the san francisco planning commission regular hearing for thursday, may 23rd, 2019. i would like to remind members of the public of commission does not tolerate any description or outbursts -- outbursts of any time. please silence your mobile devices. please state your name for the record when speaking before the commission. i would like to take role at this time. [roll call] >> we do expect commissioner moore to arrive shortly. first on your agenda is a consideration of items proposed for continuance. items one a and b. at 250 randolph street. conditional use authorization. they are close for continuous and june 6, 2019.

conditional use authorization is proposed for continuance until june 27th, 2019. item three, case at 2220 turk boulevard, discretionary review as proposed were continuance to september 12, 2019. item four, case number 2017420 to 230 turk boulevard discretionary review is proposed for continuous until september 12, 2019. item five, conditional use authorization as proposed for an indefinite continuance. further, commissioners, under your regular calendar, item 15 at 225 ask is avenue, conditional use authorization is being proposed until june 27th , 2019.

and through the chair, item 18 at 400 through 434 visit arrow conditional use authorization proposed for continuance to june 16th -- june 13th, 2019. >> is a member of the public want to make comment on the item proposed for a continuance? >> good afternoon, commissioners this is the first time i have heard that there is a proposed continuance and we are ready to go today. we have supporters coming today. we are prepared for today. and we are a little mystified by the announcements i just heard from the secretary. >> any other public comment? come on up. this is to the continuance.

>> yes, ma'am. john hood, architect for 20 to 20 and 20 to 30 turk street. the d.r. requester is here today and we are asking that they the hearing be moved from may 12th to may 5th. sorry, september. >> that is for both 2220 and 2230. >> yes, sir,. >> number 18, is this the time to mention comments on the plans for the construction or is that later? >> if it is heard today, the that would be the opportunity to speak. but right now we are taking of the matter of the continuance itself. >> thank you. >> any other public comment on the items proposed for

continuance? with that, public comment is now closed. commissioner richards? >> move to continue all items as proposed including item 15 and the gentleman who had the d.r., the d.r. requester, to sometime in september, jonas, i will defer to you. >> i understand it is being proposed for continuous until september 12, i believe they requested to move it up to september 5th. is that right? >> yes. >> in regards to item 18, until june 13th. >> okay. [indiscernible] >> it is not coming from the project sponsor. >> that was the call of the chair. there are issues that still need

to be resolved for the project and i would rather have them be resolved until we hear again. commissioner hillis? okay. >> second. >> thank you, commissioners. on that motion to continue items as proposed, items three and four going into september 5th, item 15 going to june 27th, in item 18 going to june 13th. on that motion... [roll call] >> that motion passes unanimously 7-0. zoning administrator, acting zoning administrator? >> continue ib until the items specified to the date specified.

>> thank you. that will place us on commission matters item six, consideration of adoption of draft minutes for may 9th, 2019. >> nothing. >> would anyone like to provide public comment now? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner johnson? >> move to approve the draft minutes. >> second. >> thank you, commissioners. on that motion to adopt the minutes... [roll call] >> so moved, that motion passes unanimously 6-0. item seven, commission comments and questions. >> commissioner richards? >> a few things. first of all, the package of housing hills, we heard it last

thursday the s.p. 50 got put in suspense until january, that is passed the appropriation committee by january 31st. there is an article in the chronicle on monday for modest housing fixes on the key bill and i'm incredibly disappointed that the legislature did not move to advance ab 236 which is the reynolds registry, which is the cornerstone of all these other changes in of zoning and protecting rental property and tenants from speculators and speculation and wrongful evictions. i'm incredibly disappointed at that. i honestly believe that that really shows true colours. we can't have costa hawkins reform, we can't have alice act reform, and we can have a rental registry. i want to work with my fellow commissioners and supervisors to get that past. we need it, without it, we will see some bad things happen. interesting article in the washington post.

