The Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) is an effort, begun in 2005, to update the routes and levels of service for the MUNI system. The study is in its final stage and time to have any impact on these changes is quickly running out. The Planning Department released the Draft Environmental Impact Report earlier this month and the public comment period will end on August 26th, 2013. Continue reading
Category Archives: planning
Noteworthy environmental specialist suspended by new DPH Director
Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, San Francisco’s top environmental health official, returned from vacation two weeks ago only to find that he’s been put on administrative leave.
Bhatia is well-respected among urban planners as an advocate of “health impact analyses” and a key developer of the “Healthy Development Measurement Tool.” The HDMT provides a range of policy and design strategies that can advance health conditions and resources via the development process. Every policy included in the Western SoMa Community Plan was examined from this perspective. Continue reading
Filed under planning, public safety, quality of life
First signs of a building boom in Western Soma beginning to sprout
by JIM MEKO
The sea of construction cranes along Market Street can be attributed to the rezoning included in the Market/Octavia Plan, which was signed into law in 2007, and the improving economy. In Western SoMa, the first signs of a similar boom are beginning to appear. Continue reading
Filed under planning
S.F. approves condo conversion deal despite objections
by JOSHUA SABATINI
San Francisco Examiner
Thousands of tenancy-in-common owners will be able to convert their units into condominiums by paying a fee under legislation approved Tuesday that ended a bitter political debate that dragged on for years.
The approval comes after complaints from tenancy-in-common owners about the higher-than-normal mortgage rates they have to pay and the years of having to wait in The City’s annual lottery process. That lottery selects just 200 units for conversion each year. More than 2,000 units were in the recent lottery.
A proposal to address these concerns was introduced a year ago by Supervisor Mark Farrell. But Board of Supervisors President David Chiu then amended it while working with tenant advocates and put in provisions Farrell opposed. On Tuesday, Farrell said his proposal had “become a mess” and that he was no longer supporting it.
Exhibiting the strength tenant advocates maintain in San Francisco politics, the board approved the legislation in an 8-3 vote Tuesday, making it able to withstand a mayoral veto, which takes eight votes to override. Supervisors Farrell, Scott Wiener and Katy Tang opposed it. Read more →
Competing condo conversion measures go to full Board tomorrow
Legislation to ban condo conversions for at least the next decade and to then prohibit conversions of 5+ unit buildings seemed headed for passage by the full Board of Supervisors tomorrow but just days before the vote Supervisor Scott Wiener used a parliamentary maneuver in a last ditch effort to stop it. Continue reading
TODCO offers an alternative to the city’s Central Corridor Plan
The TODCO Group, long-time non-profit housing providers in the Yerba Buena neighborhood, has released their Central SoMa Community Plan. It is intended to be an alternative to the city’s Central Corridor Project. It is based on decades of community building experience in SoMa and involved the many community voices of SoMa. They have created a website at (http://www.todcocentralsomacommunityplan.org) to present their “EIR Draft” Continue reading
Filed under planning
Video for folks who don’t think PDR* fits into their San Francisco
from JAMIE WHITAKER
There are manufacturers who actually “make stuff” other than software in San Francisco. Who would’ve thought?!? Click here to watch.
* PDR = Production, distribution and repair, i.e. service and light industrial jobs
Public meeting to discuss Moscone expansion plans
A Yerba Buena neighbor writes that Moscone center is looking to expand and that means they’re asking to take over part of the Children’s Playground (since it sits on top of the building). The meeting is on Tuesday April 16th at 6:00 pm at Moscone Center South, Esplanade Bldg., Room 300. It’s an opportunity to learn about the plans for the expansion. Click here to see the flyer for the event.
It was quite a party
More than a hundred Western SoMa neighbors (and plenty of friends from around the city) showed up last week at the celebration of the adoption of the Western SoMa Community Plan. After eight grueling years of work (and more than a little controversy) it was a lovefest for the neighbors, activists, entertainment industry advocates and small business owners who gathered to hear from Supervisor Jane Kim, former Senior Planner Paul Lord, Planning Department rep Corey Teague and myself.
Michael Nulty sent along a link to his photos of the event.
The Western SoMa Citizens Planning Task Force ceased to exist upon adoption of the Plan. I sent my last email out to the surviving members of the Task Force and in particular to those who helped to get us over the finish line. The message read: Continue reading
Join with the Sierra Club to stop attacks on our Environmental Bill of Rights
OPPOSE: Supervisor Wiener’s CEQA Legislation, which curtails public participation and the ability of public officials to make well-informed decisions.
SUPPORT: bringing Supervisor Kim’s alternative CEQA Legislation to completion—before any legislative action is taken.
TESTIFY: Land-Use Committee, Monday, April 8, 1:30 PM, City Hall Room 263
Agenda: http://sfbos.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=44999
EMAIL: Scott.Wiener@sfgov.org, Jane.Kim@sfgov.org, David.Chiu@sfgov.org
ADD: Your Organization’s Name: Along with the Sierra Club and others, add your organization’s name in opposing the Wiener CEQA Legislation—by emailing brookse32@earthlink.net . Continue reading
Filed under planning, politics, quality of life, social justice
soma leadership council 