expansion of the park and heron's head park. it is continuing further south. many or all the projects from the 2008 bond will either be complete or substantially along at the time of the 2012 bond question in november. many of the projects are substantially complete with the exception of crane cove park. the 2012 bond designating $35 million for waterfront parks is configured with geographic equity similar to the 2008 bond with the exception of heron's head. it would include major spending on the two largest new public spaces to be developed along the port of san francisco waterfront. it is in the entire 150-year history. these projects are the northeast wharf plaza in front of the cruise terminal at the base of telegraph hill. it is under construction now. the steel started going up a week ago. the northeast wharf plaza would be a public space that would allow city residents to fill part of the cruise experience as cruise ships pulled directly into the plaza or adjacent to it, i should say. to enjoy that experience. the other o

the one great parks. we all want a sense of community and being able to be with other people in our community. and that is the same everywhere. so this is incredibly exciting. what is also exciting is that in this era of all the mess in washington and sacramento and parts of the state where rec centers and libraries and state parks are closing down, we are actually rebuilding our rec centers and our libraries. we are refurbishing our parks. we are expanded the hours. we're making it better and better for our citizens, and that speaks the world of san francisco's commitment to our park system, our anger centers, and to our libraries. it makes it a very exciting time to be in san francisco. congratulations to everyone. [applause] >> thank you, scott. recreation and park commission president mark buell has been a true leader on key part issues that affect our parks across the city. his leadership, his vision, his steadiness, his stability has helped revitalize the recreation and park department. ladies and g

they call it as injury and parking -- as entry and parking deck. i do not think there is -- i do not think there is any way to access the property from the neighbors. >> at the time, that was an improved -- approved condition. >> at the time. >> i need to try that at my house. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. from our perspective, this case, we issued a notice of violation for work without a permit. we valued at $500 at the time. the honor filed a permit, paid the appropriate -- the owner filed a permit, paid the appropriate investigation fees. at this point, based on our administrative code, from our perspective, the issuance of the permit is an ministerial act. when all pertinent departments approvals are in compliance, we shall issue the permit. in this case, it was disapproved by planning. normally, for this type of alteration, we would look at the proper exiting and ensure that it meant the building code. providing the land use limitations and the zoning restrictions are complied with as well. in our case, we would wait for a dete

in national parks and state parks systems. organizer for 18 years, he only place i feel a home from where i grew up is if i walked the trail out bear and in the national recreation area. it is also being encroached a long time from the veterans building. a love of the restaurants built have a brighter lights. any eir, you need to uphold this and send it back. i mean uphold the appeal and send the eir back. it does not recognize the west side of the city, and natural areas are being more and more in coach, -- encroached is a flawed eir. we have had a long string of environmental impact reports that were clearly flawed. even allies at times voted for those eir's. the last two were the last ones. those of you that depend on the support of progressives need to think about this. we have reached our limit on this body to accepting reports that are clearly wrong. please factor them into your equation. president chiu: if there are any other members of the public that would wish to speak on behalf of the appellant, light up at this tim

san francisco law their parks.have seen this over and over again in san francisco where we have been the beneficiary of bonds supported by voters in 2000 and 2008 and the renewal of the open space bond. there is clear commitment to ensuring our final network of open spaces which were deemed to be than that -- best network of open spaces in the country and continues to stay that way. we have over 20 hundred 20 parks and 400 build structures. even with the investments we received, more is required. we need to continue to make investments in the system, much of which was built in the 1950's to make sure that it will continue to function for another 50 or 100 years. we have these needs of over $1 billion worth of capital needs in the recreational park system alone. it is because of those critical capital needs and those of other departments that we have the city's tenure capital plan. this was the first bond in that 10-year capital plan which attempts to address a critical infrastructure needs by sequencing bonds to do

jamie, this month in parks? ♪ >> we are here celebrating kids and sports, not just basketball, but in particular, tennis. i am a terrible tennis player. we really want to thank all of you for your generosity, making sure that we have a place for the next generation of our leaders to play. we look forward to playing more on these parks. ♪ >> we are at crocker amazon park, which had been renovated beautifully. our kids are here every saturday. about 300 kids from local public schools. we see our kids here all the time. we are going to need more fields like this. it is really what makes the weekend special for our kids. >> the family that will be here will know the reason why we named this important institution in our community after someone who sacrificed her life and was a hero for all of us. so with that, if i may present to the family, on behalf of the whole city, the board, police department, community organization, i would like to proclaim today, in recognition of this event, the chinese red center day in san

