commissioner borden: thank you. >> i am co-owner of little city gardens. and as a contributor to the value driven economy and excited by the potential of farms in my city and i urge you to pass this amendment with the amendments set forth. and since much of the farmable rand is located in there and our farm, a commercial operation, and has fit into the residential neighborhood. my partner and i work on site 40 hours a week using mostly hand tools and occasionally a weed whacker or rote tiller for larger tasks. we hold -- this is the before and after photo for folks. and we hold two volunteer days hosting 1 to 10 and received zero complaints about noise and we have been told we are very good neighborhoods. and it illustrates that it is a relatively quiet activity and creating less noise than a landscaper and less traffic than an occasional household dinner party. i have experienced the fulfilling relationships that form around a farm in a residential neighborhood. we are visited by neighbors daily and some who pass by to say hello and check on the progress o

the hanc recycling center has been the fiscal agent and interim funder of the garden city environment, which is that seventh and long bid, which is in supervisor elsbernd's district in the initial and said, something we are proud of and have advocated for. at no charge to the city to providing both native plants and carports. what is astonishing and what i think is " to the point, which we will hear from people on all sides of this issue is that at the end of 2010, the new -- the newsom administration boasted considerably leading up to the administration and thereafter that homelessness in golden gate park had been reduced by over 75%, and yet one of the central themes that i think is -- has helped propel ongoing tensions and some simmering for some years now is that hanc recycling center proves to be a magnet for the level of the stress in the east end of golden gate park, as the images for increase homelessness. that does not reconciled, considering the statistics coming out of the administration, but nonetheless, those are issues that i think we are obligated to really help us at a

. >> christchurch is known as the garden city. a mixture of the modern ringed with green. now the garden city looks like it has been bombed, looted and pull var rised into rub bish. -- and pulvarized to rub bish. >> not only did it collapse, it was followed by a fire. and the workers believe there my be 120 people under all of that rubble. there are urban search and rescue teams working the site, but they are not calling it a rescue operation. they are calling it recovery. >> reporter: the christchurch cathedral is the symbol of the city. it is fronted by a plaza that would usually be filled with hundreds of tourists and locals. many of them scale the steps of the steeple for a view of the city. the steeple and the bells that used to crawl out every hour lapsed. a dozen people are presumed dead. urban search and rescue teams from australia and japan and the u.s. search with the latest equipment through the rubble. but they hear nothing. in choice church, new sze land, noel cisneros. >>> there was a somber procession to remember two classmates. students held candles as they

now the garden city looks like it's been fawned, looted and pulverized into rubbish.hey have the largest loss of life. not only did this building collapse but it was followed by fire and rescue workers believe there might be 120 people all beneath that rubble. there are search and rescue teams working the site but they're not calling it a rescue operation, they're calling it recovery. >> the christ church cathedral is fronted by a plaza that would usually be filled with hundreds of tourists and locals. many scale the steps of the steeple for a view of the city. the steeple and the bells that used to call out every hour collapsed. at least a dozen people are presumed dead. rescue teams from australia, japan, the u.s. search with the latest equipment through the rubble. they hear nothing. in christ church, new zealand, abc 7 news. >> this morning a 70-year-old man is recovering from injuries he suffered in a wrong-way crash on interstate 880 in oakland. the chp says the elderly man was traveling westbound on interstate 80 last night when he made a u-turn on the bridge t

this map shows the locations of 35 community gardens on all city properties under rec and park's management. as you can see, the bulk of the gardens are located within the city with a few along the southern border and a few along the northwest part of the city. the western district of the city, including the sunset, and the richmond districts are position in community gardens, managed by iraq and park. -- managed by rec and park. in 2010, the department conducted an inventory of its gardens. found 976 garden plots. although we are writing almost 1000 bottom plotz, there are more than 700 people on the wait list, and the wait can be up to seven years. as you can see from an earlier inventory done in 2008, the demand for community gardens has increased significantly. in 2008, it was 442 on the list. since that time, that list has grown by over 60%. on the slide, there is a list of gardens with in the vicinity of the sites in golden gate park. as you can see, the number of people on those waitlists mimic the overall trend and greater demand for community garden plots. community gardens are sim

