difference between mentorship and tokenization. i think we do a relatively good job in city hall. i think most people care about us and (inaudible) but there are times too where i'm like from people who i think of as people who are mentors who are like you just want me here to stand next to you for a photo opand don't think i'm will ing to do that without having a conversation with you about this issue. >> you can tell when meeting someone or being at an event when they are just like using you versus if they actually care what you have to say. >> i think as a youth commissioner, it is so important to find the balance between being used for tokenization but also using that clout. you should take advantage of it. >> you are standing next to the elected official. >> it gives the youth commission more prominence and if it helps us do our job mine as well. it is important to find balance and make sure you are not taken

advantage of. >> something else that is interesting is-i feel like i mentioned earlier but i feel like i didn't have any training. i have my own experience. >> before you continue, just saying you do not need experience to come into the youth commission position which i feel sometimes is the- >>b i have no experience in politics. >> push people not to want to apply for the job because i don't know anything about local government and won't know how do this or that but you don't need it. >> you don't get thrown on a commission. there are people to support and educate you. >> i do feel in some ways i'm expected to know a concern thing or behave the way like the political machine kind of wants me to and you know, be professional and smile when the presenter is obviously like lying to me and stuff and thank

them for coming and like, that's just not me. don't feel you will disrespect me and lie to me and then expect me to be nice because i am supposed to be nice to you. i feel people feel they can get away and that i'm not go toog call them out or not supposed to call them out as a young person. i'm supposed to thank you so much for your time. thanks for valuing my poor youth commission. no, i don't know-i just feel you wouldn't lie to the board of supervisors like that or if you did you would get called out so i'll call you out. there is this expectation we are supposed to behave like-not saying we shouldn't be professional, we should be professional but i expect the same professionalism back. i don't want to be, yes. >> there have been times people come to the youth commission and are think they forget we are ultimately here to hold the city government accountable.

>> an employee of the city. >> that and also it is like, the job of the youths commission is to be a voice for youth. we are going to call you out when you don't know if lie is the words to use, fudge the number, whatever happens. there have been times where i'm like, you forgot this isn't just a group of young people who are interested in this, but a commission who job is to hold people accountable. >> i think the image of youth in the city is also just really interesting because some people will be like, you dont do any knowledge, they hang out and get (inaudible) they just sit and play video games. a lot of people come into youth commission presentations thinking we don't know anything. we will surprise them when we know these procedures and ask the specific questions related to policies on whatever they are presenting on. it is funny. >> so, is it i guess not youth

commission but in general as youth is it a challenge to get more youth interested in politics and anything the youth commission is try toog do to help that? >> i think just bringing more awareness of what the youth commission is and the resources available for people to sign up and join. that is something that our community outreach members are trying to do. >> yeah. last year i was (inaudible) and we did this thing where we made instagram posts about the initiatives we worked on. we detailed the initiatives and free (inaudible) able to put the work on social media and legislation on social media is important because it teaches youth that you can have a voice in all these city policies that are effecting your lives and a voice in the big movements and think making the youth commission as accessible to avenue everyone as possible is important. >> (inaudible)

>> vote 16 is an initiative by the civic engagement committee of the youth commission and works to lower the voting age to 16 age in all city elections- >> san francisco specifically. >> san francisco city elections. it is actually received a lot of support from the board of supervisors, but lost my nearly 3 percent in the first election in 2016- >>.5 >>.5 in the next election. we are working to get it on the 2024 ballot again with more voter education, more outreach because we believe it is important youth get involved in voting early because it instills a habit that voting is important. >> i think-i touched on this before, but a lot of young people are interested in politics but also scared to get involved because of how toxic it can be. i feel like i also heard from so many young people their first interaction with

politics was negative so they were steered away from it. i had plenty situations happen to me with political activism but i think the environment we have on the youth commission and trying to create more generally within youth advocacy and activism in san francisco is positive and supportive. all of us have different opinions, have different views on issues, and voted different ways but i also know i can go to any of the people around the table and on the youth commission to say this was a bad experience that i felt x, y, z about or i am in the situation, can we talk about it, because we all are in the same boat of sometimes things don't go our way and because we are young people we have certain experiences we want to share with each other as well. >> i think what is interesting about the youth commission is you don't need to know much about politics to be on the youth commission. my perception of it was

that i need to know all of these u.s. amendments and need (inaudible) i think that is what a lot of people think the youth commission is. that you need abundance of political knowledge to be on the youth commission but i realized it was less political. a lot of community coalitions and just speaking from your own perspective and where you come from as a youth for better outcomes for everyone in san francisco and i think that is important because it is like, i think the discussions in the youth commission encourage people to talk about where they come from and what they truly believe rather then affiliation to a political party. that is not what the youth commission is at all. >> i remember when i was applying to the youth commission, i reached out to (inaudible) i don't know anything about politics and scared. what will happen during the first meeting and you were like no, you will be fine and learn along the way and that is for any youth who want to get involved you dont need to go anything. you will be trained and taught along the way so take

initiative, join it, don't be scared. >> also people get turned down from the youth commission. the supervisor jz mayor decides. there are other opportunities to get involved. reach out to youth commission staff. the youth commission seats people on other bodies and outside the youth commission as a whole another area of politics and policy work as well. i also say anyone watching this being i don't know if i want to be on the youth commission or i want applied but didn't get on, there is still so many ways to get involved. we have a website you can find our information on. i really encourage that because you don't get started until you get started and once you get started you keep going and end up in a seat like this. >> i think it is so funny because involvement in politics is a little ball rolling. there is a million little balls rolling and opportunities. it is just crazy actually because the first thing i did is internship where i cleaned the

streets in san francisco and now i'm like on the youth commission. >> (inaudible) if you are not sherbet the youth commission or not accepted to first time volunteer for the district supervisors, try to form a relationship with them or who ever is in the office and apply again to the youth commission. >> i think the other thing too is like, as much as there are people involved, there are a lot of people who aren't and it is a great opportunity because i feel the biggest thing-you don't have to know anything special. you don't need to have learned anything. just show up and live your experience. you don't need to be on the city commission. we have our meetings are open to the public. you can show up to the board of supervisors and make public comment and speak your truth. just know your own experience and it will get you pretty far honesty. people will recognize you. i was just some little kid who

would go to the mta board of directors and are- >> now they know you. >> i was at a random event and they came up to me and hugged me and are like my gosh, you are hayden miller from the meeting. i felt somebody. i'm like wow, these people know me and they don't always vote the way i want them to vote, but they listen and they hear you and that's what government is there for. just remember at the end of the day, it might not always go the your way, the way government works, but for you that is the whole purpose of government is to serve you, so- >> the youth commission has public comment on every item and every motion we ever make. every city commission does. our meetings are open to the public. we want to make space for you. we want to hear from you. please come, share your opinion and you can also even if you can't make a meeting you can write public comment in too. i say especially

at the-it is hyper-local the youth commission. we only represent young people in one specific area and one specific state so that is where your public comment will have the most im pact. a couple times people reached out and said this is a issue i didn't know needed to be addressed but it was because i reached out that this is something relatively easy we could address and change too. it isn't a big deal for city government but it is big deal for this person. >> adding to hayden's point, i think city hall is pretty youth friendly because ewen was talking about running into city hall at 5 p.m. i have multiple occasions where i run down trying to get to the bathroom in city hall and an elected official would pass by or i'm holding a big bag of snacks. i think professionalism is important but like hayden was saying it is important to speak your truth and be yourself because coming into city hall, i didn't know anything about city politics. all i

knew is i cared about these organizations, i cared about all these issues and i wanted to make a difference and people here really believed in me regardless how prfessional or elquent i was. they mentored me and come a long way. it is important a place like this is accessible for youth because people have offered me professional clothe to go to this event and they offered me opportunities to like speak on panels and have speeches in front of crowds of 200 people and i'm shocked people believe in my. that is what san francisco city government is and it is beautiful. >> everyone in the building is still like a person. i remember the first time i met with an elected official and was like i'm nervous and what if i say something wrong and they came in and was like i'm tired from the last meeting. give me a second while i get a cup of coffee. there are moments where i'm

like, it really like-we ultimately are still just students who spend most of our day in high school. elected officials are still people who make mistakes and who are doing their best and who have been entrusted with this position by voters, but also are still people who you can relate and talk to. >> i think before i would see city government as like blocks. they were machines but it is people operating these machines. people are making decisions and writing these documents and i think realizing that was so important understanding how i make a voice. i think a lot of the role on the commission isn't research, it isn't writing, it is just connecting with people. understanding that city government is all just people and making realizing how important the connections are. it really helps you in your work. >> really realwy appreciate you all coming today. i

learned a lot from you all. please please always keep saying your truth, your voice and also encouraging other youth to share their voice as well and i think-we always think we are in good hands but we got to keep fighting the good fight so matter what so thank you for joining us today. >> (inaudible) follow sfyouth-calm. >> we have facebook too. >> we meelt every other monday 5 to 7. >> thank you to sfgovtv as well. >> thank you so much. >> awesome. thank you. >> thank you.

>> okay, good evening and welcome to the february 1, 2023 of the san francisco board of appeals. president bored swig is joined by jose lopez, commissioner and commissioner jr epler. also present is deputy city attorney who will provide the board with any legal advise. at the control is and i'm julie, the board's executive director. we'll also be joined bit

representatives that will be presenting before the board this evening. tina representing the praning department. matthew chief inspect or and chris buck, you are bon forester representing ff ff urban works. the board meeting guidelines are as follows. the board asked that you turn off all phones so they do not disturb proceedings. no eating or drinking in the meeting room. members who are not affiliated to the public, have up to 3 minutes. time may be limited 2 minutes if the agenda is long or if there are a lot of speakers.

>> now public access and participation are of paramount to the board. sf gov. tv is broadcasting live. and we'll have an opportunity to have public hearing. we are also offering close captioning, a link to the live stream is fountd at the home page of our website. now public comment can be provided in 3 ways, 1 in-person, 2 via zoom, click on the hearing link or three by telephone. call 1996-900-2063. again sf gov. tv is broadcasting and instructions at the bottom of the screen. to block your phone number when

calling in, press star star and then your phone number. press star-9 which is equivalent of raising your hand so we know you want to speak. you may have to dial star-6 to unmute yourself. you'll have 2 or 3 minutes depending on the length of the agenda and volume of speakers. we will provide you with a warning 30 seconds before your time is up. it's very important that people calling reduce or turn down their volume on the computers otherwise there is interference on the meeting. if anybody needs disability accommodation, you can check on the legal system or send an mail to the board of appeals. now the chat function cannot be used to provide public comment or opinions. woel take public first for those present' present in the

hearing room. now we will swear in our firm. please note that anybody may be sworn in taking notes. if you plan to testify any of tonight's proceedings, raise your right hand and say i do after you've been sworn in or affirm. do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> okay, thank you. commissioners, we do have one housekeeping item. the party for hh have requested that these appeals be continued to february 22nd, so we would need a motion on that and we also need to take public comment. >> do i hear a motion.