this is a parking space for a cyclist. tend thousand bicycles can be stored there. -- 10,000 bicycles can be stored there. you can build a shelter for about 30,000 bicycles. now, what can employees do? many employees are working on the bicycle programs. this picture is a picture of a bicycle shelter at the company where my wife works. it is quite luxurious. that it is a lawyer's firm, 500 lawyers work there, and most of them, by bicycle. -- and most of them come by bicycle. many companies give their employees their bicycle with their name on that. it is a form of advertisement. many companies, the company where i work for, the chamber of commerce, they have bicycle and scooter sharing for the people to come by public transport. they can take a bicycle or a scooter to go to their place. many companies are stimulating their employees who are coming by bicycle because it is much cheaper than coming by car. it is also easier for these companies to start their business on a more "a" location instead of de "b" location. -- inste

it is our parking space. the document planning sign says it is our parking space. if it is our parking space, and they have signed it, we want to get it up. all this comes down to the original document that the developer lied on. that is its. you cannot park a car there. once that lie falls apart, the requirement to provide a falls apart and we can remove this dangerous condition. she decided she wanted a curb cuts. she did the work so we want to refer it back to neighborhood parking and remove this hazardous -- reverted back to neighborhood parking and remove this hazardous condition. >> i read somewhere in there that settlement discussions have failed. >> the amount of money that was asked was excessive. andrew can respond. >> there have been settlement discussions as recently as the past week. the council went on vacation. you will confirm there have been efforts to settle the case. there is leveraging going on here in terms of the dollars. i am sure you do not want to hear that. >> i will be brief. this is a unique circumstance. the appellant has made many argu

does it support protection of golden gate park? does it respect the golden gate park master plan? or is it -- president chiu: thank you very much. thank you very much. next speaker. >> hello, my name is thomas babbitt, and i just moved. once this is gone, it is gone forever. these are fine. i am not against kids playing soccer. i encourage them to play soccer. i encourage the alternative. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> i am charlotte hennessy, and i am a retiree of the national park service. i have been a defender of the environment for my entire life. i find this project as proposed appalling. the hybrid seems more reasonable to me. i am not just about the birds and fish. the humans. they need a spiritual connection with the earth. if we have a polite it, no stars available, no oasis, the city of san francisco does not have too many oasises. please think about it. would you want that to be a legacy? thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening, supervisors. my name is david ray romano. -- david romano. you are the last place for this contentious issue. it

and yet a red parks generate $6 billion yearly. >>> everything going into and around a park the state this study that found people spend an average $43 per visit which does it sound like a lot until you realize his return 50 and 60 million visits a year the state parks are a huge economic generator. >>> hawk and 6 billion does seem sex and was doing different math? >>> you should go to sacramento. you figure it out. whip it would seem to me that your cutting off an influx greta that is true with the political reality is that everyone in sacramento have to take a hit and that to to linda as over two years and the only with the department of parks and recreation could figure out to see that money was to close the state parks they put mullis there were going to close july 1st and most of them have reprieved now up to 69 if the a reality there's been less than 40 deals penned with a lot of work to do. >>> we should just refer people to the web site california there's a map and there's pictures of the parks and three things green circles for temporary reprieve in your love for reprieve pen

i am keenly aware of the erosion problems caused by trails in golden gate park and mclaren park. this is money well spent, and i look forward to when we can take care of some of our other open spaces, which are basket cases in terms of erosion. thank you. supervisor elsbernd: please come forward. >> good morning, supervisors. i am speaking as an individual homeowner and property tax payer, and as such, i am pleased to support the use of on funding for the improvement of our parks. i lived a block away from glen canyon park, and i am very pleased with the work of the natural areas program has done, although i am aware of the fact that is not on today's agenda, but some people wanted to make it so. i am very pleased with the work proposed. i very much support what is proposed in the package that has now been put together for the 2012 package. i like to use the trails and mclaren park. i like to go birdwatching and wild flower watching, and i agree that should be a very high priority along with golden gate park along with the use of money to make them safer and more enjoyable. and i

