i do understand your concern regarding making sure that before bmr units -- that the bmr units are maintained for their integrity, and i do think more people can benefit from them if those one-time waivers are considered. the restrictions right now for their requirements right now are really -- it is a very slender margin of people who can actually qualify. my income has to be low enough to qualify, but i need to have enough assets in order to make the down payment and in order to qualify for a loan. with that slender margin, there are bmr units that are sitting on the house. i did not think for a dozen is a small handful. it is 40 units. right now, my purchase of a unit or someone else's purchase of some asset capital will make the difference in our lives so we can continue to afford to live in san francisco, raise our children here, continue to contribute to the economy here by continuing to be the hard working citizens that we are. people who work in social services are really, as you know, the backbone of the middle class in san francisco. if we cannot afford to live here, you lose some p

to respond to these challenges and to assist bmr owners, we suggest a one-time waiver of some of our qualifying rules, and we will work closely with the planning commission to develop strategy for allowing these waivers, and secondly, we plan to work with -- we are asking from -- for loans from need to work with the planning department to explore a situation in which the unit is priced at or above local market rate prices. supervisor maxwell: is that because the market has dropped? is that what you are saying? or initially it should not have been at market or above market initially, right? because they are below market the units? >> it is a combo for some of the units. what happened is income levels are very high, but we also used a pricing level set forth by the planning commission in 2002 that was variable. that index rate that we were required to use set some of the price is very high in the beginning and in addition to that, they are facing this competition from the units. for example, we have about 64 units that were purchased between 2004 and 2006, and 14 of these units were pu

we have bmrs, but they have eirs. is that the same? something is going on in san francisco. you cannot put single people, families, and disabled people out of housing and build what you want. i cried when i heard that transit terminal would be 2017. we need equality for all. president chiu: any other members of the public wish to speak? why don't we go to planning for a presentation? >> thank you. john ram with the planning department. i will let michael do most of this presentation. i just wanted to make a couple of comments and introductions. this is an appeal of the eir, not the project. but we are here to talk about today is the actual adequacy of the eir, and not the project itself, which has not been appealed. we looked at land-use compatibility, traffic, shadows. this project is on a site which has been zoned for this height and density for 25 years as part of the downtown plan. this site was always intended for a mix of office and residential use of this type and density. you will hear michael talk about this more. existing on the site to date is a parking lot that a

units that offer economic security to us, and they are sitting empty. 48, to be exact. 15 out of the 65 bmr units on the market in 2010 have been sold. seven are sitting empty. we urge you to support single working mothers. by allowing a one-time waiver, you will match the moh waiver to the reality of our lives. you will allow us to get out from under the cycle of renting, invest in our children's futures, use land wisely, and stimulate the economy. it is a win-win for san francisco. thank you very much for your time and consideration. chairperson maxwell: think you very much. public comment is closed. colleagues, without objections? supervisor chiu: do i'll understand the need to make some amendments? chairperson maxwell: we did not do the new amendments. on the new amendments, without objection. as amended, without objection. supervisor chiu: i want to thank the planning department and staff for the board you have done on this. it has been a long road. think you for working with us and others to make sure we maximize affordable housing for san franciscans. chairperson maxwell: thank you a