HANC Presents a Slideshow on San Francisco's Natural History.
HANCs January meeting is a wrkshop co-planned with Nature in the City. Greg Gaar will be presenting his popular slideshow on SF's Natural History. He will show more than 100 historic images documenting the evolution of San Francisco's landscape over the last 150 years. The presentation will display San Francisco's diverse native plant communities--sand dunes, coastal prairie and scrub, the trees, the creeks, lakes and the bayshore. Greg will discuss the efforts of government agencies, non-profits and volunteers to preserve and restore our natural heritage.
Membership Meetings: 2nd Thursdays ~ 7-9pm
Park Branch Library, 1833 Page St, SF, CA 94117 (except August)
HANC Membership Meeting - April 2023
HANC Blog
Hear from the Board of Directors on a variety of issues, announcements and activities.
By Calvin Welch, HANC Board
Haight Ashbury voters showed more interest in the November election than did San Franciscans or Californians and voted to the "left" of both on all statewide candidates and measures. We also defeated the hottest local ballot measure- Proposition L ("Sit/Lie") to the embarrassment of new resident Gavin Newsom and the consternation of various nabobs of the chattering conservative class from Arthur Evans to CW ("Consistently Wrong") Nevius.
Save The HANC Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery 12.7.2010
HANC Meeting Thursday, December 9, 7pm - Urban School, 1563 Page Street, SF.
The next HANC meeting will be a report on the Rec and Park Commission meeting and what the next steps are to save the Center. A report on how the neighborhood voted in the last election will also be presented.
Inner Sunset Meeting.
Residents of the Inner Sunset are organizing another community meeting in support of the Center. Check back here for more information.
Board of Supervisors Hearing.
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is scheduling a hearing on the closing of the Center and Nursery for sometime in January. We will let folks know the date as soon as we hear from him.
Rec and Park Commission Votes to Evict Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery - 12.3.2010
As expected, the Rec and Park Commission voted to evict the Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery at their meeting Thursday night. They were forced to delay the stated goal of having HANC out by the first of the year after HANC's lawyer sent notification that the terms of our lease meant the earliest the eviction could take place is June, 2011. Check back here on Monday, Dec 6 for more information on what you can do to help stop the eviction.
Update - 12.1.2010
A meeting was held last night of Inner Sunset residents concerned about the eviction of the Center and Nursery. It drew upwards of 100 attendees. Though they were invited, no representative of the Rec and Parks Department chose to attend the meeting, nor did the invited supporters of the eviction including the Cole Valley Improvement Association, the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association or the Inner Sunset Park Neighbors. After laying out the 2 sides of the issue, during which Rec and Park Director Ginsberg's letter to the group was read and a rep of HANC and one of the conveners of the meeting spoke, a 2 hour community discussion ensued. At the end of the meeting a resolution to oppose the closure of the Center was passed.
Urgent Update - 11.30.2010
At a Tuesday, Nov. 30th meeting between HANC, Supervisor Ross Mirkirimi, Rec and Park, and other City departments, Rec and Park Director Phil Ginsberg stated that they wanted the Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery out by "the first of the year". This rush to evict before Mayor Newsom leaves office is because no incoming Mayor would support such an absurd idea as reducing the number of recycling centers in a city that already has too few of them to begin with. In their drive to push this through, Rec and Park has held NO public meetings on the proposed change of use, despite that being their normal operating process.
Help Stop the Eviction of
The HANC Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery!
The Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery is under threat of eviction by the Rec and Park Commission. We need your assistance to help us save this long time community resource.
The SF Rec & Parks Department (RPD) proposes to evict the recycling center operated by the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC) for the last 36 years from its location on the southwest corner of the Kezar triangle in Golden Gate Park. The proposal is set for hearing before the Rec Park Commission on December 2, 2010.
There has been no community wide discussion of the eviction. The proposal has become very divisive in our neighborhoods. In the interest of a broader discussion of this proposal, a number of local residents organized this forum for a full public debate and discussion prior to the Dec. 2 Commission meeting. Representatives from both sides including the Rec & Park Dept. have been invited to speak.
Turn out for the Rec and Park Commission Meeting
Thursday, December 2, 2:00pm / City Hall, Room 416
It is imperative that we need have a large turn out of supporters at this meeting who will speak in support of the Center and Nursery. The Recycling Center is number 12 on the Agenda for the meeting. Here’s a link to the agenda: December 02, 2010December 02, 2010
Send Letters and Emails
We need our members, neighbors and friends of the Center and Nursery to show their support by sending letters and emails to the Recreation & Parks Commission and to the Board of Supervisors before December 2, 2010.