i think golden gate park is absolutely unique. this whole city is unique and every time my son comes to visit me, i'd taken to the academy of sciences and i show him the buffalo. what ever you folks can do to stop this project, even if one of you is as motivated as we are, who this is a really divergent group tonight. he the other side, i don't think they are very diverse. i knew something was wrong in this picture. there has to be a lot of money involved, but how can you benefit one portion of society and ignore this incredibly divergent group that has presented an unbelievable arguments that i won't even try to duplicate. i hope you can do something about it. >> hold on one second and we will light of the microphone. we can hear you now. >> my name is steve, is there any sound with this? >> is coming up right now. >> there was a little girl that spoke on this issue in december. she can't be here today, but here is a national video made about her story. >> please drop the microphone close to the computer. >> if you want to restar

if we were to park a few blocks away, parking in front of someone else -- by the way, we put the most money in our small businesses. about one block out, the only point is the size size. and when the sell-off last, i get a neighborhood parking sticker. we are kind of shut out on that. there needs to be and there is plating on seven days per week, and from 4:00 until 6:00 every day per week, it is tough enough already. coming to the office and do we do that per -- do we do that on everyone? >> i understand you're looking for any stream of revenue possible. there was no meter when i first moved to the neighborhood. i read with some amusement that some of the people had patched talking about the horrors of having to feed the meter. so, we have gotten used to that. the contractor permit, i assure you that we are not using it as a free parking pass. the idea that we are respite -- restricted and i know that this is probably not a popular idea, but the last that i knew, the residential parking permit was less than $100 per year. and they feel like this is just another one of those and laugh

rec and park staff is also here. the issue is the certification of the eir for the athletic field renovation. the issue was raised in the june 12 appeal as it related to the project alternative. the impacts are related to historic resources, aesthetics, greenhouse gas, health risks. this of metal to the board was a request for a continuance. per the city attorney's office, ceqa must first be settled before the coastal department's heard. [rading names -- reading names] the concerns mentioned in these letters are similar to secret documents. these issues have been addressed in the final eir. staff has indicated the er is adequate. there is not substantial evidence to the contrary. the four main points of the appeal, the appellate claims the eir's analysis of alternatives is inadequate, failing to consider the hybrid alternative. there is an off site alternative, a turf alternative, and synthetic turf without lights alternative. per ceqa, it need not consider every conceivable -- alternative, but a reasonable range of

this is about access to our parks and getting our parks fixed where they need to be done.s something very important. if anything, the board needs to pass this just to get it on the ballot and let the voters have their choice to decide, which hope lifully the voters will decide for it. it just needs to be there. that's all i can say to you guys. i can't say anything more than that. >> thank you. next speaker. >> my name is jane risk and my family -- family has lived on moublet davidson since 1972. we walk on the trails through the forest all the time. even though we've been living on mount davidson, our community has never been informed until very recently about the natural areas program and their plans. i gave each of you a copy of the natural areas program map. on which we lined in red the areas that are designated for cutting so you can see that the entire heart of the mountain is supposed to be cut and the trees will not be replaced with other trees. if you look at the very small print you can see those trees are going to be replaced with native grasses and shrubs and w

is supposed to remain naturalistic. 1,000 ft grandstand, parking areas, new parking lot. all of this is not a huge enlargement of the project and not just what recreation and parks called a restoration, since you start losing faith that you can believe what our government tells us when they start using reality this way. hopefully, you will correct that and send the message that government does work. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> the first time i encountered a large expanse of artificial turf, it was unable to emergency response teams were having a neighborhood drill, and i thought this does not look healthy or safe for kids, and i cannot believe they want to put something like that about five minutes' walk from my home. i've lived in the sunset for 23 years, and in the parking lot, including the trail that goes right through the beach and a leg. i am also in business owner and active registered voter. i urge you to go with the alternative. it is the best you can do for the city plan and the best you can do for the kids. i give out -- gave up hundreds and hun

the national park service. they do a tremendous job. there is a tension between keeping park space pure and pristine and acknowledging that we live in a tiny city with over 800,000 people, with huge recreational needs. trying to sort of address that tension. i am seeing that here again today, when we hear the national park service, at least initially, expressed concerns about disturbing the natural area, and even some of the public comment. it seems there is a desire to keep western golden gate park -- have not that many people there. this would bring in more people for recreational activities. can you made the comment on that attention? it seems to be a recurring one. >> it is true that an urban park system has a different mission from the national park service. we are in the recreational business, focused on youth and health. the national way. the dialogue between our agencies has been very good and very productive on this issue. we took verifies and recommendations. we pursued a lighting system they recommen

