February was a bit of a banner month on Haight Street as businesses closed fast and others started to slowly come back.

Three businesses closed their doors--El Balazo (1654), Martin Macks (1566) and Pure Beauty (1560)--with only one reopening--Martin Macks, under new management and a boycott by the old management.

Two other businesses, closed in an August fire--True (1417) and People's Cafe (1419)--showed some small signs of life as workers cleared out the remains of the ashes, slowly making their way to rehabilitation.

While the drama centered on the intra-owner fight at Martin Macks--with one owner filing legal action against another and then taking possession and replacing the staff while the original owner announced a boycott, the real mystery centers on the abrupt closing of El Balazo, the popular Mexican restaurant.  None of its business neighbors has a clue as to why it closed, literally overnight.  Work was underway on an ADA compliant elevator to its mezzanine.  Some customers had thought that perhaps that expense pushed the business over the edge.  Others speculated on ICE busts which had happened before but not recently.  No one knows why the popular eatery closed.  It's simply gone.

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Effective January 14, Capatain Denis O'Leary left as Commanding Officer of Park Station, replaced by Captain John Feeney.  Captain O'Leary has assumed command of the Department's Traffic Company, based at 850 Bryant.

A 25-year career officer in the S.F. Police Department, Captain Feeney is familiar with the Haight Ashbury Community, having served as a Lieutenant for 17 months at Park Station during a 1991-92 assignment.  He was promoted to Captain one-and-a-half years ago and worked directly with two Chief of Police administrations.

Captain Feeney met with HANC at our February meeting.  The following day, this language appeared in the emailed Park Police District Newsletter, "Last night I met with HANC, and enjoyed meeting everyone who attended the meeting.  The issue of traffic safety throughout the Park Police District was discussed at length.  I made the following statement:  'We at Park Station are not waging war against bicyclists, motorists, skateboarders, or pedestrians; we are, however declaring war on behalf of traffic safety.'. . ."

Since then there have been two traffic sting operations.  Motorists were cited for not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk at Beulah and Stanyan, and cyclists were cited for running stop signs and not watching for pedestrians along the Wiggle.

The website for the Park Police Station is here.  To subscribe to the Park Station's email newsletter, you can follow a link from the Park Station's website, or simply send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line "Subscribe me to Park Station."

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