Category: Land Use

Posted on

Renderings Revealed for 321 Florida Street, Mission District, San Francisco

New building permits have been filed for a nine-story mixed-use building at 321 Florida Street in the Mission District, San Francisco. Led by DM Development, the project will replace surface parking with 168 new apartments and ground-floor retail. 31 affordable units will be included thanks to the State Density Bonus program, first passed in 1979, with several amendments since. Construction is expected to cost $42 million, with DM Development in charge of the project…(more)

There were 7 stories, and then there were 9. Thanks to our Sacramento politicians for pushing the envelope every higher. We had a 7 story project that would have been a much better fit for the neighborhood, without imposing a nasty shadow over the block and the nearby park, but, now we have a proposal for another ugly tower that will impose a shadow over the entire block, including an existing solar power system.

Allowing this project to proceed is an affront to all independent solar power owners who may face similar threats if this matter is not addressed. The government has invested tax payer dollars, set up tax incentive programs and encouraged people to invest in alternative energy systems in an effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Now is the time to protect our investments, and our right to continue relying on the sun.

 

Posted on

Climate Change Is Turning Cities Into Ovens

By Matt Simon : wired – excerpt

A new model estimates that by 2100, cities across the world could warm as much as 4.4 degrees Celsius. It’s a deadly consequence of the heat-island effect.

Whichever side of the subjective city-versus-rural debate you’re on, the objective laws of thermodynamics dictate that cities lose on at least one front: They tend to get insufferably hotter, more so than surrounding rural areas. That’s thanks to the urban heat-island effect, in which buildings and roads readily absorb the sun’s energy and release it well into the night. The greenery of rural areas, by contrast, provides shade and cools the air by releasing water…

Climate change is making the urban heat-island effect all the more dire in cities across the world, and it’s only going to get worse. Like, way worse. An international team of researchers has used a new modeling technique to estimate that by the year 2100, the world’s cities could warm by as much as 4.4 degrees Celsius on average. For perspective, that figure obliterates the Paris agreement’s optimistic goal for a global average temperature rise of 1.5 degrees C from preindustrial levels. In fact, the team’s figure more than doubles the agreement’s hard goal of limiting that global rise to no more than 2 degrees C…(more)

If we needed another excuse to add to the long list of reasons to slow urban growth this may be the most viable yet. We need to preserve all the green plants on the planet, not just the jungles in South America.

Posted on

California First Appellate District Court of Appeal publishes its opinion in LC/CVP v ABAG

Posted by Bob Silvestri : marinpost – excerpt

On January 6, 2021, the First Appellate District Court of Appeal issued an Order Granting Publication of its opinion in the case of New LivableCA/Community Venture Partners v ABAG, stating that

“For good cause, the request for publication is granted. Pursuant to rule 8.1105(c) of the California Rules of Court, the opinion in the above-entitled matter is ordered certified for publication in the Official Reports.”

That means the opinion of the Court of Appeal is now case law. This opinion will have broad applicability and impacts throughout the state’s legal system. To put it plainly, this is a very big deal.

The significance of this reversal of the decision by the San Francisco Superior Court, to dismiss this case, and its publication cannot be over-stated. The Appeal Court’s opinion has now become case law and as such is the law of the land in California that will impact future Brown Act petitioners for years to come.

To read the appellate court’s opinion CLICK HERE…(more)

 

Posted on

The safety of Treasure Island residents must be addressed

By Guest Columnist  : sfexaminer – excerpt

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-columnists/the-safety-of-treasure-island-residents-must-be-addressed/

“… It’s not surprising residents struggle to trust the Navy, which is why Supervisor Matt Haney called the hearing. After years of inaction, Treasure Island residents deserve transparency and accountability. They also could use a groundswell of action from San Franciscans who care about environmental justice and systemic racism…

“The health situation is pretty bad,” Carol Harvey, an investigative reporter who covers Treasure Island for the San Francisco Bay View National Black newspaper, told me.

At the upcoming hearing, Harvey plans to anonymously list residents’ health issues. She has photos of people’s painful skin rashes, pustules and lesions. She has reports of above average rates of miscarriages, stillbirths and birth defects. Cancers and strokes are common. Bones break — an indication of radiation exposure. Family dogs have seizures.

robynpurchia.com…(more)

Posted on

Planning Commission to hear a bad UCSF deal

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Massive new development that violates historic agreements is drawing widespread opposition.

If you read the San Francisco Chronicle story about the UCSF expansion plans today, you might get the impression that the school has gone to great lengths to offer affordable housing, transportation money, and open space to the community – and that everyone thinks this is a fine idea:…

That’s not exactly accurate.

In fact, the deal that will come before the City Planning Commission Thursday/7 has considerable opposition, from neighborhood groups, affordable housing leaders, and the Sierra Club…

The “widespread support” that the chancellor described, and the Chron linked to, is almost entirely elected officials who favor more growth (State Sen. Scott Wiener) or don’t represent the district (Rep. Jackie Speier and Assemblymember Kevin Mullin, both from the Peninsula), or pro-development groups like SPUR and the Chamber of Commerce, or Yimbys. Check out the list... (more)

Posted on

Mill Valley’s RHNA Methology Letter Calls for a Stronger Response

By Susan Kirsch of Mill Valley : marinpost – excerpt

This letter is written to the Mill Valley Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Councilmembers, but it may apply to any of our local civic leaders who are considering how to deal with the RHNA number conundrum, made more obviously out of touch with reality by the large exodus of citizens from California this year.

