president fong: is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, commissioner questions and comments? commissioner antonini: move to approve. commissioner sugaya: is it possible to amend this thing? i would like to have further consideration given to the design. >> in the previous motion from 2007, there is a design condition that requires project sponsor to work with staff regarding a number of design issues. it requires the project come before the commission when the changes do occur. commissioner moore: i just met with the director and staff here today. commissioner wu was present. we discussed potentially broadening the discussion about new buildings, which will be happening in this general area. there are quite a few others. there was a lot of good reception by the department to consider that. it is not setting new standards. it is basically broadening the discussions of what we were expecting of the performance of these buildings together. the emphasis being "together." we have looked at these in the past as individual buildings,

president fong: is there a motion? >> issue the continuous calendar to the date today. >> second. >> commissioners, on the motion to continue -- [roll call vote] so moved, commissioners. that motion passes unanimously and puts you under your consent calendar. on matters listed hereunder constitute a consent calendar and are considered to be routine by the planning commission and will be acted upon by a single roll-call vote of the commission. there will be no separate discussion of these items on as a member of the commission, the public, or staff so requests, in which even the matter shall be removed from the consent calendar and considered as a separate item at this or future hearing. the first item -- 2012.0041b de haro street. i have no speaker cards. commissioner miguel: i recused myself from this item. i live on the 600 block of de haro, but not far enough away that i am not under a financial obligation to do so. commissioner sugaya: i would like to hear this. >> would you like to hear it now? commissioner miguel

president fong: public comment.n a public commenany public cot for the subcommittee for the position of secretary? commissioner moore, and the comments to add? -- any comments to add? commissioner moore: i would just like to assure the rest of my fellow commissioners that the work that went into this indeed had the broadest spectrum of input, including the members of this commission, and commissioner antonini as a chair and commissioner borden and myself as other representatives, a complementary group of people offered different concerns and historic preservation. i think those were the most honest and candid discussions i have had a long time. i am very comfortable supporting the acceptance of this particular document to the fullest extent it meets all the concerns and requirements. i would ask the rest of the commission supports the document. let me add this was done under the watchful eye of secretary avery herself who is obviously supporting the full spectrum of qualifications needed for the job and was anchored

president fong: aye. commissioner sugaya: aye. >> that motion is approved, 6-1. >> it seems the five criteria necessary for granting of variants have not been met and i am disinclined to grant this variance.

president fong: aye. commissioner sugaya: aye. >> that motion is approved, 6-1. >> it seems the five criteria necessary for granting of variants have not been met and i am disinclined to grant this variance. no decision on the part of the zoning administrator is final until a decision letter is issued. that brings a 10-day appeal window. if the owner would like a copy of the letter, please give back to the commission secretary. -- please give that to the commission secretary. president fong: commissioners, the final item of this calendar, public comment. at this time, members of the public may address the commission on items of interest to the public that are on the subject matter of the commission except agenda items. i have no speaker cards. president fong: is there any general public comment? ok, seeing none, the meeting is adjourned. supervisor elsbernd: good morning. welcome to the city operations and neighborhood services committee meeting. my name and sean elsbernd, chair of the committee. to my le

president fong: thank you. >> in addition, i have a letter -- president fong: you can submit the letter if you want. >> on behalf a different party i have been asked. she was here for two hours and had to leave for an engagement. she has asked that i read her letter and put it in the record. may i do so? president fong: you have used your three minutes. >> am i allowed her three minutes? president fong: if you want to submit it, it's great. submit it right up here. thank you. >> good evening, my name is mike corbett and i have lived within three blocks of 1601 larkin for the past six years. i lived at the corner of polk and sacramento which including the retail is a seven-floor building. i know live by pacific and high which is a four-story building. neither building looks out of place or has had an adverse impact on the surrounding buildings or area. i think this site would be no different. having looked at the plans over the past -- having seen the developments in the plans over the past few years, i like what i see. i'm fully onboard. i think it's going to have a great impact on the

