commissioners. my name is brian reyes. i'm a local 21 member, and i also work as a 5638 climate [inaudible] with the department of environment. i've been incredibly lucky to work with debbie and everyone up and down the staff in the department of environment. i'd like to thank everyone responsible for providing the funding for this department. [inaudible] as many know, i'm a climate analyst responsible for developing the city's climate action plan as part of the team and engaging all stakeholders in the agency and public and global networks, all of which are responsible for giving san francisco its reputation of being an avant garde city when it comes to climate -- avante-garde city when it comes to climate protection. we can't continue to rely on provisional funding to support our team's efforts and build staff capacity to address the growing climate emergency. so there is a very real chance that the city will receive the $600 million, and we also learned this month that the city actually has a budget surplus of $125 million that does not include federal funding or additional fema reimbursements the city will receive. the city has the funding to support this department. commissioners, enjoy working with you all, and i urge you to vote yes on this resolution. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comment. i will unmute our next caller now. >> hi, commissioners. good evening. my name is sylvia plat, and i am a local 21 member, and i am one of two climate change analysts at the department of environment serving the entire city of san francisco. i want to say that i cannot imagine working for a better department or living in a better city where we do have a strategic vision, and our impact can have such a positive impact on san francisco residents in an unmatched way. since coming on board in 2016, i've led the effort to develop the methane mass report, which is the basis for the city's unanimously approved legislation to enforce the city's natural gas ban in new construction. i engage and provide technical assistance and climate advice to other city agencies, and currently, i'm coordinating the development of the city's climate action plan, which is a key road map to enforcing actions and strategies that allow us to be proactive in the climate change front. as part of this climate work, we also have a commitment to advance our racial equity goals and science overlap with this climate emergency and identify the real ramifications in our marginalized at-risk communities. unfortunately, it is work like this that is currently at risk if we don't get budget funding for departments. like stated earlier, now it's -- our job's on the line , but a few months ago, it was other people's. >> it would be very easy to put down 10, 50, $100 million per year. we might not get it now, but we will get in front of the board of supervisors and the mayor, and we know that they will have to pay attention down the road to us. it's not acceptable to put a number down now. i know how politicians work. if you don't get their attention now, they will ignore you going forward. we don't have time to research all the various plans and how we're going to get the money, we need the money now. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comment. i will unmute our next caller now. >> hi, this is daniel tehara, district eight, member of the san francisco climate action coalition. [inaudible] and after is an indictment of our elected officials to claim that climate change is an existential threat and yet do nothing to address it except offer their words. that includes the mayor who asked us to made cuts in this budget -- make cuts in this budget, after which the easy first step of banning natural gas in negate construction, they haven't addressed climate change as quickly as they should. the climate system in which our current goals do not have a stable source of funding and are dependent on other funds or external grants affects our position as a climate leader. this is a mockery of our climate goals and the work the department does. if we're debating about the short-term funding gap and primarily asking to be made whole, we're losing the war. if we're praying for stimulus money as a get out of jail free card, we're playing the wrong game. we need to stop thinking about the money that we're given from recology and others and start thinking about the money that we can claim. we need to start moving the process along. the process is broken. my parting message is this: ask for the world or there won't be any left, and commissioner, if you'd like our help in asking for a meeting with the supervisor, we'd be happy to help. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comment. i'm going to unmute the next comment now. -- unmute the next caller now. hello? [inaudible] >> clerk: okay. if you have the meeting on another device, you might need to mute it. >> okay. can you hear me? >> clerk: go ahead. sorry. try one more time. >> okay. i think you can hear me, so i will speak now. >> clerk: okay. i will reset your timer. >> hi. my name is sarah greenwald, and i live in supervisor stefani's district. the paris climate accord asks what countries the conditions will fall in the amount we need by 2030. they're on course to go down by 1%, and i know you have -- the city's priorities, the city is dealing with three major catastrophies: the pandemic and climate change. with climate change, there will be introductions of new diseases. we know that many things cause homelessness, but with more and more weather catastrophies, many more people around the world and country will see disasters from climate change, destroying their home. i see san francisco's climate action plan having to beg the city to restore this department's portion of the city budget to its previous level of less than 100th of 1%. this is madness. now people in houston still don't have water today because their pipes froze in the storm and they didn't have enough plumbers and pipes to fix it. it's not just the storm, it's that the city had no plan. we are heading into a chaos without precedent -- this is what i want you to tell the city, okay? that we are heading into a chaos without precedent, and we will not be able to handle it unless we've got plans, so we damn well better invest and make sure that these plans are as good quality as humanly possible, so your task is to make the city give s.f.e. what it needs to put us in motion against the climate emergency following well crafted flexible plans, and i wish you the very best, and we'll do what we can to help you. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comment. i will unmute our next caller now. >> hi. my name is helena buricke, and i'm a member of the climate reality project. i couldn't agree more with all of the public comment that has been made today, and i want to thank the department of the environment and the commissioners for sounding the alarm that we need stable emergency level funding for climate action and climate justice. quoting supervisor wald, without implementation, we can't achieve -- are not going to achieve our policy goals. it is devastating to see even the city where i live and was born fail to meet its actions on the climate emergency. i should have 50 to 55 more years to live. my niece, born last year, would be 80 in 2100. the san francisco climate mission, adopted by the city in 2000, says climate change poses a threat to human stability and existence, yet san francisco's climate budget is 1% of 1% of san francisco's budget. that's 1/10,000th. that's a tiny amount. it is ludicrous that we are not getting funding from the city for the emergency that it declared. i am imploring my mayor, london breed, and my supervisor, hillary ronen, to put its money where its mouth it. we need to not just add back to cuts, but we need to analyze the costs and resources required to implement an emergency response, to eliminate global warming to 1.5 c, identify durable long-term funding sources for san francisco environment, a clean energy building hub, and the city's climate action broadly, and we need to properly fund staff at the level needed to do this urgent work so that they can stop spending 25% of their time scraping together grants to implement their programs. this is about the future and it's about healths and equity right now. how many deaths would have been avoided if people living near freeways would not have been breathing in the particulates from cars. we need real -- >> clerk: okay. your time is up. thank you for your comment. i'm going to unmute our next caller now. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is mora mcknight, and i am executive director of the business climate change in san francisco. we have a long-standing history of collaborating with the department of the environment around climate ambitions. i strongly support both restoring this funding in the short-term and finding long-term sustainable funding streams in the future so san francisco can continue to be a global leader in addressing this threat. this moment is exactly the wrong time to take our foot off the gas on climate leadership and program implementation. to achieve an economic recovery that is rooted in the health and prosperity of all of its residents, the city must continue to prioritize sustainable actions and climate actions. we need strong programs on the climate space in order to implement elements of president biden's recovery plan and to build back better, and we need to align with this and have the staff to do the work. we also need the staff to provide technical support around the very challenging goals that lie ahead of us. all the low hanging fruit has already been picked. the challenges ahead are very, very complicated, and i know i'm preaching to the choir. at bc-3, we focus on building transportation and decarbonization recovery. many businesses located in san francisco take great pride in the pioneering work of this department, and we know that a number of residents and employees of these businesses based here are hungry for the kind of leadership that is laid out in the climate action plan. our organization looks forward to collaborating with the department and the mission on the long-term funding strategies that you are planning. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. we'll unmute our next caller now. >> hello. my name is katie [inaudible], and i recently retired after 12 years of the sustainability manager at genentech. i now serve as the chair on the business organization on climate change. i both support restoring this funding in the short-term and finding long-term funding so that san francisco can continue to be a model for california, the u.s., and the world in addressing climate change. i believe the s.f.e.s climate work has been instrumental in enforcing san francisco's leadership and make san francisco be the kind of company that our member companies want to be located in. also our member company employees are demanding climate action and want to live and work in a city that share their concern for the environment. i thank you for this resolution. thank you so much for your efforts. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. i will unmute our next caller now. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is jeff whitesall, and i live in district nine. i'd like to add my voice to the voices speaking here tonight. i do want to echo something that many of the callers tonight have said, which is that the existing funding model for the department of the environment, with no sustainable reliable sources of funding, that that's a ridiculous way to fund such an important work, and the paragraph and the resolution that was most discussed that include -- included the language, the c.o.e. asked the mayor and the board to increase funding. i have to say i found that incredibly polite given how important and substantial that is, the funding model is so inadequate, and i felt like commissioner wald's amendment or extra language improved its own, but i think you could set up even more because someone really needs to get punched in the nose about this. there's so much important work that the department of the environment has to do. we just had this incredible success moving to all electric new construction, but there's next steps where we have to, like, start working on our existing -- how are we going to fund that work? if the board and the mayor wants to show that they're sincere about addressing the climate emergency, they need to come up with a serious way to fund this department. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comment. i will unmute our next caller now. >> hi, this is joanie eisen, a resident of district 10 and member of climate action coalition. thank you for convening this meeting. director raphael's presentation about everything that can't get done really scared me. a city's budget reflects its values. how can we tell our kids and grand kids that we didn't value or health and safety or anyone else's for that matter to meet our climate goals in time to avoid catastrophy. with no accessible levels of funding, san francisco doesn't have any idea of what implementing the financial plan will cost. that can't be allowed to happen, and we certainly can't allow reducing its current budget, which is so inadequate any way. so when the city allows the department charged with overseeing climate action to have pathetically low money, all other departments can feel free to ignore its mandates, all of which are urgent. i believe this is both fiscally and morally wrong. please, commissioners, make your case to the mayor and supervisors that for s.f.e. to depend on work orders from other departments and for them to squander valuable staff time writing grant proposals is appalling and will have tragic results. this wealthy city in the wealthiest country in the world should be leading by example. the climate emergency deserves nothing less than its own line item in the city budget starting this year. at the same time, we should be putting a price on carbon emissions. show the world what real san francisco values look like. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comment, and i will unmute our next caller now. >> good evening, commissioners, and director raphael. i'm very encouraged to hear the discussion tonight about the recognition and importance of more funding. i'd like to reiterate the comments of helen bericke earlier. the climate crisis is incredibly complex. the interactions are incredible and often hidden, and the opportunities with new technology to take advantage of low energy heat for increasing efficiency for lower costs has not been investigated. it's critical and particular that s.f.e. develop the plan to make the plan, so understanding how to get the dedicated head count now to map out what's needed on a revolving basis is absolutely essential, and i think i heard that recognized in the discussion, but i wanted to be explicit about that important thing. it's also important to recognize that, as a leader, if san francisco identifies opportunities, there is the chance to partner with other cities and counties to get the budget needed for larger project, and that should be explores, and i thank you for your time, and i thank you for raising this issue tonight. >> clerk: thank you for your comment, and we do have one additional caller in the queue, and so i will unmute our next caller now. >> hello. my name's jeremy brenner. i live in the mission district. i'll keep it short. i just want to reiterate what i've heard that we need a more stable funding source for this department. to only have two climate change analysts for a see of this size and budget and more important for a see that wants to be and has a great opportunity to be a global leader in this area is simply unacceptable. we need a much more stable and healthy budget, so thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comment, and i'm seeing no additional callers in the queue. >> all right. then public comment is now closed. thank you all for your very thoughtful and well articulated feedback. we really appreciate the members of the public that show up time and time again to tirelessly work on behalf of the climate and the citizens of the city. really, really appreciate your time for waiting all this time for your turn in line. appreciate it. all right, commissioners, charles, do we have an amended bit of copy that we can take a look at? >> yes. and so while public comment was happening, i've been working on it to try and encapsulate commissioner wald, commissioner wan, and commissioner sullivan, so that's what i did, so i channelled my inner all three. katie, i worked on the shared document. can you share the document? >> clerk: yes. give me one second. >> so while katie is putting that up, commissioner wald, i took the paragraph and put that on there, and then, based on the comments that i heard from everyone, i tweaked the other paragraph, which we were getting caught up on, and what i have is obviously a suggestion, so we'll take a look at that shortly. so this is the first paragraph that commissioner wald has suggested as an entirely new paragraph. i'm going to read it quickly. further resolved in the face of the climate crisis and the urgent need for san francisco to continue to lead at home as well as nationally and internationally, it is critical that action be taken to address the department's on going stable and sufficient funding to carry out the essential climate and e.v. work that it has been tasked with. that's brand-new. as you can see, the next couple of lines are all struck out. that was the old paragraph and there was some new things put in there, and it's all been struck. here is the sentences of what we were -- we're talking about, so let me see what you think. so further resolved that the commission on the environment also asks the mayor and board, in addition to restoring the reductions, to acknowledge the importance of increasing funding for climate and e.v. initiatives and to work accordingly to accelerate the effort to combat global warming, so i'll pause there. that's the newly revised paragraph. >> commissioners, any feedback on the paragraphs? we should probably take them independently -- on commissioner wald's amended paragraph? i can't see everybody, so you may want to holler out. it looks like everyone's thumbs up. >> looks great. >> all right. and then on the -- what looks like now, the line 18, after the struck paragraph, the piece that charles just readout, any feedback or discussion? >> i think charles did a great job of synthesizing and addressing our need in the future, so that's great. >> anyone else? >> and ditto from me. >> commissioner wald says thumbs up. she's our word smith. >> so thank you. i do have one thing that's a little less complicated. it's the appendix of what we're not going to do. i can walk you through that. it's really simple. we're going to take that language and essentially not make it a powerpoint slide but take that actual language and put it in, what you've already seen in the powerpoint. >> commissioner ahn, does that [inaudible]. >> it does, but it doesn't address the increase in funding, which is, i think, where a lot of our conversation gets muddled. what i was thinking about making the wording more generalized, like list of other programs. this is such small wordsmithing, but yeah, just to make it another category. are other commissioners open to that, about discussing an increase in other types of programming or other areas of department that may need resourcing? >> what i think i'm interested in is discussing the programs that we need? is it a time crunch that we need to pass the resolution that we can start the discussion from now on? and then, the further discussion that we will have to table the request of the operation committee or as a full meeting next time, which is at the end of this month, i think. >> right. so maybe the really important thing to add here is that this -- it's a partial list of programs that won't be funded under, you know, the current circumstances because that allows us to add both other concrete examples if we have them but also to add the kinds of expansions that we would want to be able to do. >> we can add the word partial in there, partial list of programs. >> i was going to suggest that, as well, for me. >> yeah. >> if i may, president stephenson, yeah, this -- what's critical about line 19 is that it's a partial list of programs that will not be funded unless the cut is restored. i think we just need to be really clear that this is a very small universe. this is not programs that won't be funded because we don't have increased funding, this is that cut, so i just -- yeah. unless -- yeah. >> yeah, i think that -- i like the language. i also want to say that i'm fully committed to -- we can have a conversation about our need for funding. i don't expect this conversation to stop any time soon. i expect we're going to have this conversation until we fix the climate crisis, but hopefully, we'll get it taken care of. this is work that i'm committed to doing, and that obviously the department is committed to doing. i hear from the public and from all of my fellow commissioners, that we all -- we see this as the work of this time, so i -- you know, my strong belief is that we need to pass this resolution, we need to support our department, get the money in the door to make sure that we don't lose the programming that we do have and do the hard work of making sure that the leaders of our city understand that we're serious, and we need -- the time is now, and we need help now. >> and on that -- >> how about a motion -- sorry? >> no, on that note, i agree, president stephenson. we've heard today from climate activists, union workers, and department staff, so i'm in favor of pushing this out as quickly as possible and pushing forward what we've heard a lot of speakers today call for. >> thank you, commissioner. all right. so i think what's next up is for a motion to be made to make the amendments as they were stated by charles. do i hear a motion? commissioner wald. do i hear a second? and i can't see everybody. sorry. seconded by commissioner chu, thank you. and then, we vote on the amendment, and then, we're going to have another motion after that. so can we do a roll call vote, please, on the amendment? >> clerk: yes. okay. i will call the roll call vote on the amendment. [roll call] >> all right. the amendment passes. do i hear a motion to approve the amendment -- or not approve the amendment -- to push the resolution forward -- the resolution? >> the motion? >> yes. >> a motion. >> commissioner wan moves. do i hear a second? >> i will second. >> commissioner sullivan seconds. a roll call vote, please. >> clerk: all right. [roll call] >> all right. motion passes. okay. next item, please. >> clerk: all right. we can move onto item 6, adjournment, and with that, the time is 7:26 p.m. thank you for joining us. >> everyone, thank you so much for all of the extra time for special meeting. really appreciate it. >> manufacturing in cities creates this perfect platform for people to earn livelihoods and for people to create more economic prosperity. i'm kate sosa. i'm cofounder and ceo of sf made. sf made is a public private partnership in the city of san francisco to help manufacturers start, grow, and stay right here in san francisco. sf made really provides wraparound resources for manufacturers that sets us apart from other small business support organizations who provide more generalized support. everything we do has really been developed over time by listening and thinking about what manufacturer needs grow. for example, it would be traditional things like helping them find capital, provide assistance loans, help to provide small business owners with education. we have had some great experience doing what you might call pop ups or temporary selling events, and maybe the most recent example was one that we did as part of sf made week in partnership with the city seas partnership with small business, creating a 100 company selling day right here at city hall, in partnership with mayor lee and the board of supervisors, and it was just a wonderful opportunity for many of our smaller manufacturers who may be one or two-person shop, and who don't have the wherewithal to have their own dedicated retail store to show their products and it comes back to how do we help companies set more money into arthur businesses and develop more customers and their relationships, so that they can continue to grow and continue to stay here in san francisco. i'm amy kascel, and i'm the owner of amy kaschel san francisco. we started our line with wedding gowns, and about a year ago, we launched a ready to wear collection. san francisco's a great place to do business in terms of clientele. we have wonderful brides from all walks of life and doing really interesting things: architects, doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, other like minded entrepreneurs, so really fantastic women to work with. i think it's important for them to know where their clothes are made and how they're made. >> my name is jefferson mccarly, and i'm the general manager of the mission bicycle company. we sell bikes made here for people that ride here. essentially, we sell city bikes made for riding in urban environments. our core business really is to build bikes specifically for each individual. we care a lot about craftsmanship, we care a lot about quality, we care about good design, and people like that. when people come in, we spend a lot of time