commission about getting involved in or making a condition of approval a private agreement among or between private parties. and so to make a private agreement a condition of approval for the commission is often fraught with legal difficulties. one other thought i had, and perhaps this is where commissioner johnson was going with the development agreement thought is that there are other circumstances in which the city establishes an opt-in program. maybe home sf is an example, that a developer may choose to avail themselves of a particular set of benefits that the city offers in return for which the developer may offer more than is otherwise sort of the baseline requirements, so there are other mechanisms that the city could use and other circumstances where the city could have these additional requirements as part of sort of an opt-in program where a development gets a particular set of benefits from the city, and then, would agree to offer additional community types of benefits. i hesitate to acall them that, but that's another method by which the city could certainly look for additional requirements for a project. >>commissioner moore: i appreciate you explaining that to us because in the lack of, really, understanding that we don't have terms for development agreement for this type of project as commissioner johnson suggested, i am using the word mou as kind of a bridge for what you are describing as a more subtled way of looking for look that we could really resolve prior to having to consider this project for approval. there are too many open-ended things which have not been addressed. >>vice president richards: thank you. so a couple of things, first of all, to the architect -- no, i'm just making a comment. i read with great joy the document because it was so easy to read, and it flowed, and it was, i think, the best one i've ever read just because of all the outline stuffs that you have on the first and second pages. it just encaps ulates everything. it was a great job. of the next thing is on the last item, we talked about facadism. as i look at this, i think it's one of the worst issues of facadism that i've ever seen. why don't we just demolish the old building rather than paste the facade literally on the new building. it just -- it doesn't work for me. so comment there. comment number two, i think my prior commissioner's comments, i see all these fabulous projects, mixed living and work and it's getting late, and i'm getting tired, and they're all here on pages 16, 17, 18, 19, in your draft motion. but when i actually see what the -- what's been done, these are just words, and i don't see anything that's concrete of what's happening. we've got three retail spaces, we've got a strategy or a plan, but because there's no 15,000 square feet, there's no real mitigation that needs to be done. this is where i think i would send the project sponsor back to work with the community to develop some concrete things, and i would get rid of the facade, either demolish it or make it look like an old part of the building with some type of a set back, otherwise just get rid it. i can't support this project as is, right now, tonight. commissioner fong? >>commissioner fong: well, we might be all over the place on this one, and it could be due to the hour of which we've been sitting here. i think it's kind of cool. i like this comparison to 1880's to 1920's to 1950's. it's a precedent, and i think it does a good job of taking a modern approach but taking some of the brick work. i like the big roof top access. i think -- i'm a little bit crui cruise -- confused as to why we think there's a lack of commitment -- >>vice president richards: perthe chair, he's allowed to ask, but i just get tired of people rushing to the podium, please. >>commissioner fong: i'll ask you, what is the relationship, official or not with la cocina, because obviously it's a great local organization. >> yeah, i'm sorry for sort of rushing up. we've been working with them for a long time, number of months, not years. there is nothing written. there is an mou out there. both sides are committed to working together, and i don't want to speak for people who are not here, but there are reasons just beyond what's on the paper why someone isn't here from la cocina as to their commitment on this program. >>commissioner fong: okay. and regarding the art program, what is the understanding with regard to any potential art programs, are they on a pdr space or on actual physical walls at the moment, and mr. hernandez has brought up if there's going to be any opportunity, let's keep it local. >> well, what we've done is retain a local district to listen to the latino arts district to assist in this front end design and phase. by that, i mean he has reached out to the greater arts community to assist us in identifies trans themes, concerns, constraints in the art community, so when we go to identify the mural, identify the art activity, we will be able to work very closely in the arts community. >>commissioner fong: where precisely is this space. >> with regard to the mural on the front, that is definitely carved out in the front. we're looking to do that in this second phase of recon with the arts dmunt. what we've idaho identified to date in the corridor, we have talked about plaques, exterior plaques, that could be done and engaged as it related to the partnership with john o'connell, we've talked at length with the program to work with them as a design build to build the bike racks, so that could be another arts component in a program that we would partner with john o'connell on. other than that, i think the sky's the limit in working with the arts kmubt to engage us. >>commissioner fong: sky's the limit but it's not definitive at the moment. >> well, i believe there will be more, as well. >> commissioners, j.w. line with the mural. there is space on bryant street. part of the design is a 17 by 22 foot mural on the exterior, and then, the idea with the accelerator