how san francisco broke america 's hard. i encourage you to read it. it is a sad state of affairs on what we have in our city today. the last line was about a project that we had where a gentleman who owned several houses on the same street and turned one of the houses into a gymnasium basketball court for his own personal use. they are calling the article san francisco is becoming monaco. it is a great read. one other thing, today's chronicle, too, too many, senator weiner wants to allow five or six cities in the state to approve alcohol consumption after serving alcohol after 2:0. i think we would hear that here if that were to pass because actually is a change to the planning code. i hope, you know, we would hear that, and lastly, a most interesting one, the bear has been poked. why do i say that. i subscribe to a report called a planning report and you will see

the first of several constitutional amendment initiatives to undo state influence in local land-use regulation. this amendment comes out of san diego. i believe it is one -- by one of the persons running for mayor. i have never talked or communicated with any of these people, but it says if they want to mandate the city take additional density, they have to pay for the infrastructure. that was one of the big issues with s.p. 50. the state was telling us we had to take additional density, but there was no money to accommodate that growth. this requires the state to do that. it also requires the state to pay the developer fees, which is quite an interesting thing. the state is on the hook to bring the transportation up and pay the developer fees. i don't know where this will go, i understand it will go for title and summary and will be circulating around in the some hundred -- some 900 on signatures it needs. but the bear has been poked. thank you. >> commissioner fong? >> i would like to announce that

i will be not attending the june 6th meeting based upon long-term scheduling as i try to move everything from wednesday to thursday. [laughter] >> thank you. commissioner hillis? >> to follow up on some of your comments, i think it is unfortunate the state tabled some of these housing bills, especially s.p. 50 that i think generated a lot of good debate on what we all need to do to solve the housing crisis and the affordability crisis that we are in. i thought it was good debate, and i think municipalities are having that across the state, and the fact that one person at the state level could stop that or other bills, i think it was unfortunate. and reading that article, commissioner richards, i think it is probably the 600 iteration of that article. the question is, what do we do? i think it is a big question. it would be great to have a hearing here on if an spee 50 is

on hiatus or if it will come back, or if we have local control what would we do. we have done well in rezoning the city and there are big questions we need to start to continue to explore. we have brought up ideas like a residential expansion threshold which could be brought back and changed and modified so we are encouraging density being maximized and not single-family homes to be built. what do we do about the pipeline of projects that awaits construction, i think we need to take it -- take a serious look at having a minimum of having our age four density across the city, how do we fund affordable housing and looking at real solutions like a parcel tax or changing 13. i think we have to give the policymakers some of these tools and have input on how we solve

the housing crisis. >> thank you. commissioner richards? >> one other thing. i met with the director of outreach planning and we went over all the bills that the director was in the cost of package. they are two bills that concerned me. one is as. >> commissioner fong: thirty which concerns city staff. i would like to have some type of a very brief briefing on what the impacts are and understand that it would stop the central soma plant if it was enacted as is. there is another bill that takes the four plex issue and makes it by right across the state. it was shaded in orange, but it is a sleeper bill that no one is paying attention to and it is an assembly bill, but it is on the list of what was provided, and lastly, because we have these central soma office projects coming, i request we have a two week advanced packet distribution instead of a one-week and i would offer that

through the chair if you have to consider that. >> thank you. commissioner richards? >> is that a yes? >> yes. >> as a fair warning, the first projects are coming to your two weeks and i am afraid we will not have those packets ready to day. i for to the chair we can do that in the future, were the first projects are coming to you for action june 6th and staff is not prepared to have that in the packet today, just so you know. >> thank you. >> seeing nothing further, commissioners, we can move into department orders. >> i have no new announcements today. >> item nine, review of past events of the board of supervisors on the board of appeals. >> good afternoon, commissioners i'm the manager of legislative affairs.

we heard the ordinance that allows 80 used in new construction and brings the a.d.u. program into compliance with state law. you heard this item with the following medications. first it is a maximum of 1200 square feet for the no waiver a.d.u. there are also several amendments related to historic review proposed by the h.p.c., which you all signed off on. supervisors did move to incorporate the ordinance. at the hearing, public comment was in support of these a.d.u.s but some commenters had concerns about protecting these things and the overall length that the a.d.u. review process was. supervisor peskin moved to duplicate the files with the amendments related to a.d.u.s. they address many of the