of the park's system.ere 27 years, take us back 30 years and tell us how things changed here. >> when i went to school in 1980, we came here to see how to do an exercise. it was filled with garbage, we came up to this beautiful castle that was completely closed and covered with graffiti. >> so in the '70s and '80s, people may not have wanted to come in the park? >> they actually didn't, they would walk up and say is it safe to go in. >> the park has invested millions, nearly 500 million raised from private sources. the central park conservancy is truly a model of public parks. how does it work? >> the city is asking us to maintain and restore the park for the city of new york. but what is interesting in our model, we actually have to raise the vast majority of the money. 85% of our 42 million budget really comes from people who live around the park. it is really people who support the park, the corporations and foundations. the city only gives about 15% of the annual budgets. >> a community-supported green

i just want to talk briefly about what our parks are and changes in our parks. we hear a lot about keeping car parts exactly the way that they are and they should not changed. of course we need to embrace our parks for what they are. these parks change because our city changes. it is not what it was 50 or 100 years ago. the needs of our community are constantly changing. parks of first and foremost are for people. it is for the use of the people of san francisco and visitors and people and adults. keith if that means to sometimes make a physical change to a park, we need to do that. i do not believe in freezing a park in time because that is the way it was 50 or 100 years ago. i think this was an excellent project. it will have excellent benefits for the people of san francisco. >> supervisor farrell. supervisor farrell: i want to agree with your comments. i fully agree with the personal attacks. every once in a while we get those out keyboard. he hoped that does not continue. i agree with the eir itself. i think the eir went above and beyond what is necessary h

the one great parks. we all want a sense of community and being able to be with other people in our community. and that

we use the park as a backyard. it is one of the things, the beauty of san francisco that maintains me being in the san francisco. this is one of the cultural centers. our kids to public school. we pay taxes. the housing crisis. this is an area of our backyard, destroyed. it is questionable whether or not like many other middle-class parents we would stay. thank you. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> honorable chair, commissioners, and the 25-year resident and a landowner. and a taxpayer of ocean beach. i am an environmental lawyer and an professor, and i am attending your hearing today after watching this combined planning parks and recreation commission meeting on the web in order to alert you to a really severe a train wreck that presumably you would like to avoid. without commenting on the merits of the project, one way or another, i want to relate my shock and having watched your planning commissioners who are supposed to be assisting you and the public repeatedly declared that the project location wa

this is natural between the park and the beach. beach should not be marred with a soccer complex that will serve a few. respectfully, i thank you. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is john s. -- ho -- joph -- johanas. we are so glad this protect the east end of the area from the freeway. now the west and is a controversy. to adhere to the master plan and keep its natural character or to use artificial turf. i am including a photograph of a sign on the south sunset playground. the last line warren's players to, quote, stay healthy. wash your hands and scrape after play. i have never seen that sign on any grass field. it seems ok for kids to play on fields that are not healthy. playing on these fields have been known to code shoes, pants, and even underwear with black soot and dust. we are not talking about dirt. this stuff has to be washed off because it is not safe. i understand we're talking about a gift of around $5 million, and the city has to come up with a similar amount or more.

the plan does call for taking on a parking study to really assess how much parking can be accommodatedd on our capacity. you heard about the 5.5 acre park on the roof of the transit center -- it will be one of the largest public open spaces and it's an area currently has zero public open space. there are some privately owned small plazas but this plan identifies the opportunity for a new public plaza on property that will serve as a southern and southwestern gateway to the transit center. the plan has the responsibility of trying to encourage and facilitate in adjacent buildings and they are in the planning code amendments. also recommendations to cut through the south of market box. to the open space --a very extensive analysis of potential shadows that might be cast from these new tall buildings. it is important to note there are no publicly open spaces and the -- in this plan area. the nearest parks are about half a mile away in union square and chinatown. as a result of the geographic facts, the shadows would only reach these in a very limited time of year, generally early in the m

that is really felt by park users in the system. supervisor mar: can you repeat the improvements to the surrounding area? i think you mentioned the bathroom. is there a community gathering space? what are the improvements? >> in addition to the installation of synthetic turf, which will install spectator seating. we will create a viewing plaza and a children's play area. we are going to double the capacity of the restrooms, making them fully ada compliant. we would like to improve the parking lot to accommodate more spaces. conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians could be avoided. we are also going to create new picnic and barbecue areas. even if there are games going on, there is something there to keep the space active and enjoyed by neighbors, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with a game that is going on. supervisor elsbernd: if i could interrupt, supervisor cohen -- i need you. chief, i wanted to bring you up briefly to discuss -- i am sorry about that, supervisor cohen. a lot of folks surprised me, talking ab