“[Our] office supports responsible recycling centers in our city.”

from SUNNY ANGULO
Legislative Aide, District 6

I want to thank everyone for coming out to last month’s community meeting at the Arc San Francisco (and especially thank the Arc for hosting). I would also like to thank the city staff that took time out of their evening to come and offer resources and input, including the Mayor’s Office of HOPE Director Bevan Dufty and Kevin Drew from the Department of the Environment. Finally, I’d like to thank the individuals that emailed or called me privately after the meeting and expressed their disappointment with the behavior of some of their neighbors and recommitted themselves to working toward positive solutions that would benefit everyone in the neighborhood. On a personal note, I was deeply appreciative of that, so thank you.

I wanted to give you all a couple of quick updates:

• I am meeting with Jim Maddix and Christopher Hall this Thursday morning to go over some of the specific concerns that were brought up during the meeting, including pedestrian safety and congestion. Given the inability for the larger group to conduct the meeting in a respectful fashion, it is the best use of the office’s time to work with a couple of people at this point. I sincerely want to be able to address the concerns and issues that you’ve raised, but I can’t do that when folks don’t want to work toward solutions or when they are being verbally abusive. So I hope that this will be a good start working toward that ultimate goal!
• I will then pass these on to Our Planet Recycling and ask them address them in a contingency plan. A gentle reminder that the Board of Supervisors does not issue or deny permits, and we do not have ultimate approval over a legal operation setting up shop that is in compliance with the law. As the Supervisor has stated recently in the press and at the meeting, the office supports responsible recycling centers in our city that will serve our constituents and contribute to our zero waste goals. We are absolutely concerned about any operator being able to make an appropriate location work – Supervisor Kim has made it clear she will not support a center that is unable to resolve issues of pedestrian safety in particular.
• Rezoning was an idea that was floated by Jim Meko, and we will continue to examine whether it would be appropriate for this location with the understanding that there is already an existing process in place for the neighborhood to address their concerns and that that should be prioritized and fully executed. (See below)

Upcoming Meetings:

• The Department of Building Inspection has issued two Notices of Violation (NOV’s) to date on the owner’s failure to obtain permits for the lighting. Those NOV’s are now with Code Enforcement and are scheduled for a Director’s Hearing on 7/15/14 at DBI’s hearing room at 405 – 10th Street.
• Our Planet Recycling Center has appealed their letter of suspension from Planning to the Board of Appeals and it will be heard on 7/16/14. Planning has communicated directly with one of the owners (Donna Kilian) and the business (Ors Csaszar) and made it clear to both of them that work related to the suspended permit cannot continue until the suspension is lifted or a new permit is granted.

Please send any additional thoughts or comments to Jim and Christopher, and I will debrief with them on Thursday. (For example, some of you had concerns about the lack of restrooms planned, egress onto the property, lighting, trash cans, etc.).