concerns. the ordinance is in continuous until june 3rd with the intent to approve this ordinance as amended with proposal on modern vacations. there were no items on the board this week, but there was an introduction you probably saw on the news. supervisor peskin sponsored and in term moratorium on changes of uses to nine time -- nighttime entertainment and that is supposed to address the punchline eviction which is happening. that is all i have for you. >> thank you. >> i did not receive a report from the board of appeals, but we can move onto general public comment, unless there are questions. at this time, members of the public may address the commission on items of interest to the public of the commission except agenda items. your opportunity to address the commission will be afforded when the item is reached in the

meeting. each member of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes. when the number of speakers exceed the 15 minute limit, public comment maybe moved to the end of the agenda. i did just have the one speaker card. >> any other member of the public who wishes to comment on items not on the agenda can do so now. >> here is a copy for the director of what i sent you. i don't know if you had a chance to read it. it is my response to -- jumping of what commissioner richards just said, and there are some things you have all talked about before. even prior to s.p. 50 going away for a while. i think the city should complete a rental registry. i thank you need to do an occupancy study and find out, are people living in these units that you built over the last ten years, we have all these horrible tales about zombie buildings, you don't need to

occupy a condo to own it because you can have it. my time didn't start. i thank you need a demographic study act as i mentioned before, this will be a huge shift in population of owner occupants in the next ten, 20 years. what will happen to the housing? what you want to have happened to all of that housing. people will die, that is the reality. a lot of them are homeowners in the neighborhood you are concerned about. that is the reality. you need to incentivize, you need to incentivize the return of units to the market, whether they are short term rental, people who do not like tenants. there are so many ways to do it like a twitter tax break. are they really 5,000 units out there that are sitting empty.

the historic resource survey should be done as quickly as possible. adjustment of the demo calculation, i believe it at that. and i thank you also need to understand the pipeline. you have all said this. lose it or use it. i just read about a project to improve -- you approved a year ago on potrero hill that sold for a million, to units two units, thank you, they are selling the entitlement and they haven't even completed getting their permit. they are selling it for $2 million. that is not right. it is not fair for you, it is not fair for the staff to do all that work, and one thing i didn't put on the list, which i will add, is there needs to be a major expansion of the small sights program. that is a brand idea and i think something san francisco should ring up and something you should explore. that is it.

>> any other public comment? come on up. you just have to come on up. any other general public comment for items not on the agenda? okay. with that, public comment is now closed. >> i just have one comment. i would for this among other articles to the secretary. i learned about a new financial product at wall street and they are crafting the trading of nbo his. that means units never been occupied. the units that were built is actually taking up the units and taking chances of them and try selling them to investors as long as it never been occupied. they're making housing a commodity.

>> i would like to announce for the members of public who have may not been here for the beginning of the meeting, item 15 have both been continued and will not be heard today. commissioners, item ten, legitimization program for certain uses a 315018 street. this is a planning code amendments. >> good afternoon, commissioners before i give the planning department staff, curling is here to speak on the ordinance. >> good afternoon, commissioners legislative director for supervisor hillary ronen.

this is also the amnesty policy. we interviewed this policy in february to provide amnesty to over 100 businesses that were facing imminent closure in the mission to start. we learned in early february that close to 100 businesses have active space, which is a property located on 3150, 18, we are facing displacement and finds due to possible violations of existing zoning regulations. this -- these businesses are small, very small owner operated enterprises, and most of them are health and personal services including acupuncturists, massage practitioners and tattoo artists. they think closing over 100 small businesses on the same block all at once would have been an economic crisis in the mission. our neighborhood is already

severing from the displacement of hundreds of small businesses and thousands of working-class residents due to gentrification they will prevent the displacement of these businesses by providing amnesty to them under the planning code. it will allow the business is currently operating at the space and who hold documentation that they have been there since before january. these need to be considered legal, nonconforming uses, and thus allow them to remain in the building as long as they can file all of the appropriate permit applications and they can stay there for ten years. we also want to be very clear that we are actively working to protect art and manufacturing spaces, which that building as -- is zoned at.