>> okay, we have a motion from president swig to continue this item to february 22, is there any public comment? please raise your hand or approach the podium. i don't see any public comment on this motion to continue this matter, at the request of the parties, vice president lopez. >> aye. >> travina. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye *. >> that motion carries, 5-0 and those matters are continued to february 22. so we will now move on to number 1, this is a special item for fiscal year 23-24 and 24-25 this is an opportunity to provide the board input pursuant to section 3.3b1 in advance of the consideration of the fiscal year 24 and 25 budget. is there any board of the public that would luke to provide feedback approach the

podium or. i don't see anyone here, so we'll move on to item 2. this is public comment. is there anyone here for general public comment? please raise your hand? >> we have one. please approach. welcome. >> good evening, i'm lance occurrance i'm a resident of district 3. at the january 18, board of appeals meeting, i heard buff quote an inaccurate statistic that 50% of ficus trees are on the vening of failing. i believe this is closer to 10%.

theser why, in 2017, the city paid for a survey of all sf trees with a project called all sf trees at the cost of $500,000. dozens of arborist were in the city, regarding the species and condition. the results were compiled into a database. the worse was priority removal. the trees that had the most removal ratings were acatia and london and plain. 5th was ficus, 7773 trees, of which 653 or 8.4 percent were rated removed. the survey was done six years ago so it's likely the fica removal is still at 10% still

far from 50% removal. you scientific methods to determine. i'm not an or bohrist but i'm happy to provide database so they can provide their own survey. >> thank you, there any further public comment? please approach the podium or raise your hand. i don't see any. we're going to move ob to item number 3. commissioners? >> commissioners any comments? other than the sad loss of the 49ers, hearing none. will thes move on. i believe we need to turn on the screen.

>> we are now moving on to item number 4, discussion and possible adoption are the minutes of january 18, 2023 meeting and note commissioner lindbergh noted, contact me and note thed under item 3, the words power ball should be power wall for the tesla charging station that was in reference my ignorance about tesla. are there any other amendments or changes? >> i'll move to adopt the minutes.

>> on that, >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> prlt. >> aye. >> that motion carries, 5-0 and the minutes are adopted. so we are now moving on to item number 5, this is appeal number 222 buena vista llc versus san francisco public works. appealing the issuance on november 14, 2022 of a public works order. the tree is in fair condition and not in threat of safety. [reading order number 207311] and i understand that the parties have come to agreement but they would like to address the board.

welcome, this is mr. danny turner, the attorney for the appellant. >> good evening, he apologize for not appearing before you but he's in another meeting. the homeowner would like to give a few words before i give a presentation, i believe he's here on zoom. >> welcome. >> hi i'm jobi, i own the property at 737 buena vista avenue west. i brought the property in 2015 and i done a major renovation here, respecting the historic features of the house. as part of the renovation, we're doing a we are excited to have found a path forward that

my counsel will now discuss. >> we're forward to have across the street of buena vift. it's been drawn out due to some challenges but now the construction are complete and no more. we're seeking approval to put the cherry on top so to say. we are happy to bet you know that after a lengthy discussion, we have crafted a mitigation for removal and replacement. to that end, a draft proposed order prepared in collaboration has been submitted for your viewing and consideration and i have hard copies available if you would like to review those. one of the subject trees is 15 inches in diameter and prone to condition. the removal of replacement of this tree is not viewed as development related. the other trees is in 18 inches

in diameter. 6, 48 box trees will be planted to replace with approximately 19.9 biobass. 5 trees will be planted in front of the property which is only 0 feet wide and only requires four street trees. the neighbors at part welcome this replacement and a letter of support was committed with our brief. we're excite beside this project because it will place it in the sidewalks. damage iting and creating a trip ha sader.

another hard has tagged the sidewalk for repair and/or replacement. nobody likes to receive a notice from the city but the timing could not be better. these papers will beautify the realm and support service water management. the mitigation plans the city standards for removing and improve pedestrian safety will beautify across our prominent park. we're due to grant the appeal. that concludes the presentation and i have the project manager for any questions. >> thank you, and we're showing the things agreed to. does buff want it address the board. >> good evening, chris buff with san francisco public works bureau of urban forestry. i'll cover some basic background and then i like to show photos of the subject trees to help provide a visual.

so the application was initially denied by staff, our staff assessment where trees were fared in a good condition, tree number 1. tree number 2 is fair to poor. but we noticed that there is a permit from several years ago that was not followed up on, we're aware of that. that was the subject to conversation to public works hearing when they appealed our our denial and in the extensive brief that they have provide they have gone into defwailz reasons of delay. some may see it as a failing you're to have existing conditions. once we receive that brief, explaining they're waiting for the final step of finishing what they're doing on the site and, that is that is why there is this two-part process.

we did require separate additional permanent application, a set of set of circumstances. that said even when we were denying the trees after the result and our director said, you're describing one of these trees as poor and i'm denying this why? we calmly, said there were some issues. the message is, we're not there yet. having received the appeal brief from the applicant, we reviewed that closely and we're in a situation where one of the trees is essentially poor, one tree is good. the tree that good has an 18-inch diameter, the proposal is to plant 64-inch trees. also in the last years an electrical vault showed up so we're assessing for the loss of the planting site in the frontage.

they're also installing vines that will grow in the facade and permeable pavers towards the road and permeable pavers. so at this point in time, we're open to that. i think if we continue denying this application, the questions you would have all have it seems that these are one of those ones where they can achieve reasonable replacement would that not be fair for the city to accept. that's where we're at in this time. we're satisfied with why they will not follow through and why commitments were not adhered to. i'm going to show a few slides now.

so this is tree number 2, this is the tree we described as different settings as fair to poor. i would call it poor, struggling, vigor, it should be really dark green lust rious canopy. the next tree, tree number 1 this is the tree that we believe is fair condition are a trunk measurement. there is no compelling tree. but this is the same tree, the commitment to plant 4, 48-inch plant size trees, adjacent to

the property along with the downhill property. to meet the the technical and spirit of our code. with that said, we're asking commissioners to agree to overturn public works denial on the condition that the removal is on condition of total replacement. and the payment in due fee, due to the loss of site from the electrical vault. with that, i would like to wrap up my comments, thank you. >> thank you, i'm glad that you came to a resolution, i'm

impressed that the homeowner is proactive and being in the willing to plant more trees which is not example of behavior that we see. one of the things that you trained us, boxes versus trees because they are harder to maintain. can you, i'm, i'm thrilled that there is 48-inch box situation. however in the face of what you normally breech. who is your going to maintain them? what is your comfort level with trees where you have o pined that they have less survival smaller installations? >> thank you. president swig. so without a doubt, the larger, the plant that you transplant the longer it takes to establish.

so when it's not, when removal and replacement is occurring due to public safety concerns, we start with a 24-inch box. so in that regard, the goal here is trying to capture the trunk diameter, with the tree being removed. survive ability, it's t just takes a number of years for that tree to hang out and establish a root system and produce new foliage mass. so yes in examples of discretionary and not safety

concern, when an applicant is looking to remove a tree, we look at removing larger box sizes, to recover what we're losing. we potentially eliminate or reduce the number of cases that come before you, but more important is we're sending a message that we want to are tain the healthy trees if there is no compelling reason to remove it. with that, i'm also pretty sure that there would be irrigation installed, if not irrigation then hand watering for the first three years. so regarding long term maint enance, we need the owner to maintain the tree and then sf tree will assume responsibility including a tree planted downhill. so we have our existing maintenance program that will maintain the trees once they've

been established. >> as part of that agreement, is that throw-year window to water is that clear? >> correct, it will always be in our conditions of that permit. and with a larger box size, i would say without running through the owner, it's 3 to 5 years, they're invested in seeing the trees get established. if they don't believe it's due to the size, we will tack on a couple of years. but we're confident in their desewer to see these trees established. >> thank you. thank you. >> okay, thank you. is there any public comment on this item? please approach the podium. >> i just want to make myself

available i'm the arborist. >> thank you, we're on public comment now. >> speaker: i said the massive brief submitted by ruben and rose. it's interesting, it had all the history. it took a while. am i to understand that now, there is a new agreement in place that we have not seen? i read that thing on the screen now. would it be possible to put this off for until the public has had ample time to renew the plan of this property? and also we planted a box tree for lawrence which went into reshock and it's still there.

i ask that this matter be set aside so the public can review before the board takes it up for a vote. thank you. >> thank you, is there anyone in-person that would like to provide public comment. okay, mr. nolte, please go ahead, attending via zoom. >> speaker: good evening, commissioners. yes, i would also agree that this should be continued because i didn't see in the written statement that was quickly put onscreen, and also since you're not being shown on sfgovtv, the it didn't say

anytime late to this agreement. and i would since the property owner admitted that they've had the property since 2014 and the street trees currently in front of the properties that are empty, so it does show that there is a lack of concern or dealing with the vandalism something happened to those trees that is currently in front of this property. so i would question, the you know, the permanent another agreement having an agreement but also seeing the history of the current property owner how he dealt with those trees on the property and not being able to maintain them and assuming that the new trees will be feasible and maintain and actually be secured and/or replaced if they're damaged. i don't hear all the things that need to be said in the

plan just to go forward and probably prudent also for these trees to be protected. even though they're from a park that these people would need protection for. i know the parties, we do have somebody, michael nolte, please go ahead. >> yes, first i wanted to know if the commission members has received the, the information from josh regarding this notice? this agenda item? and second, i would also also like to see this appeal go

forward. and appreciate the comments of the previous speaker, thank you. >> thank you, is there any further public comment? okay, so we're moving on to rebuttal. i know the parties have come to agreement, three minutes. okay, matter submitted. >> i'll start with commissioner lopez if you have anything to say. >> i have a comment, i'm pleased with for them to reach an agreement. i think that's really really important. i noted that in the materials, there was no brief from the

city department. i don't know if that's because they were working things out or for any other reason. i also want to commend the property owner for the report for young report for april of 2022 and it was the most resent one, it was precise, i would say it was a good report. and it delt with greater precisions than some of the terminology than what i saw in the public work order. so if this was still in dispute, i would have sited with the property owner and also noted that the property owner asserted and i don't think it's any change that the neighbors, supported the property owner's plan. so if the city is supporting the plan and coming up with a new plan and becomes responsive, i will move to approve the requests of disposition.

>> one potential issue, buff raise is a condition that was not part of the order? they want the property owner to maintain and water the trees for three years. i didn't see that as part of the agreement, i'm not sure if you want to included that or if we want to ask property owners to agree to that? >> i would ask that he amend his motion to include that requirement please. >> okay, should we, property own is on board with that? i mean. >> yeah, that's good. >> okay, thank you. so we. >> then, i will >> there is a second i will amend, i will president president swig's recommended addition. >> okay, so we have a motion from commissioner transvinia to grant the appeal and issue the

order that it be revised that it adopt the conditions agreed to by the paertsds including the requirement that the property owner maintain the replacement trees for three years. >> is the in lofu included? >> yes, it's included. >> got it. >> so on that motion vice president lopez. >> aye. >> commissioner lindbergh. >> aye. >> upler. >> aye. >> president swig. >> aye. >> that motion carries 5-0 and for the record, do the parents waive the right to rehearing? if so, we can get the motion tomorrow. >> the public works waives the right to rehearing. >> okay, we will get that out tomorrow. we'll now move on to item number 6. william wild and liona, subject

property 244 hartford street. revision to application of a third floor remodel. minor layout change and correct existing joyce direction. this is permit 2022-11166647 and we will hear from the appellants first. welcome, you have six minutes. >> hello i'm bill wilde, my wife and i are owners of two-condo building below the applicant. we lived in san francisco in many years, this is the first home that we have been able to purchase and we live there with our two children and work mostly from home.

we have tried to work with our neighbor however she has gone on to demolish 30,000. we have thousands to of legal fees while the applicant stated that they made amendments to the changes, these were not voluntary' changes. the latest revision which we saw only on friday, still proposes to have strengthening according to mr. stranbergh, together my wife and i survived the deadly 2005 in indonesia and through the devastate of 1999, we welcome our neighbor.