going to the design wall, and we can talk about handle bars, we can see the riding position, and we take notes all over the wall. it's a pretty fun shopping experience. paragraph. >> for me as a designer, i love the control. i can see what's going on, talk to my cutter, my pattern maker, looking at the designs. going through the suing room, i'm looking at it, everyone on the team is kind of getting involved, is this what that drape look? is this what she's expecting, maybe if we've made a customization to a dress, which we can do because we're making everything here locally. over the last few years, we've been more technical. it's a great place to be, but you know, you have to concentrate and focus on where things are going and what the right decisions are as a small business owner. >> sometimes it's appropriate to bring in an expert to offer suggestions and guidance in coaching and counseling, and other times, we just need to talk to each other. we need to talk to other manufacturers that are facing similar problems, other people that are in the trenches, just like us, so that i can share with them a solution that we came up with to manage our inventory, and they can share with me an idea that they had about how to overcome another problem. >> moving forward, where we see ourselves down the road, maybe five and ten years, is really looking at a business from a little bit more of a ready to wear perspective and making things that are really thoughtful and mindful, mindful of the end user, how they're going to use it, whether it's the end piece or a wedding gown, are they going to use it again, and incorporating that into the end collection, and so that's the direction i hear at this point. >> the reason we are so enamored with the work we do is we really do see it as a platform for changing and making the city something that it has always been and making sure that we're sharing the opportunities that we've been blessed with economically and socially as possible, broadening that >> clerk: welcome to the san francisco historic preservation hearing for march 3, 2021. on february 3, 2020, the mayor declared a local state of emergency related to covid-19. on may 19, 2020, the mayor's office authorized all commissions to reconvene remotely. this will be our 18 remote hearing. remote hearings require everyone's attention, and, most of all, your patience. if you are not speaking, please mute your microphone, and to enable public participation, sfgovtv is streaming this hearing live, and we will receive public comment on all items on today's agenda. opportunities to speak on items on today's jaent are available by calling 415-655-0001 and entering access code 187-329-9426. when we reach the item you are interested in, please press star then three to be added to the queue. when you hear that your lined has been unmuted, that is your indication to begin speaking. each speaker will be allowed up to three minutes, and when you have 30 seconds remaining, you will hear a chime indicating your time is almost up. when your allotted time is reached, i will mute your microphone and take the next person queued up to speak. best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak slowly and clearly, and mute the volume on your television or computer. i'd like to take roll at this time. [roll call] >> clerk: thank you. first on your agenda, commission, is public comment. at this time, members of the public may address the commission on interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission except agenda items. there are no members of the public lined up to speak. with that, we can close general public comment and move onto agenda matters. department announcements. >> director hillis: there's no announcements. >>. >> clerk: okay, director hillis. next item, president's report and announcements. >> yes. i'd like to welcome our newest commissioner, commissioner [inaudible], and i'd just like to see if you'd like to make any comments? >> yes. good afternoon, commissioners. i am a licensed architect with 25 years experience. more than 20 of those have been in san francisco and historic preservation. i [inaudible] and classical architecture. i moved to san francisco in 1996 and for the second time. i've worked on vernacular, residential, and commercial districts, and i've worked on some of the most iconic buildings in san francisco as well as socially important buildings that are part of the context and makeup our beautiful city, with that, i'll return it to president matsuda. >> thank you, and welcome again. the only other announcement i have is that the national trust for historic preservation has announced a grant called blocking historic law restaurants, and they will be awarding a grant of $40,000 to 25 restaurants around the country. the only challenge is that the deadline is march 9, 2021. i'm not sure if rick is on the screen here today, but rick has provided us or provided me with a list of the legacy business restaurants, and i am hoping that we can reach out to them to at least inform them of this grant. 40% of the grant can be used for the inside and -- 45% of the grant can be used for the inside of the business and 55% can be used for the other aspects of the business, and that's all. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners. item 3, consideration of adoption draft minutes for february 17, 2021. members of the public, this is your opportunity to speak to the minutes by pressing star then three. seeing no requests to speak at this time, commissioners, the matter is closed and the item is now before you. >> motion to approve. >> second. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners. on that motion to adopt the minutes from february 17, 2021 -- [roll call] >> clerk: so moved, commissioners. that motion passes unanimously, 7-0. item 4, commissioner comments and questions. >> commissioner pearlman, did you have -- >> yes. >> -- a comment or question? >> yes. i just wanted to let the public know that i will not be on the commission after the 24, and i wanted to thank everybody for an amazing eight years. the staff has been amazing. the depth and the depth of the research and the quality that we've gotten overall of these years has been second to none, and thanks to all of my fellow commissioners. i think colleagues become friends over time, and that's been really one of the really pleasures of seeing you every other wednesday or so. this past year has been a sad loss of meeting at annie's hot dogs out in civic center square there to have lunch before the hearings, but i'm hoping that when we can all get back to normal, i can come down there and meet you all for a bite to eat prior to your hearing. but i thank you all for the last eight years, and congratulations, rushira, for joining a great group, and to you, commissioner matsuda, for taking on the reins. >> thank you, commissioner pearlman, for your dedication. we've been a great team, and i hope you will continue to let us know your thoughts as you continue on. >> once i get past my one year ethical period to not call in, i will comment because i would love to continue to participate. you know, this is, you know, one of my loves is both san francisco and history. we welcome that. >> thank you. >> are there any other commissioners that wish to make any type of disclosures or comments or announcements? >> i just wanted to say something in respect to commissioner pearlman. it's been my honor and privilege to serve alongside him in the last 14 months or so. like he said, you know, this is a friendship that is ever going to continue to fluorish, and i'm happy to have had the opportunity to work with you. >> thank you. i'll come back. >> commissioner fleury? >> thank you. we joined at the same time, and you helped us learn. on a disclosure item, i think it's on the ferris wheel, many people have talked to me previous to the first hearing and after this one. just want to disclose that, as well. jonathan, i'm going to miss you, but i'm sure we're going to continue to talk, and i look forward to having a cocktail with you via zoom. >> i look forward to that, and maybe we can have a cocktail party on zoom. >> commissioner johns? >> i think i am the one that seduced commissioner pearlman to annie's hot dogs, and i've enjoyed all of those lunches, but in particular, i've enjoyed the many, many extremely insightful commissioner comments that commissioner pearlman has made, and the deft way that he has helped us solve problems. >> thank you. commissioner black. >> i concur completely with my fellow commissioners. jonathan, you have been such an asset to this commission, and one of the strengths that i saw in you right off the bat and that was really value is your ability to distill down the new construction, the design of new construction that needed to in-fill in a historic district, and you were superb at doing that and working collaboratively with applicants and members of the community to help solve architectural problems, and through the almost three years that i've served on the commission, i've really grown to love your friendship, and i look forward to this period after with you. >> thank you. >> commissioner so, did you have anything else -- >> i actually don't have anything else to add to my comments. >> did anyone else want to make further disclosures about the agenda item number 8? >> yes, i did. i'm sorry. i was contacted by a number of people -- i'm sorry, besieged by those people, and i was also contacted by the mayor's office. >> commissioner johns? >> yes. i, too, was contacted by many people, including the rec and park and the mayor's office about the wheel. >> yes. commissioner so? >> all right. thank you, diane. i really appreciate you conducting this meeting, thank you. it's really hard. i do need to disclose i have a lot of just general public reach out to me, and i -- about the ferris wheel, and also, i have been reached by the mayor's office and other folks in the city? and so that's the disclosure i wanted to share. >> all right. commissioner nagaswaran. >> i was just contacted by parks and rec today, and i think that's all. >> okay. okay. i was contacted by the mayor's office and had a conversation with supervisor chen. >> clerk: [inaudible] alongside all of you for about eight years on this commission, so thank you, former commission president hyland. also, commissioners, i am sad to report that one of our long-standing former members of the planning department, vincent marsh, has passed away. he passed away quietly or peacefully at his home in palm springs in february of this year. he was 72 years old, and he served as the preservation coordinator for san francisco and sacramento. and when i came on or joined the planning department, vincent pretty much was the preservation team to the landmark advisory board at that time, and so i would respectfully request that we adjourn in his eternal memory today. if there's nothing further, commissioners, we can move onto consideration of items proposed for continuance, item number 5, 2020-004724-coa at 1045 sansome street, proposed for continuance to april 7, 2021. members of the public, this is your opportunity to speak to the continuance by pressing star, and three. seeing no members of the public wishing to speak, public comment is now closed, and the item is now before you. >> so moved. >> second to continue. >> clerk: there's a motion and a second. on that motion to continue -- [roll call] >> clerk: so moved, commissioners. that motion passes unanimously, 7-0, putting us under your consent calendar. the matter listed hereunder constitute your consent calendar, considered to be routine by the historic preservation commission and may be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the commission. there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the commission, the public, or staff so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the consent calendar and considered as a separate item at this or a future hearing. item 6, 2021-000208-coa at 1800 mission street. members of the public, this is your opportunity to enter the queue by pressing star, three to enter the queue. seeing no public comment, public comment is closed, and the matter is now before you. >> i move approval. >> second. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners. on that motion, then, to approve item 6 under your consent calendar -- [roll call] >> clerk: yeah, so she looks to be having some technical difficulties. she's logged off at the moment, so we'll mark her absent. so that motion passes unanimously, 6-0. commissioners, that will place us under your regular calendar for items 7-a, b, c, and d for case numbers 2021-001263-lbc, 2021-001264-lbr, 2021-001265-lbr, and 2021-001266-lbr. these are legacy business presentation. staff, are you prepared to make your presentation? >> yes. commissioners, katie willburn with planning commission staff. staff will present on each business and afterwards, the business representatives will have the opportunity to speak on their own behalf during public comment. without further adieu, i'll turn it over to gigi to begin staff presentations. >> can everyone hear me, just to confirm? yes? okay. >> clerk: yes. >> okay. great. good afternoon, commissioners. gigi gunther, planning staff. the first business for consideration is san sun restaurant. it has been owned and operated by the chan family since 1980. also they have a location in the heart of chinatown on washington street. popular with everyone, locals and tourists alike, san son restaurant has -- san sun restaurant has been a staple in chinatown since 1971. diners at san sun that stop in are greeted with friendly faces and are treated to lunch and dinner at one of the two or four person or classic banquet tables. san sun has consistently given back to the chinatown community, most recently, raising money for the chinatown hospital between 2010 and 2012. they donate food and coupons to other charities and dine and donate events. staff is supportive of this application and a resolution recommending the business be added to the legacy business registry. the second legacy business is for uko. it has been owned by founder uko omori since 1986. [inaudible] and lesser known designers from japan to san francisco. since then, ukos inventory has gone from carrying exclusively design [inaudible] in order to have items affordable to all. further, even though uko only carries women's clothing and accessories, its patrons are wide ranging with regard to race, and socioeconomic background. since moving to hayes valley in 2005, uko has helped dress hundreds of artists. uko has continuously given back to the hayes valley community, from supporting and promoting fellow hayes valley stores to giving back to the larger bay area region, donating clothes to various events and charities. staff is supportive of this application. this concludes my presentation. i will now turn it over to elton. thank you. >> hello, commissioners. elton wu, planning staff. the next application we have is yadav diamonds and jewelry, a jewelry store founded in 1938 and 1983, located in the soma district at 888 brannan street, suite 100. although yar yadav started his business at 760 market street, he has grown it into an international business. yadav diamonds and jewelry provides the option for consumers to purchase conflict free diamonds. they prioritize hiring people from diverse backgrounds. 80% of yadav employees are female, and 80% of immigrants. we recommend yadav diamonds and jewelry to the legacy business industry. the next legacy business is central drugstore, a 113-year-old general family and drugstore, founded in 1908. located in the kpelsor kpelsor -- excelsior neighborhood at 4494 mission street. they pride themselves on being friendly safe and a welcoming place for all people. they also provide free medical advice and also over the counter counseling. central drugstore supports local high schools like balboa high school, st. ignatius preparatory high school, and more. they provide funding to different organizations like the italian american social club, safer streets s.f., and more. for over a century, central drugstore has contributed to its community needs and cultural identities. therefore, staff supports a resolution recommending central drugstore to the legacy registry. this concludes all presentation, and we're happy to answer any questions. >> clerk: thank you. members of the public, this is your opportunity to comment on any of the legacy business applications. through the chair, you'll have two minutes. >> yeah. this is paul tinelli with central drug court. just wanted to thank the historic preservation commission for considering our application here today. the business, just under our family's ownership, would well qualify for a legacy business just since my father and uncle bought into it in the 1950s and 60s. my mother and my brother proudly still represent the excelsior district in operating the store. i continue to be involved, taking community deliveries a couple of days a week, so we certainly serve the community in many different ways for medical needs and such. we do have a dedication to the district with the mural, representing just about every part of the excelsior district. it's been a fantastic association with the neighborhood, a neighborhood that my dad and my uncle both grew up in from the 20s until their passing, and just thank you very much, and we think we hit all the marks when it comes to being a legacy business of san francisco, so we appreciate your consideration. thank you. >> hello. my name is jerry tinelli, and i am the current pharmacist working at central drugstore. i too would like to thank the committee for being a legacy business in san francisco. when you think about our business, we go back so far to think that people born in the 1850s and 1860s were some of our first customers, and going forward to 2021, we are still serving the community. when you think of all the people, customers, patients, generations of san franciscans that have shopped at central drugstore, it is just mind boggling to try to comprehend all the people that we have served and helped and community organizations. we have supplied information, we've donated medications, we've donated money, we've donated our expertise in pharmaceutical prescription filling. i would also like, at this time, to just mention a couple of people. first of all, my mother and father, elsie tinelli, he passed away in 1991. my mom, who is 94, is still working to this day at the drugstore. i would also like to acknowledge augustine and edward ballecillo in obtaining education and history in putting it altogether to be submitted to the commission. also, my son dino tinelli for organizing information, and my brother. thank you for your time, and i appreciate your consideration for us to become a legacy business in san francisco, and to any of the commissioners, if you're ever in the area, in the excelsior district, feel free to come in. -- in and see what's going on. thank you for your time. >> hi. can anybody here me, just so i can make sure? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. >> hi. good afternoon, commissioners. this is zoe, the e-commerce manager of yadav diamonds and jewelry. i would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your time considering our legacy business application and thank our planners, elton and gigi for their help. yadav diamonds was founded in [inaudible] he understood how difficult it is to find a job in san francisco, so he hires as many immigrants as possible so that he can support the san francisco immigrant community. also, mr. [inaudible] thinks it's very important that our diamonds are sourced ethically, so many of our diamonds are lab grown, yeah, and we make sure all our diamonds are conflict free, and we make sure that all of our customers are happy. so many of our customers are so happy with their diamonds or rings that they invite [inaudible] to their weddings, so mr. [inaudible] may have gone to more weddings than any other jeweler in san francisco. we think that yadav is an important member of the san francisco community. we are honored to be considered for san francisco historical business. thank you very much for your time. >> clerk: thank you. members of the public, last call for public comment regarding the legacy business applications? seeing no additional requests to speak, commissioners, public comment is now closed, and the matter is now before you. commissioner matsuda, you are muted. commissioner matsuda, you're muted -- you're having technical difficulty. okay. i will recognize, then, commissioner foley. >> thank you, jonas. you know, this is one of the best things, i think -- this is one of the best things that i get to do as a historic preservation commissioner. again, i repeat myself a lot around this, but you are the fabric of the community of san francisco. we need to figure out a way to community to people how wonderful you are in your history, and i'm going to leave it at this, and i'm going to say we should figure out how to get q.r. codes on your establishment so people can come up and get all the history on what you've done, so thank you very much for all that you do. >> clerk: commissioner johns? >> yes, thank you. this is really a remarkable group of businesses because i don't think there's been one as spread out as widely across the community and also the variety of businesses is just astonishing, so i'd like to just say that each story is so wonderful and so inspirational, and i'm so happy that you applied to be part of the legacy business program, and i move that these businesses be put forward for approval. >> clerk: commissioner so? absolutely agree with my fellow commissioner johns' motion. i need to give a shoutout to all the businesses, especially san sun. running a business is hard, and running a business in chinatown is harder, and also sustaining it through the pandemic is just baffling. having to stay in chinatown and end up picking a location right here, and picking the location of roth alley, which is where the location of historic chinatown begins. i'm just proud we can do anything in our capacity to support the vibrancy and history of chinatown. it's not only representing chinese but the chinese american diaspora. i am in full support of that, and i hope there are many more we can do to help chinatown to recover, and i'm really happy with it, and -- yeah, i was just in ross alley a few moments ago, and i know how dire it is in chinatown, but also more hopeful because we have a lot of small businesses picking up in chinatown. people, please go there and eat there. things are better than they ever have been. i love uko. i always will buy there, and if i walk a little early to my commission meeting, especially when i was in the area, i walked by your store, and it was just, like, eye candy for me. you represent a greater specific unique merchandise that a lot of my friends are really loyal customer of yours. and central drugstore, i was there just a couple of weeks ago. i love how the excelsior neighborhood is very vibrant, very electric. it really elevates the street, and it's really welcoming, and i appreciate all the work that you've done to keep up the appeal for the streets and also your store. and i am -- with all that said, i am all for motion to approve the recommendation for all these legacy businesses, and i hope you stay in business, and i will be there again. >> sorry. i'm back on. commissioner black? >> i just wanted to say that i agree with the sentiments of my fellow commissioners. something that i wanted to say about all of these businesses is they provide needed services to the city and the local community, but more importantly, they also give back a lot to the community, and sometimes it's charitiable donations. sometimes it's certain hiring practices. they each give back in their own way to the local community, and that's another reason why i think these legacy businesses really deserve legacy business status, and we should all be doing our best to support them during the pandemic, and as soon as things open up a bit more, which as it turns out, it's this week for restaurants and other businesses, is to continue to support them. i also just wanted to give a shoutout to commissioner foley's q.r. codes. i think it's a great idea, and i'd love to see more of that going forward. >> commissioner pearlman? >> yeah, thank you. i have a follow up on something that mr. tinella said. he said that someone who was born at the same time that san francisco was born might have been one of its early customers, and i think that's one of the most fascinating things that we've ever heard in listening to legacy businesses. san francisco has a mythology about it that began in the 1840s and certainly in the latter part of the 19 century that we all, as preservationists, you know, we're looking to keep the legacy. i think that thread is a thread of san franciscans that continues the thread from 1840 to 2021, and i think all of these businesses are representative of those 171 -- 1850 to 2021, and i think all of these businesses are representative of those 171 years. i also wanted to echo what commissioner foley said about q.r. codes. i had talked about putting sensors before there were q.r. codes on the building somewhere so you could do a tour of the city and have some kind of a -- you know, some app on your phone that you could then pull up the information and the history that is so rich that we see but, really, no one else sees, and i think it's really -- would be an incredible project for the preservation