and i think of chinatown as the jewel of san francisco. and with the recession, i don't want to see business is in san francisco, chinatown close one by one. and i don't want to see 605 kearny street boarded up with an ugly black cover in chinatown. and i support this project, thank you. >> thank you. is there any other public comment? ok, if there is no other public comment, go ahead. >> i hope it is possible to touch on everything that needs to be in these three minutes. i have elected to try and keep this all in a positive level, and i ask the commissioners' understanding of that in narrowly focusing on the matter of the expired conditional use. i am not simply nitpicking a minor thing. while there are a lot of people here who are friends and families of the project sponsor, i don't believe they are all aware of all the history. i don't wish to take this to a- level -- to a negative level. all cherished chinatown. there are different manners and ways to accomplish that. over here is a little bit of my archive on this project. there are

and i think of chinatown as the jewel of san francisco. and with the recession, i don't want to see business is in san francisco, chinatown close one by one. and i don't want to see 605 kearny street

our third station of course will be the chinatown station. the inset picture you see is the property we are acquiring to build the station. that hogan-vest property is in that location right here. this is where the station entrance been llt. >> that is at stockton and what? >> it is at stockton between clay and jackson. i believe hogan-vest may be at jackson, but i will have to verify that. >> ok. >> it is washington. >> ok. >> the final design activities, as i said earlier, we have one construction contract underway, and the design teams are providing construction support and submital and request for information review. those two pictures of of that 1250 utilities contract. one is of piling at 4th street and the other looks like an interceptor vault for communications. that contract is about 50% complete, and we expect to complete that contract in april of next year. the other activities underway by the designers as priorities are three main contracts. the first being the contract for the raineder of the utilities, major ilets up near the ma

the chinatown station is going to be mined completely. we'll bore through and then set up and mine inside. >> so we could probably come back to you with specific time lines in terms of how much disruption at each location, if any. for example, minimal at chinatown, but definitely at union square. we have a very healthy community relations group as part of this project. there are a lot of elements that are working with the union square merchants and dealing with those issues. but we can come back with more of the details on that because those are questions that we had to answer a couple of years ago when we went through this process. but i don't recall the exact -- >> one would be to minimize it during the christmas season, obviously a busy season for them. as long as you are doing the outreach with the community, that is excellent. the one thing i note on this map which is an excitement to me, you have in here a possible future line which appears to be running along eerie. am i reading the map correctly? >> which page is that on? >> possi

oakland chinatown covers a 16 block radius. the police department cutbacks forced it to pull several officers away from these streets. >> there are resources that are not at the same level they were a couple of weeks ago. we're trying to work the best we can to still provide the same service. >> reporter: the incidents did not happen here, but two recent murders involving asian americans in the city of oakland have caused some people to steer clear of this community. they are researching how expensive it would be for the business to staff chinatown with minimal security. the council will form a business improvement district to handle funds. police in the meantime are working with the council. >> they still have their beat officers. we're still in talks with them, trying to come up with better solutions how we can provide better service to that area. >> reporter: in a play to generate more business, the oakland chinatown chamber of commerce is pushing the annual street fest, expected to be held the last weekend in august. >> to

not like in chinatown.o, you know, a double-edged sword. >> joining me now is supervisor ross mcreasonny. they're talking about cost problems in chinatown. why do you feel it needs to be expanded to ban plastic bags in san francisco. >> we've been getting a free ride since the invention of plastic bags. it's a convenience run amok and gone wrong. no one's counting for the impact to our environment, the land phil. it takes a common plastic back over 500 years to degrade in the environment. right now we're literally in a hot debate about exporting our landfill business from south san francisco to other parts of california because we can't keep up with the landfill capacity demand. it degrades our city streets. it's time we all pitch in. we should not wait for the federal government or state government to answer the call on our energy crisis or climate change crisis and overabundance and reliance on foss till fuel. it's time we do something about our overusage of these materials and the plastic bag is a perfec

people will be more than half the or be willing to come shot in chinatown. >> chinatown security force start heading the pavement as early as next month. the chamber says the whole of this figure in all the costs, and how much money's business with japan. >> were about to hire private people. >> side from private patrols, of the chamber is also urging, companies to install cameras there to the businesses have cameras. and the goals is that every corner of china cat town will have cameras. >> a lot of businesses in chinatown have their cameras pointing to the street. ideas to deter crime. great tool to catch criminals. inside his office building a camera led police to a man who apparently billed been up and robbed and elderly woman in the bathroom. and they're hoping that this type of attack will not happen again. >> in oakland dollar and kron4 news. it's summer but we >> it summer but we can't tell from or whether, but a warm up. temperatures similar to date tomorrows would sought today. but research is the warm-up on sunday. less of. temperatures will be up almost 90 degrees and the i