we just implore the board to have it done safely. >> good afternoon, i'm the appellant. demolition in the upper floor of a condominium. it was revised because they were not calculations that were submitted. and get the cal could youlations submitted and this is the revision because of that action. since, the revisions have been in place, the engineers become involved and he's available on zoom to explain in more detail that he found some defects in the calculations and, and we

had to submit this this appeal, in the permit holders response to the appeal, she submitted some further permits further plans that showed the fact that, actually addressed the concerns of our engineer. our engineer noted that there were some 1985 plans that had done some strengthening to some shared walls. this had not been acted for before the board today, and there it's appropriate, so since that time, the two engineers have been discussing this can trying to come up to see if they can come up with calculations. and until the engineers do come to some agreement, it's appropriate that the board put this off. tt a life safety issue and it's extremely important and there is some disagreement on what

the correct thing is. thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm going to send it over to david stranbergh who should be on zoom. >> before you go. >> they're still on their presentation, maybe they should finish it, please. go ahead. >> okay, can you hear me? >> yes, we can. >> okay, and do you want me to present drawings or just? >> whatever you want to do, you have 3:35. >> okay. so i've been reviewing the various versions of the proposed scope to the remodel for the upper unit 246 hartford and there is walls, a significant amount of walls being removed and new walls put in place. but right now, the biggest the

problem is part of the existing wall. when i say existing sheer wall that's based on a permit. and we're asking that they be act from the overturning forces from the sheer walls that it's accounted for and reviewed by the building department. so the that, that currently at this point has not taken place but we have been in contact with we just had a meeting today with karen lee ang and the engineer that is doing the work now on 246 hartford and, seems like we have a common understanding of the work that needs to get done. but we need time to see that work done and reviewed adequately. >> okay, thank you.

you have two minutes left. did you want to add anything elts? --else? sure, i can maybe share a screen if you like? >> sure. >> and show you specifically the--these are the drawings. these drawings are produced by mercury engineering. these are the walls that are flanking this light well space adjacent to the kitchen. and then, there was an approval here to put in a window. this is an existing sheer wall where they put in a window. the new plans are no longer, once alan got involved, they decided that's not a good idea because it would be hard to

compensate for that. and so, allen has do not a good job to try to compensate on what is being lost. in this line, they're adding a sheer wall and removing a window. but the, wore just wanting to see some accountability for what happens to the overturning in the earthquake. so there is uplift and downward forces from the sheer wall, that can't have an impact on the unit below. this wall in particular, right here. if you can see hold down for us is accounted for in the current. >> you've got 30 seconds. >> in the current drawings,

this is the drawings, it says produce, it calls down a whole strap but it does not say where it goes and what it's going to connect to, we're going to have that explained and articulated to the building department and have them review that. >> okay, thank you. we did have a question from commissioner and then president swig do you still have a question? >> thank you, i have a question for mr. catral and referencing, it seems to me that you're asking us for more time, are you asking us not to hear this tonight? are you asking us to get involved in the discussions you're having? i'm not sure what it is that we have before us? i think based on to the fact that the plans have been

approved are in fact, unsafe and affective, the permits, the appeal needs to be granted and if necessary, they will issue a special conditions permit if you're inclined to deny or put this off, that would be appropriate as well so the engineers can come to some consensus about what the issue is. >> which one has moved to settlement? win or lose baseball tonight, possibly through further discussion with, mutual council and mutual engineers to reach settlement and never say goodbye, is that true. >> ryan patterson for the appellant, the issues that sheer walls are being removed

without being properly accounted for, the engineers are trying to work that out but they're not properly shown in the plans and we want that to be shown proper low. they can either revoke and file a new permit or we can continue this and bring it back in a proper form and we should be all done, as long as it's safe. >> or you can settle and write us a note and say that you're done. >> sure, if the engineers agree, that's the goal. >> thank you. >> commissioner lindberg has a question. >> sorry i just thought about this, would you not be stuck with the previous permit that this permit was issued to alter? >> that's a good question. dvi has determined that the previous permit was issued without the previous calculations. so that still needs to be addressed. and that would be up to dvi to

require a new permit but i think the simplest thing is to go back and fix the plans and then, we'll come back and have proper plans at that point. >> thank you. >> thank you, we will now hear from the permit holder. >> thank you, commissioners i'm counsel for margaret, the owner of 244. i guess as you've deduced, this has come down to some serious discussions, our engineer spoke to a checker today. we feel they're close to an agreement.

in fact, our engineers characterization of the discussion is he and dvi had come to an agreement, mr. stranbergh may not have agreed but wanted more information. we've, we worked very hard to provoid the information and the changes that the neighbors have requested for months now. it's been a very long process. my client has an open construction site in her unit. she has been living like this since the summer. wore open to a short continuance. we can agree that that would be helpful. but we would ask that this be continued for one week and we'll be able to come back here. frankly, i'm concerned that they may not agree. we are absolutely going to do

what dbi tells us we need to do to make this a cocomplying permit and project. she lives there, so we would ask that this be continued for one week. they will continue to talk, we will come with a solution that they're okay with, but i just want to set that, the stage that way to understand you know, where people are in this discussion and where we may end up next week. we're going to do our best. we would be coming back to you next week with a proposal that dbi is ready to approve, i can assure you of that. our engineer is here, could she be anything, we're happy to but, that's all i have for the moment. thank you. >> thank you, we have a question from commissioner lindbergh. >> not as much as a question as

a comment. i just heard you say that if that you would come back with a week with a proposal that dbi is going to sign off on. but i want to say that it will be something that the appellant is willing to sign off on, that is what we would adopt if all the parties come to an agreement. but if it's just with dbi, we would not consider that a stipulated agreement. >> i understand, i'm saying we may be still be dis beauted, it may be us and them saying that this is sufficient and they may not agree. >> okay. >> i may have to follow-up and rebuttal but that's it for now. >> thank you. we will now hear from the planning department. nothing from the planning? okay, we will hear from dbi. >> good evening, president swig

and vice president, matthew green representing the building of construction tonight. the permit is a revision to remodel the third floor unit, this building is a three-storey building that was previously converted to condos. there were some for the original permit. this was naend today correct the oversight. they have responded to dbi's request throughout this process. after this permit was approved, the appellant discovered work that had been done decades before that brought new issues to life. they have addressed these issues with new drawings, they have been an extensive contact with the permit engineer and the appellant engineer, they were meeting just before i came over here. ms. yilang is satisfied that they meet requirement.

i was about to recommend that we, that you uphold the permit with a special conditions on the condition that they have to obtain a special permit with the new drawings. but if they're willing to ask a for a continuance with full agreement between the two engineers i'm happy to support that. just like that, would i like to spend a good amount of time that included, the appellant, myself and permit holder and deputy director, engineers and building inspect or and building inspect or supervisor. and wore all recommend, i was going to say that we all recommend adopting this special conditions permit but they want to get a continuance, we can understand that. i'm available for any questions you may have. >> so we should be comfortable

that you guys are close. what would give us better closure is if both parties agree, given that we both heard tonight that, one-week extension would be harmful to either party, either way, see if they can come to an agreement. >> our engineer who has been on the site and very familiar with the project, but if they want to make a few more changes, that is great. two of them are happy with product so far. if all three can agree, that would be great. >> and you'll have something, if we do postpone, you'll have something for next week so we can all see it together? >> correct. >> okay. >> thank you. >> commissioner travina has a question. i agree with the way that the

disposition is seeming to go. when i see major agreement that's literally live under the same roof, i get concerned. the issue of a ceiling joyce being depicted as east, west, north south, is that still an issue? does dbi still agree with one side? >> yes, there was an issue with the joint, that's why we performed the site, we're satisfied to move forward. >> so that's no longer an issue for anybody? >> no, sorry. >> okay, thank you. >> thank you. >> we will now take public comment is there anybody here for public comment on this item, please raise your hand. i don't see anybody. so we will move on to rebuttal. mr. catral, you have three minutes. >> thank you, i'm glad to hear that they're trying to work

things out here. but i think that one week is really optimistic. i think that we need to consult with our engineer and see how long it's going to take him. i would like to see if february 22, would be available and i'm going to check with mr. strandbergh to see if that's available for him as well. i would also like to point out, although mr. green indicated there was some excessive diligence, you know, regardless of what that was, it's still, was prior to the discovery of a 1985 permit that's the reason why we're here now. some of these things have not been looked at and that's all i have for now, thank you. >> okay, thank you, we'll now hear from the permit holder.

>> we don't agree to that. we would agree to one week or if that's not acceptable to the appellants then we would ask that this commission, board of appeals, approve this special conditions permit tonight. it's ready for approval, i think you guys confirmed that. that's our position. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> okay, dbi, anything further. sorry, commissioner upler has a question. >> just, one question. since you had already gone through the process. document make sure that they were revised or rehabilitating

or reconstructed, how were the plans missed as part of that process? i think that's one of the big motivating factors for the current disagreement? >> good evening, i'm alan structural engineer for the permit. we look over the project last summer from the original engineer. when we started a project, we did document search for permits online. sxl that was noted as a deck living room kitchen remodel, so nothing on there told us it was a seismic work involved. so, we missed that one ourselves because it was not called out as a seismic book. >> okay, thank you.

>> it's a little more in response to that, it was also, part of the problem was that the two units were converted to condos. and that permit was under their address which we would not have realized so we were searching for permits under our address, it didn't show up. >> thank you, we will now hear from the department of building inspection. >> thank you, i would like to confirm what he said the 85 permit did come to light after the visit. but carry engineer was at the site visit and has been looking at the 1985 plans and still confident of this new, these new drawings. and i would also like to confirm once, after buildings

are converted, it does get the future a little confusing. i come across that myself finding records. i'm available for any questions you may have. >> we have a question from commissioner lindbergh. >> is ms. liang president? >> she is not. >> if we continue this, it would be helpful to have her present to see what dbi's position on this. >> i'll ask you, but i've been dbi's official position. >> i understand, because there are three engineers involved here and we're only hearing from two of them and the third one is the one i would give the most weight to, so i think having her testify would be helpful. >> i did ask her to attend and she has just other obligations, i will ask her to come to the

next meeting. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> commissioners? comments? well, since we're always popping up, i would what i heard was, a compromise, compromise position to extend a recommendation of extend the hearing, i heard compromise with one week. i, i think that the presents a hard ship to extend to february 22. it's a fair compromise, especially since we heard that dbi is already accepted the plans and would be ready to go tonight. so one week is reasonable, fair compromise and so i would suggest that we differ a decision until next week. and limit some of the

presentation time correct? >> pardon? >> if we move this, if we move this for the purpose of seeing the plans next week, we don't have to go through 77. >> no each party would have three minutes to address the rebuttal. >> that's why i'm asking, you're always much clearer on the subject than i am. and hopefully, the two parties will come to an agreement and reward in that they've done so. is that your motion? >> we have a motion to continue this matter to february 8, so that the permanent holder can, have revised plans that are acceptable to dbi and the appellant, is that right? okay, so on that motion, vice president lopez. >> aye. >> aye.

