Newsflash

By Calvin Welch, HANC Board

There is a new urban policy sweeping the nation: “den­sity bonus.” A density bonus program is an urban development policy aimed at addressing the nation-wide shortage of affordable housing in urban America by allow­ing for-profit developers more units on smaller lots in hope that afford­able prices will result.

The fact that the two most dense US cities—New York and San Fran­cisco—have the highest housing costs in the nation does not seem to inform the support in governing cir­cles for the approach.

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By Dave Groeschel, HANC Merchant Liason

On February 17, a partnering meeting with agencies involved in this project was held. The purpose was to set up guidelines for communication between the different entities and set goals to make sure the project is completed safely and swiftly. There will also be disruptions to parking and traffic during the estimated 18-month-long project. The project is expected to begin again sometime in March 2016.

DPW will assign an inspector full-time to the project. PG&E and Ghilotti Bros. will also have safety people on the project. When there will be digging, the safety reps will meet in the morning to go over maps of where gas lines are located. There will be more “pothole” digging to confirm.

All workers will undergo additional safety training. If there is a gas line hit, then they will notify the fire department and the public can use the SF311 app to report problems and get information.

This project will impact parking. There will be periods when spaces will be marked as tow-away to accommodate buses needing the extra space when the center of the street is torn up. There will be other times that spaces are needed for equipment parking or storing of materials.

By James Sword, HANC President

As you may have read recently on Hoodline, a proposal to convert one lane of traffic along both Oak and Fell to bike lanes, the length of the Panhandle, has been proposed by NOPNA.  The Bicycle Coalition has assigned staff to work on the proposal.  

This issue was originally brought to the HANC board in April 2015 by a member of the NOPNA board. At that time, the HANC board listened to the proposal and presented serious concerns for elderly, pedestrians, and people with disabilities. At the end of 2015 the HANC board reached out to the Bicycle Coalition and had a representative attend our April 2016 board meeting.

The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council is not against bicycling, it is a great alternative mode of transportation. The board feels a reasonable alternative would be to widen the current multi-use path and repave the southern pedestrian path (RPD has neglected to repave despite efforts to have them do so by NOPNA, PROSF, and HANC).

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February 26, 2016

San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission501 Stanyan Street
San Francisco, CA  94117

Dear Commission:

The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council ("HANC") met with Brian Helmick of the San Francisco Deltas Football Club, and while we find him to be a nice guy and have good intentions, our board voted against their proposal "as presented."  The board based its decision on the following core points:

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By Calvin Welch, HANC Board

On March 17th, in a unanimous vote, the Recreation and Parks Commission approved a 5- year lease agreement with the San Francisco Deltas for the use of Kezar Stadium for professional soccer.   The approval also included ending a 25-year ban on the sale of alcohol at any such facility. The agreement allows 15 to 20 games a year at Kezar and practice 5 days a week during the season at Kezar and at Boxer stadium in Balboa Park. The lease is to start in 2017.

The Deltas have agreed to pay Rec and Park $460k for one time capital improvements, mainly sound and lighting improvements necessary for the televising of the games, a requirement of the league to which they belong. In addition a $30,000 yearly fee will be charged for the use of the stadium, which by law must go to the General Fund of the City and cannot be earmarked for the stadium’s specific use unless so budgeted by the department. Kezar has never received a specific line time budget by Rec and Park over its 25-year life.

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By Calvin Welch, HANC Housing and Land Use Board Member and Member of the Kezar Stadium Advisory Committee

For the entire 35 year history of the “new” Kezar stadium Rec and Park (or as it is known by long time San Franciscans, “Wreck the Park”) has attempted to transform the facility into a “pay to play” venue, generating revenue for the department,

HANC was asked in 1987 to support a campaign for a general obligation bond to demolish the derelict hulk of the old sixty-foot-high, 60,000-seat stadium that was left empty when Rec and Park and the 49ers left it for the friendlier confines of Candlestick Park. Neither had any plans or concerns for the site. They were happy leaving it to rot.

The community did, however, have a vision: reclaim the old Poly High School site and the old Kezar site and extend the residential community to Poly and Golden Gate Park to Kezar.

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