operation and where they should be placed. this project predated all that. so they will be required to incorporate that signage into the new scheme. >> commissioner koppel. >> i would like to make a motion to approve with conditions. working with staff on any of the design considerations. >> commissioner moore. >> we continue this project and have historic preservation give us some advisory in order to mediate the question which i currently believe misses proper integration of the redesign and reconstruction of the galleria into the urban context of downtown. i ask for continuance. >> second. >> i heard no second to the motion to approve with conditions. however, regardless, the motion

to continue would take precedence. >> commissioner diamond, did you have something to say? >> yes. i would second commissioner koppel's motion. >> very good. we'll take up the matter of continuance first. do you have a continuance date in mind? it would have to be in the new year. >> the calendar -- >> the first date is january 16. on that motion to continue this matter to january 16, commissioner diamond. [roll call vote] that motion fails 3-3. there is an alternate motion to approve the conditions to include that the project sponsor continue working with staff on design. on that motion,.

[roll call vote] so moved. that motion passes 4. two with moore and richards voting against. that places us on item 13. case number 2018-014774cua, 360 spear street, conditional use authorization. >> good afternoon. i'm sorry. i think there's been a request about the air-conditioning. i don't know if there's an update or if -- you know.

>> well, commissioners, as you know, the air-conditioning has been very inconsistent after it broke in the summer. i did put in a request. commissioner richards, for them to turn the air on. and as you can see, nothing has happened. but be sure that i have alerted building management. they are fully aware of the incompetence of the functioning of the utility. but it is what it is. my disability claim will be coming forward. [laughter] >> sorry about that. thanks for the update, mr. ionin. >> good afternoon, commissioners. planning department staff. the item before you is a conditional use authorization for planning code sections 303 and 827.21 to establish a new non-residential use greater than 25,000 square feet within the rincon hill residential zoning

district. the project was heard on octobe. >> oh. thank you for reminding me. i apologize for interrupting but yes, on october 17, after hearing and closing public comment, a motion to approve with conditions as amended to include future tenants provide proof of laboratory use through a letter of determination failed 3-2 and you continued the matter today by a vote of 4-1. commissioner moore you voted against. cop he he will you are absent and diamond you had not been seated so in order to participate in this hearing you need to acknowledge you've reviewed the previous hearing and materials. >> yes, i have >> yes, i have. >> thank you. i apologize. >> the project was heard on october 17, 2019 with no specific type of laboratory use was identified in this application. some commissioners have expressed concerns that use may have potential health and safety impact on the surrounding

residents. a motion to approve with conditions to require tenants to provide proof of laboratory use through a lack of determination failed with the vote of 3-2 and the prompting was continued to today. changes to the project scope since last meeting. i will provide a brief recap of the proposed project. the project that is currently developed with a five-story approximately 170,000 square foot building that was constructed in 2000. the proposal includes a change of use of a portion of the internet service exchange use and accessory vehicle parking area to laboratory use which will result in approximately 51,000 square feet of laboratory use and 58,000 of ise use. the total number of accessory parking spaces will reduce from 11 to 7. there will be no change to the existing 49,000 square feet of office use. to date, the department has not received any lab letters in

support or opposition to this project. the department finds it is consistent with the area plan and objectives and policies of general plans and also finds that project to be necessary, desirable and compatible with surrounding neighborhoods and not to be detrimental to persons or properties. they have included a presentation including health and safety recommendations by other local sate state and federal agencies. concludes staff's presentation. i'm open for questions. >> thank you. >> this is their second hearing. you are limited to three and public comment to one. >> good afternoon. can i get the overhead? sf gov. thank you. good afternoon or evening, commissioners. i just briefly want to run through a few topics that came up last time. first is the project site. it truly is a mixed use context.

