and some of them have suffered physically from it. throughout my living in the city for 47 years, i