project and sold the house, i met one of the neighbors at one of my favorite handouts, discount builders and she said, you did a great job and we appreciate the input you had and working with us and you did a great job, even the building inspector said what a great job at final, so i just appreciate the fact that you work with a neighborhood, you work in the community, you do the best you can and you don't go in and push yourself in and say i'm going to do it my way and ignore everybody. now, we all have to work together. thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners, i'm john and i'm a resident of valencia street. i rented my first mission district apartment in 1966, i had hardly unpacked when i learned i was going to be evicted to make way of a master plan in san francisco, they called for the tearing down of high rise apartments for office workers who would unveil themselves tos a newly constructed bart, i join ted mission coalition and we fought and fought and stopped it. the state needs victorian houses and apartment buildings remained and so did

what i think the neighbors actually are asking for is tantamount to a spot down zoning of this lot. we are not in a situation where they would like to adjust as in the previous dr, a setback by one or two feet. the reason the project sponsor has not compromised is that the neighbors have been unilaterally proposing a different project. it is a retro grade project, it removes the zoning that is in place and goes back to prior zoning or of zoning that never was in place, three storey building with 49 units is not a comparable situation to any brand new build on valencia street. as far as the historic issue as to whether this building is compatible or not, the example i bring to the commission to consider is something like where bush street intersects grant at the chinatown gate, there's a clear distinction of a boundary there and we need to address this situation in the same way. one thing that impressed me more than about how preservation works, it's a rigorous process, the liberty hill boundary was created deliberately and with a lot of thought. this boundary is exactly one lot away

they told the architect to work with the neighbors, the architect's response was, i guess you're stuck with me and my five storey building. at our last hearing in front of this commission on september 30, 2010, the commission told the architect not to come back with the same plans, to work with the neighbors, a compromise of three storeys was suggested. a planning department meeting on december 21 on 2010 attracted so many from the community that a larger room was required, still, the project sponsors filed plans with no alterations based on the neighbor's objections, plan changes merely reflected the sponsor's economic interests, planning department comments and code. for over three and a half years, at every meeting, at every hearing, the community message has been the same. this building is too tall, too dense and incompatible with the neighborhood. there's great wisdom in san francisco's practices seeking neighborhood project support, those of us who work and live here know what will keep our community strong. we take pride in the character and the culture of our community. over 40

the church. what i sent you today -- and i know you have not time to read it. he was a neighbor down the street. i have a long list, which you will receive, of people from other neighborhoods who are supporting our alternative and opposing the demolition of this church. i urge you to go ahead with what you are proposing to do. among the people whose letters you may be did not get --many more who you will see. >> thank you. deborah benedict. >> i have letters from the older women's league that i would like to have each one of you have. i will put it up here. i am the someone who was previously mentioned. your commissioners, i am writing you in regards to revised condo designed for 1601 larkin street. it calls for demolition of the former st. john's church and building, 27 condos at that location. older women's league of san francisco supports the alternative plan, the senior housing project. it offers an opportunity for older women to age in place in their community, provide badly needing meeting space to elders and organizations and preserved historic structure in our neighborho

i mean, have you met with the neighbors and talked with them? are you amenable to setbacks on their side of the project? >> mark the neighbor did send in his drawing prior to submitting it to your panel. i did respond to him that i don't think that is a fair compromise at all. >> not saying that. are you amenable to any compromise on that side? >> on some levels to some things. some of the things like the railings, that is incorporated in the project right now. the railings that surround the light well is -- anything that is not on the property line is a see-through, transparent railing. that was done with the intent to -- >> i'm talking about the setbacks, talking about the set back from the light rail on fourth floor. are you amendable to any setback? >> maybe if we can work it to where it surrounds the light well. the entire property line f you look at the two houses, the house to the west of mine * has a room that is probably 25% larger than the one i have. which, by the way, is a bedroom, a closet and windows. >> i'm just asking about the se

who are behind the playfield to discuss our plans to excavate, all of these neighbors have expressedsupport either in writing or verbally for our approach to them and for the project itself. before the summer construction started, both the school and our general contractor wrote a letter to all of our neighbors within a two block radius to have school explaining what would be happening with the summer construction project and if they had any concerns, our construction superintendent was on site daily by 6 a.m., and they sent them away prior to 7 a.m. to minimize many noise on the street. i have as mary woods mentioned 8 letters from neighbors that i can read for the commission and thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> you can leave them on the bench. >> thank you. >> any additional public comment? seeing none, the public comment is closed. commissioner moore. >> i'm in support of this project, we've seen a lot of schools come before us where they've had to go beyond their footprint to expand and we've had issues of lost housing, i know it's never easy. the neighbor on scott stree