is that as the participants would accelerate and rotate through, so, too, would the art. >>commissioner fong: speaking to the process of selection. >> correct. so inside the accelerator space and then a mural on the exterior. >>commissioner fong: thank you very much. >>vice president richards: commissioner johnson. >>commissioner johnson: thank you. i think i'd like to continue clarifying your comments. it sounds like going back up and first saying, i did look at the mural as an issue, as commissioner richards pointed out, i did not think it was as egregious as the one we considered for the deir, and particularly with this one, there's a lot of brick work. i think the street level experience is extremely important in having a lot of older buildings that are really beautiful, other than a new structure. it would have been really jarring. i think it works. we don't really have strict city guidelines on how this is supposed to work. i do want to go back to the city attorney, miss stacey. i want to bother you again. we're focusing a lot on the community benefits and the mou and if it's signed and not sign, and what we can or can't do in terms of conditions. i feel we are treading into dangerous waters. mou's are agreements and something we've discussed in the past. there's no contract -- in terms of what we can talk about, mou's are legal agreement does, so can we condition it or can we not, and then we can talk about whether we want to continue it to feel more comfortable or not comfortable. >> commissioners, kate stacey in the city attorney's office. i would strongly recommend against a condition about a future agreement. i think the commission could certainly want to see more development on some of these issues for the project, but if what you're suggesting is to approve the project today and condition that an mou be entered into between or among a number of parties, i think that's a very difficult type of condition for the city to enforce, and those agreements may involve matters that are really outside the scope of government authority. so if what you're interested in seeing more development of the arts work or the use of the pdr space or the incubator space, certainly, the commission could continue it and look to see more of that kind of detail. >>commissioner johnson: okay. i -- i would be supportive of moving this project tonight just because it seems like there has been enough movement towards an mou and it seems like both sides are very much wanting to move that forward. there's also an appeals process which we don't talk about very often to other bodies, but i just -- we would be looking at the same motion. we would just feel better about it, and that's also fine, but i just want to be very clear about that that we can't have conditions that involve another private contractor, a legal agreement. >> commissioners, just to echo what the city attorney was saying, obviously, we can't enforce private agreements, however if there are benefits of the community agreement that are under the purview of the commission, you do have the opportunity to add a condition. in view of what twas currently proposed, i think adding more murals would be something you can add a condition of approval on, relative, but most of the other items such as workforce and economic impact and tenancy, and then, you know, usage of, you know, local students, it's not something that's typically under the purview of the planning commission, so... >>vice president richards: commissioner melgar. >>commissioner melgar: okay. fine. i think it's not under our purview. nevertheless, the project sponsor came with an entire packet of supposed community benefits agreement that were meant to, you know, have us feel better about the project. they are asking for a bunch of exemptions from rear yard requirements and stuff, so i am not ready to move on this project tonight. i don't think it's cooked. i think it's -- you know, there are ways that you could make us feel better in presenting this package that you presented to us with all these community benefits agreements that would actually frankly convince me that you were making a good faith effort to engage the community. so i would not be supporting the motion to approve this project tonight, but i would support continuing it to give the sponsors a little more time to engage with the community and get, you know, a more robust, you know, community benefits package that engages the community in a good faith effort. >>vice president richards: so i, too, wouldn't be supporting us tonight, and so there's six of us, and two of us said they wouldn't be supporting it. i support a continuance, and i come back to, i think what commissioner melgar said. the interest is there. it's not the mission or the intent, it's the condition at hand. if you want to make a new building look old, look at the beast on bryant. it looks old, but it's new. your building is a maish mash - it's just -- it's horrible. it's horrible. commission commissioner fong. >>commissioner fong: would you remind us in this condition, six of us, a tee would be a denial or a -- >>vice president richards: a t tie would be a denial. >>commissioner fong: all right. so i'm going to make a motion to continue, and i'm just making comment. it's pretty close. you know, this is, i think has, i think the makings of a good project coming back with some agreements, coming back with more work and time on the community, especially with the mural and artists package program, i think is important, so i'll make a motion to continue this item. >> secretary. >>vice president richards: to which date? >> clerk: to what date? i would recommend january , at this point. >> clerk: january 25th. >> supervisor: second. >> commissioners, since we have time -- not that we want to sit and debate the design, since commissioner richards has provided a dissenting voice on the facade, but it sounds like a majority of the commission is okay with the facade as is, i will weigh in from the urban