light manufacturing businesses provide working-class san franciscans with important blue-collar jobs. the mission is one of the few neighborhoods where p.d.r. zoning exists and we must protect these hard-to-find spaces. we believe that the solution that we introduced and that is before you today strikes the right balance between protecting current small businesses in the medium-term, ten years is a good amount of time, while ensuring that the manufacturing spaces can remain there for the long run. i will be available here for any additional questions. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners department staff. the legislation would establish the existing program to allow existing uses operating without the benefit of all required her -- permits. they apply to nonresidential uses.

i will not restate those for you now. the program would last for ten years for those nonconforming uses, after which time, they would need to vacate the premises. it would have no retroactive effect. it would not waive any enforcement of violations that occurred prior to the ordinance. the ordinance as a result of ongoing enforcement with the planning department, health department in the department of building inspection regarding the illegal businesses operating at the subject site. during the investigation, we discover that the majority of cases had been established without the benefit of the permit. many businesses are operating without business licenses. this enforcement is ongoing with further enforcement action dependent on the result of the proposed ordinance. to give you a little background on the property, on september 23 rd 2004, the commission move to take discretionary review and approve the project at that site the project proposed to demolish two two-story light industrial

office and warehouse buildings and in their place construct a five-story building with approximately 260 commercial units. and a single caretaker's unit. they were designed exclusively exclusively as workshops for arts activities, light manufacturing and small business services. as part of the approval action, the commission prohibited these uses on the site say for one administrative office and one caretaker's unit. this was memorialized in the notice of special restriction. the department has received several additional e-mails from the public since the publishing of the case packet, all of which has been e-mailed to you. the comments are from the tenants at 315018 street requesting that office use be allowed without discretionary review hearing and generally asking the commission to support the legislation. the department recommends a commission approved the modification of the proposed ordinance. the ordinance is as follows. number 1, decrease the program contrary from ten years to three years, this program is designed

to give noncomplying tenants time to find a new business location. department staff find that ten years is too long. many tenants move out during that time and people with the same use may move into the space if the program is too long, they may find themselves in this same situation and asked two years. and then taking an exception from the planning code. additionally, these not -- these uses are not allowed in the zoning district for good reason. most, if not all of them can pay higher rents. they result in rewarding the property owner for knowingly breaking the approval under the property and the underlining zoning controls. they do not want to set a precedent for other developers to do the same in the future. number 2, do not permit office uses to participate in the legend -- legitimization program the districts are specifically designed to prevent the proliferation of office uses which can pay more for double of the amount of rent for

traditional p.d.r. uses. they go against the intent of the district and the general plan. additionally, the original conditions of approval for the space project specifically stated that office uses are not to be allowed. lastly, if the program is only three years, staff recommends that by the time in office use seeks to temporarily legalize between the discretionary review , they won't be much time left for them to actually operate the space. the department cannot be offering permit avenues that are of little or no benefit to the applicant. we support the ordinance with all the modifications because it will ensure the small business tenants are given time to legitimize their use. if they are allowed under p.d.r. zoning or time to find a new business if they are not allowed to operate. although the department supports the overall intentions and goals of the ordinance, it cautions that with the adoption of all proposed might modifications, the success of this program contains additional variables that are described in the implantation summary but not within the city's control.

i am available for questions as his quarry, the zoning administrator who has been dealing with a lot of the enforcement for this case. i believe the office of small business plans to join us as well. thank you. >> thank you very much. we will now take public comment on this item. i have three speaker cards. anyone else who would like to speak, please come on up now. >> hello. all right. esteem members of the san francisco planning commission, thank you for holding this meeting today regarding legislation to allow tenants like myself to provide their service at the building. my name is wendell. i represent body awakening,

ancient wellness arts. since 2012, i have been offering massage services to the people of the san francisco bay area. nearly five of those years have been from my studio in an active space building. some of the reasons for which it is important for me to stay there and why i ask for your approval of this proposed legislation today, i would request ten years as well, by the way. security, the building has secure entrances for lease ease. the main entrance, used by clients to establish the ability to identify all entrance. and it has video surveillance 24/7. cleanliness, the building's public areas, hallways, elevators, restrooms, stairwells and lounges are maintained well and cleaned with consistent frequency. privacy, each suite is secured and compartmentalized with enough soundproofing even