mistake because it is an anomaly on that particular block and it does not look great, i went in the neighbor's house, i looked out at the views and looked at the intending -- light and i understand what will happen and i think it will have an impact particularly an uphill and downhill house, and what else is the design itself, i mean, there is a case to be made in my mind that you have to sort of honor the dominant architectural style of a neighborhood and not be so much at odds with it, i noticed that we have an 11th hour rendering here where we changed the colorings but we still don't have a pitch on the roof, there's no attempt to be con tech churl with the adjoining properties, not that that makes a difference because we have a size problem here anyway, but it would have been a lot better if we had at least tried to be somewhat con tex khaourl to the structures along there, people come from all over the world to look at san francisco architecture, some people move here specifically because of the architecture, so we want to be like every place else and throw a bunch of structures that don'

we have gone so far as to offer the neighbors to select exterior colors, repeatedly offering one on one meetings and accepting comments at any time. we have made adjustments and many, many, many people have been happy with the adjustments that we made, the only accommodation we haven't made is the one that was requested that if we want to raise a family in the city, we should sell our home and move. and in part, it's been impossible to meet all the demands of the neighborhoods because they've stated themselves in neighborhood meetings, if we would create a victorian replica, we would fight this, we have not just been neighbors, but friends, pet sitting, going to their children's school performances, calling when house alarms go off when they're out of town and we've always done that, but we still love our neighborhood, we love our city, if you grant this, you would be granting us a second bathroom, a second bedroom, something that would make a bachelor pad a home, the effort and care we have put into this year-long process has created a structure that fits into the neighborhood, creates

that the request for the dr is to deny the entire third floor, so that has to be understood to the neighbors that we're not considering loping off the entire floor at this point in any case, so i think the direction to the architect is to try to do something with a setback and come back with some additional, you know, additional proposal of some kind and if that's, you know, -- rather than us saying it's going to be three feet or five feet or 4 foot 6 at this point or whatever it's going to be. >> commissioner borden. >> i personally don't support a continuance, i think we're pretty close here and i also believe that as we've stated, the neighbors are not interested in any addition whatsoever so it's not like giving more time will allow the neighbors to work with the projtd sponsor because they're clear they don't want a third floor, i think we've actually done more intensive redesign projects at this commission, i'm not saying it's my favorite thing to do but i think we're close because what we're talking about is a setback, and i think we have done that and we've reached a reasonable agree

public takes ownership of the facility in some cases and so once we renovate this facility, if the neighbors see some activities happening, they can pick up the phone and call park patrol and help out from that vantage point, we can't sit at the site all the time, neighbors have taken some ownership we have found. from a security standpoint when we started the program, we thought we were going to have to lock these facilities down but we've determined the cost benefit ratio, it's better to let the public use those fields on an as-needed basis. >> yes, the question i have as i understand that and you make a good point, your hours of operation is 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., there's a playground near my house, they lock the gate and they open it in the morning again and it would seem to me that if you didn't want anybody there between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., if you put fences around, then obviously those who really want to get in can scale the fences, if you see activity there, you know it's not the kind of activity you want because i can't think of what -- you couldn't have any pick-up gapes at midnight be

unfortunately, the developer has never tried to compromise with the neighbors, the couple of times he's been willing to meet with us, he has listened to our comments and gone ahead and filed his plans unchanged. the only significant changes he made which affixed code violations from the planning department, that is not sufficient, this project must also comply with the eastern neighbors plan and it doesn't, here are some examples. policy 123 say that is in general where residential development is permitted, the building height and bulk guidelines and bedroom mixed requirements should be adjusted. this fits at the missionary plan and the budget low residential area, it's bulk in area so it should be compatible with that area. policy 152, regarding noise, the proposed party depth, invite large parties will disrupt the marsh theatre and also the neighbors, it should be eliminated. valencia corridor policy, this is perhaps the most important poll osier at 32 feet wide and one block long, hill street is the small valencia corridor street, 85 feet of this project is along hill street, the dev

