CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
OF THE SURPLUS CITY PROPERTY PROGRAM
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Special Meeting Minutes
for
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 at 4:00 PM
san francisco redevelopment agency
770 Golden Gate Avenue, 3rd Floor
Present: Chair Richard Lee, Mr. Scott Clark, Supervisor Chris Daly, Ms. Jill Fox, Mr. Matthew O. Franklin, Sister Bernie Galvin, Ms. Ana B. Gutierrez and Ms. Noelle Simmons (sitting in for Mr. Ben Rosenfield)
Absent: Vice Chair James Reilly, Ms. Jamie Armstrong and Mr. Leroy Moore, Jr.
Staff: Mr. Joel Lipski, Ms. Joan McNamara and Ms. Lynn Hua
Roll Call
Chair Lee called the meeting to order at 4:10 PM. Roll call was conducted and a quorum was recognized, with three members absent. Supervisor Daly arrived at 4:15 PM. Chair Lee left at 5:10 PM and appointed Ms. Fox as Acting Chair for the remainder of the meeting.
2. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting
A motion to approve the December 20, 2004 meeting minutes was made by Mr. Franklin and seconded by Ms. Gutierrez. The committee unanimously approved the motion.
3. Director’s Report
Mr. Lipski announced that the next regular meeting (on the third Monday in February) would fall on a holiday and that consequently the meeting would be held the following day, which is Tuesday, February 22, 2005 at 4:00 PM. The meeting location has not been determined yet, but most likely it would be at the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
4. Consideration of Main Menu
(a) Election of Permanent Officers:
Committee members elected permanent Chair and Vice Chair positions. Sister Galvin made a motion to elect Mr. Lee for the permanent Chair position. The motion was seconded by Ms.Gutierrez and passed unanimously. Ms. Fox made a motion to elect Mr. Reilly for the permanent Vice Chair position. The motion was seconded by Sister Galvin and passed unanimously.
(b) Designation of Term for Committee Members:
The committee members that were appointed by the Mayor or the Board of Supervisors were asked to draw straws to determine the length of their tenure, pursuant to a recent Board of Supervisors’ amendment to the Surplus City Property Ordinance that set the terms for half the appointed members at one year and the other half at two years. Mr. Lipski drew straws for the committee members that were absent and for the vacant seat that has not been appointed by the Board of Supervisor. The following committee members would serve for a one-year term: Ms. Armstrong (Seat 2), Mr. Clark (Seat 4), Ms. Gutierrez (Seat 5), Ms. Fox (Seat 10), and Mr. Engle (Seat 11). The following committee members would serve for a two-year term: Mr. Reilly (Seat 1), Mr. Lee (Seat 3), Mr. Moore (Seat 7), Sister Galvin (Seat 8), and Seat #6.
155/165 Grove Site:
Ms. Joan McNamara, Senior Project Manager from the Mayor’s Office of Housing, briefly recapped the presentation that was made at the last meeting regarding the suitability of the 155 and 165 Grove Street sites. Part of the site is currently being used by the Arts Commission to showcase art exhibitions. The 165 Grove St. site is a vacant lot. Together the parcels total approximately 8,000 sq. ft. and are zoned C3G – Downtown General Commercial. The dwelling density under C3G zoning is one unit for each 125 sq. ft., which would allow approximately 32 units on one lot and 64 units on two lots. Assuming that the ground floor and lower areas would have non-residential uses, staff estimated that the upper floors of a seven-story building could accommodate approximately 40-45 family units or 65-70 studio units. Ms. McNamara pointed out that the parcels are subject to the Civic Center Master Plan and that the Arts Commission has expressed an interest in developing both parcels for uses associated with the arts.
Mr. Jerry Romani, of the Department of Real Estate (DRE), pointed out that the parcel located at 240 Van Ness Avenue (lot 19) is under the jurisdiction of DRE. Over the years, the intent of the City was to develop 155 and 165 Grove St., along with 240 Van Ness Ave. and two other privately-owned properties located at 250 Van Ness Ave. and 234 Van Ness Ave. Such development would finish off the southerly boundary of Civic Center. DRE thought that the City could enter into a joint venture with the owner of the 250 and 234 Van Ness Ave. sites. The Director of Property recommends that the city land-bank the 155 and 165 Grove St. sites for 5 to 10 years for possible future City development.
