Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240714

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is where we have those other facilities. >> i know that was a concern that the a.r.c. had, i reiterated it at the joint hearing with the arts commission , and it is noticeably absent from your presentation. so i would like to have you add that back in so that we can fully understand. >> right here on the right side, you will see how this is the loading zone, this is the middle of the image. [laughter] it shows how the bikeway bends. i think that is the only place it appears. >> i would find it useful to reintroduce your plans that you have had in the past because that pretty well shows in the tight bottleneck areas where ultimately the pedestrian zone is what gives because everything else is fixed. >> correct. it is another way to imagine it. the street zone is between 4 feet and 10 feet wide, the pedestrian path, the main path of travel never is compromised, but it is that streetlight zone where the furnishings go, where the bike racks and the seating, et cetera. it goes between 4 feet wide and 10 feet wide to accommodate the shift in the bike lane. >> okay. great. the last question i have, when does the clear channel contract come to? >> for the bus shelters? >> i believe it is 2022, but they have a one-time extension that is a possibility for another five years. it could go until 2027. >> okay, because we were able to influence that on the van ness within the civic centre historic district, so i would like, i hope we have an opportunity to put it on that when it comes out thank you. let's go ahead and open it up for public comment. thank you. i really appreciate your presentation. sorry, i will have a hard time saying these names. we have two speaker cards. >> hello, i am a member of the community working group for better market street for the past for years. i also did the survey of the market street pavement area that was highlighted done by independently -- independent resource center. we didn't just walk along break, we also walked along other currently in place pavements like from saint patrick's church at mission to market street and the pavement in front of the jewish museum. we tried several different. this is a rainy saturday, so thankfully it was raining -- really rainy and it was really slick, but what i need to point out is 90% of those who have a mobility disability do not use a wheelchair. the 90% use canes, crutches, walkers, braces, walking sticks. if for one of us a cane, a crutch, a brace foot slips out, we are down. so that is important to keep in mind about the safety aspects. we know some people want to keep the bricks, they are slippery when wet, they are unsafe, sometimes when delivery people drop something, some of the brick gets chipped off and you get a scalloped shape. there again, that is allowing for slipping out from under when you hit it the wrong way. keep that in mind. people may want something because they know it, they like it, they remember it, but please don't put people's wishes above the safety needs. i say not just people with disabilities, with think of young kids running along next to mom or grandma. they are also ones that could slip. i want to try and answer chair highland's question about dangers. there are conflicts where pedestrians come up in the middle of the street and street and generate the cause of an accident. they cross against the light. is also problems against cyclists and pedestrians. there have been some deaths caused according to the d.a.'s office, with a typical problem is exemplified by outbound market street bicyclists work . they go up the market street curb access ramp, go across the sidewalk, and then down the venice access right -- ramp. rather than stay in the street, they cut across which means putting nicole or myself, we could be bumped, pushed back, we might fall on our bats, break a hip, break an ankle, the cyclist is gone. keep that in mind for how you view safety issues, but there -- there was a kid who hit a bicycle in golden gate park on the original separated bike lane the kid went up in the air. his mom took him to st. mary's so he didn't get in because those are ambulances and s.f. general. keep that in mind. there are people who are getting hit. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners i am the senior community organizer of the san francisco bicycle coalition. i'm also the vice chair of the better market street community working group. i'm here to speak on behalf of our 10,000 plus members in support of the better market street project, which will create a safe place for people walking, biking on market street where currently there is few. hundreds of thousands of people ride buses, trains, and bikes on or below market street daily. it is the backbone of san francisco's transportation street. it is also one of the most dangerous streets in san francisco for people biking and people walking. so to put a little bit of color to the statistics, just this past month, we have had two vehicle pedestrian fatalities that fifth and market. that gives you all an idea of the crisis that we are facing on market street. people are getting hit and killed on a weekly basis. so we can't compromise on the central safety, as well as accessibility rules of the project by being overly prescriptive about surface design elements. we need a bike lane that is visible, intuitive, that