>> yes. >> the front building or the rear building? >> the rear building. >> ok. any other questions? ok. public comment? no public comment. rebuttal? rebuttal? to >> did you have anything elso add? to go commissioners? >> this seems pretty clear, and i would like to make a motion to uphold the department action and to give it to the appellate a reasonable time to get the permits in that whenever we think is 60 or 90 days to get the permits and do the work, whenever that is. >> i think 60 days would be sufficient to do this work. the appellant if he thinks he can get a permit to do the work in 60 days. take of 90 days. let's do 90 days. that is my motion. >> is that to get permits and complete the work? take a yes. >> i am ok with that. i will second of that. any public comment on the motion? to g>> the top of the rear builg is presently reached by stairs outside. there are stairs inside, but they have been enclosed by a former owner. the only means to reach the top story is true that outside stairs, which are becoming dilapidated. they were recently inspected. >>

that is a nature of the buildings. and if we have free-standing buildings, i would not be as much concern about it, bah because we are standing right next to each other, it is a big concern and it is not as much addressing your design but is a concern that you hear me speak about a lot on this commission. because i am really concerned about it. >> okay. there is still over 5 feet between the building and the next parallel wall. so it wouldn't be flush, just to make sure i am clear. and i know that we do have two lightwells in our own home and every window on the left side of the house faces this building and the building wall is significantly higher. we still do have substantial amount of light and i am not sure if you have copies of the discretionary review of our lightwells but plants that are thriving in there and is definitely a warm area -- commissioner moore: thank you. >> commissioner moore, i want to verify you are making reference that you are not including the 6 foot portion that includes the spiral stairwell

unreinforced masonry building. safe building or not such a safe building? not safe at all. you have deep set windows, arched windows, metal plate, then we can work. weak morter, what is that? brick on top of brick on top of brick. there's an ample of the header row, you see how they are turned perpendicular to each other, you can see the header rows in this one, see the brick going the other way about every 5 or 7 rows. deep set windows. here's a close up of one of those plates. a parapet wall is a clue that this building is an unreinforced building. which direction can that building go? right back out. this building, brick or wood? what are some of the clues? okay, what are the windows? they are deep set. there's a clue right there. deep set. deep set window, unreinforced masonry. can you see the metal plates? there is a metal plate right over there in the corner, there's another one over there. hard to see. also has a parapet on it. deep set windows. even though it has stucco on it, don't be fooled that that's wood up above. it's all brick because it's deep set windows. h

we know it is possible to build new buildings compatible with existing historic buildings and districts, and is important to continue with this. the next principle is respect the recent rezoning processes, that have been examined in the eastern neighborhood and western sonoma plan. this proposal should be treated as a baseline for further consideration. the easter neighborhood plant explicit the deferred zoning and other plants. the next concept under creating complete communities is to support the first land uses. it permits a diversity of land uses. we have already talked about offices and housing. we want to serve different ages, economic segments, different times of day, different lifestyles, a diverse neighborhood. we will like retail, though not necessarily stand alone big box. we know that live entertainment is important. we need to find appropriate locations. we need to make sure that industrial still has a home here. finally, creating a complete communities, supporting a high quality of life. first, supporting open space. the next, support and enhance cultural and public uses,

and build a 50 story building. and you thought you were just going to dig out the sand, the film, and haul it to another site. now you come to find out the material you were going to move at $8 per ton is now going to cost anywhere from $40 to $78 per ton. the has a significant impact -- and has a significant impact on the cost of your project. if you are out on the sunset and vine a single-family home, just have the geotechnical engineer come out and say it is on earth quicksand, the building will probably settle three-quarters of an inch. have the structural engineer look at the frame and say, you have a serious soft story here. lawrence, expected that. you might want to put in some clips and fasteners and sheer walls to stiffen it out. as you move east, you have not only the soft issues, the structural issues, but you have the hazardous-waste. if you recall as a kid, every intersection had for gas stations? now you cannot find a gas station anywhere? those four gas stations had leaky tanks. now we also have to l