it was conceived as a model after the garden city idea and it is identified as green space and park and considered as part of the san francisco design plan may, 1971. plan to strengthen city pattern to visually prominent landscaping. the design plan states under policies of city patterns in policy four where open spaces of any kind can be made more prominent by the addition of new or large scale landscaping such additions may be made to make the open spaces more visible in nearby neighborhoods. to respect existing landscaping and avoid displacing or obscuring it. a strong effort should be made to replace it with new or equal purportion. the deir is evaluating of the landscape setting and the impact on the city wide green belt. housing continues. the project sponsor suggests "to protect the existing residence from displacement to a phasing plan designed to ensure all existing residents will be able to remain." and that this new apartment should be granted at the same rent control rate and subject to existing protections against rent nkedsings in the san francisco rent control ordinance.

in our suburban neighborhood a garden in the backyard and used to try to keep the rabbits out as kids and it was an exciting experience. one of my favorite things in the city is to walk through the garden at fort mason close to where i live and the small example of the urban gardening and a friend who had a plot by candlestick point and i know what a difference the urban farms make an the important aspect of the city and i saw something on link tv if you grew in new york city on the top of the high-rise buildings, you could provide enough food production for the city of new york and mr. sanchez, a few questions about the legislation and i wanted to ask you how this would apply to roof tops if people wanted to garden on rooftops. >> and roof top gardening is included in the neighborhood agriculture use in the present iteration of the ordinance. commissioner borden: that is great. and can you talk about a few things. the fencing is not mandatory in the legislation, is that correct? >> that is correct. there is no requirement to youth fencing and we would like users to comply with the ornamental fencing regulations. commissioner borden: what about green scree

little city gardens is a farm in mission terrace neighborhood. our goal is to be successful and provide a model for urban farming. we cannot only support ourselves as farmers but ignite important conversation busy sustainable food systems, active in the community and contribute to small businesses like grocery stores, restaurants and farmers market. urban farming is a vital piece to recreating a healthy food system. we believe that urban farming businesses are well suited to all zoning districts. it can beautify and add value to all neighborhoods. by eliminating blight, inviting neighbors to enjoy time out together. in order to foster urban farm businesses the city must implement new zoning code that does not make it expensive to begin. little city gardens strongly recommends that the business commission endorse the legislation. we recommend that the commission support three amendments put forward by the san francisco urban agriculture alliance. for a business like ours decorative fencing would be an extra expense. to impose expensive fencing reg

a year ago the property owner of the cotter street loss that is now the little city garden and the principles or little city garden came to the neighborhood association and asked if we would work with them towards the goal and unanimous answer was that we would accept them. and it was well worth our

the nursery supplies plans to numerous gardens and habitat restoration projects throughout the city, including green schoolyards, mission greenbelt, butterfly quarter, and many reckon park projects. we have planted over an acre of native plant gardens adjacent to the recycling center and keysar , and we are helping -- hoping to do more. soil is made from compost on site. monthly workshops along with tours for school groups complement the nursery. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. >> we need more negotiations. [applause] supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker please. come on up. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a 47-year resident of the haight ashbury along with my wife, who will speak next. i have difficulty imagining how i could compress everything i wanted to say within this time, but i discovered that through the various questions of the witnesses, that has been done for me, and i cannot see -- can now see the possibility of an outcome adverse to the recycling center given these. i thank you for your thoroughness, and turning the light not only on the issues, but also an equally ser

what you're doing it let me explain to you what is actually happening this is what i told our gardener city that they tell us what you can if you own gas you shouldn't own the transport system all right gasol and its european partners. germans and dutch they have built a pipe under the sea to tell us to let somebody else own it in the how can we do that we produced gas in russia together and then we transported through all our joint property how can we let third party and where will the third party get gas they tell us all right. essentially enough would you sell gas at the pointy edge of the european border and then we'll have a third party going with the goons us guess but even these drills marty buys this gas that he will have to add on margin of what that man made he has to profit from this business and from that was so immediate with prices with pro after that little gas it will go through on the blow pressure pipes with the transport of the drugs european countries you know this is what you transport good business and within minutes and doesn't pay a lot the easiest eight to ten perce