staff, and, you know, if a grant could be gotten for this kind of thing that, you know, using a q.r. code, that it would just open up, you know, the history that we have just received, that would then, you know, give the legacy business program -- i mean, that would be a way to communicate it to all san franciscans. because as part of a label, as part of a branding that has been, you know, created, that would be a way to not only have the neighbors say it's a legacy business but then find out why it's a legacy business. i think that's one of the most important things that this commission to, you know, advocate for, so congratulations to all for today, and i agree. i will absolutely vote for this. >> thank you. commissioner pearlman. i, too, am very, very honored to have these businesses come before me. and the diversity of these businesses, i think we're starting to see the priorities that we made of social and racial equity, so i'm hoping that we can continue that trend to continue to enhance and encourage more legacy businesses going forward. and we're really fortunate to implement this program. so i will take your recommendation of a q.r. commission and discuss it with the small business commission to see how we can put it forward. i just want to reiterate to our two staff that presented today about the national trust for historic preservation's grant program and ask if you can just do a simple request for them, and with that, i think there's a motion and a second, is that right, jonas? >> clerk: yes, there's been a motion and a second to adopt all of these businesses for legacy business adoption. on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: so moved, commissioners. that motion passes unanimously, 7-0. commissioners, that'll place us on the final item on today's agenda, number 8. case 2019-022126-coa-04, at 55 hagiwara tea garden drive. this is for a certificate of appropriateness, and please note, this was originally heard on february 17, 2021, and after closing public comment, this matter was continued to today's date. and through the chair, after staff presents, rec and park will be provided with five minutes for their presentation, and members of the public, as this is the second hearing, will be provided with 30 seconds to submit their testimony. staff, are you prepared to make your presentation? >> yes. thank you, jonas. good afternoon, commissioners. michelle taylor, planning department staff. the item before you is for a certification of appropriateness for the music concourse and golden gate park. the property was originally designated in 2005 as article ten under the planning code. it's culturally significant as an outdoor music venue dedicated to public performances and a setting for public art. the music concourse also contributes to the national register listed golden gate historic park district, significant undercyte -- criterion one and criterion three. [inaudible] by the end of march 2021. however, covid-19 related restrictions in the last year have limited the operation and capacity of the wheel. therefore, the recreation and parks department is proposing to extend operations of the wheel for no more than than an additional four years. the project sponsor requests to extend operation until march 1, 2023 to offset financial hardship experienced by the vendor and further extend operation until march 1, 2025 to support economic recovery. today, we are here to follow up on the request for the four year extension, which was continued at the last historic preservation commission meeting on february 17. i'd also like to take this opportunity to note that on march 11, 2021, the environmental review officer will hold a public hearing on the appeal of a determination that a change in an exempt project in an exempt project is not a substantial modification. this is not an appeal of a ceqa decision under the california environmental quality act and therefore does not delay or suspend any permit for approval or other discretionary approval authorizing the change in the project or suspending any construction activity. between february 18 and march 2, the department has received public correspondence from approximately 117 individuals and organizations. letters have been received today, however, staff has been unable to tally these letters, but they have been forwarded to the commission secretary and to the commissioners. of the letters received and tallied, 24 have voiced full support of the four-year extension. we were also alerted to an informal on-line poll which found that a majority of respondents were in support of the wheel's extension. we received approximately 34 letters in full opposition to the project. opponents have raised concerns about lighting, along with noise and fumes caused by the wheel's diesel generator. there's also questions about the appropriateness of the wheel in the music concourse and golden gate park. also, some are concerned about the extension and our request to keep [inaudible] approximately 59 comments from those who have voiced general opposition to the wheel in the proposed four-year extension but also feel that a compromised extension of 12 to 15 months is reasonable. many of these respondents also requested that the generator and lighting be turned off at sunset. at the last hearing, this commission discussed the aappearance of construction and screening. additionally, the public sponsor acknowledged construction and the noise of the wheel's generator. he also acknowledged that they're finding ways to create a better experience for park goers. staff has reviewed the application and found that extension of the temporary wheel will be in conformance with article ten of the planning code and the secretary of the interior standards. primarily, staff finds that although permanent installation of the wheel would result in a significant change to the look and feel of the music concourse, the proposed project is temporary, and the extension will not result in the removal of distinctive materials nor will it irreversibly alter characteristics that define the landmark. therefore, based on this analysis, staff would like to recommend approval with conditions. the conditions are slightly updated from the draft shared with commissioners, so i would like to read these into record. these are, one, that the wheel is temporary. the project site will be fully restored to its preproject condition using materials by the end of march 2025. that within one month, soil samples and material specifications, details with security screening and fencing will be forwarded for review and approval by the planning department preservation staff for conformance with the secretary of interior standards. and three, that within one month, solutions to address neighborhood complaints regarding noise and odors of the diesel generator and to enhance experiences will be forwarded for the review and approval of the planning department preservation staff and conformance of the secretary of interior standards and compatiblity with the site. we've received a request from the project sponsor to allow them eight weeks to address issues associated with the fencing and generator. staff is comfortable with supporting this request. this concludes my presentation. and dina ketchum is here from the department of parks and recreation will be presenting briefly on the project. >> clerk: thank you. before we go to rec and parks, i was remiss in asking commissioner nagaswaran if she has reviewed the previous hearing and materials and that she is ready to go forward today. so with that, commissioner nagaswara, may i inquire if you have reviewed the previous hearing and materials? >> yes, i have. >> clerk: okay. rec and parks, you may go forward. >> okay. i'm going to share my screen, but this is different than what i'm used to. are you guys seeing a full picture, can i just confirm? >> clerk: yes, we are. >> okay. good afternoon, commissioners. dana ketchum, rec and park department. today, i'm going to be giving you a quick update on the -- i apologize. it's not flipping. okay. a quick update on the lighting generator, economic recovery per your request. as michelle just eloquently said, this is a request for a temporary installation for an additional four years for a variety of reasons we asked before. you asked for a review of the lighting. we held many meetings with and responded on this. no impact that's been found -- has been found by our staff with respect to concerns about lighting. you asked about reducing the noise. step one, the generator is no longer running at night. as promised, that's been implemented. step two, an additional generator has been considered, and it was very quiet. the existing generator is approximately four times louder than the proposed new one. it should be significantly less noisy, and we'll work to get that in place as quickly as possible. and the yes. >> i'm ashley, and i'm the parks and rec secretary and will be reading a statement on behalf of president mark buell. we made this decision based on our mission to support parks and safe space making, and after evaluating the impacts of this choice. the wheel was originally approved as a one-year term for a part of the golden gate park 150-year celebration. like so many things this year, the wheel and operation was negatively impacted by covid. we heard testimony that the wheel provides a much needed boost to small business in the area and serves an attract for regional tourism which generates much needed trips to the city and spending at sunset district bars, cafes, and restaurants. we evaluated the impact on the lights and generator on people and wildlife [inaudible] in minimizing impacts. we relied most heavily on the planning departments analysis of the light and sound in which they found no substantial impact. on behalf of myself and board commissioners, we thank you for your rigorous examining of the music concourse and ask that you support the evaluation that a contract extension is appropriate in this neighborhood. mark buell, commission president. thank you. commissioners. >> clerk: thank you, ashley. so mrs. ketchum, is commissioner mazzola on-line? >> i am being texted that he is trying on it. he pressed star, three. i guess he's on a phone line. >> clerk: do you have his -- or his area code and first three digits? >> no. >> clerk: okay. well, why don't you let me know when you get it. at this time, we'll go to public comment. through the chair, members of the public -- >> i do have it, jonas. it's 415-601. i just got a different message. calling from 626. >> clerk: okay. i'm going to try this once, and if it doesn't work, we're going to move on. commissioner mazzola, are you there? >> i'm there. can you hear me? >> clerk: we can. >> so good afternoon, commissioners. my name is larry mazzola, jr. and i serve on the san francisco parks and rec commission. it is my enthusiastic approval to keeping the wheel for four more years. [inaudible] extending the sky star contract is the right thing to do for san francisco. activating public spaces will also play a key role in our economic recovery. it will bring business to the gardens and surrounding neighborhoods. lastly, i just want to say that it is disheartening to me that the issue of a ferris wheel is such a controversial and negative thing in a time when we can all use an escape from reality. thank you very much for your time. >> clerk: great, thank you. okay. members of the public, we're going to try this again. if you're queued up, when you hear that your line has been unmuted, that means we can hear you, and it's your opportunity to begin speaking. and through the chair, you will be provided with 30 seconds. >> jonas, may i just say something before we start public comment? i think it would be very helpful if the members of the public who will be making public comment let us know right away of their either support or opposition to the certificate of appropriateness and if they would like to provide us with their name. thank you. >> clerk: all right. thank you, commission president matsuda. caller, you have 30 seconds. >> hello. my name is mark kenney. i'm speaking in favor. i've been a neighbor of your all for over 50 years in san francisco. my family, my children, and their children love this wheel. it is a whimsical, magical, hope and awe inspiring gift that we've given each other. of all the lighting in the area, these have provided us with wonder and exhilaration -- >> thank you very much for your comments. >> hi, good afternoon. commissioners. my name's cassandra costello from the san francisco travel association. i'm calling to voice strong support for the four year extension of the sky wheel in golden gate park. this will aid in our collective economic recovery efforts, and provides a fun, safe outdoor experience that will bring local and regional visitors into golden gate park. we need to do all we can to aid in bringing visitors back to san francisco as our current forecast -- >> thank you very much for your comments. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is jeff gordon creed. i'm a long time resident of the richmond district, and i'm also the board chair of the richmond district ymca. i'm calling to voice my strong support of the sky wheel in golden gate park. because of my position, i'm acutely aware of the position that the pandemic has placed on children in the area. the wheel will relief pressure, help everybody get outside and decompress from covid, and it will generate money for the park. >> thank you very much. >> good morning, good afternoon, commissioners. don franklin, rec and park chapter seiu 1021. big supporter of this as we are about to get into our summer camps soon for kids and we want another place to be able to bring these kids and enjoy the park. thank you. >> thank you. >> you've already called on me. this is the commission secretary for rec and park. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is nellie [inaudible] speaking on behalf of the jamestown community center in support of a four-year extension of the sky wheel in golden gate park. recently, our families received a personal invitation from the city to explore all of the beauties of golden gate park has to offer when they received free tickets to ride the sky fair wheel -- >> thank you for your comments. >> hi. this is pam hinsel, and i would like to support the compromise of a one-year extension? compromise is important these days. we need to be able to move together to make things happen. alienating part of the population who cares about climate change is not the right thing to do. thank you. >> thank you. >> this is emily on behalf of the san francisco chamber of commerce. the sky wheel plays a critical role as we look towards economic recovery. our tourism industry has been decimated by covid-19, and this will help support our small business communities and the city at large, and those, you know, small businesses in the surrounding area, we strongly urge your support on behalf of the chamber of commerce and our many community partners. thank you all so much. >> thank you. >> hello, commissioners. my name is john cunningham, and i'm the executive director of the national aids memorial, located directly adjacent to the band shell. i rise to speak in strong support, and i submitted a letter in well in extending the wheel for four years. we bring hundreds of individuals to the park each year. this will provide diverse opportunities for families and visitors to the area to not only visit the young at the academy but also to visit the wheel. thank you for your help, and i encourage your support. >> thank you. >> hello. hello. my name's david harrison, long-term -- longtime san francisco resident, neighbor in the richmond district. i can see this beautiful wheel from my home. i urge you strongly to support this. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi, this is -- good afternoon, commissioners. this is drew backersy of the [inaudible]. we strongly support the sky wheel in the music concourse. already functions as a center of activity, segue towards food trucks, museums, and gardens. the wheel aligns well with the history and intent of this area. golden gate park will continue to provide hundreds of acres of trails, med owes, and wooded areas and has no bearing on that, but it does bring us joy, fun, and hope. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> hi. this is amy cohen, sorry. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can. >> hi, commissioners. this is amy cohen from the office of economic and workforce development. thanks for your time today. i'm calling in support of the wheel extension, and just to echo things that have been said about economic recovery and the need for tourism and for just general sort of local attractions, and just to add one point, which is the support for the neighboring business corridors that have been struggling that have been and will result from the wheel being in operation. >> hi. my name is martha [inaudible] and i'm speaking in support of the extension. i'm representing the inner sunset park neighbors and the tennis coalition of san francisco. we would love to bring more people to the tennis center in the inner sunset to our business district. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello. my name is susan [inaudible] from the fine arts museum of san francisco, and i'm speaking in support of the four-year extension. the deyoung museum looks right out over the wheel, and we saw the joy and wonder when the wheel was open last fall for ten weeks. we are in strong support of it and want to see all the visitors inside and outside having fun. thank you. >> thank you. >> oh, hi. are you there? okay. sorry, yeah, my name's tom madden. my husband and i live in golden gate heights, and we've lived here about 22 years. we didn't notice the wheel until we got there, but when we got there, it kind of reminded me almost like a tourism area. it's just a really wonderful feeling to the area and it kind of, like, gave, like, san francisco a wonderful feeling. >> thank you. >> hello. my name is linda schafer, and i oppose the four year extension. i only have time to mention an irony. bringing an observation wheel here to help celebrate the 150 anniversary of the park was justified using a historical president dense that was strenuously opposed by john maclaren, the founder of the park. the wheel should not be here. extending its stay by a year would be a travesty. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello, commissioners. kathrin howard, sierra club. the sierra club asks the wheel be removed immediately. a year is the longest this imposing structure should be allowed to remain. is it disturbs birds and -- it disturbs birds and other wildlife in the park, and we ask that it be removed from golden gate park, san francisco's premier park and historic landscape. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi, commissioners. my name is is anna mccarthy [inaudible] the 150 anniversary celebrations, and many of those celebrations couldn't happen. i'm there almost every day. the impact has been nothing but positive, and i just want to emphasize my full support. thanks. >> thank you. >> hi, commissioners. jean natoli with greater richmond, speaking in support. i just want today say i added a couple hundred signatures, so over 1200 of my neighbors supporting the wheel would love to see it extended four more years. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is david miles. i own the church of eight wheels roller disco. i am in the park, i am there, and the people want to keep the ferris wheel there. we have high anxiety going on in this city, and this great rec and parks want to do something about it to make us feel better to let us get through, so please keep the ferris wheel. >> thank you. >> hello, bob hall, district five. reason number one to oppose the wheel? flashing lights, my granting birds and bats. number two, strobe lights are used to keep owls off properties. owls nest in golden gate park. >> thank you. >> hello. my name is stephanie wise man from keep the park dark. i like fun, but the r.p.c. has never mentioned that the wheel is a giant strobe light, and as was said just earlier, it's well documented that strobe lights produce shadows that birds cannot tolerate, and we have the owl population on strawberry hill. and, you know, john maclaren, he was faced with a 266 foot tall tower that they wanted to keep, and he dynamited it, the legacy of this historic nature. >> thank you. >> hello. my name is john goldsmith, a 30-year resident of district 8, and i am excited to see the wheel go back to missouri. the magic is gone, the wheel should be gone. i am in support of the limiting of this contract maybe to one year, but it's not good for the environment. i am happy to hear that the city received 34 full opposition letters of the wheel. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> hi, commissioners. my name is liz farrell, and i am a district 2 resident, and i am in support of keeping the wheel and extending the contract. it has brought so much joy to so many families, and yet so many have not been able to experience that joy when so many are out of school. it's something to look forward to and something to go to the park to appreciate and enjoy, so i strongly urge you to consider extending the contract for the wheel. thank you. >> [inaudible] we oppose the wheel and ask that it be removed immediately. they support commercial interests such as the parks alliance, but there's no money for the general fund, there's no money for rec and park, and it is unnecessary. talk about fun? a family of four can spend $60 to spend a few minutes rolling around in the sky. that's not even exercise. what kind of fun is that, really? i mean, this is -- >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. this is kate lazarus, i'm the president of the planning commission of the richmond. we are looking forward to some fun for families all over the city after what's been a tough year, and we're hopeful that it will support some of the small businesses in the richmond and the sunset, as well, so thank you very much. >> thank you. >> hello, commissioners. my name is mike chen, northern neighbors, a district two resident association in support. value this on its merits, and on its merits, it is historically appropriate. it is temporary, and it doesn't do permanent alterations from the site, and it's his torque -- historic from the 1892 commission. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello. my name is susan mullaney. i oppose the ferris wheel. many people are saying that it's fun for kids, and i don't know if they know that kids 13 and over cost $18, and 12 and under cost $12. that's $60 for a family of four to ride this ferris wheel for a few minutes -- same to you for free -- thank you. >> i'm a long time resident of district 4. i oppose the ferris wheel. i think it's an inappropriate and tacky use of the park. i think a year ago you carefully approved a one-year placement of this ferris wheel. i can understand it being there for one more year, but i don't understand the four years. when -- when covid is more under control, people can come out, so one year. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. this is tim sofert, resident of d-5 and a golden gate park fan. i want to say we support the wheel. it's a great outing and it's in an area already developed with 500 square feet of museum, 800 parking spaces, the band shell, which is open, food trucks. we love nature, but this seems to be an appropriate use and great outing for everybody, families and nonfamilies. >> hi. my name's patrick [inaudible] and i'm just calling in support of the ferris wheel. i think it's a great addition to the park. we have far more pressing issues in the park. we have an underground parking garage, more than 6,000 parking spaces and a six-lane highway cutting through the park. that would be more important to consider and taking that space and introducing, like, bike share to the park. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi. my name is anna creston, and i'm a richmond district resident, and i'm calling in support of the ferris wheel. like others have said, it's a great fit for the musical concourse area. i think it's a great addition for families that want to enjoy the park, and i think it will bring people to our neighborhood to support small businesses and vendors will -- in the park and in the surrounding neighborhood, and i -- i think that there's overwhelming support for the neighborhood. there's been a petition circulating -- >> thank you. >> clerk: okay. members of the public, last call for public comment. press star, three to be entered into the queue. you have 30 seconds. >> [inaudible] i'm opposed to the four-year extension. a good compromise would be a one-year extension for moving the wheel to a more appropriate setting, like pier 39 or city hall. i'd like to point out that no data has been provided to this spurious claim of economic recovery. please turn the lights off at dark -- >> hi. my name's nick bilani, and i've spoken three times -- this'll be the third time i've spoken in favor of the wheel. it's a good add to the richmond district. i've been a resident for 47 years, as long as i've been alive. it's economic as i talk to our merchants, they've been very excited about it. i totally support this wheel. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. [inaudible] i'm a -- i live at ninth avenue, close by the wheel. i'm opposed to a four-year extension, but i support the one-year extension or an extension to june 22. i believe you should attach it to the grid so we don't have that generator running. i live right by it, and i'm ready to be gone every day. thank you. >> hi. my name is [inaudible] and i'm calling in support for the [inaudible] of the ferris wheel [inaudible] i think it's a lot of fun. kids love it. my daughter loves seeing it every single day, and she has not been able to ride it since we've been closed. i think it's going to be great for our local businesses and it's going to be great for the local museums and much more, so please extend it for me. >> hi, there. my name is will holler, and i live in the richmond district. i'm calling in support of the wheel. i walk in the [inaudible] park, and i think the lights are really fun? [inaudible] agreement on how you power the wheel itself, but i think it's wonderful and you should keep it. >> hello. my name is nancy distephanus. i'm a 50-year resident of san francisco. i support one year and nothing further. i think you've gotten a lot of people to try to work with you. please take this compromise and support those of us who support wildlife, nature in the park. thank you. >> thank you. >> my name is richard cline. i'm a resident of the richmond district, and i think it's completely appropriate to go along with the museums, the tea garden, the food trucks, and people can enjoy those amenities. if you want nature, the entire western part of the park to enjoy nature. i have two kids, and i'm looking forward to riding it, and i think it's totally and completely appropriate for that part of the park. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is sarah oglesby, and i'm a resident of san francisco? a lot of residents have been sheltering in place, but a lot of us could use a break when the vaccines reach our arms, and there's nothing more than i look forward to than having fun again in san francisco, and i look to the ferris wheel as one of the things to do on my bucket list. please support the wheel. >> hello. my name is lance kerns, and i'm calling in opposition to the four-year extension. please consider the recommendations of supervisors chan, peskin, preston, and walton to compromise the one-year extension. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello. this is rodney fung with the san francisco chamber of commerce. number one, want to give a big thanks and congratulations to commissioner pearlman for all of his work. like commissioner pearlman, i spent seven years on the planning commission and just love our history here in san francisco. the sky wheel marks a little bit of a time and era in san francisco as we begin to recover out of this horrible pandemic that's just really rattled our economy, and i ask you to support the extension. -- >> thank you. >> -- of the wheel. >> clerk: okay, commissioners. that concludes public comment. public comment is now closed, and the matter is now before you. i do see michelle requesting to speak. >> hi, commissioners again. if it's all right, i'd like to receive a letter we received from supervisor chan's office. she asked that a statement be read into the record. unfortunately, her aide is here, so i'd like to offer to read it for him. thank you. so it reads, dear historic preservation commission. i want to thank you again for honoring my request for a one-week continuance on the issue of a certificate of appropriateness for the ferris wheel's four-year extension to golden gate park. as we once again take up the matter of determining the appropriateness of the wheel's extension, i respectfully ask you to consider the compromise of one year. it is my intent that the department begin the one-year extension from the day the wheel is again allowed to operate under the city's health order. like many activities and business operations, the ferris wheel was impacted by covid-19 health order restrictions and only operated for 39 days in 2020. therefore, i ask that your consideration honors the original proposal which was approved by the recreation and parks commission and the historic preservation commission in early 2020. given the ever-changing challenges around the pandemic, i hope your approval will allow the wheel some flexibility to meet its remaining 326 days so that it has the opportunity to operate a total of one year as originally approved. i ask that your approval also be subject to the terms and conditions to ensure the concerns around light and the generator are mitigated. in the past week, more details have come forth about the golden gate park 150 anniversary celebration in addition to the ferris wheel's extended stay, which indicate that the board of supervisors may have more concerns about good government practices. my colleagues and i on the board of supervisors will continue to push for good government policies including city departments generating review on publicly owned land and other public assets to make sure we meet our ethical obligations, public integrity and accountability as city government. i thank you once again for your service and leadership on this important issue and thank you for your time and attention. best regards, connie chan. thank you. >> clerk: okay, commissioners. that will conclude the public comment portion of the hearing, and the matter is now before you. >> jonas, just before i ask the commissioners to comment, i wanted to ask sarah if -- one of the people who called in to comment mentioned that it was supervisors chan, preston, peskin, and walton that had supported a compromise. did you receive correspondence from the three other supervisors, as well? >> i have not, no. >> being on -- okay. thank you. and commissioners, just to do a quick background, particularly for commissioner nagaswaran, this was a project that came before us in january 2020, and because of covid, it was allowed to operate for a period of days. today, we're asked to vote on a certificate of appropriateness for the wheel to be allowed to operate for the next four years, until march 2025. and at the last hearing, we were deliberating on this issue when we received a note, and we had a couple of comments from supervisor chan, so we did continue it to this day. i also wanted to mention that there are probably many members of the public who are listening and who probably want to know what happened or how the investigation that is planning to be conducted by supervisor's chan and peskin will have on our decision today. it will not have an impact on our decision. that will be something that will be conducted independently of our decision to vote for the certificate of appropriateness or not. you mentioned today that the motion has some conditions and indicated that the screening and fencing motion that you had could be decided on [inaudible] and then, i've asked -- >> that's right. >> okay. and then, about the noise, the noise and the odor, that would remain at one month, a report back to you within a month? >> i'm sorry. we -- yes, i believe the fence would be eight weeks because it would take some time to get samples, and since they are working actively on the generator, i believe a one-month -- [inaudible]. >> -- in their presentations to us? >> yes, yes. >> so -- i'm sorry. i just received a note from rec and park. they're requesting four weeks for both positions. >> and the lighting issue, they're proposing to us today that lighting turns off at 10:00 p.m. will that remain a part of the resolution or will that -- >> yes, so the lighting has -- as it was agreed upon by rec park in collaboration with the planning department and based on feedback from community, that is -- that is standing, so there's no thinking. >> thank you. so i just wanted to share that information with all of you and now ask for your comments and i'm, again, going to start with -- sorry. just wanted to say thank you very much to commissioner mazzola and president [inaudible] for their public comment, as well. so starting off with commissioner black. >> thank you for the opportunity to get this started. i want to say -- start by saying that i was really impressed by the many letters that we received two weeks ago and again this week. i read every one of them. there were several hundred. >> you can observe plants and animals or quietly read a book. there are places where you can do all sorts of activities. you can fly cast, and there's a spectacular new tennis center i can't wait to use. and now, we have two world class museums, so at the end of the day, golden gate park is not just a [inaudible] place. it's a very large park that offers up a variety of activities over acres, and there's really something for everybody. it's just not one kind of park. the second issue for me is that i've been struck by all the small and large business measures due to covid this past year, and they're all over town, in every neighborhood. all these boarded up dreams and hard work of so many people. all of us have experienced devastating losses this past year. i think we need to do everything we can to support them. i think the wheel does have a -- a support locally but overall to the city, so i will be supporting this to promote the needed economic recovery in this unprecedented time with a very clear end date. also very heartened to see that there's a new generator and proposed sound attenuation and visual screening options. my preference is towards the greenery as opposed to the screening item, and i know that the revised conditions of approval have been set to approve these temporarily. i'm glad the modifications are proposed and are part of the actual application and its approval, so i am supporting this application. >> thank you. commissioner nagaswaran? >> i'm looking at this ferris wheel, observation wheel, and a number of issues that come up with it. [inaudible] they comply with the secretary of the interior standards and local ordinances. see for a landmark site, the city shall enhance, propose, or restore and not [inaudible] and affect the special character or special historical, architectural or aesthetic interests of the landmark within itself and within its setting in the broader scope of the setting, including the historic district. and then, just general compliance with the historic district in terms of the ordinances. and in looking at that, you know i think general compliance with article 10, when you look at the secretary standards, it generally complies with 1 through 8. 9 is related to new additions, shall not [inaudible] with spatial relationships. i think there is no disturbance of what's existing there, and those differentiated, although i think capability could be something to understand better, and when i thought about that, a couple of things came to mind. standard 10 talks about what is considered, you know, as a new addition or construction is reversible and, you know, the end result, the essential form and integrity is restored. the idea of integrity came to mind in looking at the local ordinance, which would be the landmark designation. you know, character is the the -- comes from the significance of the property, and as the planner has presented this, the two modes of significance. one is that -- associated with advanced including the 1894 midwinter fair and also as a performance space and also association with a band and then secondly of architectory in criterion three or c. i think, for the most part, it maintains that integrity, having the observation wheel. it's retaining the area of designs, materials, workmanship, and the association that it has with its significance. but the setting and feeling is where i see that there is some diminishment. i don't think it's an entirely set case in that way because of what this is. it's a temporary structure. and having said that, the certificate of appropriateness talks about just in a general term what is appropriate. but we kind of have to see also whether it's a temporary structure or permanent structure. because those particular wheel is temporary, it's fairly well contained in its position in a noncontributing area of this landmark zone, over time, the setting of this -- of this zone has changed. it -- including the -- you know, the development of the two museums over time, not just in, you know, the recent, you know, 20 years, but in the past, in 60s and 70s. many changes have occurred in the broader context outside of just the concourse, which is sort of just the central portion. so i feel, like, you know, the setting has changed, and so there are things that with this wheel i don't think that it's adding to the change in the setting for better. and then feeling, you know, the -- the aspect of -- of -- of does it convey what -- what was significant? and in looking at it from different ways, looking at it from the side of the wheel as you're in the space, you wouldn't notice it. looking at it from the other direction, you notice