Participatory Budget Kickoff Meeting #2 tonight

A reminder that this is ONLY for District 3, 7, and 10 residents ($100K per district).

At the first D10 kickoff meeting this past weekend, ideas that floated to the top were: wrapping utility boxes in art; safety measures for seniors on MUNI; streetscape improvements; shuttle share program in Vis Valley.  Evidently, we're only able to use the web form at http://sfpb.net/ to submit one idea per home address. Despite this, since I had a couple of ideas, I submitted others to the email address provided on the website. The ideas I submitted were:

1. provide initial funding to new community gardens, such as that at the Palou Community Garden 
2. streetscape improvements to Industrial St, including adding new crosswalks at four intersections, bulbouts, pedestrian islands, bike lanes, and stop signs at Revere 
3. expand SFShines to provide grants for facade improvements at neighborhood corner stores, such as Mike's Market on Silver at Revere (Silver Terrace) and Five Mile Market on San Bruno Ave (Vis Valley). 

The next steps for District 10 are:

• Kickoff meeting #2 Wednesday, April 2, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; California College of the Arts, 350 Kansas Street.  Same format as the one on Saturday in Visitacion Valley, where people will be split into groups and will brainstorm ideas
• Residents can submit their ideas via the website at http://sfpb.net/ until April 15. When an idea is submitted, the City's budget office will go over it and determine whether it is feasible or not within the framework of this program.
• ideas that are deemed feasible will be returned to residents at the vetting meeting on April 17 at the Southeast Community Facility, 1800 Oakdale Ave (6-7:30PM).
• ideas that make it through that meeting will be sent out to residents throughout District 10 to be voted upon. We'll be given a window of time to do it in and the projects that get the most votes (one vote per resident) will be funded.

If you want funds to be spent in your neighborhood, you have to vote. Be prepared to get your neighbors to vote, go door to door if you have to, and help get funds directed your way.

Projects that are funded will get a minimum of $5K and a maximum of $25K. If you have an idea, please submit it to http://sfpb.net/

If you want a second pair of eyes to read through your completed draft before you submit an idea, I'm happy to take a look and give you feedback (that you can use or not as you see fit).

Corovan site meetings

From Save The Hill,

Two important meetings about the future of the Corovan site at 16th/17th and Mississippi Streets will be occurring in the next few weeks. For maximum impact we urge you to attend both critical meetings, which are different in scope but complementary in potential outcome.  Saturday February 8, 2014 - Community PresentationThe Corovan developers will gather feedback from the broader community on their plans.Date and Time: Saturday February 8th, 10am - NoonLocation: The Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro Street  Saturday February 15, 2014 - Presentation for Save The Hill SupportersThe Corovan developers will make a presentation and answer questions specifically from Save The Hill supporters.Date and Time: Saturday February 15th, 2pm - 4pmLocation: Live Oak School, 1555 Mariposa Street, between Arkansas and Carolina A couple of quick points: Neighborhood Heritage & True Community Services Save the Hill is committed to achieving the best possible outcome for the future design and use of this site. Design:In order to both honor the history of the century old Corovan buildings (the former Pacific Rolling Mill) and modernize them for new purposes we are advocating for an "adaptive reuse" (conversion and rehabilitation) of the entire complex. We believe the site presents an exciting opportunity to develop a visionary and environmentally-friendly project for our community. Use:We support rehabilitating the existing buildings to house a mix of local community services including, for example, a European style public “Mercado” for food and dining, as well as space for office, light industrial, local retail, and cultural/educational uses. For more background on our vision please read Save The Hill’s recent editorial, “A Visionary Project For Potrero Hill” in The Potrero View.  Additional information on adaptive reuse (including images of existing examples) can also be found at Save The Hill’s website. 