the building is adjacent, is itself an i.s.e. building. there are two residential developments and there's two parking lots and a live/work building. as was just discussed, this project will be subject to a comprehensive number of safety laws and regulations related to laboratories. jurisdictions with oversight include the san francisco department of public health, cal osha and cdc and rules and regulations will cover topics such as registration, reporting, implementation of hazardous materials plans, inspection and monitoring, enforcement and emergency powers and penalties. so there's a lot of text here, but the long and short is there's a comprehensive scheme that protects the employees, neighbors and the public at large. also another topic that came up

last time was what is a lab and what does it look like? i have a few slides that run through letters of determination that have been issued by the planning department and then classified certain businesses as labs. so this is a diagnostic testing company that was called an analytical chemistry biological lab. this is an alternative food company that uses plant-based materials. it was an analytical lab. this is a genetic testing facility. it was an analytical and biological lab. this is a product design company. and it was classified as an engineering and development lab. so a few different things i think are interesting is one business can have multiple different kinds of lab subcategories. these are a lot of different kinds of companies. and you can see we can go through the pictures later, each one has a different kind of layout. some of them you can see the health and safety measures they are implementing in their

photos. so i want to finish quickly with a few highlights of why we think a lab is necessary and desirable use here. it's replacing a stagnant, non-p.d.r. use with a active noncommercial use in downtown. employees, neighbors and the public are protected by numerous health and safety laws. the building itself is very appropriate for lab users and the architect who is also the engineer can explain that. and not to be too sentimental but lab companies tend to be the companies san francisco should be proud to attract and retain. they tackle subjects like brain disorders, environmentally friendly food products and genetic testing. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. do we have any public comment on this item? again, public comment will be limited to one minute. okay. with that, public comment is now

closed. commissioner richards. >> move to approve. >> second. >> commissioner fung. >> question for counselor. one of the questions that was raised by commissioner moore and myself, the lack of specifics. you brought forth a range of laboratory uses, but which one is it going to be? >> that's for the property owner and the future tenants to decide. it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, here. because this entitlement needs to be granted before tenants and landlords can start getting serious and sign a lease and talk about leasing dates. so at the same time, we can't come to this commission and say here is a tenant or here's a range of tenants. i can tell you that this building is appropriate for the

kinds of lab tenants that aren't going to be going to, let's say, livermore and building some secure facility with hyper sealed doors where everybody is wearing masks. and that is, by virtue of the fact the building doesn't, and they won't be able to get any of the health and safety permits they would need for that specific approach. so i would say that falls into their jurisdiction in terms of making sure they are complying with all the rules. thank you. >> i'm not sure their review process is all that great. the issue is that there are different types of lab uses. and as council, as a project sponsor brought forth, this is a mixed-use area. and so if one hood fumes up, is

there sufficient wind velocity to remove the fumes? is there windows for that? we have had no specifics on this. and i don't necessarily see it as a compatible use at this point in time. >> commissioner diamond. >> as i've expressed to the project sponsor and to the city, i need more comfort about the regulatory process. you are using a categorical exemption, and i feel like it's fine if you want to rely on the fact that there were regulations out there. but i need a more explanation as to how these regulations are triggered. take an example, somebody wants to put in a biolab level 3, what do they have to go through? what are the steps that are involved so that we are comforted as commissioners that these various agencies are contacted, and there is oversight, and they look at the

issue. just listing the names of the agencies doesn't feel like it goes far enough for me in understanding how this works in practice. >> thank you, commissioner. i have a handout here. i'll put it on the overhead. this shows three different -- there's actually four different levels of biosafety. there's one, two, and three. and what has been explained to me is biosafety level one is like a high school science class. i acknowledge there was a fourth but it's not on here because it's not listed in the planning code as a use and frankly, as i'm sure you know, commissioner fung, it's a very, very infrequent kind of lab use to see. so this list, in generalities,

the three different levels of biosafety companies that could go in there. depending on -- so i don't know the exact specific approach that each company would have to go through and which agencies they would have to go through in order to get their permitting in place to be a biosafety level 3, but i can assure you that as part of the building permit process, so each tenant for this project is going to have to get their building permit. and part of that is going to include a stop at the department of public health who has jurisdiction to make sure that any lab user that is going in is complying with all the local, state and federal laws and the san francisco department of public health is the implementing agency of the california department of public health, and that includes regulations both on the operations and the disposal of these materials. and i would expect that is the