between floors to facilitate a private environment. as a tenant -- sorry. access. as a tenant of the space, i am able to access the building 24 hours a day, seven days a week if i wish. it also gives me the ability to offer my practice seven days a week if i wish. and other spaces where i have established a practice or have investigated, this will be impossible -- impossible logistically and economically. autonomy as a tenant, so long as i agreed to restore the suite to its original condition, which i completely intend to do, i have free license to decorate it as i , please. again, this is another realistically unfeasible arrangement in other spaces. in our space, we have created a vibrant studio replete with our

installations which facilitates the shedding of life stresses, by tapping into that which is universal in our human experience. one wall is adorned with representations of birth, water, fire, air, and either and in four different languages. a tibetan buddhist hand-painted mandala rests under the representation of the goddess. three of jeremy novi's quay fish lloyd in essence as they travel along a current towards the heavens. our ceiling hosts in euro painted by the san francisco artists, depicting goddesses, gods, sages, heroes, and archetypes. >> thank you, your time is up. >> please support this bill. >> thank you. next speaker, please. come on up.

>> good afternoon. my name is elise. i am here is a seven-year tenant of the active space. i'm a nutritionist, i'm an obstetrician, i want to tell you my story of how i have been there -- how i came to be there and how i continue to be there and now i have tried to because i am outside of active space and completely failed. i am a tenant of seven years in the active space. i paid $1,000 a month for 125 square feet. i have been looking for new space to occupy that my business i am not asking for much, but i cannot find it in the city. i expanded my budget to $1,500 a month. no realtor will work with me at that rate. i am on my own trying to find a space. i have daily alerts from craigslist, and the best that i

can offer was an ad for $1,700 at the bottom of a 100-year-old apartment building. i moved in, i was really excited about it, even though the rent was much higher than i was paying, and within one month, i began experiencing a series of floods onto myspace that landlord refused to hire professional plumbers for. i contacted the department of building inspections and they still have not followed up with those complaints. i was terrified, i was scared. i couldn't operate my business under the circumstances. i was externally grateful to be able to run back to active space so i could run my healing business without the additional stress of knowing whether or not there would be water on my floor when i moved into active space, there was nothing in my system

that said that this was wrong. their advertisements on the wall , there were postcards in the office, i told them out right what i did, and they run an apartment style application process. i go into the office, they didn't say anything was bizarre, i'm not blaming them, i'm just telling you what my experience was. i consider myself to be an extremely responsible business owner. i took over 30 hours of classes at the school of business association, i took a workshop with the board of equalization on sales tax, i have a binder and a checklist of everything i needed to do to be run a legitimate business in san francisco and i completely was unaware of my responsibility to be in touch with the zoning in the department of building inspection in order to legally operate myspace. i have continued to look since 2015 and through coming back to active space, for a viable place to practice in the city, and i'm coming up empty.

i want you guys to know that this plan will put most of us out of business. we need at least ten years. hillary ronen said she would be open to giving us lifetime amnesty, notice down to ten, notice down to three. >> thank you, your time is up. >> majority of us will close if that is the case and i'm asking for your forgiveness and your mercy and your compassion. >> thank you. next speaker, please. [applause] >> hi there. my name is angie and i am also attending active space, hoping to represent the close to 100 entrepreneurs being affected by this. more specifically, i can maybe speak for some of the healers, healing professionals in active space. i and the owner and chiropractor of san francisco chiropractic and i started my practice in the castro, which was lovely, but one of the main factors that

attracted me to active space was the affordable rent. i moved to active space so i can continue to help more people as a small business. on a personal level, they will help me continue to thrive in this very financially challenging claimant -- climate in the bay area bay area. more importantly, though, it affects the people that i help. i help people with migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, lower back pain and chronic pain that affects people every day even if it isn't really life-threatening right now. it affects people and their everyday lives at work, and therefore their families. it trickles on down the road. i truly believe that healers, as healers, we are trying to get people away from surgery and medication and we help people thrive and help with their well-being. i'm a true believer that it does contribute to our community,