design teams perspective, we did find the facade was a good way of knitting the building with the existing elements. it would help to provide a strong reelthshlationship to we existing relationship is, so it was a nice meld of new and old. >>vice president richards: i agree on the intent. it's just the result, so was there talk of a set back of even 3 feet or 5 feet? >> i don't think there was talk of a set back. because of its location on the corner, we felt strongly that the massing needed to anchor the corner, so maybe we could work with the architect to find a detail to find more reveal on the facade, and i'm sure knowing the architect, it's something he can potentially find and explore. >>vice president richards: i support that. commissioner moore. >>commissioner moore: i just wanted to commend the commissioners on continuing. the project has set off to terms that indeed sound very much in complement to our own objectives, however there was apparently not enough time to formalize them in a manner that is nothing that we're opposing but that's indeed an agreement between the parties involved here. on the facade, i think it's a good challenge. i would not put them on the bottom as much as i would put them on the top because the building is rather large, it looks somewhat lengthy, and that's where my questions about the upper part come in, so perhaps we have a little bit more time to discuss this with the architect at some other time. >>vice president richards: thank you. there's a motion to continue in the second. >> clerk: very good, then, commissioners on the motion togs continue to january -- motion to continue to january 25th. [ roll call. ] >> clerk: so moved, commissioners. that motion passes with commissioner johnson voting against. commissioners, that's place us on item 19, 2014-0376 cu 1526 wallace avenue. >> i'd like to make a quick introduction of the staff members who's going to be presenting number 18. matthew chandler retired as a current planner with the flex team. he has experience in the commercial construction industry and city planning. he's worked with preservation and city planning in the midwest and join is us most recently from st. lewis, missouri. he holds a bachelor's degree in planning from missouri state university, and we welcome him to staff. >> supervisor: welcome, matthew. >> yes. thank you for the introduction, marcel. the case before you is a request for conditional use authorization to process and sell small livestock at 1526 wallace avenue, a parcel within the production, distribution, and repair zoning district. this was processed as a cb 3 p or community business priority processing program application. livestock processing one, which is defined in the planning code as an industrial use that involves the life storage killing or dressing of poultry rabbits or other small livestock and/or the tanning or curing of raw hides or skins from an animal of any size. this use allows direct sales to customers and requires a conditional use authorization in this zoning district. the simple reason why we're here today. saba life poultry has been in business for five decades. this use is subject to the locations and operation restrictions of section 202.2 b of the planning code requiring the operation within a completely enclosed building with no openings other than fixed windows or exits required by law if within 50 feet of a residential district. the operation will be wholly conducted within a hard she enclosure whi enclosure, and the subject site is surrounded completely by other industrial uses and pdr zoned parcels. saba live poultry plans to establish a second location in the bay area. the facility will process on-site and sell directly to the consumer. this style of butchering will provide a service which the san francisco city and county currently lacks. at this time those who are limited to or wish to purchase halal products must travel outside of sprask. i have completed copies of the required categorical exemption as well as public comments that were received after the commission packet was prepared. there are also copies up here for the public, as well. the department has found the project to be on balance, consistent with the general plan, and necessary and desirable and recommends approval. this -- that concludes my presentation. i am available for questions. the sponsor team has a presentation to follow with additional details. thank you. >> so jonas, could i hand over speaking cards for the supporters who are still here, and these are for the 16 who had to leave since things went a little bit longer. maybe i should move over here. so good evening, commissioners. dan franton with reuben, ginous and rose for saba live. we're here asking for the permission to grant a cu for the saba processing facility. as you heard, this will be the only facility of its kind in san francisco, although saba does have a long record of operating eight facilities in new york, as well as in the fruitvale district in oakland. halal generally refers to what's in islam general practices and then slaughtered according to the specific practices. a brief prayer said before the animal's throat is cut. its blood is drained, and as in every slaughter house, there's an inspector present to make sure that's everything that's done is high generalygienic. many cultures want to see the conditions that their animals live in and are processed in, and it's an important part of their food culture and their religious practices. these are some of saba's new york facilities. so you can see that they're often in locations that are -- that are not industrial. they're residential uses. these are not industrial scale production facilities, they're -- they're really small scale facilities that are comparab compatible with mixed use neighborhoods. customers at their oakland facility tend to be east asian, muslims and latinos, mainly, and then, they serve some is restaurants. saba's decision to -- let me just...saba's decision to