Potrero Hill Community Meeting with Supervisor Cohen

Wednesday, January 15
6:30 - 8PM
Downtown High School
693 Vermont St., 2nd Floor Library
RSVP

Agenda
6:30 - 7:00PM  SF Film Commission and Potrero Hill

Join to learn more about the SF Film Commission.  Speakers include Executive Director of SF Film Commission, Susanna Robbins; Director of Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, Kriztina B. Palone; and Supervisor Malia Cohen

7:00 - 8PM  Open Community Forum and Q&A with Supervisor Cohen

Join for an informal neighborhood gathering with Supervisor Cohen and as she invites your questions and concerns related to all things Potrero Hill.  All neighborhood topics including Crime & Safety, Building Development, Parking and Open Space are welcome.

You will be provided with a 3x5 card at the door to help identify your top priority topics and questions.  If you cannot attend, please consider sending questions via email prior to the meeting.

Pier 70 development target of proposed ballot measure

From SFGate,

Source: pier70sf.com

"The war over San Francisco's waterfront is escalating this weekend... The physical targets of the proposed June [ballot] measure [includes]... Forest City's housing and retail development at Pier 70."

Read more at SFGate

Learn more about the Pier 70 development at http://pier70sf.com

Surface Mounted Facility Permit hearing at Board of Supervisors

Blue, approved; purple, requested
Source: SFDPW

Supervisor Wiener has called a hearing with the Land Use and Economic Development Committee of the Board of Supervisors on the topic of Surface Mounted Facility Permits to be issued to AT&T for 

Monday, January 13

1:30pm

City Hall Room 263 

This is the language of the hearing request:

Hearing, directed to AT&T, the Department of Public Works, and the Planning Department to discuss the roll-out of the AT&T U-verse telecommunications upgrade, focusing on the permitting and site installation of the sidewalk cabinets, and to discuss the current community outreach and permitting process and suggest improvements.

If you are able to attend, public comment on the topic would be greatly appreciated.

Irish Hill

From SFGate,

Today the stub of Irish Hill still stands. The shipbuilding plant that leveled the rest of it for landfill closed decades ago. And the city that passed it by has returned in full force.  

On one side is Pier 70, where developers want to restore roughly a dozen battered industrial buildings while adding as many as 1,000 housing units and 2.5 million square feet of commercial space. On the other is Dogpatch, a longtime enclave of artisans where upscale residential buildings are replacing what once were storage sheds or empty lots. 

More at SFGate

To find out more about the area around Irish Hill, I HIGHLY recommend taking one of the free walking tours provided by SF City Guides, with the next one happening on Sunday, January 5 at 11AM.  Apparently, the article generated a great deal of interest in the walking tours, as TWO new tours have been added for January!  Wednesday, Jan 8 and Wednesday, Jan 22, both at 10AM.

Potrero Streetscape Improvement Finalized

Now we just have to figure out what to do at the "hairball" at Cesar Chavez/Bayshore/Potrero Ave.

Today, from DPW,

After holding five community workshops, reviewing valuable public feedback and having the neighborhood vote for their preferred option for transforming Potrero Avenue, we would like to announce that Option 1 has emerged as the preferred design alternative. Your input helped to shape the proposed design concepts and allowed us to reach consensus on a final proposal.

Option 1 envisions a variety of improvements along the Potrero Avenue corridor from 17th Street to 25th Street, all of which meet the established project goals of improving pedestrian safety and accessibility, calming traffic, improving transit operations and reliability, and enhancing bicycle safety. From 21st to 25th streets, improvements include pedestrian refuge islands at the intersections, a continuous planted median, green painted bicycle lanes in both directions, and widening the sidewalk on the east side of Potrero from 22nd to 24th streets. Between 17th and 21st streets, improvements will include pedestrian refuge islands at the intersections, pedestrian bulb outs strategically placed at select crossings, and green painted bicycle lanes in both directions with 2’-0” painted buffers at most midblock locations. A red painted transit-only lane will be included from 18th Street to 24th Street in the southbound direction. It is anticipated that this lane will provide three minutes of time savings for buses traveling through the corridor. To accommodate all of the improvements, the proposed option would remove no more than 60 parking spaces over the mile-long length of the project. 

These improvements will transform Potrero Avenue into a safer and more attractive multi-modal corridor. The sidewalk widening will be especially beneficial for pedestrian comfort and safety, adding five feet to the existing narrow 9’-0” wide sidewalk. The bulb outs and refuge islands will shorten the crossing distances and provide more pedestrian visibility to motorists. 