the case before you is a staff- initiated case for discretionary review as well as a neighbor request for the property located at 4334 geary street. the proposal involves demolishing a structure and when composing and a new dental office. is still in development at an underutilized block. it is helping to create the street along gary boulevard, and by not including a garage, and it protects the right of way. the staff found the rear of the building is overwhelming and cut costs from the open space. staff require the sponsor reduce the upper two floors by 22 feet. if i can direct your attention to the overhead. we have asked the upper two floors be cut back to theire. what this would do would help keep the connection between the makes use of building and the open space. this requirement is based on an urban design guidelines found in the commerce and industry development of the general plan. the requirement is based on these provisions. new development should respect open corridors and not impede access of light or error or blocked use of the adjacent buildings. the height and bulk of

it seems the neighboring uses, unlike some others, are more sensitive to noise then we have seen. i can imagine being in the theater and hearing noise coming from the adjacent entertainment would not make me very happy. equally so, i have had some massages, and i think it's been quiet is a pleasant experience. peter through a continuance -- either through a continuance to have the project sponsor address these issues might be in order or we could craft some kind of stringent conditions, i suppose, then what is in the current document. perhaps the entertainment commission costs -- commission's, the amount of sound that would allow to be transmitted to adjacent buildings may be higher than what could be tolerated in this case. vice president wu: i wanted to confirm with staff whether it is the entertainment commission or its is dph that regulates the noise. >> my understanding is that the entertainment commission will be hearing about this. we did add that consistent number 11 that the building be adequately soundproofed and that any noise meets the san francisco noise ordinance. com

>>reporter: the neighbors were furious when the solar panel popped up. blocking their across sonoma valley. thinks how it looked outside ann's house but check it out. after we took her complaint to the district. >> i don't think it would have happened if channel 7 hadn't gotten involved. >> my biggest concern this won't be able to hold the water during a rain >> neighbors here still worry about flooding because the district puts solar panels over a holding pond. >> cement displaced so much of the dirt in the holding pond that when it starts raining, still think we are going to have flooding. >> we brought in an engineered and surveyed the property and insured that i was not going to affect. >> there is not a lot of friends against the district and neighbor. construction company refused to comment and the ark text on the project paid for the p.r. firm. wouldn't tell us why they did it or how much they spent. but here's some free p.r. advice from the i team. always better to tell the truth up front. stair to make things right and to mean it then follow-up.

the neighbor says he's going to move. back to you. >> thanks, wendy. >>> president obama spoke at the united nations and urged world leaders to take a stand against violence and intolerance. he tried to put iran on notice saying it must dismantle and time is running out. mitt romney was not satisfied with the president's words or his record. >> we believe there is still time and space to do so, but that time is not unlimited. make no mistake, a nuclear armed iran is not a challenge that can be contained. >> is iran closer to a nuclear weapon or not? we know the answer. it's closer to a nuclear weapon. >> the president said that the u.s. will be relentless in tracking down those responsible for the attack in libya. >> a new washington post poll shows mitt romney has some work to do in battleground states. in ohio, the president has an eight int lead. in florida his lead is four points. both candidates will be campaigning on thursday in virginia. romney will be in springfield, the president will speak at the virginia beach f

commissions and other governmental bodies, whereas the paoed yat neighbors across the street from the marina graoep were not notified by rpd staff of the proposed change of use of the degaussing station from a former military use to a public use as a commercial restaurant and takeout food use, therefore be it resolved that coalition for san francisco neighborhoods opposes the proposed lease agreement with the wood house fish company, we respectfully urge you to reject the proposed lease agreement and it's signed by judith berk vifp and there are several mistakes, there is no 450 square foot patio on the west side of the property it's a grassy area, similar to your description, to the south there ao esa grassy area and to east, there is a grassy area, there is no patio whatsoever and i didn't hear of any mention of the effect of wildlife, the blue herring that we all enjoy. >> thank you. >> aerial kelly. >> good morning, commissioners and general manager ginsburg, my name is aerial kelly, this is a resident association made up of tenants and home owners, we have approximately 500 activ

