Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association

LAND USE COMMITTEE
Monday, August 2nd, 2021 – Zoom – 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Attended:
Kevin Riley – Sanchez Street– Land Use Chair
Kimyn Braithwaite – Sanchez Street– DTNA President
Bob Bush – Beaver Street, DTNA Vice President
Erik Honda – Henry Street, DTNA Secretary
Paige Rausser – Beaver Street, DTNA Membership Coordinator
Frank Tizedes – DTNA Board, Noe/Beaver Community Park Coordinator David Troup – 15th Street
Jo Ellen Kaiser – Alpine Terrace
Jamison Weiser – Noe Street
Leah Culver – Walter Street
Pat Tura – 16th Street
Shannon Cairns – Henry Street

Presenters:
Jeremy Schaub – 240 Church
Ty Bash – 240 Church
Brian Springfield – Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza
Daniel Cunningham – Design Representative for Harvey Milk Plaza Lauren Hiller – SF Planning

PRESENTATIONS

7:05 - 8:10 PM 1. 240 Church St (20 min) Ty Bash

Ty Bash and Jeremy Schaub presented a slide show of the updated façade.
The building is now 7-stories, a story taller than what was previously presented. Ty said Planning determined they could increase the number of units to 24 units total while maintaining only 13% BMR (2 units). Ty said that $1 million of fees will go towards supporting other housing - “fee-out”.
Ground floor has a garden, Michel from Thorough Bread will get a bigger rear yard. Outdoor space for residential goes to the roof, allowing for a “fantastic” outdoor space. Longer (51 foot) façade for storefront is also a bonus. Ty says they are trying to relate to the existing street facades on Church. They plan to use modern facade tile to compliment the surrounding brickwork. Lots of articulation on the ground floor façade.

Q and A:
Erik makes clear we need more than 2/24 units (8%) affordable. John agrees.

Kimyn asks how long will Thoroughbread be displaced. A: 24 months is the plan.

... asks how can you ensure us that you really will build this, not entitle it and flip it? ... doesn’t think that Thoroughbread will really go come back after two years. Ty Bash is “humbled” by a tenant that is doing good business and wants to come back. Says he is a builder in the city, does not flip properties.
... asks what has he done as a builder to fill retail spaces. Ty says he has done everything he could to accommodate tenants. Meaning he kept the lease from 2017 with no increase (no cuts either), built, and paid for the parklet. Says he has designed the space for Thoroughbread.

2. SF Planning’s Housing Element (18 min) Shelley Caltagirone Shelley is a planner with a background in historical preservation, approved Duboce Park historical district. Explained what the Housing Element is, including equity focus, including desegregation. Housing targets have tripled, 80,000 units in SF total with a focus on affordable housing. Says there will be a focus on bringing back displaced communities, especially Black and Native American communities.

Q&A:
... points out that there is a total disconnect between talk and action at Planning. They talk about supporting affordable housing, but as we saw in our last presentation, Planning allows developers to build housing with little to no affordable units. Shelley acknowledges the disconnect.
... says that in racial equity work you are supposed to center the voices of those communities – what do the NA and African American folks say? Shelley says that they are doing focus groups in Bayview/Mission, trying to get folks to let them in to their spaces.
Kevin sums up, we want the Planning Department to move now towards building more affordable housing.

3. Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza (20 min) Brian Springfield Brian reported that he has lived or worked in the Castro since 1998. Lives at Sanchez and Market, adjacent to the Triangle. Daniel Cunningham – Design Representative. Lived in the Triangle for 6 years. Gives background on Harvey Milk (the person). Gives background on how the current plans were developed, who the input folks were. The design will be refined. They have had 2 visioning sessions, and 4 community meetings going back to 2017, as well as 4 more meetings this year. Those polled want 1) a gathering space, 2) a safe and secure space.

Daniel reported on some of the poll results that were taken about what folks wanted in the design. People want something unconventional, both for the community and for international visitors. Hope/action are twin themes of the design. Grace Paley: “The only recognizable feature of hope is action.” The new station/plaza needs to address the lack of gathering space. They propose a “pedestal” at the center. Also important not to block the historical Bank of America façade (now Soul Cycle). Lights in paving sprinkle out into the plaza, lead into the grove end. A digital billboard will allow the space to adapt over time. The new garden will be lifted up to street level and made accessible. Brian states that Tumlin is excited about bus landing could be street level, and will be a better transit/pick-up drop off point than the current stop.

Q&A
... is excited about the Grace Paley quote.
... is excited about the raising of the garden and the idea of the bus stop.
John feels like there could be more tribute to Harvey Milk, says there are 800 signatures on his petition to not add more concrete. He doesn’t like the sight-lines in the western end and wants two escalators (not one). 
... echoes John’s idea of honoring Harvey more and points out that the elevator is a separate project that has been held up. Thinks two years is too long for construction for minor improvements. ... thinks we can honor Harvey Milk without tearing up a plaza that serves many people every day.
... says the current west end is unusable, is dangerous, wants it changed. Likes the design. Is the “pedestal” ADA compatible? A: Not known yet. ... thinks it should be fully accessible. ... asks where is “Harvey Milk Plaza” and what is “Castro Station”. A: Good point, need to balance the memorial and the station, also need to have better signage.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS (active items are bold) 8:10 PM - 8:25 PM 1. 240 Church St. - 7-story residential Kevin

We discussed how we need something from Thorough Bread that says they are willing to come back. Erik reached out to them, as did Mandelman, but no response. Pat says you have to catch Michel there in the early morning. ... is doubtful that Thorough Bread would come back after construction. Could Thorough Bread move to 2175 Market? DTNA will likely not support this project as only 8% of the total units are BMR and our values look for buildings that have 20% BMR units.

ACTION ITEMS (active items are bold) 8:25 PM - 8:40 PM 1. Traffic Calming (14th St) Shannon & Kevin

Shannon and Kevin reported that they are focused on safety for 14th Street. Neighbors and McKinley school have advocated for a road diet. SFMTA and MUNI are adamant about back-in angle parking on the uphill side, by CPMC (other side would stay parallel). Not traditional angle, similar to parallel parking. Back-in angle parking offers more visibility, is easier to maneuver than parallel. MUNI doesn’t want illegal passing of a bus, very dangerous. Shannon says to look at Brannan and Townsend, those streets have back-in angle parking. This will be a new move for drivers, so SFMTA will make the spaces wider.

Frank says that what they did on Palou is similar, but no hill, but he is a strong advocate for what they did there, it improved the street a lot.
David asks what is the hill grade compared to the other places they have done these angled spots?

Shannon clarifies changing the parking does not significantly increase the number of cars driving on the street.
Leah lives on Walter and does bike up 14th St. Wants to know if there is any accommodation for Walter Street, says Walter Street needs daylighting.
Frank reiterates that the 2-lane side of Noe is very dangerous, he lives right there and it needs to be changed.

Kevin says we will keep moving forward, will meet with neighbors if needed but hopes to send a letter of support soon. We need to improve these dangerous conditions while there is motivation to do so.

NEXT MEETING
1. September 6th, 2021

Adjourned at 8:46.

8:30 PM

ADJOURN