san francisco department of public health doesn't approve a building permit for a lab tenant unless the lab tenant, it will not allow an occupancy to occur until the tenant has secured all the proper local, state and federal permits. >> so i have a follow-up question for staff. i want to confirm that it is your understanding that when they come in for building permits, d.b.i. will refer this to department of public health and department of public health will look at all these issues? >> yes. so if they come in for tenant improvements, they will have to submit a building permit and will subsequently route to different agencyies. >> the standard practice with this, for example, a restaurant or food-related business, it goes from d.b.i. to public health or other agencies that have to be involved. >> right. and public health is familiar with all of these regulatory agencies so we can rely on -- >> yes. we are very confident of their work. they have extensive staff on

this issue. >> it seems -- i was one of the folks who was advocating for not restricting the uses. however after further discussions, if i understand correctly, the categorical exemption for something that could potentially have pretty deep environmental consequences because of where it is, the context of where it is. such close proximity to residential and other uses. and so while i understand that the department of public health, it's not quite like a restaurant, right? the potential impact could be potentially much more serious, depending on the use that it is. and so if i understand correctly, the discomfort is more about our process in reviewing the environmental

consequences of permitting this and whether we have reviewed everything and we know that it's okay. >> my only concern -- we don't have the expertise to understand whether a particular hood would work in a particular situation. we have to rely on the expertise of the other agencies for that, right? so i don't know -- it's typically not a level of detail we would get into at this level of entitlement. but that's the challenge i'm suggesting. that's why fairly routine for us to have, within a categorical exemption, rely on existing codes and policies, existing code language that invites and requires other agencies to be involved and their codes would kick in. i think we are getting into that level of the entitlement phase of a project. >> did you want to add something? >> yeah. considering there's a building permit that's going to be attached to every tenant, we are

happy to agree to a condition of approval that as part of the building permit review process, the department of public health reviews each tenant and makes sure they have all the necessary local, state and federal authorizations before a certificate of occupancy is issued for that tenant. i think that would go to addressing the concerns. >> commissioner koppel. >> sounds like a really good condition to add. with that, i'll make a motion to approve with that condition. >> we have a motion to approve that you seconded. >> happy to amend it. >> very good. >> you need a second? >> there is a second. >> i'll second it if we don't. not sure where we are in the process. [laughter] >> not sure if there was more deliberation.

>> seconded with that condition attached to it. thank you. >> seeing no further discussion, there's a motion that has been seconded to approve this matter with conditions as amended to include that the department of public health review all building permit applications for local, state and federal regulations prior to issuing a certificate of occupancy. on that motion -- >> wasn't that condition for each tenant? yes. i want to make sure that's clear. with that, aye. [roll call vote]

so moved. that motion passes 4-2 with fung and moore voting against. that will pace place us on item 14 for case 2019-004451cua, 2075 mission street. this is a conditional use authorization. please note on july 25, 2019 after hearing and closing public comment you continued this matter to october 17 and on october without hearing you continued it to today's date. commissioners, on july 25, commissioner richards you were absent and commissioner diamond, you had not yet been seated so you both need to acknowledge you have reviewed the previous hearing and materials. >> i have. >> i have. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, president melgar and members of the planning commission. department staff. before you is a request for

conditional use authorization pursuant to sections 202.2, 303 and 754 to establish a cannabis retail use measuring 3,590 square feet on the first and mezzanine levels of an existing three story building. it is located at 2075 mission street. the alcoholic beverage special use district and bulk districts. the upper floors are occupied with subject tenant space last occupied by a cosmetology school which vacated prior to this application. the project includes improvements. the existing sign will be preferred with a new face. the applicant is a qualified equity applicant who previously operated a medical cannabis dispensary prior to being shut down during the federal crackdown in the early 2000s.