>> the conditional use authorizes the height in the chinatown community district. there is conditional use for the height, variance for the parking, and also full lot project coverage if. that is because it is a unique lot, only 24 feet by 29 feet. it has special design considerations. i wish i had more details on why it took two years to get the variants issued -- variance issued. it was issued two years after. vice president goh: and why do you think that they included a three-year expiration for the conditional use? what is the reason? >> the planning code talks about expiration of conditional use within a reasonable amount of time. that is what the code says. that is the interpretation that a reasonable amount of time is three years. that has been our policy, it is reasonable, three years, and that has been adopted and the approval for the variance and conditional use is quantified as a reasonable amount of time. in looking at this and the project in the history and how we work with them to come to resolution, we think a reasonable amount of time is the time th

they'r talking about cost problems in chinatown.hy do you feel it needs to be expanded to ban plast bags in san francisco. >> we've been getting a free ride since the invention of plastic bags. it's a convenience run amok and gone wrong. no o's counting for the impact to our environment, the land phil. it takes a common plastic back over 500 years to degrade in the environment. right now we're literally in a hot debate about exporting our landfill business from south san francisco to other parts of california because we can keep up with the landfill cacity demand. it degrades our city street it's time we all pitch in. we should not wait for the federal government or state government to answer the call on our energy crisis or climate change crisis and overabundance and relianc on foss till fuel. it's time we do somhing about our overusage of these materials and the plaic bag is a perfect thing to make that happen. >> all right, thanks very much. another angle on this comes from the california grocer's association. the ceo says the gr

this is in chinatown, there is a sod that needed to be restored and protected. this is says mr.sanchez noted. there was the original brick in 1908 that needed to be protected. with respect to the stairway issue that mr. sanchez brought up, that was an issue that was discussed and actually there was different opinions. they waited until there was a new code on that issue in 2007 before the issue of the variance for the permit holder to abide by i would like to think the board of appeals for your time tonight, and i would also like to thank the planning department and dbi for the great job they have done providing this project. the environmental review with the permit nearly four years to complete. it was from the hard work of city officials that we were able to proceed with the project at 605 kearny street. i want to thank the people who signed the petition. iwe have over 1300 signatures ad all. we have signatures from across the country. from canada, taiwan, indonesia, china, and hong kong. we have signatures of our neighbors and members of the local chinatown association organi

forcing any type of further delay would leave a gutted property and blight on kearny street in chinatown. the planning department has overseen a vigorous environmental analysis, and the 605 kearny street development team has fully worked with city officials during this project. extraordinary efforts have been made to follow the guidelines of the city planning department and dbi. the time it took to obtain the building permits, to get everything in place was well worth the effort, and we are requesting the board allow this project to move forward without delay. thank you. >> thank you. commissioners, the matter is before you. commissioner fung: i am sure everybody in the audience recognizes that i could speak for hours if we were to discuss the nature of ethnic enclaves, the nature of chinatown. many of us have been in that very discussion, such as myself, since the early 1970's. the issue before us is relatively narrow, but it has wide ranging impact. i think i would share with my fellow commissioners that is not necessarily the formal process, but during my tour at planning, we used to

i met him at a benefit at one of the benefits in chinatown. it is part of that ongoing really rich relationship building that happens in our arts community. >> i got a chance to hear a little bit of your performance, and i am a big fan of john coltrane, and you play a phenomenal sax. can you tell me a little about your musical influences. >> a particular piece about john coltrane was he reached out to asia and his global vision. as an asian american growing up and coming up in this country seeking some recognition, that was a very meaningful, making that kind of contribution. i really owe a debt to john coltrane for recognizing my culture and uplifting it as part of the music as well. >> i know that your family history is really rich and complex in terms of illustrating how the chinese has occurred over the last two centuries. it could talk about that? >> it began in the 1870's, when my great grandfather, instead of coming with everybody else to the united states to build a railroad, he went off the coast of madagascar are. -- madagascar are.