locate in the bayview was driven by a couple of things. one is desiring to be close to their customer base. they're just a couple blocks off the t-3rd railway line, and i think these conditions are setup to regulate much larger facilities than what saba proposes here. as know, less than 5% of san francisco is zoned for industrial use, and that figure's been getting progressively lower over time. livestock processing is allowed only in a subset of those districts so there are really very few places for this business to go. the pdr is intended to facilitate some heavy pdr traffic. it's 24 hour trucking, relatively noising operations. there are a lot of auto body shops, a lot of very active trucking facilities around here. saba's use is going to be much -- much less intensive than what's -- than what's going on around it. you can see some pallet facilities, a lot of auto body shops. actually one of those is where saba's facility will be moving into. saba's use here, it's a 2100 square foot facility. it'll be completely enclosed. they anticipate storing about 500 birds on-site on a typical day to support daily sales of about 200 to 400 birds, which sounded like a lot to me when i first heard and then i went over to see their facility in fruitvale, and it's really a room with a few cages of chickens in it. it's not really a large operation. of course, there will be some peak times with more birds, but this is just the general day today. trucking to and from the city will be -- or to and from the facility will be really typical for a small industrial use probably less than many of the other businesses around with one to two trucks a day. although san francisco only allows livestock processing in a few industrial districts, they're allowed a lot more widely in -- in other cities, including in oakland, where you can see there's a residential building right next door. i was there, again, this morning. you don't smell any odors off-site. it's actually a pretty quiet facility. i guess i'm out of time for the moment, but there are a few other speakers here who i'm sure would like to make a few more points, and i'm available for questions. >> supervisor: thank you, so i'm going to take public comment. i'm going to read some names, and you please lineup against this wall. ina dang, marry beth alonzo, nadine may. >> if your name's been called, feel free to approach the dais. >> hi, commissioners. my name is nadine may. i'm a san francisco native, and the first thing i want to point out is i have a button on my purse that says, actually, keep our muslim neighbors safe. my t-shirt says no muslim ban ever, so i don't think anyone can accuse me of islamophobe i can't, n can't -- islamophobe. the last slaughter house was closed before the earthquake, and the one before that was 1971. i feel that it's not appropriate to have a slaughter house here. i think san francisco's been vanguard, i think we've always been, and i'd like to see the city move forward on an issue that impacts not only animals, health, welfare, and the environment. everybody knows that -- well, maybe you don't know, but meat and dairy industry is the number one contributor to global warming, number one. it's incredibly did estructive habitat. we don't want it around. i simply don't want san francisco to go in that direction, and one other thing i wanted to point out is would this slaughter house have been proposed in an area like the richmond district where i live, even if it were zoned for that, or st. francis wood or pacific heights, no, it's in the bayview, which is as we know, a poor, struggling area that i know fairly well 'cause i have friends there. and i think this is a question of the environmental injustice. i just don't think it's fair the bayview has fought very hard to have a healthier environment, and i don't think this is going to contribute to it. i am a vegan, but i don't like in a bubble, and i'm very concerned about conditions of animal welfare, conditions of slaughter. i know that they would be able -- the slaughter house would be able to sell animals to the public, so while their facility says that they would be killed in a halal method, in a humane method, what happens when they sell to the public? there's no guarantee at all that those animals will be killed in a halal manner, and last, but not least, jobs. everybody mentioned jobs, everybody wants local jobs, which is great, slaughter house jobs are awful. they're mostly all across the country done by undocumented individuals, and there's a reason for that people people do not want to do that. thank you. >> thank you, ma'am your time is up. >> thank you, commissioners. my wife name is ina day, and me and i are raising three chirnz, and we run a doggie house at 223 shafter in the bayview. we are embedded in the community. we care about the community. the bayview has historically been a dumping ground for toxins. 30% of all toxins of san francisco have been placed in the bayview. i am native san francisco. my fathered fished in the waters avenue of bayview in the yosemite. when you bring a business such as a slaughter house, and we know that there are toxins in chicken poop dust, where the feathers are going to go, i ask you to take a pause and do an environmental impact study before you place this into the bayview. there are zoning for this, but there are 37,000 of us that live there, and it's also a socially economically challenged community, and we don't need to increase the staff that show that our asthma rates are four times higher than the rest of the city, and so are cardio problems, so please tell us where the exhaust is going into our system, what is being done with the poop, what is being done with the blood. personally, at my doggie daycare, the facility was run at as a meat packaging company from 1992 to 2012 before it was sold to my predecessor. we tried to find the source of a stench. we were told by the president sever that it was urine. it turns out it's blood in the water system below