>> lindbergh. >> aye. >> upler. >> aye. >> okay, motion carries 5-0 and we'll see you next week. and we will put you at the beginning of the agenda. thank you. okay, we are now moving on to item number 7, this is appeal number 22093, derek, sorry if i miss pronounced that. subject property, 379-399 chestnut street. comply with notice of violation number 2021, 75327, replace wood frame on existing roof with existing bur roofing. and we will hear from the appellant first. >> i would like to thank the board of appeals for giving me

time to voice my concerns about this permanent and negative affect this has on myself and neighbors. i have a number of photos that may make it easier to explain the situation, i think we all have instant image of what we think about a roof being and this is not really the case. this is in a situation where they're proposing this deck be built on the top of the building, it's a landing that glorifies fire escape that is flush against my building and windows. so if i can, i want to share my screen and then i can continue to talk. >> sure, we can pause your time while you share. >> time is paused.

okay, thank you see that? >> yes. >> good so. this is the third time that somebody has attempted to build a deck for a number of violations some which had no permits or we cannot given any notification on a previous occasion. roof flooded my roof with black smoke. the first image is from one of my windows looking down this deck. this was this is the second time from april of 2021 and you can see the proximity and in the process of building they also put wooden frames around two wooden ducks.

the current zoning laws as far as they've been explained to me say the roof top deck has to be 3 to 5 feet from the edge of the building, 3 to 5 feet from other dwellings and none of that is possible in this location. especially when the permit calls for 200 square foot deck. the permit also states that this is a rebuild of an existing deck but there is been no deck there for the 20 years that i lived in my apartment. and also stating, that the deck was originally built in 1938. and essentially what they're proposing is unnecessary luxury addition to non complying structure with noth but hawkes that seem to be grandfathered in, seems to be the basis of this 1938 claim. and grandfathering something from 5 years ago, is also

confusing to me. years ago, doctors recommended cigarettes and we thought asbestos was the best for fire. so if this is a safeway to construct the deck, i hope that would take presence over what amount to see a loophole. also this deck, you can see the arrow points to my windows both location height of my window so they're right there and right below that arrow is where the light well is on one side and then on the other side, you have a fire escape which would be blocked by the building of the deck there. oops. there is a wide view and i have been in contact with my landlady and in the process of

rebuilding the deck for a third time, they began nailing wood into the side of our building which she is not pleased about. this is a wider view and again shows that this landing is below the level of most of the other buildings. and so, it has no view at all, andtially looks into other people's windows. so you know, there is obviously some issues there in terms of privacy. and this is a wider view of what you would call a court yard, everybody would be looking directly into the windows of the neighbors. this is a street view and what this shows is because of the slope of chestnut street, the building on the left and the building in question are both three-storey buildings, but

because of that, sfairly steep slope, their building comes about two and a half floors compared to mine. so again, you know, this deck goes basically splits the windows on the west side of my apartment. i work from home, as do my downstairs neighbors. because of the cost of living and rent being as high as it is, i had to give up my office and now with the pandemic, it's been necessarily to work from home and having a deck just outside of my office would impact the ability to make a living fm this is google earth view and this shows, where my apartment is and when this was taken during a period where they were just throwing random garbage on to that area, they

were rebuilding a wooden staircase and some of those materials got placed out there and left out there for a while. you know, my other concern about this is we have no guarantee that the apartment with direct access to that deck would not be turned into an airbnb or some other aren't al, and that's a concern with some having parties without any regard of neighbors that they will never see again. this is not communal area that has been used by tenants. this is a landing that they're hoping to you know, shoe horn deck on for some future occupants that, don't live there at this point. and again, these are not

hypothetical problems, with the experience of when they target that area, having my entire apartment filled with black smoke. >> 30 seconds. >> a grill or something like that, the smoke is going in the apartment. i ask that the city revoke and prevent further attempts to build a deck in that location. thank you very much. >> thank you, we will now hear from the permit holder. welcome, you have 7 minutes. >> speaker: my name is meadowans and i'm the designer of the deck, the owner mr. chu, who is 91 was not able to make it here today so he authorized to speak in his behalf. this project has gone a long and pro tracted process, began

in 2019 when the old deck that was up there was torn off and a new roof built up roofing system was put on. and then, mistakes were made, the property owner employed a crew to rebuild a deck without a permit, in which the department of building inspection came and red tagged it. this was just prior to covid which, caused a delay and and then finally, it was in the, april 2021, that movictor an associate of mr. chu contacted me to try to get this project back on track.

i visited dbi and told them our situation, i wanted a red tag that i want today know if we can continue building with. i visited the planning desk first and they did a search of the aerial photographs. dating back to 38 and there was clear evidence that it was used as a deck to 2004 and even in the earliest one, which is 19 38, it's blurry but you can see that there is a hike or railings at that point. and it could have been used for drawing laundry or what have you as common in the area flt because of a red tag, he was not able to approve it on that day. so it went upstairs. we went through a full planning review including a 10-day comment period.

which no other neighbors at all, objected. planning improved the project, we took it through dbi soon after and the project was approved for building permit. we began building once again and the appealed happened and now we're here. for my part, i took a look at what was there and we just basically, redesigned a deck that was in kind until when i was there with obvious improvements with a deck frame so it could hold cocompliant railings, stairway and various

details that bring to the fire code. from there, it's kind of a he said, she said situation. we have photographic evidence from aerials and photographs that the deck has been there which i have hard copies here, i was not sure what the process is. we also have, we collected a few snapshots from neighbors that have been there and going back to the 70s, people hanging out and being on the deck. >> you can show them on the overhead if you want, can you pause the time, you just face it towards you as if you were looking at it. >> this? >> yes.

>> yes, this is all from google early, i'm sorry these are from the planning department, publicly available records from san francisco planning department, this is 2014 shot which shows at that point, they had put some artificial turf and umbrellas and tables there. this is ten years earlier, not a very good picture but it still shows the artificial turf and almost like a some sort of shade structure there. so it was not used at that point in 2004. and the next shot there is this one, from 19 38 and this is the deck here. and you can see that it's rather high. the shadow line and the walls around the roof indicate that it was potentially a useable

space. this is enough information along with these pictures. this is from the 1980, i believe. >> if puck face it, sorry. >> thank you. and you can see the love low railing that they had there was aluminum. this is the owner's son i believe who was talking on the deck this is a picture just prior to the demo, we got these shots done of the deck. and these railing pieces and wood are actually what was in the photograph that derek

showed that showed hand om garbage, it was pile of debris from removal. and there is another shot of the stairway to the deck. we've also, did manage to get a handful of letters from tenants making a statement that there should be a deck there. for as long as they lived there. this is teresa waldeny, deck has been there since 1989. and also, made a statement and he had been there since 1994,

i'm sorry. and the owner although he didn't provide a statement, would testify if necessary. >> that's time, thank you. >> you'll have time in rebuttal. thank you. >> okay, thanks. >> we'll now hear from the planning department. sorry, commissioner lindbergh has a question, thank you. my apologies. >> thank you, i do look forward to hear what planning has to say about this. having to look at the permit, i know we're not hearing the nov but the permit was to renovate. first of all the permit itself says this is a ooh filt platform not a roof deck. but i'm seeing all of this, neighbor testimony saying that this has been a deck. it does not seem to be a deck at all.

can you address that? >> i know that when we originally submitted for permit, we called it the utility platform. somehow when the permit got approved two years later, it became a utility platform but that happened, when the general contractor brought it through, i'm not sure how that got renamed. >> okay, and then secondly, just to confirm, i think you kind of alluded to this but i just want to confirm, at first the owner removed the existing deck without use of permits? back in 2019, i think you said. >> that's correct. >> and then began reconstruction of that platform also without a permit? >> that's correct.

>> i just wanted to make sure that i have my facts straight, thank you. >> we have a question from commissioner upler. >> yes, how is that area accessed and what units have access to that area? in the building? >> there is a, a u shape somewhat u shape central court that goes to ground level that has a stairway that goes from the street access to that stairway that accesses all the access. it's open to the entire, all the resident of that unit. >> >> thank you.

>> thank you, we'll now hear from the planning department. >> good evening, members of the president, president, i'm tina planning can zoning administration. 379-399 chestnut street. it contains a three-story basement apartment building with about 11 dwelling units. instructed in 19 06, it's historic. the permit is to comply with notice of violation and sited on the permit to say to replace a wood frame utility platform which we all understand to be a as the roof deck for the project. the appellant is the neighbor, who is residing at 377 chestnut

street which is adjacent apartment building to the east. the appellant concerns is that the deck will cause noise due to his proximity in addition, the appellant believes the roof top violates the planning code and setback 3 to 5 feet away. on the projector, i'm going to put an aerial photograph and this shows the subject property, and it's l-shape configuration and this is the location of the roof deck. this is the appellants property and the light well that we're going to be talking about. zooming in.

>> this is the l-shape that is in blue, this is the deck, sort of framing that in the midst. of instruction for the deck. this is adjacent property to the east and abuts in its relationship to the wood deck. i'm going to put another aerial photograph, this is looking to the east, here is the subject property, here's the deck and here's the light well. of the appellants property, it's located in the required rear yard, a portion is considered non complying. as you heard from the

applicant, there is always been a deck at the location, it was only temporarily removed when the roof underneath the deck was replaced in 2019. what is unclear as to when the deck was first constructed, we do have evidence that showing the deck as far back as 2002 and here's an aerial photograph. of the subject property, here's the deck. can you zoom in, alex, it's a bit grain' but you can see and you've seen the other photographs that the applicant put up, that you do see, this part of the building with some sort of extra turf, high railing decorating, some sort of outdoor furniture and right

here is the opening for the access points to the units of the building. and i don't believe we have received any complaints about the deck or the or when the deck was illegally constructed so we have no reason to believe that the deck is not legal. now while non compliance structures are by definition in lots not developable, we do often times see roof decks constructed to provide space for outdoor activity. in fact p section 188 permits a deck on top of provided no higher than what is required by the building code. in addition, the planning code states a ten-day notice is required when there is a new

roof deck. while this is not new roof deck, in the location and configuration, the department does acknowledge that roof decks in general may cause some impact, noise, for instance to neighboring properties. and in this case, in the furthest permit, we have sent out the ten-day notice to the neighbors, even though, one is not required. upon receiving the ten-day notice, the appellant did reach out to the planner and the project planner through phone calls and emails did explain to the appellants that the proposed project does meet the requirement and that a 3-or 5 set pack is not required. no dr was filed and issued

later in november 23, 2022. for the reason i stated, thei ask that the board uphold the appeal and go on. the board does have an option to modify the deck if you so choose, for example, you can ask that the railing be pulled back to match the rail well that would be a reasonable compromise and one that the department would support. that may be some concerns that they raised in regards to privacy and noise. we would be open to further discussion with that. happy to answer any questions. that concludes my presentation. >> thank you, we have president from president swig and commissioner lemberg.