and people will be more than happy to come and shop in chinatown. >> a chinatown enforcement could start the streets. and to figure out the cost of a much each would cost for each vendor. >> we are seeing that this is a very good potential. >> outside a private patrol, they're urging companies with surveillance cameras. at least one-third of businesses already have cameras. business leaders say that the goal and a few months is that every single corner on chinatown of cameras. >> several businesses, are pointing at the streets and the idea is to deter people from committing crimes. and also, that a man that was suspected of beating up an old woman in a bathroom. >> they're hoping that this will not happen again with more cameras. in cameras. da lin kron 4 news. >> and an oakland. >> and dan quayle could perhaps regret a previous vocational choice [laughter] >> and a live the cut side of the bridge. and what that will look like outside we will be right back. our real national pastime? saving money. and like baseball people love their stats. i started bringing my lunch to work -- 50 bucks

after losing people in chinatown are looking at cooling and law-enforcement on their own. >> it's bad enough that some of tax year. >> i was struck and the headstart in the middle bart. >> the police responded to his nine on one call a day later. after the police department laid off 80 police officers this is left to chinatown merchants to look at hiring security. they're looking at hiring 34 security guards. to walk the streets. >> there are people who are watching for us, and we will be safe. people will be happy and safe to come shopping in chinatown. >> they could start hitting the pavement as early as next month. they're looking at how much money each business would ship been. for >> if the price is not that high we will hire them. >> aside from private patrols the chamber is also telling people to install surveillance cameras. elise the third half of them. the goal is within a couple of months every corner in chinatown will have cameras. >> a lot of business owners have their cameras pointing at the street. to deter crimes. the cameras are great tools to help police catch the cr

>> we went fo a jog in chinatown. we played tourist and went jogging through chinatown. >> thank you. >>> coming up on eyewitness news at 10:00 on the cw and 11:00 on cbs 5, they are young attractive twin brothers police say they used their sweet talking skills to scam people out of money. where one was arrested in the bay area. that is tonight at 10:00 and 11:00. >>> brett favre makes a guaranty. the giants will continue to have agonizing losses in august. sorry. we'll tell you the real guarantee coming up in sports. ,,,, [ cell phone rings ] [ john ] i love these new cell phones. [ wife ] he just got a new phone and he can't stop using it. boom! profile pic. [ cell phone rings ] do you guys needs a moment? since john is always on his phone, we thought he'd like using wells fargo mobile banking. just paid the electric bill. wow. he's able to pay his bills, check his balance. wow. [ banker ] even transfer money between accounts. i can tell you what's playing, if you like. i can tell you, too. see? oh. [ male announcer

many have kramz signed of the stores, but now, chinatown chamber of commerce is asking business owners to install outside, facing the street to capture phone shall crimes. -- potential crimes. >> cameras will be pointinging on the streets. they've been helping us deter crimes, and also, it actually helps us to capture people who are committing crimes, and being prosecuted. so it's working well for chinatown. >> oakland police department says they welcome security cameras installed by owners if they feel would it make them and their customers safer. >> and coming up, morning after pill, claimsing to work up to five day autos and you know not even old enough to drive alone but three youngers were able to fly alone with no questions asked to to dollywood. >> we're getting ready to go on a rollercoaster ride with temperatures. i'm sandhya patel. i'll show you warmest, coolest day in the accu-weather forecast coming up. >> and thank you. and former first lady carter comes to town to help erase stigma people have >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld >>> the fda approve a

. >>> merchants in oakland's chinatown are installing surveillance cameras and some will hire privateurity guards. that's because of the layoffs of 80 police officers last month. many store owners already have security cameras in their stores. but now the chinatown chamber of commerce is asking them to install them inside to capture potential criminals. >> the camera will be .ing on the -- the camera will be pointing on the streets. it has been helping us to deter the crime. and also it help us to capture the people who are committing crime and being prosecuted. it is working well for chinatown. >> the oakland police department says they welcome the security camerases being installed by the store ownerses if they feel it will make them and their customers safer. >>> a watsonville man has reached the first ever product liability settlement with a taser maker. steven butler suffered brain damage after being tasered by a watsonville cop when he refused to get off a bus. he was drunk and off his psychiatric medication at the time, we were told. he was awarded $2.8 million. but under the s