us, and we're spending thousands of dollars to dredge that out that was in the system from 1992 to 2012, so i ask you please think about the community as you move forward with this. please stop the cycle of environmental racism and impact on those who are in the lower socioeconomic realm. thank you. >> thank you, maiss dain. next speaker, please. >> hi there. my name is deandra hundrin, and before i start, i just need to make a minute because the emotional feeling of standing there -- actually, watching this room packed for people who were fighting in regards to buildings, and brick and mortar to being just a few people here fighting for lives of people was quite interesting. again, my name is deand deandra hundren. current owner of business bear with me, a mother and daughter doula and maternity consultant business located in the bayview, and a member of the economic development on 3rd street, i'm actually the secretary of that committee. i am submitting these comments or stating these comments to each of you for consideration in regards to the conditional use permit currently pending for 1526 wallace avenue. my commitment as a business owner and a long time resident of the bayview-hunters point community has made it possible for me to raise my children, now grandchild in our family home, just three blocks away from the property at 1526 wallace. i received no notification on my door, in my mailbox, in my e-mail, knock on the door, from anyone stating and letting me know that this slaughter house was going to happen just three blocks from my home. it is so disappointing that once again the community and folks like myself that live just blocks away from what i feel is an intrusive and potentially hazardous establishment wasn't notified in a clear, concise and acceptable way that this potential event has the potential to take hold in our back yards. in fact, i can see the slaughter facility from my living room window. it wasn't until i requested to be on an informal call with the animal legal defense fund that i learned about the proposed conditional use request in its current format. i, too, believe the department lacks an adequate real basis for approving the conditional use affecting 1526 wallace avenue as a livestock processing avenue. the 20152016 wallace avenue building it into a livestock processing facility has strong environmental impacts. i strongly believe that you need more information. i strongly believe we as residents need more clear information about blood and the waste. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi there. my name is ali al-moled, and what we need is a halal chicken. i'm a citizen, you know, this is what we're looking for in this area, and i hope you approve it. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi there. good evening. my name is marry beth stalanzo, and i am a resident of the district. i have concerns that a slaughter house would have on the neighborhood and the animals. i would oppose a slaughter house in my own neighborhood, and therefore, iopose one in the bayview, too. people who live, work, and visit there should not have to deal with the impacts, be they physical or emotional any more than i want to. i ask you to deny this application, please. >> thank you miss stalanzo. next speaker, please. >> how do you do. my name is salal, and i'll make this very short for you. i hope we're not debating here whether people should eat meat or not and what kind of meat they should eat. however, i want to relate to you that our community needs and demands are under represented. our community needs -- there's no place for us, for muslims to go ahead and get halal meat around this place, the place of the city of san francisco and while it was opened with the muslim community in mind, i have a business very close to the one in oakland. over 90% of clients are non-muslims. i spent the last three days counting foot traffic to that store, and i have found that in the first day, one out of 12 were muslim. in the second day, one out of 11, and the third day, one out of nine, so the people that go there really demand and need to see where the animal has come from, how it is being slaughtered and how it's being processed. it might be somewhat foreign to some -- a good segment of the population, but for a whole lot of us who really care about organic a place is, where this product has come from, what food did it eat, and how it's slaughtered. we're importantly for the people who are really worried about how humane it is or not, i challenge that there is a more humane way of slaughtering an animal, and i hope that's not the discussion that we're having here than the muslim way. reason why is the animals, when they get slaughtered are in separate chamber from where they get gathered. unlike those commercial slaughter houses that are in the bay area, where another animal gets to see another animal being slaughtered. this is highly fore bidden in the religion, but more importantly the health way is really important to the muslims and people who are health conscious. because the way it was bled out, so it has an impact on the people. we are very well aware that this place used to for many years host these places, and i very strongly recommend that you approve this, not for the sake of the muslim community but the community at large, so i ask upon you to approve this agencial use permit. god bless. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hi name's jamal guinan. i grew up and i was raised here in san francisco and as far as i can remember, one of my parents' biggest issues that we faced when we live here was finding halal meat. we can eat -- halal meat is what we can eat under the islamic guidelines that require healthy, humane treatment of the animals. that was important to our family first and foremost because of the meat. 20 years later, and now i am facing the same difficulty finding halal healthy, safe meat to provide to my kids. we are still facing the same issue. there's no other slaughter house our anything else close to it in that matter that allows clear, visible slaughter of the animals like they were saying in conditions that are humane. not allowed to see other animals being slaughtered. the san francisco bay area has one of the largest muslim communities in the united states, and these are difficulties that we have faced year after year. this is not just for the quarter of a millian muslims living in the country, but to the other communities that follow this culture, asians that eat this type of meat, and jewish culture that eats kosher. >>vice president richards: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name is alina anella, and i'm speaking on behalf of the animal legal defense fund. the animal legal defense fund opposes the permitting of the slaughter house at 1526 wallace avenue. as explained in detail in our written statement, the planning department lacks abadequate legal basis to approve the facility. we urge the department to conduct an environmental impact report as required by the california environmental quality act. the department has next to no information about what this slaughter facility will involve. however, we can expect that the facility will result in the he mission of air pollutants, the release of effluent into water, and it will generate waste, including solid waste. all of this will have a negative impact on a neighborhood that's disproportionately impacted by pollution. in addition, the animals slaughtered in this slaughter house will be transported all the way from pennsylvania, and when they get there, they'll be held sometimes up until multiple days in small cages. this long transport and being held in these cages will cause the animals unnecessary suffering and it will increase their risk of disease when they're placed under stress and kept in close quarters. this in turn puts the community at risk for zoonotic disease. lastly, proper notice was not given of the consideration of this conditional use permit application as required in the san francisco planning code. notice should have been given 20 days in advance in the newspaper. that would have been november 10th. however, notice was given on november 22nd in the newspaper, which is 12 days late. as a result, not all community members had a property opportunity to comment on this. thank you for your consideration. >>vice president richards: thank y thank you. i'll call some more speaker cards. -- those were called? i'm sorry. sala al kari, schwan parker, abdu abdul, -- abdul awardi. >> hi. i'm here to support the -- [ inaudible ] we draw up like that. we like the fresh meat. if you've ever tasted fresh meat, you see the difference between this meat and the fresh meat. we support halal 100%. it's strong for our community. it's different from other meat absolutely. that is different from any meat in san francisco. when they opened it in oakland, i supported it 100%. it's the taste is different from others. please we need your support. thank you. >>vice president richards: thank you. next speaker please. >> my name is shawn parker, and i support the opening of the slaughter house. there's been misconceptions on how the blood and everything -- it does not go into the sewer, it's separated into a tank so it does not go into our sewer systems, and feathers and everything are placed in separate containers, so there's no problem with, you know, the environment because it is put into a different waste container. also, there are drains and filters to prevent the -- just like for restaurants, how they have grease traps, things are separated out so it's not going into the sewer system, but once again, i wish you would support the use of the slaughter house for us. thank you. >>vice president richards: thank you. i have a few more speaker cards. moniae mohamed rkts olga miranda, roberto hernandez, and michael haas. anybody? -- or anybody else who would like to speak, to offer public comment on this item. >> good evening, commissioners, council. i'm not in opposition to the establishment of the business that has been proposed. i've known the gentlemen that are operating the business in oakland for just under 3.5 years, and since july of 2014, i've been to their business nearly a dozen times. none of the issues that were raised here, which were opposable, which was a smell was recognized. i understand that there's some consideration for airation. i did not recognize any problems with that in my visit to the business, and as such, i'm not in opposition to the establishment of this business based upon my observations of the business in oakland. thank you very much. >>vice president richards: thank you. any additional public speakers? public comment, please... >> good evening commissioners. my name is kristina stella. i am a staff attorney with the animal legal defense fund. i'm a san francisco resident, and a patron of businesses in bayview, hunters point. i just want to reity raterate,l notice was not given to us under the planning code. green action, the planning organization that represents residents of this neighborhood has submitted comments based on opposition. our comments were based solely on environmental impacts, and so you've heard differing opinions, but legally, you're required to decide on the facts. no offense to the owners, merits of the facility aside, but the facility will have significant environmental impacts. aside from the documentation that alds has introduced into the record, the commission has no studies with regards to this facility. i also want to correct, we have no indication that these animals are raised under the standards of the national organic program, as someone mentioned. slaughtering 400 birds or keeping 400 birds on-site is substantially larger than the location in oakland, and the oakland city council pushed back on that facility. our written comments and the comments we've submitted today meet the even if this facility will ultimately be regulated by other agencies