>> so before my commissioners became commissioners, there was a whole review of deck protocols, what can be done, what can't be done, blah blah blah, is that true? did we not, am i, am i making believe that i'm a commissioner in sacramento. but was there a whole review, because there was a lot of deck, activity that some of the rules associated with building decks on city roofs that was clarified? or adjusted? or am i just? >> i'm not aware of that, sorry. >> i'm thinking of a case that we had in the marina and the deck was placed on a roof and and scott, it's coming back to

me. the hard drive is slow, scott was in your position. and he gave us a tutorial of new rules related to deck revisions. there were, yes, there were rules related to you cannot go to the edge of the roof, you have to have a setback, you have certain amount of railing, you cannot do this and you cannot do that and this is part of a new declaration. so am i, am i remembering that correctly? or? >> perhaps, i was not there, so i cannot say, i remember that, i remember strapped guide blienz for roof decks. i don't know if they were adopted but they were guidelines, in the marina, correct. >> i was not in the fantasy's trip. thank you. so there is ambiguity to whether or not there are new draft rules or adopted

according to yourself by the way your presentation was far better than the two parties, i actually saw, how this was this, slice of life is presented. if they decided to build a deck there, what would you say to that? >> that's an excellent question f this is awe new deck and not one that's been around 20 plus year. we would review for its compliance for the design guidelines.

this project moving forward gets and according to your testimony, gets a big pass on any issues because it is been there and it's grandfathered or grandmothered in? and so, >> yeah, we have so much evidence in our records to say it's always been there, it's exact location and we have never heard anything about that in terms of its impact and what not. >> right the precedence has been set and history of activity and no neighborhood outcry, blah blah blah, so it's passed mustard over 60 or 70 or 90 years, so it's okay. >> exactly, that's why the staff who reviewed this, and processed this, signed off on

it. would you consider the deck would be just as efficient if we took the step to modify it? to make the foot print and not include the light well? >> it's hard for me, i never proposed this before the appellant but we can discuss this now. i think it would help, it was a brand new deck before us today. >> and in rebuttal, i think that's a fair question or maybe the appellant if he's listening can share his thoughts. i'll differ to mr. trasvina. >> thank you, you mentioned the

ten-day letter that was not required but carried out anyway. can you describe what out reach to the adjourning property owner and my input the property has? >> the appellant was the only person we heard from. >> so i based on all the photographic evidence, i don't doubt that this outdoor space has been there for a long time. what i'm struggling is whether this space should be allowed to

be habitable for human use. can you speak a little bit as to what, and i think this fwoez into a little bit of what the distinction between a utility and a roof deck is, to me, just as a layman kind of sounds like it should not be used as a roof deck by actual people, it's just there to serve some utility related purpose. but i also, i hear the appellants argument that this is, you know, being presented as a roof deck and that it will like low be used by neighbors and i hear his privacy concerns given the very very tight quarters between these two properties, can you explain the difference. >> i can try. i cannot answer why it was labeled as a utility platform that's the applicant.

but the plans that were submitted with the permit, shows a roof deck and that's what the planning department reviewed the project to be a roof deck. >> okay. as to what the deck did not preexist, didn't exist previously, how our planning act now. how is planning accounted for the illegal unperm pitted removal of the deck in 2019 and then subsequent rebuilding after that? does that not account for anything? i think they specify that the roof was going to be replaced

or remain or removed, but it was sided as the roof or the portion of the building where the roof is underneath the deck. one can ask, how do you replace the roof without removing the deck? >> i mean, i assume the answer is you obtain the permit to remove the deck. >> yes. correct, that particular permit to repair or replace the roof never came to planning so we never had an opportunity to ask that question. >> i see, okay. okay, having seen a number of buildings like this, it rubs me the wrong way that this is to be used as a human roof deck just based on the visual, am i off base here?

>> this is a pretty dense part of the city, it's at the corner of chestnut and stockton and based upon old aerial, this was built in 9--1906 and there were buildings at the block at that time. it's not uncommon to have buildings built sometimes 100% of the property with very little open space. and we do often times see folks finding little niches to have some amount of open space for their tenants. i'm going to put up this site plan really quickly, it might, i have another better photograph, let me mind that for you. you mentioned, the tightness of

the development pattern, here is latest sambehr map and this is the sambehr map in 19 14, this is part of the block. sorry. it's exactly the same, there is no change to the corner of corner and stockton as you can see, there are so many building packed into the lot, the building next door has no open space, except for this little tiny stair deck system. the property next door has a building to the front and back. the appellants property has a building in front and back. so open space is spare. >> okay, thank you.

>> okay, thank you, we'll now hear from department building inspection. >> good evening, representing the department of building inspection. i guess, the issue is here whether this deck existed before, i do have the reroofing permit where they specifically say back roof under the deck, if you would like to see that. how do i do that? >> just say overhead and alec can zoom out for you. turn it so it's facing you. >> the when they pulled the permit, they clearly say that there was a deck there, just better, reroofing is pretty approved as a matter of course,

it's just redoing the roof. and so the question is, how do you reroof an area under a deck without removing the deck? so if the property owners had dismantled and reconstructed, we would not be here today, it would be the end of the issue. they didn't do that for some reason, back in april of 2021, about a year and a half after this permit was issued, that's when they put the deck back. that's when we got a smraint, our inspect or went out and realized there was not a building permit, replacing the deck examine wrote us a notice of violation. if i go back, this permit issued in august of 2019, it was good for 3 19 days so it was expired by the time the notice of violation was written.

and the permit is to comply notice of violation, replacing wood frame on the existing roof with existing roof. so if this was a brand new roof, there would be requirement for one-hour walls at the property lines since this is an existing deck, our plan interpretation that this is an existing deck. that is the argument they took it down and did not rebuild it for a year and a half, is it an existing deck. our art decker made an determination that it is an existing deck so they're rebuilding it in kind, we is standard approval process for other decks when they're being rebuilt. i don't have much more to that. i will add that it does require fire department inspection and building inspection so if there

is any question about the safety, that will be inspected by both departments. i'm available for my questions you may have. >> president swig. >>, speaking about that in rebuilding, it has to be built to current specifications with a proper railing around it and all that stuff. in the photos this we saw there was one photo that, i'll call it a privacy wall because it, pretty much was taller an average human being and obscured the deck. what would be the new treatment? and i'm responding also to our my question is in line with the commentary with the appellant, my god, we'll be looking into

other people's windows and not just myspace but others who will suffer from privacy. what is legal? is that 6-foot i'm guessing, privacy wall going to go in? or is it going to be a pony wall of some kind? and is that pony wall opaque or clear? is it made of. all of that stuff? these are key issues, you know in conjunction with my fellow commissioners who say it's good with human beings and in line with the appellant and, privacy. what is that wall going to look like. >> it's 42 inch high with picket.

>> a pickets fence which is 42 inches high. >> i would not call it picket, 4 inch gaps between them, maximum 4 inches. >> and your thoughts as ms. ham with restricting the deck to not include the light well? what are your thoughts on that? with legal presence would be driven by? >> no, i have no objections to altering the permit to eliminate that area. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we will now move on to public comment, is there anyone here for public comment, raise your hand? no public comment, we'll move on to rebuttal, you have three minutes. >> i'm confused, this seems like a lot of tortured logic

involved here. i moved into my apartment in early 20004, so from 2004 until 2019, there was not a deck out there. so i understand that at some point something put astro turf and lawn chairs and hung out there, now if that caused problem, if somebody filed a complaint, would you have a copy of that? i would be surprised? and so the idea that because that one point used this space which again is not a roof deck, i don't understand how that language can be used. it's a utility platform. it's basically a way to get from their back wooden staircase to the back to escape. what i don't understand is this is a huge building, it goes all the way to the corner of

stockton, they have rule roof. if you built a deck, you would have an object instructed view of the golden bridge, it would block my view of golden view bridge which would make me unhappy but not impede the ability to make a living. even in normal tone of voice it sounds like they're in my apartment. you know, and the reason they didn't have to tear down a deck is because there was no deck to tear down. i was the one who made a complaint and filed a complaint in 2019, because one day they're just out there, you know, with handful of workers not wearing any respirators or masks, with putting hot tar, i

had a cat and had hundreds of in vet bills because cat developed breathing problems. there is a clear pattern of not following the rules and laws in terms of that space. so it was not a situation where oh we look down the deck just to redo the roof. they reit the roof. >> you have 30 seconds. >> i cannot imagine if you had 8 people out there, that you would not have problems. and if you talk about a picket fence, somebody can fall over the side of that, assuming that period like people go out there and drink. so beyond the light well, there is a number of safety issues and having a three and a half picket fence does not increase privacy for myself and people

out there. >> thank you. >> thank you, president swig has a question for you. >> just a follow-up on, ms. ham suggested it would make you feel better if if they just the platform design to include the light well does that mean anything? or is it the macro sense that there should not be a deck there? >> well, my preference would be not to have a deck there, but if blocking the blackwell, i'm the third flow, so there is an apartment below and bottom floor and people who also work from home. that sound travels. when you look at the plans and realize just how, you know, these are like puzzle pieces, everybody is on top of each other. and one of the things that keeps the peace is that people are respectful of that. and the minute you introduced

something like a deck, you're sort of, breaking that agreement. i think there is an understanding, oh what is a deck and there is 1 apartment that have access to that. >> thank you very much, i appreciate it. >> thank you, we'll now hear from the permit holder. >> thank you again. this time i'm going to speak about the roof deck itself, the reason the owner is motivated to continue having this. is because it is, it is the only outdoor space that these 13 units enjoy. there is a small, to mention a very small alley way at the bottom but this is just an old dense and crowded area and that roof deck has been and if it would be removed, would be a

detriment to the owners or the tenants that live there and have come to enjoy it and made it part of their life. and i was standing, derek's comments, the deck has always been there and he moved in with a deck and photograph proofs that there were deck chairs. there is never been any noise complaints, no other neighbors in the area have appealed or appealed during the planning process. it's been part of fabric and parcel of that place. we're just replacing the deck as is. we'll be more than willing to work around the light well, but i think his windows are high enough that nobody is looking straight into them. and the light well does have

lower windows but they're obscured. it october 2018 that the planning department did work with dbi in trying to create a roof deck policy, i don't believe any of those, a few of those got amended but mostly it became a recommendation each roof deck would go under review and there was serious of recommendations. this deck is only 10-foot wide. so a setback on the 10-foot side would be render the deck virtually useless. but we would be willing to work with the light well in some way that would appease them. one of the recommendations is that the railing can only be as high as -- ~>> 30 seconds. >> maximum allowed which is 42 inches. once again that's a recommendation we would be do

solid railing, hire solid railings that match more of what used to be there. but we would be very distressed if we were, the owner would be very distressed if we could not continue to enjoy this property and the way the paying tenants expect. >> thank you. >> to enjoy in the future. >> question from president swig. >> short question, heard 42-inch picket fence, saw photos all the way back to 1958 that indicated a fire, that includes a fire escape look like a ladder. i didn't see, i didn't look on the plans to see the accommodation for where that fire escape is going to be and how fire safe ty is going to be

protected. >> we have a fire gate and the fire department approved that. >> okay. >> okay, thank you. we'll now hear from the planning department. >> thank you, tina from the planning department. as i stated earlier, a roof deck is allowed on top of a non complying as long as the railing is open and no more than height perm nisable which is 42 inches tall. while this is not a new deck, we did somewhat treat it like a new deck and sent out the ten-day notice, so we went beyond and above from a process. and i'll put up a partial floor

plan. this shows the deck, the light well and a possible design solution which is to go ahead and pull back the railing of the deck perhaps 3 feet from the common property line. we do want the exterior railing to be open to comply with the planning code but we would be open to this part of the railing, to provide more privacy to the appellants property. you mentioned the escape, this is the fire escape and this is the little door to access the fire escape. >> okay, thank you. any questions from the planning department? okay, thank you. we will now hear from dbi.

>> good evening, again, i just need to clarify that the 42 inches is a minimum of a guardrail not maximum, it's code compliance because it has to be 42 inches. you expressed the xwernz the fire safety, the fire department has approved the plans and they will do a site visit before the project is completed. i'm available for my questions. >> so the minimum is 42 inches, they could take it to 60 inches. >> they're replacing in kind so it's 42 inches, according to the designer, that's what was there before. >> a portion showed us that it was higher than the gentleman there. >> i don't know what is historical because there is

been many historicals in this project as we all saw. >> but the higher it goes, the planning department would want to get involved with that. >> all right, so 42 inches is a recommended level, 42 inches is probably what planning would accept and approve and anything after that it becomes a further discussion, which obliterates our discussion today. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. commissioners this matter is submitted? >> mr. lopez, i'll give you the opportunity to start the ball. >> thank you. i think so it's appropriate for the deck to continue as planned.

i am, i am drawn to the light well adjustment proposed by planning. i think that's reasonable but my initial reaction is that it would be appropriate to towelly replace the existing deck. >> i agree with commissioner lopez. >> mr. lemberg. >> i differ in this one. i would be inclined to have the totality, i think that the removal in 2019 is not irrelevant here.

