HANC's November meeting will focus on proposed changes that will affect Haight Street and the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood.  

Food trucks have appeared in the neighborhood, and applications for more food trucks are pending.  Should they be allowed here?  If so, what limits should there be regarding location, hours, noise and fumes?  Why are there more applications in the Haight-Ashbury than in any other neighborhood?

Supervisor Mirkarimi has proposed extensive amendments to the Neighborhood Commercial Rezoning.  These amendments will directly affect Haight Street, but very few in the neighborhood know what these amendments are about or what effec these proposed changes could have on them.  

Come to our general meeting, Thursday night, November 10, beginning 7 p.m., downstairs at the Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street, for information about your neighborhood that you won't find anywhere else. 

HANC is supporting the Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) in their desire to develop a community garden at the site of the recycling center at 780 Frederick.  RPD has issued a termination notice for the current HANC lease which would remove the recycling center valued by thousands of nearby neighbors with the expressed intent to develop a community garden. RPD is proposing to spend $250,000 to implement just the first phase of a community garden (a few beds, etc.).

HANC has responded to a request from RPD to be involved with the community garden by offering to build out the garden at little or no cost to RPD (saving over a hundred thousand $ of RPD capital budget that could then be used elsewhere to make new gardens or other capital investments) while transitioning the recycling/redemption features off the site at 780 Frederick over a reasonable timeframe so as not to remove the neighborhood benefits of a recycling center.

RPD has expressed concern with this plan because they have stated that they do not believe that ANY gardeners would be willing to manage plots in a space where people donate recycled goods or redeem recyclables (even in the interim). HANC is wondering if that assumption is valid. If you (or your family or friends) would be interested in helping install or maintain a plot at the 780 Frederick site (Upper Haight/Cole Valley/Inner Sunset) please fill out the short form here:

http://bit.ly/HANCgarden

Please also forward this link to folks you think might be interested in signing up.

At HANC's October membership meeting, Christin Evans, Treasurer of the new Haight Ashbury Merchant's Association (HAMA) will discuss what their organization is about and present some of their proposals for Haight Street.  We will have a chance to discuss the proposals, and, if we support their ideas, HAMA will take the next steps toward implementing them. 

Also, Take Back Our Parks (TBOP) will discuss a questionnaire their group sent to the Mayoral candidates about the current practices of the Recreation and Parks Department, and how the candidates responded.  Find out which candidates oppose further privatization of our parks, which candidates support making Golden Gate Park a Historic District, and how the candidates stand on other park-related issues.

Join us on Thursday, October 13, 7:00 -9:00 pm, at the Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street (downstairs)

HANC's July meeting focused on neighborhood issues.  We invite you to get involved.  Here are some issues and the people to contact:

1.  Traffic on Stanyan, especially at Frederick, and how to make it safer for pedestrians.  Contacts are Rupert Clayton and Jim Rhoads.

2.  Whole Foods's violation of its Conditional Use Permit, noise impacts on Page Street neighbors, and impacts on Stanyan Street traffic.  Contact is Susan Latham.

3.  Good PR for the Haight-Ashbury.  We want to increase positive stories about the neighborhood in the media and decrease the slamming.  Contact is Jim Siegel.

4.  Setting up a physical attraction commemmorating the Haight-Ashbury in the 1960's.  Contact is Pam Brennan.

If you want to be involved with any of these issues please send an email message to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  We will forward your contact information to the appropriate contact person or persons.  We also welcome any ideas or comments you may have about neighborhood issues.

We expect to hear back at our September meeting (September 15) about actions and further ideas for the above issues.

The September Membership Meeting of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council will feature a panel discussion of the upcoming election for Mayor of San Francisco and of key local ballot measures.  The panel will consist of Tim Redmond, Executive Editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and Aaron Peskin, former President of the Board of Supervisors, and current Chair of the Democratic County Central Committee.

We will also hear brief updates regarding neighborhood issues that were discussed during our July meeting.

Please join us on Thursday, September 15, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, at the Park Branch Library Community Room for what should be an informative and entertaining evening 

On May 26, the eviction lawsuit against the Recycling Center was voluntarily dismissed by the City and County of San Francisco and the Recreation and Parks Department.  Our position, since we first received notice to vacate the premises in December, 2010, has been that the notice was premature.  Through the operation of law, our original five-year lease became an annual lease, and our right to remain on the premises extended well beyond the date we were told we needed to leave.  Although Rec & Park claims to still disagree with our position, we believe that the eviction was dismissed because the City Attorney’s office recognized that our position would likely prevail at trial.

The new notice terminates our lease on June 30, 2011.  The notice includes this sentence:  “As we have repeatedly stated, without waiving any rights the City has, we hope to have HANC’s input and cooperation as we transition to a community garden or other use consistent with the Golden Gate Park Master Plan, and are willing to discuss possible HANC involvement in any new use.”

We have been having discussions with Rec & Park about how HANC, with our gardening and recycling experience, can help transform the site while retaining vital recycling services for the surrounding neighborhood and for Golden Gate Park.

We will keep you updated on further developments.  Meantime, we are still open.  Please stop by our Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery at 780 Frederick (next to Kezar Stadium).

Despite attempts to evict us, HANC's Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery remains open.  Come visit us at 780 Frederick Street (at Arguello), Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 4.

Here is a brief history of the attempt to evict us:

Last November, the Recreation and Park Department announced its plans to convert the Recycling Center to a Community Garden.  HANC supports community gardens, but the Recycling Center site is far from ideal for a community garden.  There inadequate sunlight, as the site is shaded by trees, and the soil is likely toxic from the site's prior use as a train depot. 

In December, although public comment supported keeping the Recycling Center at its present site, the Recreation and Park Commission voted to support the plan to replace our Recycling Center with a community garden.  We were served with a notice to vacate the premises within 90 days.  Our attoney examined our lease with the City and determined that under California law, our lease had become a year-to-year lease, and that we have the right to remain until the end of the annual lease.

Despite being informed of our right to remain at the Recycling Center site, the Rec and Park Department filed an unlawful detainer (eviction) lawsuit against us in March.  Our attorney has filed motions challenging procedural inadequacies by the Rec and Park Department and by the City Attorney, but judge hearing the motions has not dismissed the lawsuit.

The eviction is proceeding toward trial, but as of late May, no trial date has been set.  We believe that if the case proceeds to trial, we are likely to prevail.

While the trial is pending, we are also planning for the future of the Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery and discussing possibilities with individuals and entitites within the City.

Meantime, we continue to operate as we have been doing, so please stop by.