meanders here and there to maintain continuity between art portals, elevators, loading zones, we can to minimize or hide to the bike lane. it needs to be visible for people writing as well as people walking on the streets. it is really important. we also need to consider implementation. and asphalt lane would be slightly cheaper and quicker to get in the ground, not to mention more comfortable to ride on. pavers can be a little bit jarring for people writing whereas asphalt, if it is smooth and it is a relatively comfortable ride. with regards to the pedestrian right-of-way, as we have heard, the brick sidewalks have been an impediment to market street being accessible to all. we can't trade accessibility and safety for ecstatic concerns here. we need to hold onto the main goals of the project and not go against them. preserving surface elements is shortsighted and would be a disservice to market street's future users. so ultimately the best way to preserve the legacy is to reimagine it. now we have no bicycle facilities. it is an embarrassment to san francisco. thousands of writers at peak hour and there is nothing in the lurch with buses, and drivers, and people are dying because of it. thank you for your support for the project as proposed and for allowing some concessions for historic preservation to push safety and accessibility. >> thank you. any other member of the public wishes to speak? step up. >> good afternoon, commissioners i am here representing walk san francisco. walk s.f. is the only pedestrian advocacy organization in san francisco with the goals of ending pedestrian deaths and serious injuries on our streets as well as improving our street and sidewalk so that more people choose to walk every day. i'm here to express walk s.f.'s position on the better market street project in the near for clear separation between the sidewalk and the protected bike lane based on safety needs. market street is a place where half a million people walk every single day, and yet it is one of our most dangerous streets. collision reports show us the fifth and market intersection is the most dangerous intersection in our city, and just a few weeks ago, a 79-year-old woman lost her life at that intersection. because the data shows that people are being hit and killed along market street, we need to do something to change these unnecessary tragedies from continuing to occur. the better market street plan, with its improved intersections and sidewalk level bike lanes, will make the streets safer. our interest is keeping people safe, especially on the sidewalk , and this is why we supports the sidewalk level bike lane, and believes that the different materials including the delineator between the sidewalk and the bike lane are necessary. that material selection is a calculated choice for safety, whether it is that of a bicycle rider or a person with disabilities. month ago we went to observe the studies to test the materials with a blind person, and it was fascinating to watch. the different material types make an incredible difference, and the information -- and the information that a seeing impaired person is able to comprehend. this is the type of the research -- type of research that they are conducting and we are supportive of these measures. we hope that you will be, too thank you. >> thank you. any other member of the public wishes to address this item? >> commissioners, i spoke with you earlier. we were looking backwards, now we are looking forwards. i chair the better market street citizen's working group. we have heard from a couple of members already. we have members who are from the disability community, from building owners and managers association, walk san francisco, transferred riders coalition, bike coalition from the hotels, the new residential buildings, business owners, the c.b.d.s, all of the stakeholders that we can find which are involved, roughly 24 members. what we are trying to do is revitalize an historic corridor and bring it into the 21st century. this actually has the same use as it had in 1847 when it was first laid out from the ferry building to twin peaks, which is why it was a straight angle. it is possible that the horses that were using market street at that time are today replaced by electric scooters. [laughter] but the concept is the same, and everything you have heard up until now on this hearing is to just do that, to bring it into the 21st century. it is going to change again. our predecessors in this room and on the podium are going to hear this, maybe 40 or 50 years from now, and there will be more changes, but again, the concept doesn't change, so i hope we have your support on this. >> thank you. any other public comment? we will close public comment and bring it back to the commission. commissioners? commissioner pearlman? >> all i can say is geez, it is, you know, an incredibly vast amount of information, and i really honor all of those who have been involved and their commitment to doing this. it is really startlingly complex , and in reference to mr. miguew long it has been this way, many of you have seen the 1906 film going up market street, and it is just chaos. there's cars that are new at the time and they are zooming across , there are people walking in the streets and there's trolleys, and there's bicycles, there's everything. this is clearly not a very new problem that we are addressing here. i just want to thank