he prepared a presentation. in terms of sensitive uses, there were no schools or other cannabis retailers found within 600 feet of the proposed location. the primary potential sensitive use identified were listed in the executive summary of the project. as such, the project was found to meet the 600-foot rule. the project included an request for authorization of on-site consumption. the floor plans include a consumption lounge. department staff requested on the cases that have come before the planning commission to develop criteria for when the department may recommend allowing or disallowing on-site consumption. whether similar on-site consumption uses are allowed in

similar businesses. controls have been added within the district to limit uses in the corridor. the second question was whether there are public spaces that could be impacted by smoking that may otherwise occur on-site. there's a small park sid zone around the block from the site and the plazas one block north of the site. but there were no spaces immediately adjacent to the project site. the final criteria is community feedback on the subject. at the initial hearing for the project, we received opposition to the request for on-site consumption from some key neighborhood groups. those groups have issued a recently issued a new letter of support for the application, and i believe they are silent on that issue. however, given the existing zoning controls for the district and the policy that the department has set for on-site consumption, the department continues to recommend a

conditional of approval to disallow on-site consumption which would require plans to be revised prior to approval. in terms of public comment, prior to the initial hearing, the department received one letter of support of the application and none in opposition. since the original publication, the department received 87 additional letters of support and one letter in opposition. letters in support express support for the business, confidence in his ability to manage a business based on his prior experience managing a cannabis out let within the same district and strong support for authorization of a consumption lounge as part of the request. the letter of opposition was received which is opening a new school campus at 18th street. the letter expressed concern the compatibility of the proposed use with the opening of the elementary school campus and concerned the school is not shown on the cannabis retail map which the department makes available to the public for

information. school is not yet in operation but it will be added once the school begins operation. however staff also did verify that the distance between the proposed school campus and proposed retail location is 763 feet, which follows the 600-foot rule. this application has been continued twice to allow additional time for discussion with neighborhood groups, specifically united to save the mission. the applicant did reach an agreement for a memorandum of understanding with u.s.m. this week. i believe you were just provided a letter to that regard. u.s.m. indicated to staff it is in support of the authorization to specific members of indicated concern with on-site consumption. planning code 303w directs the planning commission to consider the geographic distribution of cannabis retail uses within the city. the city control's office is

including a report including an analysis of this geographic distribution. the department recognizes that most cannabis retail uses are already located on the eastern neighborhoods including the mission. it is not prescriptive on how the commission should consider the uses in the city. but when it comes into an overconcentrated district that directs applicants to conduct extentive community outreach and expects community support as a precursor to the project. the applicant has a prior history of operation within the mission district and a finalized m. o. u. with united to save the mission. while the department remains concern, our pipeline remains focused on the eastern neighborhoods, at issue is a lack of applications being received on the west side and lack of commercially zoned properties in comparison to eastern neighborhoods. given this applicant has neighborhood support, staff

finds the project consistent with this finding. as the use activates the vacant storefront, complies with the general planning code requirements for cannabis retail, supports the city's equity cannabis programming and provides economic opportunity for those in the district, the department recommends approval of the application. thank you. >> thank you. we will now hear from the project sponsor. >> again, this is the second hearing. you are limited to three minutes. public commenters, you are limited to one. >> okay. i thought we had ten minutes because we weren't heard. >> you were heard. >> we didn't present the case. we just -- requested a continuance because we were working with u.s.m. >> yeah. i think that's right. we didn't hear it. >> all right. >> you want to give him ten, five? >> we'll give him ten.

>> i think we'll not -- we'll probably only get five, ten minutes. >> i think you have overwhelming support, which is great. but we don't necessarily need 50 people. thank you. [off mic] >> good evening, president melgar, commissioners. my name is brendan. i'm the attorney, i represent mr. hunt and the united union station project. i asked if i could provide him introduction tonight for personal and professional reasons. i first met mr. hunt around 2006 when i began practicing law in the cannabis regulatory space. my father who was a staunch advocate for cannabis and drug law reform. at that time it was compassionate use providers and also served medical patients and the compassionate act. i see commissioners tonight that i remember from that first era

of -- or that first wave of cannabis applications for businesses. a medical cannabis collective operated successfully for years before the justice department crackdown of 2011. his landlord was threatened. although we fought hard to save the business, the power of the federal government proved too great and the business was forced to abruptly close, taking with it the jobs, the community support, the legacy and mr. hunt's life work. since that time, mr. hunt and i have remained good friends and stayed in touch. he opened a small business, a gym and ran that successfully for years. all the while continuing to look for the opportunity to reopen a retail store and continue working in the field that he's most passionate about, which is cannabis. fortunately, prop 54 passed in california and the city of san francisco adopted an ordinance which allowed him the opportunity to get back to pursuing his life's dream.