my name is sam [unintelligible] and i am a gardener and landscaper here in the city, using native plants almost exclusively for ornamental work. i also do edible vegetable gardens for customers as well. i rely on hanc as a source of affordable and ecologically produced native plants. betsy, i brought a picture but i do not know if it will be very visible. is it possible to put this -- here we go. this is a garden is 500 yards from the nursery. i have tried to circle and highlight all of the plants. those are all produced by hanc. i have specific criticisms on the proposal to put in a community garden. the photograph was shown of sunlight in the area. it was a reference to the amount of light. as someone who has been there frequently, there is not actually that much light available at the site. to make it viable for vegetable gardening a lot of trees would likely need to be cut along the south side, which would be a visual blight on the neighborhood. i also had concerns about the native plant nursery being kept there and who would staff report. it would likely cut out the heart of the nat

. >>> a sidewalk flower garden has become the subject of a petition in san francisco's castro neighborhood. it started when the city issued a notice to the resident on sanchez street, asking him to get a permit for his potted plants or remove them. now next to it is a petition soliciting support for the garden. >>> the city is fair about things, i think it's probably somebody is complaining, you know, raining on the parade. >> the city says that's exactly what happened. it has an obligation to address complaints. the city says it encourages residents to beautify their properties, but sometimes requires a permit. >>> it's really something when you watch the newscast and you see the snow and whatnot back east and into the midwest and contrast it to what we're getting, spectacular. the views again today. they are incredible. >> yeah, amazing. california and of course it's the bay area. the best climate in the world. it's going to change, because we are going to get to rain next week. we'll get to it. right now the winds have died down at the golden gate bridge. we have a wind at 9 miles an hour out of the northeast gu

i think what is critical that met the park is offering is to convert this site to a garden. the city has taken 30 years under the open space fund to acquire 100 acres of park land. 2/3 of an acre is a lot. most of the little parks we have acquired are very small like this, so 2/3 is very important. times have changed, and one of the things that change is a huge interest in urban agriculture. this site is very important to the future and to many citizens in our city. i hope you will consider that. i think the opportunity to grow food is not only a nice recreation. it is going to be a vital part of food security in our city, and this central location and some of the materials that will be available will be very useful around the city. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker please. >> supervisors, good afternoon. i'm speaking initially for myself. i personally feel that this hearing is mostly a hollow toothless dog and pony show on topics where the board of supervisors has no jurisdiction. it is a waste of time and resources for all involved when the board should be fo

i think what is critical that met the park is offering is to convert this site to a garden. the city has taken 30 years under the open space fund to acquire 100 acres of park land. 2/3 of an acre is a lot. most of the little parks we have acquired are very small like this, so 2/3 is very important. times have changed, and one of the things that change is a huge interest in urban agriculture. this site is very important to the future and to many citizens in our city. i hope you will consider that. i think the opportunity to grow food is not only a nice recreation. it is going to be a vital part of food security in our

. >> i do think the fence -- i know of several of these urban gardens in the city. and i just think it would be a burden with that fencing requirement. i feel lower permitting fees -- we are trying to encourage these small business owners to get out there and sell their produce. i like what is happening here. it made my neighborhood a lot nicer, so. >> commissioner. >> yes. i would like to know why is there a need for fencing and why is it a need for wooden fencing or a specific kind? is it for safety reasons? >> there is no fencing requirement at all. should ideas choose to use fencing they believe it should be in the line to maintain consistency. >> there is no fencing requirement. we are not requiring fencing. if someone decides to use fencing we would like it for consistency reasons that it follows the planning code. part of the city wide greenland scaping ordinance. >> if they want to put up fencing it has to meet the requirement? >> yes. >> thank you. >> i would like to make a recommendation, commissioners, that we ask for a line to be added in the legislation