The end of the land rush has come to the state, due to a number of factors, but, our government officials can’t get past their old methods of creating financing through growth. Read the letter here and consider how you may apply the information to your community…(more)

Review the investigative report by The Embarcadero Institute, entitled “Double Counting in the Latest Housing Needs Assessment” (September 2020)…

“Use of an incorrect vacancy rate and double counting, inspired by SB-828, caused the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to exaggerate by more than 900,000 the units needed in SoCal, the Bay Area and the Sacramento area.”

Posted on

2020 State Developer Bills

Livable California is recommending that CSFN and other organizations take a position to oppose on the state bills listed below.

A summary of each bill is on their website www.livablecalifornia.org.

Click on “Menu” then click on “Killing Bad Bills”. Scroll down for analysis of each bill.

SB1120 (Wiener/Atkins) Four plexes in RH-1 zoning.

SB 902 (Wiener) City councils can overturn voter mandates.

SB 995 (Wiener) Lowers affordable unit requirement.

SB 1085 (Skinner) Also lowers affordable unit requirement.

AB725 (Wicks) Upzoning RH-1.

AB 1279 (Bloom) Upzoning in opportunity zones.

AB 2345 (Gonzalez/Chiu) Bypass local control.

AB3040 (Chiu) Modify density bonus.

AB3107 (Bloom/Ting) Upzoning near commercial.

 

Posted on

Board of Supervisors should say no to the Balboa Reservoir project

By Jean Barish and Wynd Kaufman : sfexaminer – excerpt

The proposed 1,100-unit housing development on the lower Balboa Reservoir deals multiple blows to San Francisco. It surrenders The City’s last large open parcel of public land to private developers who offer false promises, the most outrageous being that the project is the best affordable housing deal ever. It dooms hope for restoring and growing enrollment at City College of San Francisco. And the bargain basement price of the land sanctions corporate welfare as well as shameful stripping of a precious public asset.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors must reject the final approvals for this oversized project scheduled to come before them in the next weeks.

Let’s examine just a few of the more glaring false promises: Affordable housing, community collaboration and consideration of the needs of City College. None of these assertions stand up to scrutiny…(more)

SFPUC is the property owner. SFPUC is currently under investigation as a party in the Nuru corruption scandal. Why you trust the judgement and intentions of the officers of an organization charged with collaboration and possible corruption and bribery? What is the rush to sell a hugely valuable property at a deep discount that should be considered a huge loss? This transaction does not pass the smell test. See article below.

RELATED:

Feds target donations from city contractors with new subpoena in Nuru scandal
By Joshua Sabatini and Michael Barba : sfexaminer – excerpt
…The office also released a subpoena of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission last week seeking documents related to city contractors and the personnel files of its director, Harlan Kelly, and Assistant General Manager Juliet Ellis…(more)

 

Posted on

Tell SF Planning that the Balboa Reservoir Project Must be Postponed

The Commission must hear from you by Friday, May 22 to assure that CCSF will be preserved and protected.

Next Thursday, May 28, the SF Planning Commission will be deciding the fate of CCSF by ruling on the Balboa Reservoir Project. We recently asked you to write the Commission asking them not to approve the project. If you’ve sent a letter, thank you. If you haven’t, we hope you will. In the meantime…

RIGHT NOW we need your immediate help!

We’ve just learned that the City and developers were supposed to enter into written agreements with CCSF regarding parking, transit and roadway access through City College. But despite assurances that this would happen…it hasn’t.

We’ve been told for years that this project is a collaboration with CCSF. Yet there’s never been a written agreement with this assurance. The Planning Commission must not rule on a project that doesn’t consider the needs of City College! We need to stop this train before it leaves the station. The future of students at City College is at stake.

Please write the Planning Commission NOW and ask them to postpone the May 28 Balboa Reservoir Project Hearing until these important agreements between CCSF, the City, and the developers have been reached.

Thank you for all you do to save CCSF.
Public Lands for Public Good

Copoy and past to Send Urgent Message to:
SF Planning Commission
commissions.secretary@sfgov.org;
joel.koppel@sfgov.org;
kathrin.moore@sfgov.org;
sue.diamond@sfgov.org;
frank.fung@sfgov.org;
theresa.imperial@sfgov.org;
milicent.johnson@sfgov.org;
aaron.starr@sfgov.org;

Be sure to Copy:
SF Board of Supervisors, CCSF Chancellor, and CCSF Board of Trustees
Matt.Haney@sfgov.org;
MandelmanStaff@sfgov.org;
Gordon.Mar@sfgov.org;
Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org;
Dean.Preston@sfgov.org;
Sandra.Fewer@sfgov.org;
Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org;
Ahsha.Safai@sfgov.org;
Catherine.Stefani@sfgov.org;
Shamann.Walton@sfgov.org;
Norman.Yee@sfgov.org;
dgonzales@ccsf.edu;
swilliams@ccsf.edu;
ttemprano@ccsf.edu;
bdavila@ccsf.edu;
ivylee@ccsf.edu;
alexrandolph@ccsf.edu;
jrizzo@ccsf.edu;
tselby@ccsf.edu;
studenttrustee@mail.ccsf.edu;
Sample email
Subject line:
URGENT: Balboa Reservoir Approvals Must Be Delayed Until

Dear Commissioner,
The City and Balboa Reservoir developers were supposed to enter into written agreements with CCSF regarding parking, transit and roadway access through City College. This hasn’t happened yet!

This project is supposedly a collaboration with CCSF. Yet there’s no written agreement with this assurance.

You must postpone the May 28 Balboa Reservoir Project Hearing until these important agreements between CCSF, the City, and the developers have been reached.

Please do not rule on a project that doesn’t consider the needs of City College. The future of students at City College is at stake!

Sincerely,

www.publiclandsforpublicgood.org
publiclandsforpublicgood@gmail.com