>> this is not a landmark building. it is not a historic district. goonot every his story building requires review by the historic preservation commission. goo>> we will move into public comment. can i see a show of hands of how many people are interested in speaking on this item? the first speaker can step forward. whoever would like to speak first. >> i saw three hands. i see a lot of people. sometimes i make a decision about how much time public speakers can have, and all of a sudden, 25 people stand up, so raise your hands. three minutes. >> i am here to add my voice to my friend and colleague, who has been one of the few residents who has actually defended the character and history and architecture and cultural values of the buildings and the history of chinatown. when he lived on a commercial street, it was the first interesting encounter i had with him, and when he started working on his building in which he lived in as a renter, i was very inspired by what he was doing. the bigger issue is we are often dependent on public agencies to recogniz

puc building is pretty much done. we're doing inspections on that come up the planned review is completed and pretty much built. we will be coming back to you in january with the full budget, and we will show and a continued increase in revenue. in terms of expenditures the first cylinder and the graph is personnel salaries and fringes. we have spent 27% of the budget, and in terms of how much the fiscal year has passed is 33%. we continue to have room for us to be able to hire more positions, and we will put some requisitions in, primarily for clerks at all levels, building inspectors, and an individual who would be able to do some of the updating of the policies and procedures that we have for the department, because that seems to be a concern on many people's part. so right now and when you look at the total expenditures year- over-year, we're showing expenditures are 6.4% year-over- year increase, and that is to come in large part, to the fact that we have 24 more filled position than we had at this time last year

if you approve this, what is the reason you cannot build another building like this on the corner of broadway? the next one on the corner of vallejo? suddenly, we're going to have the waterfront be nothing but high rise buildings. many of us would have opposed the golden gateway construction. at least it was a few blocks away. this is right on the embarcadero. you can talk all about how nice it will be. but what is going to happen if this project is approved? speaking only for myself, not speaking for fog, i understand the arguments as to why the tennis club feels it detracts. clearly that tennis club could be there to deal with the problem they say is on the embarcadero without granting -- if only for economic reasons. there is no other reason for allowing a building to be built that close on the embarcadero. i respectfully request that you disapprove it. thank you. >> veronica sanchez. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am speaking for two maritime unions. the captains on the ferry boats in san francisco bay and the deck hands. both of our unions have been very supportive of this

in fact, the housing code for exterior buildings exempt one and 2 family buildings. the building department checks for alteration or repair. it's up to the homeowner to maintain the property. we don't go back and inspect it unless we have gotten a complaint or we see a problem. we will stop and tell them. >> how is the width of the stairs, the fire escape? >> okay. we've got a question. how do we determine the width with of the fire escape stairs >> i think it's 18 inches >> ladders shall not be let's than 18 inches >> if someone was applying for a permit. we would like at the occupant load and how many people are going to have to use this, and the building code has a table for calculating. i think we would look at home people would using it. >> every fire escape balcony 18 inches. >> i wanted to talk to the about the stand pipe. >> tell us what we got here. >> this is a dry stamp pipe. typically, the fire engine would stop here and hook up here. so on any floor, whichever floor, we can have water. like i say, this is even better than going to the building. our guy d

the toast -- choices were strangers or visitors in the building, drug activity in the building, my neighbors, physical characteristics of the building, landlord or manager or other. so, many people felt unsafe because of strangers in the building. as well as drug activity. others felt not safe because of their neighbors or physical characteristics of the building. i wanted to show -- >> that is what they are goin in s -- doing in sro's. supervisor mar: please continue. >> this is an example of a door hinge, it is detached from the frame. i have seen this many times when the door is not connected and cannot properly lock which will contribute to a lack of safety in buildings. people feel people can just walk in if the doors are not locked.

there were building two a day -- they were building two with a. the 1930's were the big boom times for the sunset. >> this is a recession. >> these are the homes in west would park. -- in westwood park. >> how did this perform? the composite the assembly -- come's assembly -- composite assembly. >> they would stucco it. they would put chicken wire on it. >> when i inspect buildings that are being remodeled, i see that the chicken wire mesh is completely gone. >> it is galvanized. the saltwater was enough to rest it out. >> it people think stucco is waterproof -- it is not waterproof. it sucks the water in. you have to water protect it and paint it. >> the above the low medium that was going on -- the bungalow frenzy that was going on, people were building houses at a remarkable rate in the 1930's. nothing down. you can pay us later. we have to sell this. this is shared in school and the ocean view that it -- this is shariton school and the ocean view dedication. these early neighborhoods, this is 1910, they would have to do a lot of things themsel