>> the permanent that they preexisted for all of these years and yet it was removed and not accessible the entirety of the pandemic which is when they would want that outdoor space as we remember and those of us who live in apartments and condos remember. i also think that the appellant concerns are very legitimate concerns, while we can't, you know, make a finding based solely on privacy concerns or anything like that t i think the fact that this deck was removed in 2019, is sufficient

to say this that is a new deck and gave the ten-day notice that they said maybe they were not required to but they did because it was appropriate to do under the circumstances. and you know, i do agree with planning that if, you know, if the reroofing permit had been done proper low in 2019 we would not be here today. i agree with that sentiment, but i don't agree that this is irrelevant to this happening now in 2022. so much time has passed and again the appellant concerns are legitimate. a lighting for amendment for the light well, i would be grant appeal and not permit this outdoor deck.

and i do also agree that this deck would be in the roof rather in the weird area that would be of greater value. i talked long enough, i'll pass to commissioner eppler. >> i have a lot of sympathy there, that question but never found the right opportunity, it's a kin to you because this was a very awed deck, despite the lack of outdoor space. so you know, the thought of this much years later, rebuilding as is, it's a stretch in my head.

there would need to be access for the fire escape. so what we have, is an architecture that creates a very very attractive nuisance to the people that live in those 11 units. to go out there and use that space, if we do nothing it's not designed and provides less than safe situation and for the appellant of less than ideal situation because there is no mitigation to any of the issues that have been raised. i tend to look at the suggestion that has the setback and the higher wells and the most equitable way to parse this very difficult situation that we've been presented today. >> thank you.

i would agree with commissioner epplers, i'm sympathetic that it's a lousy deck. but i also have to pay attention, learn to pay attention to planning and their commentary on precedence. and what is what is the law? or what has been interrupted as the law. i think stands, the legal precedence stands but i would

go with commissioner eppler and support the drawing by ms. ham with the carve out for the light wall and the higher wall on the side. so i'll let mr. eppler make the pitch here. >> well then, i'll rely on his advise on how to make this. but my understanding is that we basically, we grant the appeals with -- ~>> issue the permit on the issue require that the railing be pulled back from light well 3 feet back from the property line. that's what planning suggested. number 2, solid at the light well and i'm not sure what that means, solid, like one solid wall? like private or what do you mean? >> thank you.

yes, solid where there is not open railing continues. >> not open at all, like solid wood. >> uh-huh. >> the height on that? >> yeah, i have a suggestion on that height. >> on that portion? >> for privacy? >> six feet. >> 6 feet, 72 inches. >> how many inches? >> 72. >> wouldn't that block all the light going to the appellant's apartment? >> fair point. >> the railing is pulled back, it's not on the property line. >> sure, but if the setback is only 3 feet and the wall is six feet, that sounds like less light rather than more. >> how far back is the light well from the property line? >> i'm going to pull the plans, i don't have it measured but i can go ahead can eyeball it. >> okay. >> you can pull it back further

than three feet that kind of fishates the back a little bit examine give him for light. >> can we also use privacy material, >> like opaque glass? >> yes. >> i'm fwg to put this back overhead. the light well is not denoted but using the same scale that says four feet here which is the approximately the same with

this, maybe less. the width is about four feet or so maybe 2 to 3 feet in width. >> three feet would be the minimum in terms of the setback line that i would suggest. if that's something like the board feels is important or helpful to the appellant we would be open to somebody taller, since it's not on the edge. >> is she saying that it's the minimum amount, you can go. >> can we go then four feet.

>> four feet. >> from and in terms the height of the railing would be 42 inches and then, what kind what is the material? solid railing? with opaque material? >> translucent material. >> okay, did you want to check in with the appellant to see if this addresses the concerns. you are willing to go higher but you didn't want to block his light. do you have any feedback. >> if it was setback four feet and the higher, if you went six feet it would not block the lights. i would rather have a solid

wall and so maybe block a little bit of the noise. >> okay, they're proposing translucent material so that the light can go through. but you'll still have privacy. >> that would be uglier than what is already there but that's a design issue. >> would you prefer wood? now is the time. >> wood would make sense. >> if you put a translucent plastic. >> okay, that's why we were checking with you. i'm going to repeat the motion, we have a motion from commissioner eppler to issue the permit that the railing be pulled back from the light well, four feet from the property line and that the railing at the light well is made of solid wood material and 60 inches high and this motion

is made on the motion. >> some of the privacy concerns of the appellant. >> yes. >> okay, on that motion, vice president lopez. >> aye. >> aye. >> commissioner lemberg. >> nay. >> president swig. >> aye. >> that motion carries, 4-1 and that concludes the hearing. thank you. >> we'll see you next week. >> and so for the permit holder, you'll have to revise plans and get a written permit after it has been issued. we can talk about it tomorrow. thank you.

thank you. [♪♪♪]

>> my family's starts in mexico in a small town. my parents are from a very, very small town. so small, that my dad's brother is married to one of my mom's sisters. it's that small. a lot of folks from that town are here in the city.

like most immigrant families, my parents wanted a better life for us. my dad came out here first. i think i was almost two-years-old when he sent for us. my mom and myself came out here. we moved to san francisco early on. in the mission district and moved out to daily city and bounced back to san francisco. we lived across the street from the ups building. for me, when my earliest memories were the big brown trucks driving up and down the street keeping us awake at night. when i was seven-years-old and i'm in charge of making sure we get on the bus on time to get to school. i have to make sure that we do our homework. it's a lot of responsibility for a kid. the weekends were always for family. we used to get together and whether we used to go watch a movie at the new mission theater and then afterwards going to kentucky fried chicken. that was big for us. we get kentucky fried chicken on sunday. whoa! go crazy!

so for me, home is having something where you are all together. whether it's just together for dinner or whether it's together for breakfast or sharing a special moment at the holidays. whether it's thanksgiving or christmas or birthdays. that is home. being so close to berkley and oakland and san francisco, there's a line. here you don't see a line. even though you see someone that's different from you, they're equal. you've always seen that. a rainbow of colors, a ryan bow of personalities. when you think about it you are supposed to be protecting the kids. they have dreams. they have aspirations. they have goals. and you are take that away from them. right now, the price is a hard fight. they're determined. i mean, these kids, you have to

applaud them. their heart is in the right place. there's hope. i mean, out here with the things changing everyday, you just hope the next administration makes a change that makes things right. right now there's a lot of changes on a lot of different levels. the only thing you hope for is for the future of these young kids and young folks that are getting into politics to make the right move and for the folks who can't speak. >> dy mind motion. >> even though we have a lot of fighters, there's a lot of voice less folks and their voiceless because they're scared.

>> we have private and public gardens throughout the garden tour. all of the gardens are volunteers. the only requirement is you're willing to show your garden for a day. so we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. it's a variety -- all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola. >> i have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past seven or eight years ever since

i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history. in the early 1800s the portola was farmland. the region's flowers were grown in this neighborhood. if you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. in the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the garden district. one of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to people of san francisco so they can share that history. >> when i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this idea that it would be a great

idea to fundraise. we started doing this as a fund-raiser. since we established it, we awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students. >> the scholarship programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a win-win-win situation all around. >> the scholarship program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. >> i was not sure how i would stay in san francisco. it is so expensive here. i prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in san francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i don't know where else i would have gone to finish. >> the scholarships make the

difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> you come into someone's home and it's they're private and personal space. it's all about them and really their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their outdoor living room. >> why are you here at this garden core? it's amazing and i volunteer here every year. this is fantastic. it's a beautiful day. you walk around and look at gardens. you meet people that love gardens. it's fantastic. >> the portola garden tour is the last saturday in september every year. mark your calendars every year. you can see us on the website

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music] miyamoto [drumming] [mus]

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>> good evening. what a spirited lion dance to

kickoff tonight. thank you to lion dance me and the high school students. thank you for the chinese association every year. and before the lion dance you might have heard master wong, entering the city hall. is also a beautiful chinese instrument and we are happy to have david wong and line dance to kickoff our celebration. get them a round of applause. now i like to say a few word in chinese. [speaking chinese] [applause]

good evening i'm claudine chang pedestrian heritage foundation the heritage month in may is our priority, throughout the years we always look for know opportunity and special occasions where communities are coming together. and this evening is one of those occasions. at the beginning of this year, we are all so very excited welcome the now year. this january is spchl we have 2 new years to celebrate aside from the regular january first, lunar new year is early this year. we would be excited 2 bragzs

throughout the whole among. however, before long, we found ourselves saddened by one tragic news after another. whether the loss of life from monterey park to half moon bay and more recently in memphis. it did in the matter had the victims were the color of their skins there was loss of life approximate affected all of us. >> we pause during the lunar new year celebrations to pay tribute to the victims to remember all those who lost loved ones. we pause to think about what can we do as a community, as a city, as a state, as a country; to address all the issues that surfaced in the first 20 days of the new year. and we paused to think about

heeling how we can better come together. it irrelevant has been a very sombering 2 weeks. however, we are here tonight and together tonight because i believe all feel we must carry on. we must carry on and celebrate as a community. i remember the first day of lunar now year where we were chinese of chamber's event, and there was the day after the tragedy in monterey park took place. i vivid low remember mayor breed's words reflecting am the tragedy and our mayor said, this is the time the community should get together. this is i time where we need to treat each other with mercy, with kindness and love. mercy, kindness and love. that is the spirit of this

evening's celebration, we thank the mayor and the city officials are bringing us here and without further adue, welcome mayor london breed. [applause]. >> good evening, everyone. i must say, that it feels so good to be here. and it feel it is good to be here because not only do we have a packed house but we have so many people from so many different places around san francisco, around the bay area and around the world. i want to start by thanking claudine chang for her words and reminding us of challenge this is persist in our country. but also highlighting how we

continue to come together. we continue to come together to support andup lift one another in san francisco because we know that although the tragedies have occurred and although we know that there was losdz of life and sadness. we also recognize the significant cans of the resiliencey of the various communities who have been faced with various changes. i applaud our diversity and strength and how we come together and celebrate lieutenant area new year today in city hall. we celebrate black history month on friday in city hall. come together toup lift one another, that is a part of why san francisco is so spchl i want to thank claudine for her work and bringing a community together and thank my cohosts

for the celebration. including people you will hear from later carmen chew. our city attorney daved chui. our public defender. our sheriff paul miyamoto and connie chan, thank you to leaders for being hosts tonight to celebrate ap i heritage in san francisco through lunar new year. [applause] >> now i know upon it is the year of the rabbit, which represents kindness and mercy. and my hope is had as we celebrate the year of the rabbit and for those who are in our vietnamese community the year of the cat, we remember the trait and how we work together and how we do things here in the city and county of san francisco. when you talk about togetherness i want to take this opportunity

to appreciate our chief of protocol mir miriam and the council core people who represent the world including our counsel general from china the philippines, japan and singapore being, indonesia and korea can you stand. thank you for your work and partnership in san francisco. san francisco has amazing sister staechs i want to acknowledge those manila and seoul can you please, stands the chairs of our sister city committees. mrauz so many amazing people who care about the community located

in various parts of san francisco but how they connect to the rest of the world. san francisco and our asian community has a rich history. the so ma with the filipino community. japantown a known japantown. or events we celebrate in china town and especially our lunar new year parade. san francisco brought together the communities and traditions over the years to make sure we never forget the tradition and huwe celebrate and support one another. i want to thank all of you and appreciate the chinese association. the chinese chamber and the various members of our asian communities who show up and to celebrate and come together during the challenging times. as well as our elected lead and department head and officials. tonight, it it is irrelevant a

celebration. and it started with lion dance me. because the challenges of the world what we are not -- what we should not do is allow it to dampen our spirits. to dampen our opportunity to celebrate. to come together. and to uplift. tonight you will see various performances from a number of people. you will have various uplifting speeches. you will see elected officials what it boils down to is the despite our difference, we still come together to celebrate one another and culture and history and togetherness. on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, thank you all for being here and i want to take one quick opportunity carmen chu will acknowledge the elected leaders later on today. i wanted congratulate and thank our treasurer fiona ma for the

state of california. thank you for your service and the work you do and for joining us tonight. and thank you, everyone for being here to celebrate. [applause]. >> all right. i do have another responsibility today. again i want to thank everyone for being here and at this time to complete the program and introduce our various elected leaders and officials is -- oh . i thought you said introduce carmen chu. >> at this time according to claudine i am going to ask the members of the councillor corps to come forward so we can take a photo with me and other elected

officials part of our host committee. thank you.