president fong: commissioner sugaya? commissioner sugaya: i think commissioner borden was going in the same direction i was. by discussing the building, we're jumping the gun a little bit. we also need to adopt findings for ceqa, among which are overriding considerations. it seems to me the way the override considerations are drafted, it is as commissioner borden said. the arguments presented to us are that this meets all of the city policies, but, of course, every product like this meets city policies. we have nothing before us in the override the that says the developer is going beyond and giving us some kind of community benefits that justify the demolition of historic resource. let me give you some examples. under policy 2.1, the overriding considerations, use of rapid transit and other transportation improvements in the city and region as the catalyst for desirable development and coordinate new facilities with other private development. the argument is due to the abundant commercial services in

president fong: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am here to thank you for something you did on student housing, when you adopt the motion in june. you included deleting the word "similar," in changing the word "adjacent" to " adjoining." anne-marie rogers wrote a beautiful part of that description. this week, it went to land use. they accepted the change of adjacent to adjoining. however, they did not delete the word "similar." i went to the board of supervisors during public comment, and ask for them to please take up that word. there are other complications from that phrase, but if the word "similar response -- "similar" is taken out, that would be wonderful. i have written and of date and request to the aids of the supervisors. one called me this morning, she would look into it. i do not know what the process is with you all. i thought i would give you the update and request that i am sending. again, i thank you for taking one person's suggestions and putting it into your motion on student housing. thank you very much. presiden

commissioner fong: thank you. >> i would like to remind the public that this is public comment regarding certifying the eir. your time is limited to two minutes. >> i am a resident bishop for the california and nevada conference of the united methodist church. our conference serves the northern two-thirds of the state of california and the northern half of the state of nevada. i come here asking the commission to certify the environmental impact report and eventually approved a conditional use application. i come as someone who cares and knows about this church. i am a former resident of the city of san francisco and have worked in the city over a number of years. in the mid-'80s, i was the district superintendent that supervised this church and the city of san francisco. i have continued to serve in this city in many ways. i am the current member of the board for glide. this is a way -- it allows the church a dignified and to a long ministry. the legacy of that ministry to be continued in new ways within the city

president fong: any further comments? commissioner sugaya: i am going to vote against the motion because i am trying to hold the line of pdr and other uses. >> we have a motion to approve with conditions. on that motion -- [roll call vote] so moved, commissioners. we are under commissioners' questions and matters. item four. commissioner antonini: thank you. an article in today's business section talk about the increase in housing prices in some cities in the united states, and one of them was san francisco, which never had a huge fall in prices, but did have some areas that were challenged. there was conjecture in the article as to why this happened, and one thing that was mentioned was cities where a large number of upper income households with better incomes during the recovery. it mentioned that to under 11,400 professional service sector jobs were reported recently in san francisco, and that is an increase of 12,400 from last year. to give you a perspective on why this is importanct, downtown areas of lack of jobs to

president fong: commissioner wu? vice-president wu: i strongly agree with commissioner sugaya about overriding considerations. it means giving something back that mitigates the significant and unavoidable impact. he gave a number of suggestions as to what this could be. i don't see any of those in this current document. i also want to echo the comments of other commissioners, that to go above 40 feet means info being, proving you have something that is necessary and desirable. there is no instance here that has been proven. it is just market rate housing. i also will not be supporting this project. president fong: commissioner antonini? commissioner antonini: as i have stated before, there is nothing wrong with market rate housing and there is a benefit to the neighborhood. this is a hearing where you have to explain how things happen in san francisco and why we have these issues. that said, i would like to bring forward a motion with, what i'm hearing, from the other commissioners, things they're asking for. i will

. >> president fong: i will call a couple of names. [reading names] >> i work at slim's on 11th street and i am part of the task force that developed the western soma plan. i would like to speak to one aspect of that plan as it impacts 11th street. i joined the task force, -- as i joined the task force, we were in a conflict with some residential neighbors on 11th street and i brought up that we should not allow more residential building on 11th street. the way it is that is not possible. in shortt if you took a liberal democrat from san francisco, you can -- they can share a space with a religious republican from texas, but why would you want to do that? you know going in you will have problems and if we can avoid that on 11th street, i think we should and now would be the time. thank you. >> mr. president, commissioners. i am an attorney in san francisco, i specialized in entertainment venues. 50% of every large entertainment venue that has built -- been built in the last five years i have had something to do with. i am concerned abo