which i think we are also losing in san francisco, particularly very painfully in the mission. i ask for your help and support in this. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. if anyone else wants to speak to this item, please line up on this wall, that way we don't have to lose time between speakers. i would really appreciate that. thank you against the left wall. thank you. go ahead. >> okay. , hi. i will keep it brief, i think. my name is jenny, i mean associate family therapist with s.f. they play therapy. we have one of our office spaces there. i feel like we provide really important services to children and families by offering them emotional and relationship support through psychotherapy. i just want to acknowledge that many of our families, for whom

we do provide services, live in the neighborhood where we worked , and that is part of what enables them to come in on a weekly basis, which is a really important part of the therapy process. i just want to advocate for keeping san francisco a family friendly city. i feel like that is something that already is disappearing and that there is a long legacy of families in this area, part of that is becoming accommodating to families and making quality mental health services success -- accessible to them. i have a list of a number of other therapists and clients that provide services. is there a place where i can leave that? thank you. thank you very much. >> next speaker, please. >> hello, everybody. thank you for listening to us. my name is kimberley and i may -- my business is called skin salvation. is a holistic acne adult skincare clinic.

we teach clients to be healthy so we can clear up without prescription medications and drugs. being healthy has a lots of beneficial and captivating effects. for the self, the family, and the community. so myself, along with all the other alternative medicine practitioners are doing a great service for the community and our work. i was born and raised in san francisco, i had a single mother who was an immigrant, i did well in school, got bored because of the san francisco public school system at the time was not the best, i dropped out in high school. i started working, i went to beauty school, started my own business, skin salvation, 11 years ago, and i have grown it to be very successful. we have created -- we have been in the mission, stayed in the mission, i try to employ people

from the mission, especially if they are natives. i got really -- he got really stressful managing this business i did not go to business school, so i was learning everything on my own. i decided to majorly downsize. i actually started my business 11 years ago in this space. at the time, a lot like a lease who spoke earlier, i went to the city website, how to start a business, went on a checklist, did call the zoning department at the time. it wasn't as regulated, is a free-for-all because the building was so new, and i guess there were other neighborhoods that needed more attention. it is clear that i grew my business, i went away, the economic times, the troubles that i have had with staffing, given the living wages in san francisco, i decided to downsize and change my model so that i am actually able to franchise the skin portion of my business to other aestheticians. i really want to focus on women,

especially women of color to start their own businesses. that model won't work with the commercial real estate position as it is now in san francisco. i have tried really hard, like all these other people, to find other spaces that will work for us. ideally, under 200 square feet for a thousand dollars. that is great, but it is really hard to find that independently, because of the ability to build my business, i can back that commercial property for my franchisees, but i am really interested in how do we get these women to have access to doing good work that is sustainable? i'm trying to keep money generated and local in the city. i hope to launch my program nationally as well, but it has to be in san francisco. if it doesn't work here, it won't work anywhere else. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for your help. >> thank you. next speaker, please.

>> hello. i am nervous. i'm not prepared to talk. i am a tattoo artist. i have been a tattoo artist in san francisco since 1994. i have worked in street shops up until 2008 when i moved into active space. i moved in because there were multiple tattoo artist there that were my friends and they encouraged me to get out of the street shops and get my own private place. it has been wonderful. it has been great for my clientele. i work on a lot of people who are breast cancer survivors, and it gives them a place of privacy and quiet to where death metal isn't playing and there isn't that intimidation that happens in street shops. i have a very diverse clientele and the one thing i know they all love is that it is a private , quiet, place to have a pretty painful procedure done.

that is all. thank you so much. >> thank you very much for coming. next speaker, please. >> my name is maureen, i'm a speech languished -- language pathologist. i have been in active space since 2008. i work with children and adults with communication disorders. think children with autism, people who stutter, people who have had strokes, people who have progressive aphasia, parkinson's disease, i work in active space because it is affordable. i take insurance, including medicare, so people in the community can come in to see me and use their insurance. i have looked at other places. try finding a place in san francisco that is accessible. i have parking for my people who come in wheelchairs, i have accessible bathrooms, wide hallways, it is clean, it is private, and i have been there for 11 years.