Here are a couple of sample letters / E-mail texts. It’s better if you can write your own letters explaining why you oppose evicting the Center and Nursery and replacing it with a "Garden Center", but here are two sample letters that you can cut and past and build your own on. We need to focus on the Rec and Park Commission so send your letters/ emails to the first three officials right away. Then send the letters and emails to the Supervisors.
Letter #1
I am writing to oppose the proposed re-use of the HANC Recycling Center and Nursery as a community garden and resource center. For over 36 years the Recycling Center has lead the fight for environmental sustainability in San Francisco. The Recycling Center is an intrinsic component in achieving the goals the City has set for itself in terms of recycling. The fact that over 150 tons of recyclable materials comes through the Center every month is proof of that. It is the only place in the Haight Asbury /Inner Sunset where bottles can be redeemed for cash as mandated by state law.
The repurposing of this site as an urban garden and resource center is redundant and disingenuous as there is already an existing community garden space in the area. The Native Plant Nursery providers a far greater service to the neighborhood and entire City through its educational programs, partnerships and native plant advocacy than any “garden center” could do.
Please reject this ill considered attempt to drive out a thriving non-profit that provides decent jobs, community benefits and is such a leader in making San Francisco more environmentally smart.
Letter #2
Please do not evict the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery from its present Golden Gate Park Location. I cannot understand why the Commission would chose to replace a vital environmental, non-profit resource that provides educational program, native plants and state of the art recycling for what appears to be a vague “garden center”. The HANC Recycling Center has proven itself over it’s 36 years. It pays rent to the Park, provides decent jobs with a living wage and health benefits for people who might otherwise be on the streets and has the support of the vast majority of neighbors in both the Inner Sunset and Haight Ashbury neighborhoods.
It appears to me that the move to evict may only be payback by political opponents of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council for positions HANC has taken. This is a shame because the many benefits that the Recycling Center and Native Plant Nursery provide to both the neighborhood and the City of San Francisco should not be threatened by petty, short term political bickering.
Our neighborhood and City will be greatly depleted if this attempt at political revenge is allowed to close such an important environmental resource. I urge you consider the important services the Recycling and Native Plant Nursery provides to the neighborhood and City and to reject this proposal to replace it with a garden center.
Contact information:
Mark Buell, President, RPD Commission, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mayor Gavin Newsom: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Recreation & Parks Director Phil Ginsburg: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-7752
Supervisor David Campos: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-5144
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-7630
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-6516
Supervisor Bevan Dufty: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-6968
Supervisor Chris Daly: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-7970
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-7670
Supervisor Eric Mar: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-7510
Supervisor David Chiu: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-7450
Supervisor John Avalos: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-6975
Supervisor Carmen Chu: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 554-7460
Check the HANC website for more infromation late breaking updates.
- Hits: 4186
December 9th HANC General Membership Meeting
HANC Membership Votes to Fight Closing of Recycling Center
At its December meeting HANC members voted unanimously to call upon the Board of Supervisors to request that the new Mayor direct the General Manager of Recreation and Park Department (RPD) to hold hearing consistent with the department own requirements for public participation that would lay out a plan by which both recycling and a community garden could continue to exist at the Frederick Street location. The membership also called upon the new mayor to set-aside the eviction notice.
- Hits: 6414
Recycling Center Threatened Again
The continuing saga of the 36 year old HANC Recycling Center & Native Plant Nursery got a new installment recently. HANC staff learned of discussions held by the Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) to close this valuable neighborhood resource.
Members of San Francisco’s urban agriculture community were called into Mclaren Lodge to give input on a plan RPD was developing. The plan was to replace HANC with something called a “Garden Resource Center”. A site specific drawing was produced. RPD staff seemed to dismiss the concern raised by a community member that their proposal was highly duplicative of both the Garden for the Environment located nearby at 7th and Lawton and the Native Plant Nursery itself.
When notified of the discussions, I was struck by the irony of San Francisco’s Green Mayor, who is running for Lieutenant Governor on a platform of green jobs and promoting the green economy, attempting to shut down a recycling center that employs ten people in his own neighborhood. How is that for “thinking globally and acting locally”?