Supervisor Daly stated that it has been almost a year since the Board of Supervisors approved the transfer of the sites from DRE’s jurisdiction to MOH’s jurisdiction. He inquired as to why DRE declared the properties surplus if the department intended to develop the parcels and why was it never mention at the Board of Supervisors’ hearing when the surplus properties list was being reviewed. Mr. Romani explained that DRE declared the sites as surplus and underutilized because they are as far as being developed to their highest and best use. Mr. Romani clarified that DRE did recommend to the Board that the sites not be transferred to MOH.
Public Comment:
John Melone, of Senior Action Network and Homeless Senior Task Force, commented that he is in support of a mixed-use project that includes housing and art uses and that the city needed to build more affordable housing.
Richard Newirth, Director of the Arts Commission, commented that the Arts Commission is ready to embark on a capital campaign to raise the necessary funds for the seismic retrofit of the existing building and would like to have the opportunity to do so.
Mr. Josh Mason, of the Coalition on Homelessness, commented that there is adequate space for a mixed-use project that combines both housing for homeless and low-income people and art uses.
Mr. George Clark, of the Lighthouse for the Blind, spoke in support of the Arts Commission proposal to use the sites for art uses.
Mr. David Zisser, of the Coalition on Homelessness, spoke in support of a mixed-use project that includes housing and arts.
Ms. Barbara Blong, of the Senior Action Network, Senior Housing Action Committee and Homeless Senior Task Force, spoke in support of a mixed-use project that includes space for arts on the ground floor and housing on the top floors.
Mr. Adam Kruegel, of the San Francisco Organizing Project, spoke in support of a mixed-use project that includes housing and arts.
Ms. Christine Pielenz, of Potrero Nuevo Fund, spoke in support of the Arts Commission and was not interested in a mixed-use project.
Mr. Kamau Patton, a Guest Curator for the Arts Commission, commented that all the art foundations are under funded and that the city needs to support its arts.
Ms. Andrea Cochran, a Landscape Architect and also an Arts Commissioner, spoke in support of the Arts Commission.
Ms. Catherine Lipsetz Daner, an Arts Commissioner, spoke in support of the Arts Commission.
Ms. Anne Healy, a former Arts Commissioner, spoke in support of the Arts Commission.
Ms. Jeannene Przyblyski, an Arts Commissioner, explained that the Arts Commission has been ready to start the capital campaign to raise funds for the seismic retrofit of the existing building since early last year, but was held up by the last administration. The Arts Commission has planned to retrofit the site, but did not have the personnel to do a fundraising of such capacity until now. Ms. Przyblyski added that she does support affordable housing, but she does not believe that it would be possible to have both housing and art uses at this particular site.
Public Comment Closed
Ms. Gutierrez commented that she is very passionate about the issue of housing the homeless because she was once homeless. She does believe that art is very important, but she also believes that every human being should have a decent place to live and not have to die in the street. She would very much support a mixed-use project that includes art uses on the ground floor and housing on the top floors.
Mr. Franklin commented that the development cost might be very expensive and that it would be a good idea to explore the feasibility of using the site to generate revenue that could be used at another location.
Supervisor Daly made a motion that the Citizens Advisory Committee direct the Mayor’s Office of Housing staff to draft a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a mixed-use development that includes art uses on the ground floor and housing for homeless, formerly homeless and very low-income people on the top floors. Mr. Franklin amended the motion to include directing staff to explore the feasibility of leasing the parcels for cultural uses that can generate ongoing income revenue for housing development at another location. Supervisor Daly seconded the amended motion by Mr. Franklin. The motion was passed unanimously.
Ms. Fox requested that a timeline for the RFP be an agenda item for the next meeting.
150 Otis Street Site:
Supervisor Daly and Mr. Clark recused themselves from item 4d due to a conflict of interest. Staff pointed out that this action would result in the loss of a quorum. In order to avoid the loss of a quorum, Acting Chairperson Fox made a motion to continue 4d to the next meeting and to take up the next agenda item. The motion was seconded by Ms. Gutierrez and passed unanimously.
5. Committee Members’ Questions and Matters:
None
6. Public Comment:
None
7. The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM.