Merchants, Residents Rally to Shape Development
By Alison Fromme, Special to the Neighborhood Newswire, Apr 12, 2006
New development in San Francisco is changing the shape of neighborhoods, and many residents and business owners are wondering how much influence they'll have in the decision-making process.
 23rd and Harrison streets housing
project was halted by the Board of Supervisors
Photo: Jennifer Pickens |
More than 1,000 construction projects are currently pending in the City, about half of which have already been approved by the Planning Department. These projects represent in excess of 27,000 new housing units and 6.5 million square feet of non-residential development. Typical of the mix is the demolition of a one-story building at 3251 18th Street to construct a four-story office and daycare facility with 95 parking spaces.
The Planning Department has identified the Mission District as a development “hotspot,” ranking it second in total number of projects proposed, after Bayview. As of December 2005, 90 projects - including 1,700 new housing units - were in the neighborhood's planning pipeline. Proposals to demolish light industrial space in the Mission are also plentiful, as is the case in the Bayview, Mid-Market/ Civic Center, and Eastern SOMA neighborhoods.
With such intense development activity, residents and business owners are eager to voice their opinions. “There is a substantial group of people who live, work and conduct business in the Mission who are concerned with the lack of development,” said property-owner and past president of the Mission Merchants Association, Philip Lesser. As a Mission Housing Development Corporation advisor and Mission Coalition for Economic Justice and Jobs member, Lesser sees great potential for responsible neighborhood growth. “Both of these groups recognize that one of the virtues of the Mission is the diversity of its people: culturally, economically, and chronologically,” he said.
The Mission has abundant transit options and is close-by the new UCSF biotech campus and Civic Center. “Thus there will be enormous employment potential within 20 to 30 minutes of public transit commuting time from the heart of the Mission,” according to Lesser. Both the Development Corporation and Coalition have promoted increased density and fewer parking spaces along Mission, Valencia, 24th, and 16th streets, as a means to encourage more people to live and work close to transit hubs. “We are hoping that construction of mixed-use buildings on these streets will also give renewed vibrancy to neighborhood commerce as new ground-level stores, restaurants and service providers come to cater to a natural market,” he added.
In addition to the Mission Housing Development Corporation and Mission Coalition for Economic Justice and Jobs, the Mission Anti-displacement Coalition (MAC) provides residents with opportunities to weigh-in on City neighborhood development policies. MAC, an arm of PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights), fights against gentrification by empowering people to become part of the planning process.
Creating a unified community voice is a challenge when diverse opinions clash, but these organizations have collaborated on issues in the past. For example, PODER coordinated with the Mission Housing Development Corporation, the Mission Economic Development Association, and other groups to create the “People's Land Use Plan,” a vision for the neighborhood that called for safe and affordable housing, a diverse economy, and access to community-based health services and recreation.
The Planning Department solicits input about development decisions through public hearings and workshops. For example, in mid-February, zoning, height limits, open space, and public transit proposals were vetted at a workshop held at John O'Connell High School.
Other City agencies also look for community input on neighborhood issues. The San Francisco Department of Public Health gathers residents' feedback through meetings of the Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Impact Assessment, a project that analyzes the effects of rezoning on community health.
The Back Streets Business Advisory Board was created by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell to find ways to retain the City's economic diversity. In a press release, Maxwell stated, “These businesses represent a critical sector in our local economy. They also provide employment opportunities for residents of all educational and skill levels. We cannot afford to lose these businesses.” In 2004, Maxwell introduced the legislation to create the board and coupled it with zoning controls to protect existing back street businesses. Maxwell added, “The loss of Back Streets businesses is part of a larger debate about the future of our City. This is about the character and the economic diversity… And it's about providing opportunity for all of our residents.”
The Advisory Board consists of 14 representatives from the community, government, and industry, such as PODER activist Oscar Grande, City planner Jasper Rubin, and Mark Klaiman, owner of the Bayview business PetCamp. Charged with developing recommendations to retain and expand “blue collar” businesses, the group has analyzed effective planning decisions within San Francisco and in other cities.
The Advisory Board is also asked periodically to weigh-in on current planning-related issues. According to Klaiman, the City had recently begun to define industrial businesses by what they weren't instead of what they were, leading to the category becoming somewhat meaningless. The Board advocated for a clear definition of which businesses were considered industrial.
For more information please visit:
Mission Housing Development Corporation at www.missionhousing.org; PODER at www.podersf.org; Mission Economic Development Corporation at www.medasf.org; The Back Streets Business Advisory Board at www.sfgov.org/site/bsbab_index.asp; The San Francisco Planning Department at www.sfgov.org/site/planning_index.as
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