, is it really the same building? i couldn't find any demolition plans in the file. so if you look at exhibit four which i've just put out here, this sort of gives you an idea of the demolition that's going on, although i did make a mistake. this entire floor is being removed through here as well. and that's theirs being remove. so if you read the notes in conjunction with the drawings, the entire foundation for the building is being removed. the removal of every single interior wall or partition on the second floor, every single one. the removal of both existing staircase and the columns that support them. the removal of the entire rear facade, every exterior and interior partition or wall, the removal of all fixture, finishes, etc. this is what's happening to small, affordable rent-controlled units. after this is completed this will no longer be a rent-controlled unit. the general plans demands this commission do something about. this is your bailey wink. the priority policies sets this as the highest appropriate po

. >> professor jeremy suri, what is nation-building? >> nation-building is the effort to actually get involved in another society and help that society improve itself as you improve yourself as well. >> who does the nation-building? >> well, a variety of actors but one of the points i make in my book is that part of nation-building is actually being a part of a process that involves bringing americans to another society, not dictating to another society but working with people in another society. so it's americans and citizens of another society working together. >> liberty's surest guardian is your most recent book and i want to read just a portion and get your thoughts on this. nothing could be more american than to pursue global peace through the spread of american-style institutions. nothing could be more american than to expect ready support of this process from a mix of local populations, international allies and, of course, the united states government. >> yes. one of the things that is so quintessential american is that people c

these people own the building. that owned the building for years. there is a retired police officer who lives there. he is in a rent control space and he is a family friend. we want to get this thing fixed. if you have any questions, we would be happy to answer it. it is a pretty straightforward case of someone needing to prepare something. they did the underpinning with very complex drawings. you cannot yank this out without being concerned about stability. there is no reference from any engineer who has any experience in underpinning. we do not want to destabilize this house. thank you. vice president garcia: did you want to speak before? >> i just wanted to say thank- you. i really nervous. this has been going on -- i am body of frazier -- claudia frazier. i inherited this from my dad when he passed away. i am grateful that my tenant has been patient, because we have tried to work with them and things just have not been very truthful. we never gotten to the point where we have to hire an attorney. i just want my tenant happy, i want the place saf

>> yes. >> the front building or the rear building? >> the rear building. >> ok. any other questions? ok. public comment? no public comment. rebuttal? rebuttal? to >> did you have anything elso add? to go commissioners? >> this seems pretty clear, and i would like to make a motion to uphold the department action and to give it to the appellate

building. the money dried up. for seven years, there has been a tug of $20 million available from bridge toll money to fund the next phase of that development. how is that related to this project? why is washington street a linchpin for that funding? it is now designated to the water emergency transportation authority. it is because the project will replace the over the water parking that must be removed to get the ferry terminal expansion permitted. we have participated in the process from the beginning, attending many community meetings. we are pleased by the improvement that the team has made to the project. i am a resident of san francisco. i live in the outer mission where we barely have any open space at all. what i have seen on the screen today is unbelievable. you are welcome in my neighborhood any time to do a project of this caliber. we would make you the grand marshal of our fourth of july parade in my neighborhood. they care very much. we look forward to continuing to see this proje

they could never build a building which was a maximum box with no setbacks or light wells. the idea that they are only getting 77% of what they are entitled to is another false dichotomy. with that, i will turn over my time to one of the residence. -- residents. >> i am janet meyers. i live at 3149 gough street. i want to respond to the argument about young families. i am no yonder -- no longer young, but i have been in that unit and raised my daughter there. i have a 12-year-old daughter. we will live there as long as we can be comfortable. i do not know how much space a family needs. in terms of creating additional space for this growing family, unless they planned to occupy both of those condominiums, they will still be living in about the same amount of square footage they will be living in now. it is not a significant increase to their living space. they will only be living in one unit. at least that is what they are uncertain, that they will continue to live there. -- are asserting, that they will continue to live there. thank you. president olague: project sponsor, y