>> thank you, mayor breed and members of the councillor core. notice a very special performance for you from the students from gordon jay lou elementary. let's go golden jay lou! [applause]... ... ...

[music] [music] ♪♪[applause]

[applause] another round for gordon jlau elementary school! [applause] i don't know about you, we are sitting there i was next to our city attorney and threatening he will do a

routine. a dance routine. i can't wait until he puts on bunny ear and does hopping around. we are waiting for this, david. hello i'm carmen chu and i'm pleased to be here today. seems like the celebration grows skoal many people are here. feels like we are multiplying like rabbits! that will be the only joke i will tell. i do want to a very happy new year to everybody here. it has been a challenging time as many of you know the past few week and seen this in communities. and really the reason why events like this are so important and why i thank our mayor london breed for hosting the heritage event and making sure that she brings us together is it is know tounlt for us to recognize the diversity in our city and how special that makes san francisco. thank mayor breed and all of the

folk who is helped to coordinate this. claudine chang we could not do this without her help. lion dance me and other when is came together for this. i want to say, happy new year to everybody. [speaking chinese] [applause] i will recognize some wonderful guest hos share their time with us today. before i do that i want to invite my cohost to come up, of course we brought our city attorney we want to hear from our sheriff paul miyamoto. public defend are mano raju and connie chan, please, come on up.

>> happy new year, everybody! so, i am the audience i think of that -- san francisco we often have said we are truly the asian-american capitol of our country. this is an event that show cases it as we do every year. i want to thank you for being part of the incredible per of our culture, history and our community of activism. and it it is true during this lunar new year season, this has been a challenging time. but as our mayor said and city add administrator said, in the year of the rabbit this is i time where we will leap xup stands for peace and prosperity and moving on to hopism thank you for that. the last thing i say is carmen

did mention we were ways persian gulf as the performances were happening i want to say, that i heard a recent joke about lounar new year that only in san francisco could the following people walk in a bar. the japanese-american sheriff, the indian public defender. your chinese city attorney and our chinese elected officials because represent the world. i will tell thank you next year mano raju and sheriff are dawn what costumes to dance with the kids. i'm committing that now. if my fellow electives will join he. i will turn it over to supervisor connie chan wrochl it is grit to be here. i'm honored to be one of the 2 members of the board of supervisors representing the

chinese-american and ap i community. i obviously am one sdpt the other is chinese supervisor representing china town, aaron peskin board president. and we are so glad to be be all of you here today and honor to be part of this effect. i must say i had the honor and privilege this last thursday to visit the white house where president biden hosted the pifrpt historic lunar new year celebration at the white house. i'm grateful to represent all of you. to join that event. i have to say, madam mayor you should be very proud. i say that united states, we, in city hall of san francisco; have a glorious dome, better lion dance and better community

gathering in this place and should all be proud about that. better than the white house i'm a witness to that. >> in awe seriousness, i am grateful to see that you know, having our mayor, having our colleagues here together, just bringing everyone together beyond the ap i community bum the communities of color come together to celebrate each other. and to thank our foreign partners from over access the asian communities joining the asian-american communities in san francisco and the bay area to come together at the end of the day, we say that this it is our culture together that we want to celebrate together. thank you for joining us and i'm honored to be with you here today. thank you and here is our sheriff, paul miyamoto.

>> good evening. everyone i'm -- very happy to be here. this is a celebration for the lunar new year, year of the rabbit. i want to point out i was called out to wear rabbit years for next year. every year when we have the parade the lunar new year parade i make it a point to perform and participate with the lion dance team and carry a dragon head i challenge to you come with me on the parade route and take part in our lion dance team. which represents sfpd, sheriff, different law enforcement agencies. i want to take a mobile home when we speak about the lunar new year of the rabbit, signifying kindness, patience and responsibility is our responsibility in law enforcement to keep people safe. and as mentioned by the mayor and others, we stand here in

celebration during a time with mixed emotions as we celebrate together and truly together we do this. there have been instances which affect us together. hate and instances of transgender deal and i want to make sure we reassure everyone, public safety the police department and sheriff's office; we are as frustrated with the behaviors we have seen. i want to reassure all of you in the communities that we are one here with everyone. our responsibility to protect people and defend people against dang and harm. our responsibility this is we don't take lightly and hope to hold and perform with high standardses of integrity and he honor. have you that come myself, chief scott and awful us in law enforcement in san francisco and stand with you in sharing the pain we saw together. we stands with you in keeping us

all safe in celebration as we move forward tonight and the days to come and protect everyone in san francisco. thank you. [applause] one of our partners in the justice system and public safety and public defender mano raju. >> thank you. sheriff, happy new year. you know as a defense attorney the thing i think about is often timeless the best defense is good offense when we whispered the city attorney you got called out by our city add administrator and of course hearing that, city attorney got here first and called us out observe we got a chance to responded. you know -- my first legal internship in san francisco was at the asian caucus in the civil

right's division we worked on bringing together communities and rounds tables to facilitate collective understanding. last weekend, i was at the beautiful event in the bayview y, which was celebrating lunar new year and african-american history month. and black history month. when is caused me to think about even though i know with the events a lot of communities are going through trauma and a lot of the trauma is upon generational, we also in this country and the city have a tremendous amount of inter~ generational resilience. events like this and last saturday are that kind of demonstrate that. every time i come to city events like this and see that i'm reminded of the resilience and the beauty in the city and

excited celebrate this new year with all of you so thank you so much. [applause]. thank you very much to everyone. i will ask them to stay up i like to invite all of our elected officials to come up and i will say your name come up. as i mention you. our treasurer of the state fiona ma. >> bill ching. jose cisneros. brook jenkins. nancy pelosi. gavin newsome and supervisor aaron pes pechls supervisor mandelman. supervisor walton. supervisor engardio. supervisor dorse. gent lamb, a lita fisher. lisa weissman ward. have i got everybody?

recorder joaquin torres. now college trustees come on up. now you are probably wondering my goodness are all of the folks going to say something. what can they say? but we are not going to do that we will do a big group picture and group chant. okay. all of you electives up here say, our greetings can you say [speak chinese] that was not good enough, louder. [speaking chinese]. carmen is the best. kidding happy new year, everybody! [applause] [applause]

>> now a very special treat for you. our dancer from indonesia, it will be a special treat.

[music] [music]

>> let's give i round of applause. thank you for this performance. every year we are trying to feature different performance. if you are interested to participate next year let us know. >> and now -- um -- we have a couple of community speakers with us. representatives from the chinese consolidated organization and representatives from the chinese chamber of commerce. please, join me. together they are over 2 huh human years old the longest standing organizations in san francisco china town. and we like to invite the

presiding president of the chinese benest lan association president to give you new year greetings. [speaking chinese]. [applause] [speaking chinese].

thank you and next we have the president of chinese chamber of commerce. [speak chinese] >> thank you. [speak chinese] madam mayor. thank you for hosting this

event. every year. every year is better and bigger. congratulations. and member representatives of asian-american from asia, thank you for being her to celebrate lounar new year with us. greetings. emyear of the rabbit or cat for you many blessings. at the chinese chamber of commerce set brills now year we reminded of the tragedy in monterey park and i'm sorry. in half moon bay. asian communities throughout the state. again condolences to the victim families, may they be comforted and find peace. i will go back to history of the choin ease new year parade in the 1860s chinese american

started lunar new year to show case our traditional and our people and the culture against a challenging back drop. fast forward it today we as a community are facing challenges. most reasonable antiasian hate and the challenges recovering from the pandemic. from this humble beginning the parade is the largest event in the region and the biggest chinese new year parade outside of asia. it is part of upon also part of the asian-american community parade. it is part of the fabric of the city. and asian-american in san francisco pride. this celebration is the most significant economic evenly for china town bringing a third of

the annual ref now to china town. also to the surrounding neighborhoods. with the opening the central subway we are hopeful that more people will attend the parade through the new subway stations and more individualors throughout the year. this year i'm happy to announce that -- coming saturday this weekend we have in the street fair 100 vendors and in the parade we have over 120 units 26 of them will be sold. 5 will be community and this year we have more community than ever before. finally, mayor, i am and law enforcement chief -- sheriff, thank you for very encouraging word about additional security

for the upcoming winninged parade. thank you, mayor, thank you. [applause]. >> we are not following this we are getting out of the script a bill madam mayor would you like to join us we have a special presentation and like to invite the volunteers that have participate al perez the produces the show. and commissioner al perez. thomas li. and kevin chan, please, join us. mayor. new year -- [inaudible].

[applause] make surety city is

blessed with good fortunes the know grand final welcome back sing here for us before. floora will sing 2 songs to sends us off and here she is. [applause]. hi. everyone. how is everyone doing? doing good? i like to wish everyone happy new year. i'm grateful to be here at the mayor's lounar new year

celebration. it is my honor to sing for you tonight. because it is the new year i want to share with you a chinese song called [speaking chinese] music, please. [music] [singing] clap your

hands. there we go! [music] [singing] thank you.

everyone having a good night? time to have a dance move am here are you ready to dance! yea. i would love for you all to stand if you may. and let's get this dance party started. this it is i want to dance with somebody. here we go. of [music] [singing] [music]

[singing] thank you.

everyone. happy chinese new year. thank you so much! thank you for coming i hope you have the best time on your way out pick up your own fortune cookie! happy new year, thank you, everyone!