everybody. i think that the overall concept and design, i'm not a big fan of the bricks anyway, so losing them is not something that i regret. also we have had a lot of discussion about the passive gold light standards, and i think we've come to the agreement with the design that has been proposed, so from that point of view, that is one of the few pieces that is, you know , it is a landmark on the street, it is one of the few pieces that we really had some discussion of, some say over. i think for the rest of it, it is out of our wheelhouse, and i think the work that is being done is fantastic. i heartily support the direction that it is going. >> thank you. commissioner john's? >> will there be some allowance made for the samuel's clock? >> yes. >> it will remain. all of the landmarks and historic features like that will remain. >> how you view the bricks on market street is, i think, a function of age. if i am correct, they were installed after art was put in. i consider them, at that time, to be any fishes interloper. [laughter] the bricks were the wrong kind, they were always too soft, so as far as from a preservation point of view, i don't think the bricks were ever legitimate. they were somebody's attempt to improve it, and i think it was bad. i am very happy to go back to cement or this, although, i just observed personally, i think it is going to make it a rather sinister street with all of this black and grey. it will just be dark, and i think not appealing, but it will hide the dirt. [laughter] >> i have a couple comments. i continue to be concerned about the zigzag and it is not my expertise, but i'm concerned that our pedestrian zone is being narrowed and that the transit zone is getting widened, and i think that even as it is now, the bicycle transit that happens on market street is incredibly fast, so now we will have a very fast-moving vehicle between the buses and the pedestrians, so i have great concern on that. i do like the paving. i really like the treatment of the paving and the granite when the intersections come together, that is a really nice detail, and we will have, i believe another opportunity to review the alignment of the path of gold lights, because i believe there will be something then he skipped finalized with us. okay. anything else? thank you as commissioner pearlman said. this is an amazing amount of work. thank you. >> don't forget these. [laughter] >> they will place is on items nine a through d. >> it is a pilates based movement and education studio founded in 1992 by a master instructor. she is a second-generation pilates instructor and designed one of the first teacher training programs in california and wrote pilates for dummies and invented a new pilates apparatus. in 2002, the business moved to its current location on valencia street, and although the business is not yet 30 years old , it is eligible for listing on the legacy business registry because it faces a significant risk of displacement. the business is currently in negotiation and facing a potentially significant rent increase. the features that we are recommending for safeguarding our the -- for safeguarding our the pilates and movement therapy services for a all ages and body , the training and certificate program, their business services for movement professionals, the building's façade, including the original double doors, windows, cornice, and mouldings, the business culture that embraces the community diversity and total well-being, and their direct generational line to the founder of the discipline. the next applicant his la raza sentry legal. they are a community-based legal organization dedicated to empowering low-income communities in san francisco to advocate for their civil and human rights. it was founded in san francisco by a group of latino students from the university of california hastings college of law in 1974. they worked out of location from 1973 to 1989 before cobol and moving to their current location at 474 valencia street. the site opened its doors in 1972 and they wrench their offices to a variety of organizations in order to create a safe space for the indigenous community to advance culturally and politically in northern california. staff is recommending the following features to be safeguarded. they're their not-for-profit legal advocacy and social justice services, their commitment to upholding the community's heritage, cultural values and art forms, and programming addressing immigrants, seniors, disabled, and workers' rights. third applicant is located at 20 923rd street. it is a japanese restaurant founded in 1987 in the dogpatch neighborhood. it started in the restaurant businesses a bartender on pine pine and van ness in 1962. in 2006, under new management, they got -- he got the help he needed to realize his dream of a cuisine with finely crafted cocktails. they are not concerned with authentic japanese cuisine, with focused on how the employees and their heritage and passions influence the japanese-style and cuisine at the restaurant. the restaurant now has a reputation as one of the best sushi restaurants in san francisco as well as housing one of the largest japanese whiskey collections in the city. the features and traditions that were rec -- we recommending for safeguarding are there high-quality japanese cuisine whiskey collection, the rotating art, including their exterior mural projects. and last is the san francisco -- [indiscernible] the event centre was established in 1962 under the leadership of smac -- [indiscernible] today it is one of the largest residential training and practice centres outside of asia since 1969, the center's main location has been at 300 page street. this building which was originally the emmanuel resident 's club was designed to support residential community with small rooms for borders on the upper floors and large communal spaces on the lower floors for activities. although the property is not currently listed in any national or state or local registries, the planning department does recognize the property as a historic resource because it was found to be eligible for listing for its architectural significance. it is julia morgan designed building, constructed in 1922. staff is recommending the following features and traditions to be safeguarded. the traditional event practices and vision, these spaces for quiet reflection, meditation, and compassion, including the courtyard garden and large common room, the balance of residential and educational spaces, a focus on service and interacting with communities outside the event centre, and last, staff is recommending that the original features of the morgan designed building be included, although they were not exclusively called out with the applicants. we have added that to the draft resolution. that concludes my presentation unless you have questions. >> thank you. commissioners? >> i will open it up for public comment. there are some speaker cards. >> hello. thank you for that presentation. my name is tracy sylvester and i am grateful for an opportunity to be able to put a face to the application and to my request to be considered for legacy business. on behalf of the entire team at pilates, we would be honoured for this to be reviewed. we are dedicated to serving the citizens of san francisco for many years to come. our goal is to help our clients who live their lives strong and vibrant so that they can participate in fully -- fully and positively. we find that as a whole, well-being helps people beyond what they are doing in their daily lives and have the verve and excitement to be able to be participating as citizens. myself, one of the things that i am grateful for is that the business is sustained -- has sustained so many years of ups and downs in the economy. we survived the fire, and i am able to, is a business owner, step outside of my business and participate in the community and consider myself a leader in the business community. i work with the american bone health as an educator to spread the awareness of bone diseases and a spokesperson for them. i work to provide scholarships for schools as a vocational training school to help people become pilates instructors. we give them above living wages and they can survive in the city the scholarships or through the hispanic chamber of commerce and we are able to help underserved populations be able to provide education where as traditionally not covered by any type of federal aid or state aid because it is an offshoot of vacation -- vocational training and more continuing education for adult education. we do local school donations and always providing certificates to help our community raise money for their schools. we have seen generations of people coming through our programs and our clients. i am a member of the b.c. ma, which is the valencia corridor association. i'm a member of the hispanic chamber of commerce, and i am also a delegate for the san francisco council of merchants. being able to be here enabled me to participate more fully as a citizen and be available to step outside my business and engage. i'm currently under lease negotiations for a ten year lease and i am faced with my landlord stating that she would like to double the rent. unfortunately that would not allow us to maintain a business in san francisco and our business is reliant on our neighborhood and our community. moving too far off the corridor would put our business in danger my landlord knows i am applying for legacy business and has our negotiations on hold to see what is available to provide resources in finding ways to use the city resources for helping negotiation, and i do have a long-term plan for the building. we are a completely 100% occupied affordable on valencia street, and we would hope to be in a position to be able to buy the building. i wanted to thank you for your time and consideration and i feel like this is such a prestigious honor and i hope that consider us. thank you. >> thank you. sherry steiner? okay. we will come back to it. amanda alvarado? >> good afternoon. my name is amanda. i am an immigration attorney as well as executive director. good afternoon. i am really honoured to be here today because we have been around for 45, almost 46 years, serving the immigrant community of san francisco and the wider bay area. we actually have a little bit of a deceiving name because even though our name is -- [speaking spanish] -- the vast majority of our clients are bilingual and bicultural or monolingual spanish-speaking immigrants from the wider diaspora of spanish-speaking nations. we help everyone, all immigrants are welcome, and we have represented clients from all different continents, any multitude of different languages and cultures over the years. since we're founded in 1973 by a latin -- latin x. law students. one thing i want -- one thing i