president fong: is there any public comment? i have two cards here. >> i do not oppose this and i cannot support it either. i would suggest when you have a conditional use and there are issues you need to put them in the conditions rather than just having the person assure you this is what i intend to do. i'm going to revert to the other restaurant recently, a lovely little restaurant. he wanted to put in a window. a time limit was put as a condition on the window. whenever you have a conditional use, you have conditions to address any of the concerns

president fong: thank you. joyce lewis. we have to keep the door clear. i think most of you guys have kind of spoken already. kathleen courtney, frank clamath, michael finnick, i think you may have spoke already, willie adams. >> i'm joyce lewis. first of all, i would like to say that i have lived in the neighborhood for over 40-plus years and even as a child, myself and my siblings were sent to that church for sunday school. so i do have a long history with the church itself. i also wanted to note that the neighbors and the neighborhood association had tried to work with the developer and the respond -- sponsor for many years as we are anxious to have this abandoned building dealt with. it's a aye sore and the homeless and all of that other stuff that has been going on. but 20 years ago, it was really a beautiful church as one person had noted how it was so like a piece of art and so that it was actually an asset to the neighborhood. it brought space to the community and it had open space and the air and light in this densely populated area. also i want

president fong: thank you. >> my name is stephanie huff. i am the current director of the snowy valley -- noe valley kangaroo site. it is important to open new centers, especially with a lack of jobs in the education field. this is another opportunity for people to find employment. i also have a letter from another parent of our sun set location. to whom it may concern, this letter is in support of alpha kids academy. we feel safe and secure in the neighborhood, and it would make us feel at ease. we feel other children in the neighborhood would benefit. our eldest son attends the preschool every morning. i love the fact that he enjoys going to school. his vocabulary has doubled since he first started. he knows his abcs. at home, we speak chinese, and we love that the school offers mandarin and spanish in the afternoons. our child started as a to-year- old who was not potty trained, and kangaroo has helped us by setting up a chart. we all this knowledge in self discovery to the quality of education. we do not believe we could have found a be

commissioner fong: additional public comment? >> i am the council for the california and nevada at annual conference of the united methodist church. the city of san francisco has successfully defended the planning commission's decisions of june 24, 2010, in court. that is absolutely incorrect. in february, the judge reaffirmed his prior decisions and allowed the developer and the churches lawsuits to continue. those questions are now in front of the court of appeal. the judge was very clear that he believed the church had been treated unfairly and the full fit -- a full hearing was unfair. there has been descriptions that we have not tried outreach. we have tried outreach. the church matched with middle pollek. when this project came up and a resolution came up, we reached out. i did not realize the same people we were calling were the same people that mr. mack and attorney subpoenaed. we did not subpoenaed them. we asked the city attorney's office to call them. there is no horrible conspiracy. we're not trying to destroy the bui

president fong: any additional public comment? >> my family -- owns a bar located next door to select auto body. and so we have that -- have had that since 2003. in that time, the concerns raised by the neighbors at the new location, we did the odor and sounds and all that have been so minimal we have not noticed and the hours in which they operate are until 6:00 p.m. and we never had any issues and i have been a positive contribution to the -- they have been a positive contribution to the neighborhood. >> i will make my comments brief. i know them and our kids go to this same school. he told me what they were trying to do here. i explained the new procedure he will have to go through -- i want to make a comment here. the planning department [unintelligible] to a guy who came down and did not have that much experience. with regard to the latest comments, i was there and the outreach was done there. he did a very good job especially with the auto body people and the issues of the chemicals that are used there. the good news here is

commissioner fong: let me call a couple of more names. if you are ready -- [inaudible] >> good evening. i am one of the very affected neighbors directly facing the church. the church is 1601 larkin and i am 1600 larkin. for two years, since the last eir was not approved, we did not hear anything because we were subpoenaed. around that time, given a 2010, -- june of 2010, we got served. no communication, no outreach from the developer. we did not know what was going on. about a month ago, my neighbor got a call. i got a call, did you get it? so and so, three of the members got the call and they were on vacation. is that three minutes? >> you have 30 seconds. >> there is no notification come at the very last minute. the neighborhood group got together -- there is notification, at the very last minute. the meeting was held at old first church. i thought it was canceled. finally saw somebody go in the side door. i echo everything that was said before. please do not certify anything tonight. commissioner fong: thank you. >> i would like to rem

