as i began to say, sfmoma one of the great museums of modern art in this country, and it is no exaggeration to say the expansionl take the cultural life of this city to a nother level, and make this one of the great museums in the world. i want to emphasize the civic role the museum has continued to play for the city. as i think we all know, when we moved to the current location in 1995, it enhanced the development of the soma neighborhood. expansion will further enhance the neighborhood. the trans a terminal will open soon, and sf-bound commuters will be thrust into the city west in the direction of sfmoma. the museum entrances will be an opportunity for the streets to become lively pedestrian zones. i want to mention the public service we provide to the san francisco audience. we have approximately 650,000 visitors annually. fully 100,000 are free, through various free days and family free days. there will be a dramatic increase in our visitation. we will be able to serve the educational function of the museum even better, going forward. third, the economic impact of our expansion will be enormous. the constr

the staff considers its sufficient to understand the physical attributes of the proposed museum expansione appellate claims that the expense would -- the effect of the east-facing windows of the hotel would be considerable. the question is whether this would adversely affect cnet resources. the eir analyzes the affect on views from a public vantage points, such as your balbuena -- yerba buena gardens. it would not significantly alter public views. the eir discloses the potential for the project to be visible from nearby buildings such as the w hotel. the eir did not find this significant. the client claims that we did not analyze transportation events, such as access to the porte-cochere. the eir describes existing circulation to the mid-block area, and illustrates in graphics and text how to access would occur from natomas street under project conditions. specifically, the project details but 14.5 ft. tall vehicular access tunnel and a driveway on howard street, similar to existing conditions. during the roughly two year construction, access to the mid- block area would be temporarily el

challenge the certification of the eir that was adopted by the planning commission to support the expansion of the museum of modern art. although my client support this project in general, they have concerns about the environmental review that was performed, and the process for the product approval. that is the subject of our appeal. we have submitted letters and appeared at all the hearings on the project. you have all the information in front of you in your packets. we are asking today that you send the eir back to planning for revisions to fill in gaps in its original analysis. we have attempted to work with members from the moma to resolve some of the issues raised by this appeal, but we have not men successful so far in reaching an agreement. to the extent that the supervisors are not ready to send the eir back to planning, we would ask for more time to try to reach an agreement with the representatives of the moma on these issues so we can avoid a further dispute. our concerns relate primarily to three physical impact areas. the first is the visual or aesthetic impact. the eir is deficient, in that

i think the expansion of the museum and relocation of the fire department will be of great benefit to our city and the south of market neighborhood. but the question before us is whether the eir in front of us is adequate, accurate, and complete. having listened to both of the arguments and having read the planning department response to the appellant, i believe that we have met our obligation under the eir. while the specific design and mitigation was not included, i believe that what was included is in alignment with what will be coming forward before us. some of the negations were outlined in the eir and will be later codified in the development coming before us. i would like to move forward with item 33, tabling item 34 and 35. president chiu: the supervisor has made a motion, seconded by supervisor campos. further discussion? take a roll-call vote. supervisor weiner: aye. supervisor avalos: aye. supervisor campos: aye. president chiu: aye. supervisor chu: aye. supervisor cohen: -- supervisor cohen is absent. supervisor elsbernd: aye. supervisor farrell: aye. supervisor kim: aye.

we said we would open a new section of the high line, break ground on the new whitney museum and complete the expansion of the museum of the moving image and because of the leadership of the commanders amanda burden and kate ligon and kathryn oliver, we did. [applause] we said we'd open the 9/11 memorial in time for the tenth anniversary of the attacks and thanks to a great american who served this country in world war ii and has served our country and our city ever since, john whitehead, we did. [applause] thanks to all those leaders and so many other members of the outstanding work force in all of our partners in the private sector we accomplish big things in 2011. but don't worry. we have even bigger plans for 2012. beginning -- [applause] you becerra. the beginning of our agenda for the year ahead is actually written right here in the history of this school. gouveneur morris hi was created of the school reform law of the team 96. 116 years ago when the reform law was being debated. there were protests, rallies, controversies; sound familiar? welcome here we are today because the work of school refo

we said we would open a new section of the high line, break ground on the new whitney museum and complete the expansionf the moving image and because of the leadership of the commanders amanda burden and kate ligon and kathryn oliver, we did. [applause] we said we'd open the 9/11 memorial in time for the tenth anniversary of the attacks and thanks to a great american who served this country in world war ii and has served our country and our city ever since, john whitehead, we did. [applause] thanks to all those leaders and so many other members of the outstanding work force in all of our partners in the private sector we accomplish big things in 2011. but don't worry. we have even bigger plans for 2012. beginning -- [applause] you becerra. the beginning of our agenda for the year ahead is actually written right here in the history of this school. gouveneur morris hi was created of the school reform law of the team 96. 116 years ago when the reform law was being debated. there were protests, rallies, controversies; sound familiar? welcome here we are today because the work of school reform -- as difficu