you could put us out of business thank you for listening. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is jeanne. jean. thank you for hearing me today. i am a hairdresser, i have been doing here now for 30 years including my time as a barber in the navy. i have been a resident of san francisco for 25 years. when i started my business in 2011, it was the first chance i had to create my vision of what a hair studio could really be and make it a reality. it had to be affordable, as well for my clients. i am eternally grateful. a majority of my clients are elderly, they are students, they are veterans, and members of the service providing community, many of whom are on fixed incomes. because i am an inactive space, i keep my prices low. i do question you saying that everyone is charging superhigh prices.

many of us are not charging superhigh prices. we're passing on the savings. it is because of active space that i can keep my rates reasonably low, even by san francisco standards. if i'm forced out, it will impact many others who rely on all of us as a resource to do quality work and reasonable cost please grant as the ten years of amnesty. it would really help so many people. thank you for your time. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners thank you for taking the time to listen to all of speaker today. i am a business owner at active space. we have only been there for one year, so we are like the new kids for everyone you have been listening to today. the very important thing that you can see clearly is so many of the small businesses in this

building are owned by women. some of us just getting started, like myself and my partner. we have had a very difficult time going to a bank and getting a loan and being able to afford a five-year lease of a commercial property. this has provided us the opportunity just test out our business model and get our foot in the door, and be able to provide more of these healing services and low price points that have already been mentioned to you. i think that this provides a really important niche, both for small start up businesses startup businesses, or maybe nontraditional business owners to give it a go and try it out and see if they can make their way in this pretty expensive city. i think that a ten year program would really help facilitate more of that and empower more small business growth and more women business owners in the future. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please.

>> hello, commissioners. i am also a small business owner in active space. that was my business partner who just spoke. like keegan said, we are under a year old and we provide pilates instruction to our clients. this legislation would not only give us the opportunity to grow a business, but it is acting more as hopefully a wake-up call to the commissioners that there is a bigger problem on our hands it is not just about p.d.r. zoning, it is greeting a law that is specific to the spaces in our businesses. a lot of us -- it is just asked. i'm lucky to have two business partners. but it massage purpose to is renting a 100 square-foot unit for $850, $1,000 -- as a service provider and a business owner,

we cannot teach or work 45 hours a week. we are limited to the services that we can provide. therefore we can't afford commercial rent. therefore we need spaces like this space that will allow us to conduct our business. so i asked you guys to please consider the ten years, consider even creating legislation that would create buildings and zoning laws that would protect us. we provide so many vibrant services to our community, and a lot of these people, before the services that we provide. that is why we are able to do it at low cost. please consider. thank you for your time. >> next speaker, please. >> hello. thank you for being here and hearing me. when he moved to san francisco from kentucky, my partner and i, i was working in a corporate job

, i was really not happy, so i decided to become a bodyworker and my partner was also a bodyworker. we opened a small little space at active space and we grew our business there. we grew a life here in san francisco. we have our little space at active space and we were able to grow our life. he is now a student, and so i am the one who is the breadwinner. active space is an important place because it is affordable for me to be there, for me to support that family. the rooms are tiny little spaces in terms of what is supposed to be produced, distributed, or repaired there, i am not really sure. but if you look at the repair component of it, we are repairing people at active space we are fixing people's bodies, fixing their hearts, fixing their minds. originally artists were supposed to move into the spaces, but artists can't live in san francisco anymore, it is too

expensive. what we have now is people at active space that are helping to repair a lot of people who can't afford to live in san francisco. please, please, please extending it to two years. three years is not enough. when i heard that, my heart dropped. ten years would be amazing. i appreciate your time and consideration. thank you. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is ingvar. i have been a massage therapist for 19 years. i have been working -- working at active space for ten years. i served about 80 people per month. i raised two children in san francisco, successfully in terms of the financial capabilities that active space provides me. in addition to everything that my colleagues said today, i echo all of their words. i want you to pay attention to

what active space has knowingly or unknowingly created. in a very interesting way, it created an environment, and a new huge network of people from speech therapy to hairdressers, to bodyworkers of all sorts, to psychotherapist. you can almost live in the building without ever leaving it there is coffee downstairs, there is flowers, you have therapies of all kinds, but more importantly, maybe thinking bake and looking at history, and looking at ancient times in greece even, in looking at the healing art and the interrelatedness of all this, an interesting way, active space created such a thing. i am asking to grant this and i want to emphasize that three