commissioner fong: thank you. [reading names]

president fong: yes. right there. >> i want to show a photo, i don't know how to get this thing to work. president fong: it will turn on. >> once you start speaking, it will come up. i just want to say that this church has been on the corner for a century and there are a lot of neighbors who don't want to get involved, they don't speak english like this neighbor who lives in the building next to the parking lot, not the first one, but the second one. every morning, it looks like his daughter because he is disabled and handicapped. and he sits in front of the church every morning for his little walk and exercise. every morning he is sitting there. it doesn't matter if there are homeless people there or if the church is -- the paint is peeling, it's in bad condition. but it's still like a resting place. it's quiet. there is not a lot of activity. it's like a resting place. there is a lot of open air and regardless of the condition of the church. i just want to say a lot of people don't know what is going on

commissioner fong: thank you. commissioners, i have been asked if we could take a five-minute break so staff can do little bit more research. i would ask that we take a quick break, if that is all right. thank you. >> welcome back to the planning commission regular meeting for june 28. commissioner fong: thank you to everyone for their patience. i want to go to commissioner comments. commissioner antonini: a couple of things were raised in testimony. the first thing that was raised that i think was answered very well by staff is why the commission voted not to certify two years ago -- it was a 3-4 vote and i was one of the three who voted to certify, as i recall. i think it was answered very clearly by staff that if there is no significant new impacts, no significant new information and the project has no greater impact, therefore, there is no reason for recirculation, in my opinion. i will ask staff, though, about -- there was a question brought up by some of the speakers about the notice. perhaps we could have s

president fong: is there any public comment? i have two cards here. >> i do not oppose this and i cannot support it either. i would suggest when you have a conditional use and there are issues you need to put them in the conditions rather than just having the person assure you this is what i intend to do. i'm going to revert to the other restaurant recently, a lovely little restaurant. he wanted to put in a window. a time limit was put as a condition on the window. whenever you have a conditional use, you have conditions to address any of the concerns that might exist and in this case, i think one would be the parking issue. i've been living in the neighborhood of for 40 years. people have a hard time finding any where to park and it sounds like there will be a lot of deliveries and maybe even more than one vehicle -- i think you should put a condition -- i do find that restaurants that have deliveries -- i see people leaving with this stuff going off somewhere -- maybe they go to a garage and that would be one. it seems there i

president fong: commissioner moore. commissioner moore: would you please clarify that this commission has the right to appoint based on the history of this commission, but it is historic preservation that might have to consider hiring at a different job classification. >> i do not want to -- because i am not an expert in human resources, and certainly not for the city, but i would say that my classification was derived at because of the combination of functions i have done over the years. it would be unlikely even if you separate it out that you would have someone at the same classification. so if you separate out, i would imagine that each commission would have a different classification for their commission secretary. it seems to me, and this is just a personal opinion, that it would be appropriate for a combined function to share the classification, or to have the classification that i currently have, or somlar to it. i cannot speak for dhr, simply do not have the expertise to do so. commissioner moore: i would like

president fong: thank you. public comment, i have one card. >> martha mason, i am a pharmacist and i work for the comanche and try to improve the lives of the less fortunate. i have a letter in your that the neighbors have signed and some of them have written letters to the commissioners. we, the owners, residents of the block demarcated don't want this automotive repair shop to come here. this block has a lot of residents and families. we're aware of the -- what they pollution and chemicals can do to young children. we are aware of the extreme dangers this can cause to the unborn. there are enough [unintelligible] in the mission due to the fact that poor people with no power live here. we can out expect [unintelligible] to help us. to change decisions made for us without our consent by people with power with their own agenda. why don't they shops go to industrial park -- based shops go to industrial park? instead become to neighborhoods where people are struggling. this older -- auto people make life more diff