wanted to mention is that we are in a building that is actually dedicated to san francisco nonprofits. we will -- we are one of five owners, and our placement there at the corner of 16th and valencia, and a bright orange building, enables numerous tenants to do their valuable work. if we were honoured by being granted a legacy business status , then not only would we be helping the multitudes of immigrants who cross our threshold every year, to whom we provide very valuable immigration representation in san francisco immigration courts daily, individuals seeking asylum, as well as individuals with affirmative applications at the samson street office, we also have a workers rights program where we helped countless individuals in the city of san francisco who are facing unfair labour practices and all sorts of employer abuses in their workplaces. we also have a senior law elder law program, so we truly represent the most vulnerable of san francisco residents. when they come to us, it is because they have a serious legal problem, and they know that we have the particular training, we are licensed attorneys, we are trained paralegals, we get our work done so we are all culturally competent and up to the minute with the latest legal developments. we are the place where people trust. so it has been a place where people come to us generation after generation for their immigration, workers rights, traditionally housing law, as well. we have offered eviction defence services, as well and we are currently experiencing a tiny gap in funding but we are back right now with a generous grant from the state bar of california , which we were just offered. finally, i want to mention, we have actually been honoured by the san francisco district attorney's office in 2017 for our dedication and numerous cases which we took on as referrals from their office for immigrant victims of crime. at the moment we are expanding our immigration legal program to assist immigrant victims of human trafficking and that is a very, very vital need in our community. in addition to serving san francisco, we have a few smaller grants to represent clients in the wider bay area, including norcal in general, as well as santa clara and san mateo county that said, more than 90% of our clients are in the city and county of san francisco. so i just once again want to say thank you very much for considering our application. we are so proud to offer licensed legal services to the community of san francisco. my -- by licensed qualified attorneys, and we look forward to continuing to do so in a very proud, bicultural, by literate way for decades to come. >> thank you so much. >> thank you, commissioners. i'm the current g.m. at moshi moshi. i'm here because our owner of fortune he fell ill and when -- was unable to come. he wanted to come in and thank you for reviewing his application. as was presented earlier, he is a long-term resident of san francisco. he was a bartender years ago. him and a few other japanese gentlemen bought that building, bought that bills -- business turned into nico's sushi. he moved down to the dogpatch 30 years ago. he has been a very important part of the dogpatch community. if any of you have been out there recently, dogpatch is changing. thank you very much. >> great. thank you. >> good afternoon. i am the front of house manager at moshi moshi. i want to add to what he had to say that when everything started to get developed there and they came and offered multimillion dollars for that corner lot that he bought 303 years ago, he said to them, my legacy is worth more than money. if anything, his legacy business , he deserves that status. >> thank you. any other comments from the public? close public comment. commissioners? >> thank you. it is really an amazing group of businesses that we have before us today. there is unspeakable variety. not only as far as what they do, but the groups that they serve. i think it is just wonderful. i must say that i was particularly focused on the law group because i am on the board of governors of hastings college of the law and i always like to see our graduates make good. [laughter] i support granting, recommending that we grant legacy standing to each and every one of these wonderful folks. >> thank you. commissioner pearlman? >> thank you for being here and participating in the program. i am saddened and not surprised about the pilates studio and the desire for the landlord to double their rent. it is this that fact of san francisco now. it almost brought tears to my eyes to hear someone who's legacy is not about money, what is about food, and moshi moshi is the only one i have actually been to of the four presented here today, but i always say this, all of you are san francisco. you are the ones who make san francisco san francisco, and even though i used to live in dogpatch for many, many years, and have witnessed the changes that are happening there, and even though they are changing, that is why we want you all to be part of san francisco for now and into the future. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> i too want to thank you. it is tough, tough to be a small business person in this city. and for you to have the courage and the tenacity to keep going, especially when you are faced with a tremendous rent increase, is something really admirable. and as a former alumni of hastings, i used to work very closely as a law student with those students, and we weren't lawyers at the time, but we try to do as much volunteer activity in the legal services community as possible. your particular organization is needed more now than ever with what we are facing in today's world. thank you for doing what you do. moshi moshi, it is my former boss' favorite place. he had no idea what moshi moshi meant, but would call it all kinds of names and say, you know , it is that place on the corner, so i'm so glad that your owner is so proud of keeping the tradition of japanese cuisine alive. i'm sorry that no one is here from the san francisco zen centre because that is a great place. it is a place where many people though to seek respite from today's crazy world. i am very proud and supportive of all of you today. >> thank you. commissioner block? >> again, it is such a pleasure to be able to thank you for all that you have done where the city. i know several people who are members of the zen centre who find it a very important place to go and be grounded. i am a frequent customer at moshi moshi. it is a fabulous place. the food is great. the drinks are great. i want to say that i appreciate all the efforts to preserve the building at eh as pilates. i think it is wonderful. i hope you're able to purchase the building and stay forever, you know, it looks like a dedicated group of customers that use it all the time. your presence is so felt. i live nearby and your presence is so felt in the community. thank you all very much. and just as my fellow commissioner said, it is really hard to be a small business in san francisco. we applaud you all for hanging in there. >> thank you. >> i had a quick comment about this and center. i used to live near there and i would walk by quite frequently and noticed the building. i did not know it was a julia morgan building. i am wondering if there might be some interest in looking to landmark it if they would have an interest. it is just a comment, obviously, not anything we can do here, but it is a really gorgeous structure. >> it is. >> i don't think it is on our program. >> it is not. >> okay. thank you very much. congratulations. >> do we have a motion? >> i'm sorry. [laughter] i'm getting ahead of myself. thank you. >> i move that we do that. >> second. >> thank you, commissioners. on that motion to adopt recommendations for approval for the legacy business applications ... [roll call] >> so moved. that motion passes unanimously 5 -0. >> where would we be without each other? >> now congratulations. [laughter]. >> that will place us on item ten. this is a certificate of appropriateness. >> good afternoon, commissioners i am with planning department staff. the project before you is a request for certificate of appropriateness for the property which is a contributor to the liberty hill landmark district. the proposed project involves replacement of an existing fence at the front of the property which was constructed without benefit of the building permit or a certificate of appropriateness. the application is a required action to partially abate an active enforcement case. the department has received one letter of support after the publication of the packet, which is available for your review today as requested. department staff recommends approval with modifications in order to meet the secretary of interior standards and article ten as follows. the project sponsor shall remove all existing nonpermitted work, the proposed plan shall be restricted to 10 feet in height is measured from grade to the peak of the fence, it shall be set back from the front façade to align with the location of the closest window on the site elevation, it will be wood or metal material and shall be 75% open. the fence and is structural supports shall not be attached to the historic building. the sponsor should demonstrate the location of code compliant offstreet parking and plans, or remove the curb cut and restore on street parking. the sponsor shall provide documentation to staff or schedule site visits once the work is completed to verify compliance with the approved plans and these conditions. i'm available for any questions and this concludes my presentation. >> don't go yet. where is the fence? can you point it out? >> it is at the front of the property. >> is a little gable. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. >> excuse me. >> is this the project sponsor? >> is five minutes enough? >> five minutes. >> you can speak now. >> you have five minutes to make a presentation. >> i will go quickly. >> my name is jan. this concerns the property, a three unit property. i own these buildings. michel grossman michelle grossman is the co-owner of the property. i'm sure you know the history of this. on this sign, what is interesting to me as it said 1865. i never got it back that far. to me that is mind-boggling to the imagination. i love this property, and i have to beg to differ with what natalia has said. if i am forced to take down or move the gable, and you can see the front sheet is before, and the second is after the work was done when i painted it. if i'm forced to take it down, if it is left alone and i'm granted a variance and acoa, then nothing happens and all is good. if i'm forced to take it down or move it, so me bad things will happen that i have lost 10 pounds this past year worrying about it. please look at the pros and cons sheet. that concerns the property personally. most