the builder i subsequently hired to repair the building only in that portion of the building change the wallboard and the electrical junction, which is for the entire building. the subject kitchen and bathroom were unchanged. the first exhibit i have provided ouare 3r reports indicating there are separate buildings, separate reports, and they were built with permits. i will momentarily show permits. the subject house was built in 1952 according to the report. the exhibit i am presenting is evidence of concern about the violation august 30, 2000 -- 2006. i come out with the help of my age -- i, with the help of my age antnt sent a message to the inspector. a companccompanying it were the documents. a second violation was issued a few days prior to august 30. exhibit c is a request for permit, which describes our rumpus room, and the building 12 feet high, and the date of that document is may 1952. i am not an expert. the building is on the slope, and when measured from the front, it is approximately 24 feet high. it measured at the rear, only 12 feet high. i did not know how the measurin

into condominiums and approved by the building department in 1981-1982. the details are in an exhibit 1 in the package that i submitted last week. at that time, offered to provide mr. weisberg with any historical details he might require a regarding historical permissions and permits, but he wrote to me on july 27 last year saying, "we do not have any need for past permits," so that is where that one went. so i have to say that i think any claim that mr. weisberg was somehow mislaid on that subject is clearly inaccurate. so moving forward, in july of this year, one year after the contract was signed, mr. weisberg produced the design and construction drawings for the new deck, and it retains exactly the same footprint as the existing 30-year-old orson deck, but it rests on pedestals rather than joint to distribute the weight more effectively and also to allow a free flow of water. details are in the exhibit two of the package. at our board of directors meeting this past july, mr. stern approached that we program -- we approve mr. weisberg is designed, and

feet and build another one at 8,000 and build another one at 20,000, and that indeed has been the case. so people don't object about the economics and we stayed on this path of passing through the cash costs that we incur as the basis for renting out space. the last two weeks i was in china. the cities are competing against each other for our factory in china so the back drop there is we have the first oral anemia drug, which addresses an unmet medical need throughout the world, where people cannot get therapy, it's too expressive, they can't get to hospitals, things like that. in china, there's about 20 million people that are desperately anemic by the u.s. standard. they're more anemic than the worst cases in the u.s. they're medically urgent cases. so we're the first to do this. what we'll require is you build a factory here to make the medicine, but we'll allow you to move forward on that path. so in the course of events, i met many chinese government officials all over china. in the past two weeks, i got five different comments from different people about this program here. govern

there is a large building on 5th directly behind us which is known as the sweepstakes building. some of you may know of it was sweepstakes home in san francisco that is quite large. i'm going to go drop the overhead and go back to the camera, please. so i would suggest that we have a good plan as proposed with section 311. we are complying with the residential design guidelines. what we propose to do with this side setback at this point, i think, honors the interest of these properties as much as possible. it's clear that mr. hesler's property is going to be affected by anything that happens here. our existing building is projecting to this point. so this addition that we're doing here is not going to have a significant additional impact there. i'm ready to answer any questions or show you more drawings that you might have. thank you very much. >> thank you. speakers in support of the project sponsor? seeing none -- public comments is closed. not public comment but now we go to the d.r. requester who has two minutes of rebutal time. not 10, two minutes. everyone leapt on me. >>

>> it is not required by the building code. >> we are building in some flexibility. we are pretty much taking your advice. >> commissioners, the motion is on the floor for approval with staff recommendation with a requirement that they continue to work the staff on design. you have changed your mind about the stairs. they are required to be interior stairs. >> unless they come up with a better solution. on that motion, commissioner antonini. commissioner antonini: aye. commissioner fong: aye. commissioner moore: aye. commissioner sugaya: aye. vice-president miguel: aye. president olague: aye. >> we cannot close the public hearing and take it under advisement and continue to work with staff on the final design and the rear yard issues and the connections between floors. >> commissioners, we are going back to items 11 a and b. 11a is an informational items fort department code amendments related to student housing. 11b is actually your initiation of the same legislation. >> good evening. i am from the planning staff. the item before you is informational and does not re

for a building like this, it seems to me at least a potential, it is a historic building. even if it is not a designated landmark, but it deserves a higher level of scrutiny, and if it does not rise to a level of being taken to the -- as an aside, maybe it should. and we heard commissioner fung talking about where certificates are needed for even changing paint color. there is one city that needs to be under glass, and it was also voted in a magazine as the number one destination, that beat out san francisco, so that is my side. i agree with some of what has been said about the shifting of fees. i am not so sure we can do that, but i wonder if the extra notice federer as requested -- that was requested, i think it was 90 days, and then i am wondering about the other fees. when an appeal is taken at least to us, and what do we charge for an appeal? this could be a planning appeal it is several hundred dollars. it is expensive. i do not know if the commissioners would consider some modification to our own fees. with the director, the annual report coming later on in the even

you make government buildings and commercial buildings more productive. companies can be spending that money on other things. the second thing you can do is that the industries associated with clean energy themselves are major economic drivers. energy is a $1 trillion industry, and nationwide, it is about four or four -- or five times that big. investments like the ones we have seen in the recovery act make me real confident that america is going to be at the head of the world clean energy revolution, not only leaving in technology but also leading in business growth and job creation, and what has happened right here in san francisco is an example. it was imaginative and intelligent and the way it designed and used to the energy, but it was also very creative in the way it managed the project and was able to draw the best technical support from utilities and also create a contract in an environment that allowed you to hire people locally, so i am here from the department to congratulate you. thanks to the mayor and to san francisco. [applause] >> thank yo

one existing building is a five- story car building. one is a building that holds an illegal dwelling unit. the legal use of the lot is six units. one of the six units is an illegal location on the lot. both buildings are proposed on either end. those are four-story, a two-unit buildings. the rear yard requirements will also be heard by the zoning administrator. a few items that i would like to a point out and bring to your attention. on page two of the executive summary, the number of legal bedrooms should be seven, not nine as listed on page two. staff would like to include three additional standard conditions. to the final motion, if you improve it -- and approved it today, it will have a conditional use authorizations. those three conditions include a clause regarding the conditional use authorization. revocation of the conditional use authorization if the conditions of use are violated. lastly, i would like to mention, as written into the conditions of approval, the department is requesting a direct interior connection on the groun

we decided to put together some plans to build the roof deck to minimally impact the side of the building and any impact on our neighbors so we don't think that the -- to satisfy the code the parapet wall we have to build is not going to block any light or air to our neighborhood. and we just don't feel that there is much more to say and i think the impact on the neighborhood will be minimal. commissioner miguel: thank you. are there any other speakers on this one? if not -- oh, yes. certainly. >> thank you very much. i am also speaking in favor of the proposed plan. secretary avery: could you state your name please? >> i am karen ar ron and we are looking at a plan that raises the height of the building a small amount and only in the back of the building and as stated it will be set back 39 feet from the street and we have reviewed the san francisco design residential design guidelines and we believe that our plan is in accordance with those. this is the only viable option for the location of our deck and we don't believe that it poses any extraordinary or exceptional circumstances to li

the world is nation-building? >> we should acknowledge that. we were part of a multinational operation that unseated a long term dictator newmar khadafy had been in power more decades and we have been working closely along with our allies with the traditional council made up of the various forces so we are quite of part of this process to in say we are not in gage we have to do the military active patients or trust ourselves if nation-building feels in libya our military operation will have been a failure as well because if the new arises and we have wasted our time and assets. if we can contribute to a participatory peaceful society the will be to our benefit as well as the people in the region how can we not do nation-building? >> besides our own willingness to nation-building to the other aspects needed or dwelling population and international allies. when have the three of those besides germany and japan would if the three of those things coalesce well? >> bickel lesson number of the cases i point out so in other words and after de symbol w

