SF Residents First

Last updated November 11, 2007 | Bookmark this site | Contact

www.RinconNeighbors.com > SF Residents First

[Mayor Newsom, photo by Luke Thomas]

This web site is being created to spotlight numerous quality-of-life problems that have been knowingly and purposely caused by city hall in District 6. Often these issues favor out-of-town corporations over San Francisco's residents and small business owners. We are accustomed to the usual noise and disruptions of city living, but these problems are getting rather extreme, and they are unnecessary.

Mayor Gavin Newsom often addresses quality-of-life issues, but other city hall officials don't seem to get the message. No wonder the mayor requested resignation letters from city hall department heads. It's time for city hall to give more consideration to San Francisco's residents first.

Residents of District 6 can submit other issues through the "contact" link above.

[Howard Street closure]

HorrOracle: Larry Ellison and Oracle Corp shut down Howard Street for longer than a week in early November. This has been allowed two years in a row, and it creates the worst gridlock ever seen in the area. This year the city is distributing leaflets in advance, but these simply show current traffic routes. They offer no alternative routes or solutions whatsoever. Of course city hall claims the Oracle event brings in millions of dollars, but none of that money seems to be spent on real traffic control. Everyone knows there would be other events taking their place if Oracle went somewhere else -- other events that don't cause so many problems for residents and local businesses.

[Supervisor Bevan Dufty]

Halloween: The city’s initial response to the problems of Halloween in the Castro was to dump the event in District 6 at Piers 30 and 32. Thanks anyway. District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty was responsive to our questions and concerns, and he has been very proactive is dealing with the problem.

[Side facing Ferry Plaza]

Hotel Vitale: This architectural monstrosity eliminated Muni’s 125-year-old transit terminal in front of the Ferry Building. Now residents and ferry riders must hunt for busses at various curbside stops scattered around the neighborhood, and the re-routed busses now get tangled in traffic at intersections like Main and Market. Thank Willie Brown for this one. More information, including Muni's plans (now discarded) for improving the transit terminal, can be found at: www.RinconNeighbors.com/embarc.html

[All Star Fireworks]

All Star Noise: The city allowed a lame fireworks display, including loud percussion bombs, STARTING at 11 PM during the All Star Game. This was right in front of several residential buildings on a weeknight. They have also allowed other late-night fireworks for private groups.

[Geary at Polk]

Geary at Polk: On the other side of District 6, there are big plans for improving transit and easing congestion along the Geary corridor. Therefore it is incredible that city hall would narrow Geary Street (at Polk) to two lanes for months during the construction of one building. That leaves only one lane for cars, even at rush hour. Cars making turns on to Polk can bring all traffic -- busses and cars -- to a halt. Other construction projects do not need to take a lane of traffic, yet this one was also given a lane of Polk Street.

Outlaw Motorcycles: The city is clearly not enforcing motorcycle noise laws. Residents who live near major arteries, like the Embarcadero and Van Ness, are bombarded with the noise of the super loud motorcycles (especially on weekends) that have been altered to make noise many times louder than the normal Harley Davidson. Obviously city officials had no consideration for residents -- especially the elderly, children and the sick -- in allowing lug heads to make a lot of noise for no reason. If you live in Pacific Heights, you probably don't hear them.

[Howard @ Moscone] [Howard @ Moscone]

Moscone Traffic: Vehicles associated with Moscone Center are often allowed to park along Howard Street blocking traffic and the bike lane. If these vehicles are a necessary part of the center's operations, then it should have been designed with spaces for them. Maybe Moscone Center is poorly designed, but it is more likely that the police just aren't enforcing vehicle regulations.

Night Work Permits: Apparently oblivious to the neighboring residential buildings, city hall routinely allows loud night work around various office buildings in the area (such as 201 Spear Street).

Rincon Park: The original plans for Rincon Park allowed a single, one-story restaurant in the southern end of the park. After the official RFP was released, the city allowed the project to expand into two, two-story buildings. The height limit was ignored and the square footage grew by more than 50-percent. [Rincon Mound]

One of the most devious acts by city planners was the sneaky way they allowed the commercial complex to exceed its height limitations. The project's original RFP clearly allowed the buildings to be no more than 17-feet above the park's grade, which was flat. Planners built the big mound which blocks views (and access for an entire block) under the Cupid's Span sculpture, and then proclaimed that the park's grade is now higher. They then raised the buildings' height limits even though they are not even in the same section of the park as the mound. Now that they have been built, we believe the buildings have even exceeded the super-sized height limits. [Moved boundary]

The biggest loss of access, views and contiguous open space happened because the Port allowed the developers to build a second restaurant outside the area permitted for development. The original RFP restricted the construction (of one building) to a 20,000 square foot area shown on the left side of the diagram (above the red line). The Port, ignoring its own requirements, allowed the developers to put the expanded restaurant complex where they pleased. They then redrew the boundary around the buildings (right). Access and views are now limited (see brackets). Notice how public park space is now chopped up into unusable segments on three sides of the buildings – basically it has become landscaping for the restaurants. After finally getting rid of the Embarcadero Freeway, we have new kinds of barriers between the city and its bay. [Supervisor Peskin]

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district is less than two blocks from Rincon Park, has done a lot of good for San Francisco, but he deserves criticism for allowing Rincon Park to be overdeveloped. Peskin represents the city at the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) which, by state law (sections 66602-4), is required to limit waterfront developments and maximize views and access. All the expansion of the mound and buildings happened while the project was being considered by BCDC. Peskin was given a legal opinion letter stating that the project violated state law. He also received other materials and heard about the overdevelopment of the project during public comment at BCDC meetings. (He refused to meet with residents to discuss the project.) Nonetheless, he sent his aide (and BCDC alternate) to vote for the project.

More about this park, including the text of the legal opinion letter, can be found at: www.RinconNeighbors.com/park.html

BMR Rents: Tenants in various Below Market Rate (BMR) apartments around San Francisco have complained for years that their rent adjustments are wildly out of sync with the economy. That's because their annual rent changes are tied to a so-called income number published by the federal government (HUD), even though HUD says that is an inappropriate use of the number. The mayor's Office of Housing and the Redevelopment Agency finally reviewed the situation in early 2007 but made no corrective changes to the process. BMR tenants in other buildings are encouraged to contact the Rincon Tenants Assoc to share information about this and other BMR issues (see the "contact" link at the top of this page).

© Copyright 2007 Rincon Center Tenants Association