mr. hunt is an experienced cannabis retailer. he understands the neighborhood issues and dynamics and the importance of building positive relationships with his employees, workers and the community as evidenced by his approach to this project. working with the u.s.m. diligently to agree -- to enter into an m. o. u. and also enter into a labor peace agreement with local 665, the teamsters. mr. hunt has run a small business before and i'm confident this project under his leadership will succeed and will be a positive benefit to the mission street commercial corridor and mission district community as a whole. he is now going to present the details of the project. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is joseph hunt. let me first thank all those who came in support of me and this

project. many of them are behind me here, a gorgeous group of san franciscans. i would also like to acknowledge everybody who developed the program. we feel extremely blessed to have this opportunity. since our last hearing, we continued to give our group more time to meet with the community and particularly united to save the mission. we have made some great progress. we have hosted four open houses, and we are pleased with the turnout and all the positive feedback we have received. all the community support we have been receiving has really given our group a tremendous amount of strength and taught our group so much. our negotiations with united to save the mission have been very productive and we have signed an m. o. u. and also been attending san francisco equity group meetings weekly. working alongside rudy, shawn, john, mitchell, kim, shelly and

glen has been one of the ultimate blessings in education and awareness this project has received. this equity program was created to help those who are most negatively affected by the war on drugs. i understand and all of us at union station understand that we are very fortunate to have gotten this far in this process of permitting our equity project. we have a number of qualified equity applicants in this project and look forward to giving preference to those hiring those who are equity qualified. my staff and i previously operated a dispensary on valencia street and hope to serve the same demographic we served from 2005 to 2011. when designing and overseeing a cannabis business, security is very important. a top priority will be the safety of the customers, patients, vendors, employees, our neighbors and members of the local community as well as our

relationship with law enforcement. there will be a zero tolerance policy for any consumption anywhere outside or any of the vicinity of the dispensary. and that's very important to us. our proposed consumption lounge will be an asset to the neighborhood, providing a safe and discreet place to legally consume cannabis. the ventilation systems, our room will filter and remove all smoke and keep the upstairs neighbors from unnecessary odors. many members of our team are proud mission district natives and have experience with community work. contributing to our community is what's driving us and motivating us. we aim to support and sponsor organizations that are protecting the mission district and its rich culture. so as we build our business at union station, we also plan to further build our relationships within our community. our team is honored to have a chance to become an even

stronger asset to the city of san francisco. we plan on having a substance abuse cannabis education as well as providing a class twice a month at union station. since legal cannabis is what new, we want to help educate everyone who comes into union station about the benefits and safety and public health issues regarding cannabis use. this is truly a momentous opportunity for us. the opportunity to use this plant and industry to bring people together in peace and harmony is a great opportunity for this city. we led the medical cannabis movement over 20 years ago, so let's again set the standard in responsible cannabis use. thank you, commissioners. and at this time i would like to introduce our art director and head of design at union station. if you have any questions for him about the physical design of the place. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, esteemed panel,

commission, thank you. i appreciate everybody coming out and supporting. once again, my name is luis. cofounders of the art center in mission district. and potentially i was brought in on the project, say, about a year or so ago as someone who could lead, given the space and where it is situated there in the mission as someone who can initiate and facilitate the decoration of the space with murals. also i was -- took notice to --

i believe it was the ninth panel today, around facadism. which was kind of interesting to kind of take note of, actually. i think it was a highlighted picture in that slide. and given the history of the building itself being union, i believe it was the union furniture store at one point. the facade, if you have ever taken notice of it, that it is in need of repair. and there's, being a mosaic artist, there's a glass mosaic in the front. tiling that could use a little shoring up. it's basically just, given where, you know, here as equity

stakeholders, it definitely takes sweat equity to channel or to essentially meet our goals. so a big part of just the overall upkeep and the look of the space from the facade itself to the inside and out, that will be kind of my -- one of my responsibilities, being a part of the group. and, yeah. much appreciative of the opportunity to take this on. and, yeah. i mean, essentially make it a success, essentially. so, yeah. partnering along with my other comrades and associates and as well as the architect working

hand in hand with her, with rachael, i look forward to doing that. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. >> we have our architect here as well if there's any questions that can be forwarded to her and if you have any questions we would love to answer them at this time. >> we may have questions for you. thank you. okay. so with that, i will take up public comment on this item. i have several speaker cards. rick hall, ryan webster, miguel royal, eric post, eva royal, alejandro lucas. anyone else, please sign up at the left wall. and you get to provide public comment. >> hello. >> hick ric hall with cultural action network. i provided you a letter that it

is for united to save the mission. the project sponsor has worked very, very closely with us throughout this process to come up with what we believe is a very, very strong memorandum of understanding. and has a few things that i've listed here like local hire, special discounts for seniors, design issues. they've worked with us on those. and their educational programs, et cetera. but much, much more detail and other issues too. and i have to say that i believe and after working closely with these people, and especially with joseph hunt, i believe they're going to be a real community partner. i think the m. o. u. that we've

worked together on, we have not had to drag them to any of the issues. we mentioned something about a community concern, and they recognize it. they work with us to alleviate it through some means and we reached an agreement. but it was a very, very cooperative process. and we look forward to having these people in our community. thank you. >> thank you, mr. hall. next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is rudy. i'm the e.d. of a violence prevention organization called united players that i'm real proud of the. for the last 25 years, we've been keeping the streets of san francisco as safe as possible. i'm born and native san franciscan. i'm here to fully support this project to this dispensary. i truly believe in equity and

what the gentleman who is behind this. they've been very supportive in a lot of our community projects. one in particular is the gun buybacks that we do. december 14 will be the seventh year anniversary of sandy hook. we originated over here with brendon with the gun buybacks who helped fund these gun buybacks. so we got not only citywide, it's nationwide. it's not only in san francisco, it's in san mateo, baltimore, and it all started with equity money from dispensaries, and we are getting hundreds and thousands of guns off the streets that have been dismantled and destroyed so they won't hurt or kill anybody again. i'm not against the second amendment but i'm against senseless violence. i'm a survivor twice from gun violence. so i fully support this project because i believe it will bring equity and safety to the city of san francisco. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please.

>> good afternoon, commissioners. president melgar. my name is eva royal. and i've lived in san francisco since 1971 when i came to san francisco state. i've been a community activist since then. it's almost 50 years. but anyway, i have been working in the community. my son is part of the team here. one of the entrepreneurs. i think it's great we have our young people, second generation, et cetera, that are business-minded and are taking this on and willing to -- my son has worked in the industry for over ten years. he worked at one dispensary for eight until they lost their lease. so i'm very proud of my son and of the team for making this

happen. medicinal marijuana, cbd, just marijuana is good for everyone. and so it's nice to have a safe place in the mission where people can go and not have to go on the street, smoke in their car, smoker as they are walking down the street. so there will be no alcohol sold. that's all good. so i encourage you to support the project. and our young entrepreneurs. thank you. >> thank you, ms. royal. next speaker, please. >> hi. i am ryan webster. i'm a professional community organizer, event producer and business consultant. also working in the california hemp industry these days. i've been involved with the

cannabis business and cannabis policy and issues for about 20 years now, since 2010. and i have been in front of this commission speaking both for and against cannabis dispensaries in san francisco for about over ten years now. i'm also a former union organizer for cannabis workers for the united food commercial workers union. so i know the people behind this project. i know -- i've been working with many community groups in the mission district for many, many years. and just very pleased to see this project moving forward and looking forward to the opening its doors. i've seen the project with their open houses. it's just going to be great jobs and great revenue for a lot of people. so i just think it's a win/win thing.

and i'm very pleased to be here to urge your support. thanks. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is roberto vargas. i'm a public health professional, born and raised in san francisco. i have been a caregiver to many patients needing cannabis as medicine. and i've also been someone who is worked in community around public safety for many, many years with folks who are also here in the room. i would not advocate to open every single dispensary, but i advocate that we do grant equity applicants with the opportunity to enter into this business. we've got plenty of folks who have been grandfathered into this industry, and it's time that we begin opening this market for equity applicants.

we know that our communities, i was born and raised in the mission district, lived half my life in hunter's point. our communities have been disproportionately burdened by the criminalization of cannabis, and it's time for our communities to benefit. i'm pleased to see folks i know working on this project, have engaged with community to talk about how to include community benefit beyond that extra step they've taken, we know that by legalizing cannabis, we are allowing folks to understand where their medicine is coming from, to understand that it's been checked by a lab, to rule out that there are contaminants and for folks to better know what dosages they are accessing. so i see tremendous benefit to this project. i'm here to support it. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> i appreciate being here.

i'm a 30-year san francisco native and mission district native. i'm also a business owner, entertainment and marketing space as well as the community activist and advocate towards equity across all businesses, including cannabis. i've known mr. hunt for quite some time now, since his last business. and i want to come here and support 100 percent the business that he's bringing to the table and providing a quality space for the mission district residents, especially on that particular block, a safe and comfortable use as well as just quality business to be pushed forward. so i don't want to take too much of everybody's time but i just want to completely 100 percent vouch for the character of mr. hunt as well as the business being set forth. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening.

my name is nina parks. i am born and raised in san francisco native and i worked on the equity program from the very inception. actually working on oakland's equity program first and then being able to see it come into fruition here in san francisco. so these equity programs were created to ensure that we had a wedge in the door to potentially be able to stay in the city. the amount of gentrification that has been happening and the ability for us as natives to feel that we have the ability to see ourselves in this city and be included in the development of the city is super important and something we know how to do is canvas. right? like san francisco. so seeing mr. hunt and the people he's brought with him is definitely what we want to see. we want to see folks that went

to high school here or working with people they went to high school with, create a space for not only them but the next generation to be able to have jobs, to see themselves reflected, especially on a major corridor like mission street. we were laughing at how the space used to be a martial arts store so we used to get ninja stars and now we are going to be able to buy weed which is wonderful if this gets approved. so hopefully you guys will see the value in us being able to continue to have this energy to bring joy to the space that we have grown up to continue to grow culture in our city. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners. how you guys doing today? let me just say i'm happy to be here. and i was very happy to stand before you as being the first equity applicant to be awarded a permit.

i'm shawn richard. my store will be opening up in a couple weeks up on hedge street. i'm here to say i'm very proud to support union station. i'm not going to just go out mr. joe hunt because i've known him for many years. i'm going to go for the whole team because it makes a whole team to make this happen. and you guys support that, correct? and so the fact that this is coming to a community that has not had the love and the support they should always have been given from the city, that this will bring opportunity and jobs and love and respect and financial gain in the mission district. so i think we can all applaud that and be happy this is coming and we support this 100 percent. so with that being said, again, thank you, we appreciate you and approve this permit. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners.

my name is monique. i'm a friend of joseph hunt. he's a very hard worker. and he cares deeply about his community and the people he loves. an example that resonates with me is when i was planning an engagement, when i was planning my proposal to my now wife, he was really ecstatic at the idea of having hands in on my surprise. yeah. that really tugged me heartstrings with his excitement for such a big moment in my life so now i'm here to support a big moment in his. speaking on how much he cares, i think that he is -- he has such a bright light to him, he has such a big heart for the people

in his community that he doesn't know and the people that he does know. and what's opening his dispensary, i know he'll give plenty of opportunity to people he does love and the people in his community to grow and succeed in whatever endeavors they have. i also think that opening up a smoke lounge is a great idea, not only do i think that his business would shed some light on the rough around the edges neighborhood that he's going to be placing his dispensary in, but also i think it gives people the option of getting off the streets and going into a place where they can sit down and enjoy the product that they just purchased. i think that's a big thing. i also think that in case there's any concern about how having a smoke lounge could affect the area, in my opinion,

i do work as a bartender, and i know how people get when they drink. and that creates a really rowdy atmosphere, especially when people are clamoring out of the bars. when people smoke cannabis, it's much different than that. people tend to be more mellow and relaxed. so i don't see it being an issue as, say, a bar would have as opposed to smoking cannabis in a lounge or drinking in a bar, i think it's a lot more on the mellow scale. but just to reiterate, i think it holds a lot of value when it presents an option for people to get off the street and hang out somewhere safe. yeah. thank you for your time. >> next speaker, please. >> hello.