>> i'm connie chan district one supervisor and welcome to the richmond. >> i'm an immigrant and came to san francisco china town when i

was 13 years old with my mom and brother. my first job is at the community organizer for public safety with san francisco state. and land in the city hall and became a legislative aid to sophie maxwell. went through city departments when kamala harris was our district attorney i'm proud to represent the richmondad district supervisor. [music] we have great neighborhood commercial corridors that need to be protected. the reason why we launched the neighborhood business for supporting the [inaudible] for 15 years special more. we have the legacy business

program the business around for 30 years or more and thought, you know, we gotta make sure the next generation contains for generations to come. am i'm ruth the owner of hamburger haven we came back on july 11. we were opened in 1968 at that time i believe one of the owners of mestart today went through a guy named andy in the early 70s and my father took it mid 70s. >> originally was just a burger joint. open late nights. then it changed over the years and became the breakfast staple. we specialize in breakfast, brunch come lunch now. i love this neighborhood. i grew up here. and it feels like home. i walk down the block and recognize people of people say hello. you say hello you talk and joke.

has that familiar environment that is enjoyable and i have not experienced anywhere else. there are many things i would like to see improve ams the things we might see are making sure that our tenants stay housed our small business in tact and those are the solutions that will contain to push to make sure that you know our communities can take root, stay and thrive. >> i'm proud of you know, welcoming folks to the richmond. everyone loch its we got farmer's market every sunday there. the you see really business at the noaa. ice cream at toy folks and going to chop for book like green apple. and that's when you like the deal is pizza place haall

families love. you will see a lot of great chinese shops that is readily available for everyone. >> and that is just thein are richmond there is more to do in the richmond. what is love is the theatre. >> i mean adam and with my wife jamie, own little company called cinema sf we operate the balboa theatre. the vocabularying theatre on sacramento and soon the 4 star on clement. >> balboa theatre opened in 1926 and servicing this outer richmond neighborhood since then. and close on the heels the 4 star opens since 1913. >> when you come in to a movie theatre, the rest of the world has to be left behind. but you get e mersed in the world that is film makers made for you. that is a special experience to

very much we can all think of the movies that we saw in the big screen of with everybody screaming or laughing or crying. it is a shared human experience that you get when you go in to places that are gatherings and artist presented to you. >> a shared experience is the most precious. and the popcorn. [laughter]. at the balboa especially, we stroif to have movies for people of every generation from the pop corn palace movies on the weekend mornings, for families and kids. this is for everybody of all ages. >> what is great about the richmond is it is a neighborhood of the immigrants. belongs to immigrants not ap i immigrants you will see that there are also a huge population of rush wrans and ukrainian

immigrants they stay united you am see that the support they lend to each other as a community. and cinderella bakery is another legacy business. if you go on the website it is known as a russian bakery. the first thing you see their pledge to support the ukrainian community. you will see the unity in the richmond i'm so proud of our immigrant community in the rich monthed. >> my dad immigrate friday iran the reason he stayed was because of the restaurant. has more centamential value it is the reasonable we are in this country. when he had an opportunity to take over the instruct he stayed that is why we are here part of our legacy and san francisco history and like to keep it going for years to come.

>> another moment i'm proud to be supporting the richmond and the only asian american woman elect in the office and as an immigrant that is not happen nothing 3 decades. you see it is my ability to represent especially the asian-american community. in my case the chinese speaking elders in our community that really can allow me to communicate with them directly. i'm program director of adult day centers. i have been here for 7 years i love to help the communities and help and the people with disability. i foal a connection with them. i am anim grant i love helping our community and new immigrants

and improvements. >> if you want nature, richmond is the neighborhood to go we are between ocean beach heights and golden gate park. >> i love the outer richmond. for me this is the single best neighborhood in san francisco. everybody knows each other. people have been living here forever. it is young and old. the ocean is really near by. and so there is that out doors ocean vibe to it. there are places to seat golden gate bridge it is amazing. businesses are all small mom and pop businesses. houses get passed down generation to generation. it has a small town feel but you know you are in a big city at the same time. it's got a unique flavor i don't

see in other neighborhoods j. it is about being inclusive we are inclusive and welcome the communities, anybody should feel welcome and belong here and shop local, eat local. we believe that with that support and that network it come in full circle. it is passing on kinds knows. that's when richmond is about that we are together at once. welcome to the richmond. [music] >>

for us, we wish we had our queue and we created spaces that are active. >> food and drinks. there is a lot for a lot of folks and community. for us, it started back in 1966 and it was a diner and where our ancestors gathered to connect. i think coffee and food is the very fabric of our community as well as we take care of each other. to have a pop-up in the tenderloin gives it so much meaning. >> we are always creating impactful meaning of the lives of the people, and once we create a space and focus on the

most marginalized, you really include a space for everyone. coffee is so cultural for many communities and we have coffee of maria inspired by my grandmother from mexico. i have many many memories of sharing coffee with her late at night. so we carry that into everything we do. currently we are on a journey that is going to open up the first brick and mortar in san francisco specifically in the tenderloin. we want to stay true to our ancestors in the tenderloin. so we are getting ready for that and getting ready for celebrating our anniversary. >> it has been well supported

and well talked about in our community. that's why we are pushing it so much because that's how we started. very active community members. they give back to the community. support trends and give back and give a safe space for all. >> we also want to let folks know that if they want to be in a safe space, we have a pay it forward program that allows 20% to get some funds for someone in need can come and get a cup of coffee, pastry and feel welcomed in our community. to be among our community, you are always welcome here. you don't have to buy anything or get anything, just be here and express yourself and be your authentic self and we will always take care of you.

>> who doesn't love cable cars? charging emissions and we're free which we're proud of you know, it's not much free left in the world anymore so we managed to do that through donations and through our gift shops. you got a real look and real appreciation of what early transit systems are like. this was the transit of the day from about 1875 to about 1893 or later, you know. cable car museum is free, come on in. take a day. come down. rediscover the city. you can spend as time you want and you don't have to make reservations and it's important to be free because we want them to develop a love for cable cars so they do continue to support whether they live here or other places and people come in and say, yes, i

have passed by and heard of this and never come in and they always enjoy themselves. people love cable cars and there's none left in the world so if you want to ride a cable car, you've got to come to san francisco. that what makes the city. without the cable cars, you lose part of that, you know, because people who come here and they love it and they love the history ask they can ride a cable car that has been running since 1888 or 1889. wow! that's something. can't do that with other historical museums. rarely, have i run into anybody from outside who didn't come in and didn't feel better from knowing something about the city. it's a true experience you'll remember. i hope they walk away with a greater appreciation for the history, with the mechanics with people are fascinated by the winding machine and i hope the appreciation, which is a part of our mission and these young kids will appreciate cable cars and the ones who live here and other

places, they can make sure there will always be cable cars in san francisco because once they are gone, they are gone. it's the heartbeat of san francisco that founded the cable and the slot and without the cable cars, yeah, we would lose something in san francisco. we would lose part of its heart and soul. it wouldn't be san francisco without cable cars. [bell ringing] >> my name is alan schumer. i am a fourth generation san franciscan. in december, this building will be 103 years of age. it is an incredibly rich, rich history. [♪♪♪]

>> my core responsibility as city hall historian is to keep the history of this building alive. i am also the tour program manager, and i chair the city advisory commission. i have two ways of looking at my life. i want it to be -- i wanted to be a fashion designer for the movies, and the other one, a political figure because i had some force from family members, so it was a constant battle between both. i ended up, for many years, doing the fashion, not for the

movies, but for for san franciscan his and then in turn, big changes, and now i am here. the work that i do at city hall makes my life a broader, a richer, more fulfilling than if i was doing something in the garment industry. i had the opportunity to develop relationships with my docents. it is almost like an extended family. i have formed incredible relationships with them, and also some of the people that come to take a tour. she was a dressmaker of the first order. i would go visit her, and it was a special treat. i was a tiny little girl. i would go with my wool coat on

and my special little dress because at that period in time, girls did not wear pants. the garment industry had the -- at the time that i was in it and i was a retailer, as well as the designer, was not particularly favourable to women. you will see the predominant designers, owners of huge complexes are huge stores were all male. women were sort of relegated to a lesser position, so that, you reached a point where it was a difficult to survive and survive financially. there was a woman by the name of diana. she was editor of the bazaar, and evoke, and went on and she was a miraculous individual, but she had something that was a

very unique. she classified it as a third i. will lewis brown junior, who was mayor of san francisco, and was the champion of reopening this building on january 5th of 1999. i believe he has not a third eye , but some kind of antenna attached to his head because he had the ability to go through this building almost on a daily basis during the restoration and corrects everything so that it would appear as it was when it opened in december of 1915. >> the board of supervisors approved that, i signed it into law. jeffrey heller, the city and county of san francisco oh, and and your band of architects a great thing, just a great thing. >> to impart to the history of

this building is remarkable. to see a person who comes in with a gloomy look on their face , and all of a sudden you start talking about this building, the gloomy look disappears and a smile registers across their face. with children, and i do mainly all of the children's tours, that is a totally different feeling because you are imparting knowledge that they have no idea where it came from, how it was developed, and you can start talking about how things were before we had computer screens, cell phones, lake in 1915, the mayor of san francisco used to answer the telephone and he would say, good morning, this is the mayor.

>> at times, my clothes make me feel powerful. powerful in a different sense. i am not the biggest person in the world, so therefore, i have to have something that would draw your eye to me. usually i do that through color, or just the simplicity of the look, or sometimes the complication of the look. i have had people say, do those shoes really match that outfit? retirement to me is a very strange words. i don't really ever want to retire because i would like to be able to impart the knowledge that i have, the knowledge that

i have learned and the ongoing honor of working in the people's palace. you want a long-term career, and you truly want to give something to do whatever you do, so long as you know that you are giving to someone or something you're then yourself. follow your passion and learn how to enrich the feelings along the way.today. >> (clapping.) >> i've been working in restaurants forever as a blood alcohol small business you have a lot of requests for donations if someone calls you and say we want to documents for our school or nonprofit i've been in a

position with my previous employment i had to say no all the time. >> my name is art the owner and chief at straw combinations of street food and festival food and carnival food i realize that people try to find this you don't want to wait 365 day if you make that brick-and-mortar it is really about making you feel special and feel like a kid again everything we've done to celebrate that.

>> so nonprofit monday is a program that straw runs to make sure that no matter is going on with our business giving back is treated just the is that you as paying any other bill in addition to the money we impose their cause to the greater bayview it is a great way for straw to sort of build communicated and to introduce people who might not normally get to be exposed to one nonprofit or another and i know that they do a different nonprofit every most of the year. >> people are mroent surprised the restaurant it giving back i see some people from the nonprofit why been part of nonprofit monday sort of give

back to the program as well answer. >> inform people that be regular aprons at straw they get imposed to 10 or 12 nonprofits. >> i love nonprofits great for a local restaurant to give back to community that's so wonderful i wish more restrictive places did that that is really cool. >> it is a 6 of nonprofit that is supporting adults with autism and down syndrome we i do not involved one the wonderful members reached out to straw and saw a headline about, about their nonprofit mondays and she applied for a grant back in january of 2016 and we were notified late in the spring we would be the recipient of straw if you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer thems in the month of genuine we were able to organize with straw for the

monday and at the end of the month we were the recipient of 10 percent of precedes on mondays the contribution from nonprofit monday from stray went into our post group if you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer theming fund with our arts coaching for chinese and classes and we have a really great vibrate arts program. >> we we say thank you to the customers like always but say 0 one more thing just so you know you've made a donation to x nonprofit which does why i think that is a very special thing. >> it is good to know the owner takes responsibility to know your money is going to good cause also.

>> it is really nice to have a restaurant that is very community focused they do it all month long for nonprofits not just one day all four mondays. >> we have a wall of thank you letters in the office it seems like you know we were able to gas up the 10 passenger minivan we were innovate expected to do. >> when those people working at the nonprofits their predictive and thank what straw is giving that in and of itself it making an impact with the nonprofit through the consumers that are coming here is just as important it is important for the grill cheese kitchen the more restrictive i learn about what is going on in the community more restrictive people are

doing this stuff with 4 thousand restaurant in san francisco we're doing an average of $6,000 a year in donations and multiply that by one thousand that's a lot to test, test, >> welcome to the san francisco planning for thursday february