worrisome is that if the gable private safety fence is gone or replaced by flimsy lattice, any intruder or invasion crew could climb over, giving that person access to not only the three units on the property but also to the backyard of every house on the black pit -- block. it is the only way in. so the safety concern is the main reason the repairs were made so substantially to look like it is part of the building in keeping with its victorian neighbors. my family, my brother and his wife and my parents brought this -- bought this property in 1985. i moved onto it in 1991 as a tenant. my mom came to live with us with alzheimer's in 2,000. my brother moved back to the property and changed it into two separate units. when my mom passed away 2008, i was given the property. i took possession of it. it hadn't been painted since 1985. i loved the architecture of san francisco and wanted a handsome painted lady before i died. handsome because the house has a masculine feel. i couldn't get a loan. i say for almost a decade and finally got the money. i only painted the original house. i didn't do anything else. as you can see in the before picture, the part above the gate which is being called to the fence, it was disick -- disintegrating and way out of proportion, contributing nothing this is what was done. first, the patching was considered but it was too damaged. thirteen of the original 16 freestanding horizontal planks were taken down, leaving three original in place. the 13 taken down or replaced by eight planks, soundly structured and solidly anchored. the bottom four plans -- planks were replaced horizontally in the top four tapering into a peak which is open on the sides. the gable now stands at 12 feet. the perfect height to deter an intruder. if lowered to 10 feet, somebody could easily climb over. the gable does not touch either house. there's a quarter inch in between. the house itself is set back 12 feet from the curb. the cost to do this work was $600. 500 for the construction, 104 painting, i was told i didn't need a permit if work is $500 or less and that is why i don't have a permit. we're just talking about the gable and the gabled fence. building inspector fred came out to the property. he said the work was fine, but i would have to get a back permit and pay a fine. i worried that two days later he called to say that planning had reopened the case that he had closed. planning gave the option of replacing the whole thing with bars. nobody who lives on the property wanted that, and that certainly wouldn't suit the house or liberty hill. the other option was to move the gable back 3 feet to the tune of an estimated ten to $15,000. it is in the letter from grace fagan who is a city designated general contractor. he came out ended in estimate and looked at the work and wrote the letter you have in front of you. that is a lot of money for a senior citizen of, a 70-year-old on a fixed income. i will not belabour that because i know that doesn't influence you at all but that is a lot of money. i had thought that building and planning where the same, and now that i have learned not only are they separate but they are at loggerheads about many things including my property. when i got a code enforcement letter from murray seo hernandez because i wasn't paying, i decided we had -- i went to see him and he called it is simple job. he said the building was fine with the work and they wanted to get planning to take the hold off the permit that they had put on so that the stuck permit in building could move forward in the case be closed. planning has refused. one of planning's -- they say the fence could only go 10 feet high and i explained why that is not good for us. we do not want people on that property who do not belong there with access to everybody's backyard. in that packet of 50 signatures and comments from neighbors who support leaving the gable as is, i also included two letters from two neighbors who wanted to be here and could not so i attached it to that. i invite you to drive by the house on 21st street between valencia. these are all my neighbors and they have taken the time to come out here to support the gable as it is. i thank you all very much. thank you. we all want the same thing. we want this property to be secure, for it to look beautiful , into look like it fits on liberty hill and i believe it does. okay. i don't know if this is the place to take this up, one i was reading the material, i noticed i had been given another charge by planning. that is that natalia is not sure if the driveway is compliant. the driveway which was there when my family bought it in 1985 it is exactly the same. when this became a historic designation in 1985, that gable was there exactly as it is. there is no reason to destroy it natalia says if i cannot prove there is a driveway that is compliant, she would take away the parking place that goes in the driveway by putting up a curb where the curb cut is now. i don't know how i can prove that this driveway is compliant beyond anything i have just told you. thank you for your consideration i hope you see fit to grant this with a certificate of appropriateness and exactly as it is now, and a variance. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> any questions? >> i do have one question. >> at the end of what you were talking about, you said there was a gable on this fence when your family bought it? >> what was there when it was on the fence is that picture. that is what it was like. that is what it was like from 1985 when we got it until i painted it in 2018. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> okay. we have quite a few of your neighbors here. i expect that you're all probably going to say the same thing, so if you could indulge us, great. [indiscernible] great. please limit comments to a minute unless you have something different than what another speaker may say, if that is okay just line up on one side or the other. neck hello, everybody. i am pleased to be here because i know that the conservation and historic district preset of my neighborhood have really influenced my neighborhood very, very positively. i live two doors down from this building. i am not getting this to behave. there we go. when i -- what i wanted to say is concept of having a gable, which has been named as a flighty idea that might have happened, it might have occurred some morning when she got up on the wrong side of the better something, is actually very directly done to be in keeping with our neighborhood. i want to draw, first i want to draw your attention to the aerial photo, which i don't know , does this work? >> we will give you one more minute since you are representing the neighborhood association. >> okay. i was told i had three? >> we're going to limit it because we have a lot of speakers. >> i know, but what i'm saying is different from what everyone else is doing. i would appreciate a little bit more time. anyway, if you take a look at this aerial photo, you will see that the building is here. you guys have a colored version, but i printed this one. the building is here. here are the backs of the buildings. here is the back of the building on our particular block. all of the back your neighbors, including myself right here are in danger if there is a flimsy fence instead of the existing. much more in keeping with what the commission originally said was that they did not like the idea of the fence being the same as the other victorians. i point to the other victorians here in the picture, and also they are on your parcel map, and it show down the street there are 14 properties. of those 14, six have a flat front in the front of a property , and they cover the side passageway. the side passageway was created by the victorians in order -- >> thank you, your time is up. >> i want to show you one more picture. this is one of the designated buildings three doors down. it has a straight façade, and the driveway right in the front. >> thank you, ma'am. you can submit that later. >> i can submit those? >> you can submit those. >> your time is up. >> okay. >> thank you very much. [indiscernible] >> thank you. >> is this thing broken now? >> can you hear me? my name is francesca. i am reading a statement very quick from tate goldberg. i will read it exactly as she wrote it. she she's a homeowner, neighbor, approximately four houses removed on the same side of the street. i feel it is a long time, 56 years and a resident of san francisco, this call is misplaced and misperceived. she is and has been taking excellent care of her historic victorian cottage using good taste and good judgement, the building has only been improved by her stewardship. as it stands, the house represents the diversity and whimsy of much of san francisco. a disagreement has reached foolish levels of bureaucracy and minutia. the cottage is a gift to the block. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> hello. i am a retired preschool teacher and a friend of jan's. we have several things in common we walk our dogs and we have our houses. i remember when she was planning this painting job and how carefully and how dedicated she was to make it look beautiful. we commiserated about how many things we have to do with our old houses, and she did a fantastic job. i still walk by with my dog and admire the beautiful cottage. is that the end? >> you have 30 more seconds. >> i admire it. it looks beautiful. i'm concerned about the stress that she is under because it seems like harassment because there is such minutia that is in opposition to what looks like of lovely cottage at arcot -- lovely cottage and it fits so well in our neighborhood. i hope that she gets approved and gets away from all of this stress. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners thank you so much for taking the time to hear my remark. my name is mary and i am speaking on behalf of of me and my wife. we have been long term residents of san francisco, although we are not homeowners. i'm a in a of jan's and i want you to know what caused this has brought to our neighborhood. it is hard to live in san francisco. we need each other, we need to help each other. what you have is an anonymous complaint system that has been hijacked by neighbors who have multiple problems with multiple people. jan is a retired san francisco in her seventies, and she should not -- this should not be the topic of conversation when i say hi, jan, good morning, how are you? this is all that has been on her mind since it began, and i really disagree with the additional complaints that have been brought against her very recently. thank you so much for hearing me i appreciate this process and i hope you can hear the rest of my neighbors, too. i know it has been a very long day for us. >> thank you.

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