good evening, commissioners. my name is alejandro lucas, born and raised in the mission district, all my life. both my parents family when they first moved to america, got placed in the mission district, so i have a long history there. i met joseph hunt in high school in ninth grade on the football field when we both tried out. and ever since then, we've been connected with the same positive mindset and goals. and a little history of me, in relation to the mission district, i grew up playing music also my history with martial arts goes back to my father, teaching in the mission district. so also history i have with

safety and support that's going to be my position in union station, i worked five years for school for equity. i was chief of security there. i taught a martial arts class, self defense class there. i just want to say with complete confidence that i believe in our team. i've known our team, my other colleagues, since we were kids growing up in the mission district. i have complete confidence that everything that we do will include and really think before taking any action with the community first, first regards. i just want to say thank you so much for the opportunity for me and my family and the future for the rest of our community, because it's going to be really positive inclusion to the neighborhood. and yeah, thank you very much. i appreciate this opportunity.

>> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is jaime, friend of mr. hunt. the keyword today is community. and i'm here to give an example of how joseph hunt has positively influenced my life when he owned a gym, i was a student at sf state. i came in to learn the art of boxing, and joseph was kind enough to teach me. after a couple months i wasn't able to afford going to the gym anymore. he told me as long as i could teach, i would be able to come into the gym and work out, and that was a privilege for me. the confidence that boxing has given me has allowed me two months ago i stopping at the park station and next month i will be awarded the medal of courage from the san francisco city -- [applause] and it's really the martial arts and boxing that's allowed me to

intervene. and joseph hunt being charismatic and allowing me to come into the gym without having to pay him goes to show something about him and i'm just in full support and that's an example of how joseph will positively impact the community. thank you guys. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is miguel royal. and i am a mission district native as well as a experienced cannabis industry of over 12 years inside san francisco's dispensaries. so i've also watched the transition that's happened in the mission and in the cannabis dispensaries since this adult use has been in place, 2018. so there's been a big change, some has been positive, some has been negative. i've known joseph hunt for a long time since his days back in

his original dispensary and his martial arts over the years. so for union station, it's going to be a good place that preserves both the mission culture. it's going to provide a safe space for folks to access and be in a safe place, which is much needed in the area. my role at union station is to assure compliance with all products and daily operations. so some of the rules and regulations have been a little tough to navigate with all the changes and with the changing constantly, but we plan to run a tight ship. so everything should be good there. we'll try to have a live menu with affordable products, senior

discounts, veteran discounts, type of thing, and we'll make point to hire locally and purchase products that are ecofriendly, women-owned companies and equity companies whenever possible. so i encourage you to approve this permit and allow a locally-owned dispensary to uplift and improve the neighborhood we come from. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> sorry. anyway, thank you commissioners for the opportunity to voice my full support for this proposed cannabis dispensary. my name is eric, i'm going to speak primarily on the rationalization for why we should allow cannabis consumption lounges. they are some of the few legal spots where people can consume cannabis outside their homes.

those who consume cannabis will be disappointed if they lack the freedom to socialize over the consumption and we should destigmatize cannabis consumption. preventing legal consumption lounges is not a situation that creates a welcoming environment so many users consume in public. state law requires cannabis to be used in private yet many consumers, including tourists and renters in smoke free buildings have no place to use cannabis products. and san francisco is and always has been a trailblazer and trend-setter. the city is setting the bar for what cannabis consumption can be like, and other cities are hoping to follow in its footsteps. please allow the people that live in and visit this city to have more places to go like the proposed consumption lounges. and thank you again for the time to discuss this very important matter. lastly, my name is eric post, and i'll be part of the management team on union station of my thank you for your tim