or under other laws, it is still your responsibility to study its impacts before approving it and to justify your decision in light of the information that you've been presented with. you saw earlier the value of the eir. we all witnessed that. much of the environmental information that we presented in our comments was generated by the city of san francisco which certainly deserves your consideration. also, with regard to your conversation before about the community benefits package, at this point, there's nothing that would bind the business owners to any, you know, specific standards, but you do have the power to implement them, so in conclusion, you need to know the law prirequir this commission to know, study the impact of your environmental decisions before you approve impacts or try to impose any meaningful conditions, so with that missing here, we urge you to deny the permit. thank you. >>vice president richards: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, everyone. my name is ahmed aboussi, and most of my members and community goes to oakland for islamic halal meat, and it's unfair that our -- such a city in oakland has a place for them -- has a halal meat in there, and we do not have one here in san francisco. i've been going to oakland for the past five years. i did not hear of an environmental problem or health issue or anything that was raised by some people in here. therefore, i'm going to ask -- i also want to add that i was in here a few weeks ago, and i went to the same plant with families, and they've been living there for the past 20 years, and there is no environment issue there or health issue. i'm here today -- i waited for five hours to tell you, i need your compassions for our community to vote yes for that application. thank you. >>vice president richards: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening and i want to thank you for your marathon meeting. you guys have been in and out, and it's been a long night, so i want to be able to thank you for your time and that you guys are still awake. my name's olga miranda, and i'm the president of local 87, and i'm speaking in support tonight of saba halal meat. i represent about 5,000 janitor's working in private sector in san francisco the lights you see on in the city, those are our members, those are our workers working downtown. our union local 87 doesn't just stop at our contracts. we go and we help our members advocate at the school district for more -- better services for our children. we also go and we're -- we're always at the forefront of fighting for immigrant rights, against police brutality, and the first time in 20 years that i've ever come to talk to you about meat in city hall, so there's always a first. our city has always prided ourselves in inclusivity. we've always condemned racism and premgs of a face. the condition of wearing a t-shirt or button is not the same, because islam is a way of life for our members. it's a life thing. these muslim members don't have a supermarket, and it would be hard on you if you had to travel on us your community just to buy meat. for our members who are muslim, those are the treks that we have to go, or stockton or san joaquin or modesto to get real halal meat, and that would be an intrusion of all of our time if we were put in that same position. they can't afford whole foods, so they can't shop at whole foods. we, and our members have to travel very far to have the luxury of putting meat, a protein on their table, so i just ask that you please put yourself this that position. how would all of you like to be put in that position, having to trek just to put a slight of organic chicken on your tables? for our members. the same way that people feel so passionate about organic, halal is the same for our members. in terms of the socioeconomic impact, it would be a positive impact. the bayview has always been ignored, and now, there will be more gentrification, unfortunately, but these members live in our community, and for a long time, they've been ignored. every weekend at the farmer's market, life chickens are being sold there, and they're being slaughtered. i'm just asking you to think where that has happened. >>vice president richards: thank you, ma'am. your time is up. [ inaudible ] >> thank you. >>vice president richards: ma'am, your time is up. thank you. [ inaudible ] thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is merced. i'm not a good public speaker, but we need your support for our community. also your support for this business. thank you so much. >>vice president richards: thank you. any other speakers on this item? seeing none, this portion of the hearing is closed. commissioner johnson? >>commissioner johnson: thank you. so i will have a question or two for the staff and the attorney in just a moment, but i do want to say that there's a lot of issues to weigh here, but i do think it's important for us to are culturally inclusive in this city, and that's not just being saying it, when you see people walking up that may look different or worship different than we do, but it's allowing for the infrastructure that diversity requires, and i don't think that everyone here in the room here is vegan. i know that some people identify themselves that way, but i don't think they are, but i think we need to really make sure that we are being culturally inclusive as we discuss this project. so my question is, it was a short packet. it was a short packet, but in terms of the environmental impact questions, we have a building code, we have a plumbing code, we have a green building code that -- and i believe -- this is my question for the city attorney, that those codes are -- by having them, we have affirmed them under ceqa, is that -- i have a line of questioning here. see if i get -- see if i get this right. >> commissioners, kate stacey from the city attorney's office. when the city adopts codes or code amendments, most of those code amendments are considered projects under