if apple or google wants to build a product they go build it. whereas if facebook wants to make it so that... we want to rethink the y people will be to music or watch movies. what do we do? we build a platfor on top of which people can connect and we enable all these different companies, dozens of companies, to plug in big companies, small companies, things that don't even exist. it's a difrent apprch than what these other companies have. >> rose: but the end result is you want to provide a means for people to look at movies, listen to music. >> but they carry other people's services. >> we don't want to provide the means. our one thing that is the basis of our partnership approach, we build the social technology, they provide the music. >> exactly. >> we don't want people to use facebook to watch movies or read newspaper articles. >> rose: what to do what? >> we want to provide the social technology. we want to listen to music on the iphone or through apple or through spotify or anything they want. we want them to watch movies anywhere. we jus

to the building. you can look at the conditions of other buildings and it is atrocious, it is frightening. i will give credit to tmdc. i am more into bashing them. physically they take immensely different care of their buildings. all the issues i saw, not an issue. something is broken, they fix it. there is another shamrao of issues that go on. i come from a different background. the safety issues are immense. we have a desk clerk salal people to enter without signing in, that fosters people wander around. drug use is a man's. i have no position next -- if people want to make bad choices. when we have people who wander the hallways and knock on doors, it is a different issue. i got a huge room, i got a private bathroom, i look at some of these pictures and i realize how good i have got it in one respect. on the other hand there is a huge amount of issues that go on to deal with the mental and emotional abuse. i do not have my intimates nearly the time to go into that with you. i think the physical iss

buildings. demolition of the vacant building at 955 folsom streets, relocation of five station one through that site and construction of a new fire station on the front 2/3 of the lot and up to 30 units of housing on the southern portion. a copy of the draft eir certification motion is before you. it was published on july 11, 2011. a public hearing was held on august 11, 2011. the 45-day public comment closed on august 25, 2011. a common response was published and distributed. after publication, the department received two letters including the w hotel, a property owner on natoma street and a property owner on shipley street. the comments do not raise issues that have not already been addressed in the responses document. responses to the oral testimony today from the representative of the w hotel -- i would like to clarify that the product description is considered stable based upon the department's position appeared to 320-foot height that was referenced by the commager is actually a reference

in general, bonuses for building student housing would be helpful. and finally, the eastern neighborhood situation is probably not appropriate for us to deal with right at this time, but i hear what is being said it might be something that they may want to -- i will be making an amendment in the future. commissioner borden: i am supportive of this legislation, it goes and the right direction. i am somewhat receptive to what commissioner antonini mentioned, but i would want to put some parameters around it. there are probably instances that might make sense to -- i can think of a building where i used to live in the marina that for a long time was one person living in the whole building. i can think of other buildings that are somewhat empty and could potentially be the type of place where you might think of the for student housing. i am not sure why this large building on the corner is vacant, but i know that we have an issue with student housing in the city. a lot of students can't afford to the regular rental rates of apartments in the city. it is

it obviously, as and eir should, considers the maximum build out. i do not truly expect that maximum buildup ever to be achieved. i think it is going to be a lot less. but then i am no economic guru. in any case, it is when to totally change the downtown skyline. i think the focus simulations give us a good idea of that. my concern is not the powers at their top and the separation. i am still, as a voice before, concerned with what happens down on the ground. they are commented upon in the document. the downtown streetscape plan of 1995, the trend space streetscape plan of 2006 -- transbay streetscape plan of 2006, and the plan of 2010. that is where i think everything is important. that is where the public is: to thrive. that is where the district is going to thrive. the manner of the bill to form at the sidewalk is much more important to me the new tower separation in order to achieve 50 feet in height. those things at the top are easy to work with. the personal impact on the ground level is extremely difficult to deal with. because it comes in th

we also have the chief building inspector. we are going to go through this by having frank give us a brief overview of the geology of sentences go. then we're going to look at a series of slides around the city. and see how the geology of the city affects the environment. their special problems and issues that arise we will try to answer questions as we go, particularly related to how the environment release to the underlying geology of the city. those are questions that rarely get asked. this is a chance for you to join us and ask your questions as well. welcome, frank. i see that you brought a big aerial photograph with overly geology. >> it is a big google map with overly geology. the different colors depict the different formations or deposits beneath san francisco. san francisco is a young environment. it is a relatively young environment. the basement rock beneath san francisco is known as the franciscan complex or formation. it is throughout the city, most notably twin peaks, edge hill, telegraph hill. every once in awh