Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro St. (at Southern Heights)
6:45 PM Social
7:00 PM Business Meeting
7:30 PM Emergency Actions/Positions
8:00 PM Break
8:10 PM Presentations: Walk SF & SF Bicycle Coalition
9:00 PM Adjourn
Tony Kelly, President
Vote NO NO NO on Proposition J!
Aside from the presidential primary (oh yeah, that), there is an important issue on the March 2 ballot in San Francisco. Proposition J seeks to throw out the City's Better Neighborhoods community-based planning program on the Central Waterfront, in favor of yet another generation of higher and denser housing that makes developers happy and neighborhoods less livable.
Many working people desperately need affordable housing in the city. Proposition J insults them, and every neighborhood in San Francisco, by building 'affordable' housing that isn't affordable. 83% of San Francisco's workforce teachers, nurses, firefighters, construction workers, office and retail workers, hotel and restaurant employees can't afford the 'workforce' condos that Proposition J seeks to build. And most of Proposition J's housing will cost MORE than that. Proposition J is a phony solution to a real problem.
It gets worse for us on Potrero Hill. San Francisco's Better Neighborhoods program has been working for years to build and strengthen the City's eastern neighborhoods, including the Central Waterfront/ Dogpatch. Proposition J throws that vision away in favor of thousands of luxury condos in high-rise buildings. If it can happen in Dog patch, or Chinatown, it can happen anywhere in the City.
“Much of the Central Waterfront is inappropriate for intensive housing development because of the continued presence of large fixed non- residential sites (such as the Port at Pier 80 and the power plant), restrictions on non-maritime uses along tideland areas, and the desire to preserve the integrity of the Dogpatch historic district.”
~~San Francisco City Planning Department, Better Neighborhoods/Central Waterfront Land Use Plan
Ballot arguments for the March election were due in mid-December. As a result, the Boosters had to act quickly to get argument in the ballot handbook, without a membership meeting to approve a position. The Land Use and Executive Committees approved the following ballot argument as an emergency measure:
Proposition J is a fraud.
It was created in secret with no hearings and ignoring neighborhood feedback so developers could give themselves special density and height privileges, eliminate public review, and give nothing back to the commu-nity. Similar back-room deals brought monster homes and luxury con-dos to our neighborhoods, and drove out affordable housing. It ruins community planning on the Central Waterfront, which has been going on for more than five years. The new Muni light rail can inspire a new and better neighborhood along Third Street. Proposition J throws that vision away in favor of 85-foot high-rises, betraying years of hard work. Is your neighborhood next?
$600,000 condos are NOT “affordable homes”. Is a monthly payment of $2,562 for one-bedroom, $3,293 for two-bedrooms or $3,660 for three-bedrooms “affordable housing?” No! It is a lie to say it is!
Many working people desperately need affordable housing in the city. Proposition J insults them, and every neighborhood in San Francisco. Say “no” to this perversion of the planning process and demand real planning with real neighborhood input so real people can
live in our City.
LETS'S BUILD A REAL NEIGHBORHOOD AT THE CENTRAL WATERFRONT!
STOP THE GIVEAWAY.VOTE NO ON J.
This emergency measure will come up for discussion and approval at the Boosters meeting next Tuesday; I hope you'll join us in fighting this absurd and destructive ballot initiative that hijacks the community planning process. During the month of February, the Boosters will be out on the streets of Potrero Hill, distributing absentee ballots and voter information about Proposition J and and information about the Boosters' good works in the neighborhood. It's a membership drive that also seeks to do the right thing for the City on March 2. Come visit our table when you see it, and pass the word to your friends and neighbors! Another emergency action
The end of the year brought pressure on another front. The City is hard-pressed to meet its deadlines for siting its new combustion-turbine power plants; part of its frantic effort has been a late proposal to site ALL of the new power plants on the site of the current Mirant power plant, Potrero Unit 3. Throughout the years of work the Boosters have done in fighting the Mirant plant expansion and urging the City toward a cleaner, more community-friendly energy plan, the organization has never been asked by any agency for a position on the siting of the new power plants. In the interest of supporting the Potrero Power Plant Citizens Advisory Task Force in their work on this issue at the end of 2003, the Executive Committee approved the following as an emergency measure:
The Potrero Boosters, and the residents of Potrero Hill, do not approve or accept the siting of four new power plants in our neighborhood. We strongly urge the SF PUC to work with other City agencies to spread the burden of power generation through more of the City. We also join with the Potrero Power Plant Task Force in demanding a detailed plan of mitigations, offsets and air-an quality management measures, resulting in a comprehensive plan for cleaner air in the southeast neighborhoods of the City. This emergency measure will come up for discussion and approval at the Boosters meeting next Tuesday; and with luck we'll hear more about the progress of the Task Force.
And a quick little victory dance:
A couple of meetings ago, we heard from Booster Perla Ni about Caltrain's plans to bypass the 22nd Street station as a stop for the improved Baby Bullet trains when they are intro-duced in 2004. After diligent effort on the part of Perla, other Hill residents who rely on Caltrain, and Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, Caltrain listened! The 22nd Street station has been added as a reverse-peak stop for the Baby Bullet trains (subject of course, to the budget trampoline act going on in Sacramento). Congratulations to all concerned! And thanks as always for thinking about our organization, and working for our neighborhood.
See you on the Hill!
compiled by Dick Millet
NEWS FROM BILL POLAND: “Live, work, & play in the design district! We are pleased to announce that ground breaking on Showplace Square Commons begins in mid 2005. The residences will be built on Brannan Street on the Concourse Exhibition Center site.” Quote from SFDC/NEWS 2004.01. Proposed mixed use housing project is currently receiving Environmental Review.
BLDG PERMIT APPLICATION #2003.08142054 & 2003.08142046 (demo.): 1637 19th/Wisconsin Sts. Proposed demolition of existing duplex and construction of new duplex with 2 parking spaces in an RH-2, 40-X zone. Bldg ht: 32’-6”, rear yard 15 ft Project will require front setback and landscape variance. Contact: Ben Fu, Planner, ph: 558-6613.
BLDG PERMIT APPLICATION #2003.11240920: 664 WISCONSIN/20th Sts. Proposed 11 ft vertical addition (2 to 3 stories). Top floor will set back 10 ft from front property line in an RH-2, 40-X zone. Contact: Julian Banales, Planner, ph: 558-6339.
BLDG PERMIT APPLICATION #2003.08111725: 406 MISSISSIPPI/19th Sts. Proposed one story addition over one story over garage single family house (30 ft) in an RH-2, 40X zone. Contact: Ben Fu, Planner, ph: 558-6613.
BLDG PERMIT APPLICATION #2003.09195267: 571-73 MISSOURI/20th Sts. Proposed rear horizontal and vertical addition to existing duplex in an RH-2, 40-X zone. Bldg ht: 31 ft 6 in, 46 ft rear yard. Contact: Winslow Hastie, Planner, ph: 558-6381.
BLDG PERMIT APPLICATION #2003.10228314: 547 ARKANSAS/20th Sts. Proposed facade alteration and vertical “pop-up” rear addition. raises bldg ht: to 32 ft 6 in. in an RH-2, 40-X zone. Contact: Mat Snyder, Planner, ph: 575-6891.
BLDG PERMIT APPLICATION..#2003.10076710: 541 MISSOURI/Sierra Sts. Proposed vert. & horiz addition to existing single family house in an RH-2, 40-X zone. Bldg height 30’-6”, w/45 ft. rear yard. Contact: Winslow Hastie, Planner, ph: 558-638l.