it, and you would notice it at night. i think from all the comments, from the public comments, from the discussion that i've had in these hearings, i'm going back to those things that are being improved, which are the screening of the generator, reduction of noise and odor, and the -- the -- you know, the lighting, and i think as long as we kind of respect what this park is about, i think if we mitigate what it's doing in the temporary sense of it, i think it will balance out the -- the impact of it, so i -- i -- i think where i would like to understand from my fellow commissioners are what their thoughts are on on just the timing portion and also understand from the sponsor how long it would take to mobilize -- we know that they're doing, you know, those sorts of things within an eight-week period, but i'd like to know how long would it take to mobilize, what's the deconstruction time, and so to understand the full, you know, band of when this would be active? and also what the parameters will be with turning the lights off at sunset. and the reason i sort of agree with that is the setting changes at night, and the feeling changes at night, so i -- i feel like there could be an important part of, you know, respecting the park by doing that. of course in the summertime, we have long days, so i think that's -- that could be an appropriate measure, as well. and with that, i'd like to hear what my other fellow commissioners have to say. >> thank you. commissioner pearlman? >> she speaks longer than i do. i do want to say that you've stolen my thunder in the sense that one of the things i was going to say that as a historic commission, our job is to look at its impact based on secretary of interior standards and integrity, all of the things that commissioner nagaswaran has just gone through. and in a way, i'm sort of asking about the notion of time and economics have come into this decision relative to, you know, our decision making because that portion really isn't in our purview as a commission. our job as a commission is to evaluate the impact of a new structure in those existing landmark in a historic district. and in that regard, i agree that as a temporary -- as a temporary item and the land can be fully resored, that ossentenceably -- restored, that ostensibly, it will have no effect on the history and on the landmark, so those are two pieces of it. we have been drawn into the debate over time and economics, which i think we are not -- we just don't have the background and the information to really make a judgment one way or another. i think there is something about the fact that four supervisors have brought up some issues with this. commissioner -- i'm sorry, supervisor chan, you know, this is basically in her district, and the compromise that she is suggesting is a one-year extension starting from the time the wheel can start again, which is reasonable to me. as you know, i've been all over the map on this, mostly on the side of supporting the opposition, so again, it's very challenging to me to agree to four years. one year seems okay, has less impact if it's one year rather than four years. but ultimately, you know, in a sense, it's out of our hands. i'm not sure i know exactly how i'll vote at this point. i don't know if we can propose an alternate to this c of a because i don't know if we have time or if it's in our purview. the one thing i did find very strange about the presentation that rec and park made was about the -- the -- the decoration of the generator, and what was so strange about it is the generator is right on top of a path that has handicap ramps, you know, for the crosswalk, so it's sitting directly in a crosswalk, and that just seems very odd to me. it never occurred to me, until i saw those pictures that, you know, that location just seems like an odd location, and that's just sort of an aside relative to, you know, circulation in the park and a.d.a. access of crossing the street, but that's sort of funny. and then, i agree there shouldn't be any advertising on that. it should very much be -- you know, if it's decorative and it looks like -- you know, if they can just take photos around it and print it on some kind of a skin or screen, that seems reasonable. right now, it just looks pretty flappy, and then, the noise attenuation, if that really is four times less in volume, then that supports that that should be there. so i know that the mayor talks about the fun police. she mentioned that yesterday in a speech about this, and where we were going with this, and i know that i've been on the fun police side, but today, i'm not so sure i'm there anymore. i do think it should be somewhere else in the city, but given that's not an option, i'm not really against this at this point, so that's all i'll say about that. thank you. >> thank you very much, commissioner pearlman. commissioner johns? >> thank you. when i looked at this, i analyzed this in the same way that commissioner nagaswaran did. we're here really to analyze or answer these questions: does the thing meet the secretary of interior standards and article 10 of the planning code? last january in 2020, we determined that it did, and what important basis of that was that this was a temporary use, and as commissioner pearlman said, can be put back at the end of the time period. [inaudible] i think it's still a temporary use, and that at the end of the time, it can and will be put back: i really appreciates commissioner black's comments about the uses of the park but that wasn't central to my analysis. mine was just on the standards and article 10. i heard the rec and park say that the wheel will close, cease operations by march 1 four years hence and this is approved, and that they have until the end of march to take the wheel down and restore it, so that was my understanding. commissioner pearlman mentioned that we're being drawn into some issues of time and economics. in this instance, we have been offered all kinds of distracting arguments and positions, and i think, that at least for myself, i must decline to get involved in things that i think would take the commission into areas where we don't have any business going, and so i'll defer to other people to get involved in these things, and so i'm in support of the motion as it's been presented -- oh, by the way. one thing that i forgot to mention was that we should always take into account the comments and the positions of the supervisor, and i think we have done that by continuing this matter. there was a suggestion made that other supervisors join here, but i believe it was our president who had asked whether or not we had received any other letters from any other supervisors, and we were informed by the staff, the commission that we had not, so i don't think that question have any basis for considering supervisors' opinions that were not brought before us. so with all that said, i think it continues to meet the secretary of interior standards and article 10, and i think that the eight weeks is fine, so i'm prepared to vote in support of it. >> thank you. commissioner foley? >> thank you, board president matsuda. you know, i feel like i'm actually at a planning commission hearing today. normally, by the time something gets to us, it's actually worked through a real process, and the process is we have community input, we have planning staff input, we have park and rec input, and we all come to a good decision, and i feel in this -- in this particular case that there's been -- there's been a lack of community input and support, and i think everyone on this commission and everyone watching this will know that i am a person that believes in economic growth, and i believe in a person's growing, and i believe in all of those things. i did have a nice conversation with phil ginsburg, the head of park and rec, about a week ago. what he mentioned in that call was there was a big ferris wheel in london, and it's next to a bunch of 500-year-old buildings, and when they put it in there, everyone was excited about it. i feel this decision was put in front of us, and it was put in front of us to solve something that did not get enough community input and direction. i can easily support one support. i can easily support the ferris wheel being at pier 39 forever. my big question to park and rec is can it be put somewhere permanently? i think it would be great to put it somewhere else in the city where everyone can enjoy it. thank you. >> thank you, commissioner foley. commissioner so? there's a lot of comments, and i echo a lot of my fellow commissioners comments. this project was a temporary permit application is consistent with the use of the concourse at the park. is this four years? is this one year, and i am open to other -- my commissioners' debate on that, the thing is that i know that i've received a lot of comments throughout these past months or weeks, and concerns about the so-called defective permanence. i did reach out to our staff, and essentially i did want to share some information with the public. essentially there's a procedure process should this try to public permanent. i did want people to knew -- to know that the procedures to apply for a permanent infrastructure to this location will be required to performed a full on e.i.r. report, and it will not be skip, and with that it will going through the same procedural commission's approval, like what we have been doing, but probably more extensively? so i wanted to share this with the public as an information that this is not going to be the fear of becoming the de facto permanent because i heard that was something that i was -- had been in concern with in my original ruling. that's why we all wrote to have a temporary permit for one year. and with that, i -- i think i am really inconsistent with -- i agree with commissioner johns' comment about being a longer existence with this wheel during this difficult time. and commissioner black had mentioned so many times that actually resonate me in my personal life and also being in san francisco for so many decades that this is a very difficult time that we are in, and the definition of temporary perhaps needs to be looked into a little bit broader spectrum, . and i also like the question that commissioner foley asked to park and rec, can you have the ferris wheel be in a more permanent location? but with that, i'm actually open to have it -- as we proposed by the staff in the report, and i feel that park and rec have done a really amazing job in really addressing all our community comments, and our planning staff had worked tirelessly around the clock to revise our report with the recommendations? i do like to bring that up to my fellow commissioners and see if you would agree with me with the idea having park and rec to come to present to us as an information meeting and update, say, at the 18-month point to make sure that during this period of time of the temporary permit, they are meeting all the milestones to address adequately to all the comments that we have from the public and also the various commissions. i also like to hear specifically on the commissioning of the ferris wheel and how the site will be restored, and so i think also putting in the informational only check-in will be very helpful for us -- all of us and also for the city. >> thank you, commissioner so. i just wanted to make a few comments, and then i think that several of the commissioners raised some questions that we can ask ms. taylor and possibly our city attorney, miss huang, to answer. i sense the department to be on point with their presentation. i was hoping they'd present more data to be more aligned with the economic recovery of this ferris wheel -- or excuse me, the observation wheel, how the observation wheel will greatly enhance economic recoveries, but i -- i agree with commissioners that that -- that any kind of activity to bring about and to encourage the use and enjoyment of people participating in small business activities, whether it be to buy lunch or coffee or to shop would be much needed in the city and county of san francisco. i think, commissioner pearlman, you raised a question of whether we can, based on conditions about whether this observation wheel will be around for four years or around for a year or around for two years, i think that is something that is within our purview. i think it is something that has an impact on a historic resource or we found that in two years or four years, it would have an impact on a historic redivorce, i think we can entertain a more severe motion, whether that be one year or two years or three years. and the issue that commissioner so raised about having a status report like within what -- the middle part, if this commission should agree to a four-year extension of having the department of rec and park come back with --