years will put us all out of business. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is matthew. i actually had not come for this item. i had another item here, but i realized i had to stand up. i have a son who goes to active space, and i can't tell you how valuable the services are to our family. i know there are zoning issues, but i really encourage you to think about this because a person who uses this -- the services, it is important. >> thank you. next speaker. >> no clapping. if you want to express, wave your hands. thank you. >> hi. >> i michelle. i have been a bodyworker for 22 years in san francisco. i have been independent this

entire time and have been renting office space this entire time. i have been in active space since 2015. in 2013, what happened with me as i came up with arthritis, debilitating arthritis. so i haven't sought out this -- i happened to seek out this office space because it is something i can have 24 hours a day within the regulations from d.b.h., and seven days a week. it works affordably. it is the most affordable office i have ever had. the smallest, but the most affordable. i am able to work around my pain and work around what is going on with my body, in order to see my clients and for me to make a living, as opposed to what i've been -- when i've been looking for office spaces recently, it is over twice the amount for three days a week, and i would

have to jam all my clients that i normally see in six days a week into three days a week, which would affect me the next day, being very debilitating. i appreciate that you guys are here listening about these issues. it is important to many of us that are in there. i have clients that come from south bay, east bay, and that work in the area, we have been able to leave off the highway which is very important for them coming to bart is very important to them. trying to find an office space that i have been looking for that meets my requirements and meets their requirements is absolutely impossible. i am paying at least double to do that, and inconveniencing myself. i hear that you're considering it for three years, so we are working a lot with d.b. h. and d.b.i., and paying a lot to stay

there if we possibly can. so to invest this amount, to do this for three years is more of a hardship for us. it would be great if we can be there for ten years. the other point i want to make is there are constantly rotating people in and out of office spaces there. i know four people who are moving out of office space this month. so there are always new offices coming open, and that is at the space to designate those two p.d.r. only so we can continue to grow the p.d.r. community within that building. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. 7 --

i am able because it is my own space to take care of my son. he comes to work with me after school. i don't have to pay for daycare. i don't have to pay for extended care. he is allowed to come with me, it is and do his homework at my desk while i work. as the last woman says, in the 11 years i have been there, i have seen a rotating door of people coming just in the wing that i am in, and to be honest with you, none of them have been in that pdr designation. there have been a lot of open spaces along the last 11 years so i understand that it is zoned pdr, but i don't see people knocking down the doors to get in there to do that sort of work, and yet we have so many people in the building that are not supposed to be there that

are performing jobs that are important to the neighborhood and running successful businesses. as far as, you know, finding other places for us to go, it is cost probative. i'm the sole proprietor. the fact i can bring my child to work makes it even better for me. if i had a full-time job somewhere else i couldn't drag my son along. i would have to find somewhere for him to go. considering the 10 years would be helpful especially as long-term residents who would like to stay but doesn't want to be forced out by cost. thank you. >> any other public comment on this item? come on up, please. you already spoke, ma'am. you can't speak again. sorry. anyone else who has public comment, please come on up.

>> good afternoon. i am helen hickman, i am a structural body worker. i have been a massage therapist for 27 years. i have been in the space for 10 years. i have a private practice there and a beautiful office which i love and my clients do as well. i would love to be able to stay there as long as i can. i love practicing in that space as well as others for several reasons. one, i love the community. the other is with staying there, i am able to have my clients have affordable fees to come see me. if i have to move somewhere else i might have to double my rates, which impacts everyone. my income as well they don't get the work they need. also, it is convenient space for

people. public transportation, parking can be a problem, but people work it out. it is close to the highway. iit is a convenient area and may other businesses are impacted by this. the store guss alone would feel the impact. i am asking you to please hold this for 10 years. i am a transplant from baltimore maryland i am an ambassador to the city. i supplement my income with a tour guide. i love the city so much i stepped up as president of the san francisco tour guide guild. i, like my other colleagues are ambassadors to san francisco. we want to stay here. please keep us here and let us be able to enrich the rest of san francisco. thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. any other public comment on this