>>reporter: the neighbors were furious when the solar panel popped up. blocking their view across sonoma valley. thinks how it looked outside ann's house but check it out. after we took her complaint to the district. >> i don't think it would have happened if channel 7 hadn't gotten involved. >> my biggest concern this won't be able to hold the water during a rain >> neighbors here still worry about flooding because the district puts solar panels over a holding pond. >> cement displaced so much of the dirt in the holding pond that when it starts raining, still think we are going to have flooding. >> we brought in an engineered and surveyed the property and insured that i was not going to affect. >> there is not a lot of friends against the district and neighbor. construction company refused to comment and the ark text on the project paid for the p.r. firm. wouldn't tell us why they did it or how much they spent. but here's some free p.r. advice from the i team. always better to tell the truth up front. stair to make things right and to mean it then follo

like howard said, the condition -- and ken piper is correct, walgreens cannot been a good neighbor but i don't think we should penalize this new because because of that. i used to talk to the manager when they used to have security and i said why is security just in the store and not going into the parking lot and making sure people are being good neighbors and not illegally parking and i would never really get a good response and i never saw any results of those conversations. now i don't see any security at all, but it is a problem, but it's caused by walgreens, i hope this restaurant can come to our neighborhood, we've had so many vacancies and we're finally doing a turn-around, we had block bluster, we had right aid and safe way leave and note bank and we're finally changing, we finally have a bank, we finally have a grocery store, to have this restaurant, this would be great, deny the dr and let this go forward and let them work with the neighbors and make sure this is a success for everybody. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello again, al harris, i used to go out once a month and sw

he is friends with the girl that moved out of the neighbor's property. for all reasons cited it may have been partially because of the remodel that would happen. i know one of the other driving factors was moving in with her boyfriend as well. so just to put that into perspective. that is all i have to say. any questions, feel free. >> thank you. are there any speakers in support of the project sponsor, or in favor of the project sponsor? okay? d.r. requester, you have a two-minute rebuttal. >>> thank you. in terms of the light and air reduction, the unit is building right up to the property line of the currently building and going up. the structure today is already set back. by going up you will lose sunlight. it is also westward facing, so we will lose a tremendous amount of sunlight because we will no longer have that at all. as y'all know, there is a strong westerly breeze through the golden gate. they will now be blocked almost entirely. in terms of light, in terms of air, we urge you to kind of consider this request and we appreciate your time. >> s

>>reporter: the neighbors were furious when the solar panel popped up. their view across sonoma valley. thinks how it looked outside ann's house but check it out. after we took her complaint to the district. >> i don't think it would have happened if channel 7 hadn't gotten involved. >> my biggest concern this won't be able to hold the water during a rain >> neighbors here still worry about flooding because the district puts solar panels over a holding pond. >> cement displaced so much of the dirt in the holding pond that when it starts raining, still think we are going to have flooding. >> we brought in an engineered and surveyed the property and insured that i was not going to affect. >> there is not a lot of friends against the district and neighbor. construction company refused to comment and the ark text on the project paid for the p.r. firm. wouldn't tell us why they did it or how much they spent. but here's some free p.r. advice from the i team. always better to tell the truth up front. stair to make things right and to mean it then follow-up. >>

the same neighbor proposing it in front of the same neighbors. back to the computer, please. the residential design guidelines are pretty thorough. it comes to the issues regarding a project like this. in every one of these elements in the design guidelines, we can't make the finding that there is compliance. the visual -- neighborhood character is very strong in this district of larger homes, older homes. this is not about introducing contemporary design. nobody is suggesting some faux historicism should be put here. this is good design but just proposed for the wrong site. the site design, there is a 20-foot lot with a zero lot lines proposed. each side of this site we have significant setbacks and gables that protrude and come close to this line. as a matter of fact, 615 adjoins 611 buena vista towards the rear. i could go through this but this is in the written materials. if you have questions about the residential guidelines as applies to this case, i would be lap by to discuss them further. back to -- >> so your time is up. >> pardon me? >> the time for your presentatio

the purpose is to establish an appropriate limits such the neighbors are not disturbed. the applicant took an additional step of having a noise review conducted. the results of the review are included in the materials. communications about neighbors concerned about sound are also in the pack of. there are neighborhood associations, and i will let the applicant tell you about his business. good >> i am marsha garland, here to represent gold dust lounge, which got a lot of media attention when it was forced to -- relocate, and its search for an appropriate location, and it sounded on jefferson. the space is 3000 sq. ft.. the business is a 47-year-old family business. it is iconic. it is nationally famous, and the owners have proven over and over again they know how to manage a business, how to manage people, and how to manage noise. they have a solid plan but has been reviewed by the police department. we have conducted extensive research, and that includes community business district and the bid, and the tenant alliance coalition, which wants to make sure no attendance are