The planted median will help calm traffic and green the corridor and the transit-only lane will provide time savings for all that commute by bus to and from the neighborhood.
By picking a preferred option, we now have the opportunity to work with partner agencies to develop the plan in more detail. 

Option 1 received the most community support in our outreach efforts. More than 140 residents and business owners voted during the fourth and fifth community meetings, with nearly 75% voting for an option that included sidewalk widening. 

The Potrero Streetscape Project is a part of San Francisco’s 2011 Road Repaving & Street Safety Bond. In order to deliver the most complete enhancement to the project area, DPW is working with the PUC to replace older water and sewer pipes while the streetscape is under construction. This will improve utility reliability in the neighborhood and will not only reduce the potential for failures, but also the need for additional construction for years to come. The project also includes roadway resurfacing on Potrero from Cesar Chavez to Division and the installation of ADA-compliant curb ramps. 

Managed by the San Francisco Department of Public Works, the project team includes City Planning, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. We are excited to move forward with this project, working with our community partners as we progress. 

More information on the Potrero Streetscape Improvement Project, including conceptual renderings of Option 1, as well as presentation materials from each of the community meetings, can be found at http://www.sfdpw.org/potrero. 

SFDPW Potrero Streetscape Project Manager, Cristina C. Olea: Cristina.C.Olea@sfdpw.org. 415-558-4004

Toy Giveaway for Children & Families Living in SF Public Housing

12/13/2013 SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Police Department, Operation Dream, and Housing Authority (HUD) join with San Francisco Recreation Park Department for a holiday celebration serving the children and families who are living in the Potrero Hill Public Housing. The event will take place on Saturday, December 14th starting at 11:30AM.

At the event, there will be toy giveaway, cookie decorating, bounce house, age appropriate recreation activities and fun games. Santa will be on hand to join in on the fun. Hot dogs and snacks will be provided for the children by San Francisco Police Department, Operation Dream. There will be toy giveaway at all the Public Housing sites throughout the City, during this holiday season.

“San Francisco Police Department Operation Dream Team work all year long, with our partners, raising funds and gathering toys towards the day (today) when we are blessed to be to put so many smiles on so many little faces. It truly is what is being a police officer is all about – helping people; and in this case, making a difference in the life of a child during the holiday season. It really doesn’t get any better than this.” Said Chief Greg Suhr, San Francisco Police Department.

“SF Rec and Park is excited to be in partnership with SFPD, Operation Dream and HUD to provide holiday fun for families in need,” said Phil Ginsburg, SF Rec and Park General Manager. “After all, this is what holidays are about: family.” “For over 18 years, both retired SFPD, active SFPD personnel, and many volunteer civilians, have been working tirelessly with the San Francisco Housing Authority to provide toys to girls and boys growing up in San Francisco’s public housing. The fundraising, the logistics, and all of the hard work and planning that goes into making this a reality is no small undertaking. We thank the San Francisco Police Department for their continued kindness, generosity, support, and for bringing joy to our families. Our children look forward to the Operation Dream gifts each and every year,” Said Joaquin Torres, President of the Board of Commissioners of the San Francisco Housing Authority.

For the past fifteen years, the members of Operation Dream have conducted a Christmas Toy Drive for the children of San Francisco. The Christmas Toy Drive benefit the children living in Public Housing, HUD complexes, and low-income neighborhoods, as well as children in hospitals. This toy drive consists of several public events to collect toys and raise funds to purchase toys, including the San Francisco 49ers and Toy collection and San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s Holiday Tree Lighting which took place on December 5th.

Potrero Boosters Holiday Party

The Potrero Boosters and Potrero Hill Democratic Club are co-sponsoring their annual Holiday Party.

The annual festivities will be held this year at a new space, the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts. Please join us for some holiday cheer and fun with your neighbors. 

To spread the cheer further, please bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the San Francisco Food Bank. Thank you!

Our popular 94107 t-shirts - now for either Potrero Hill or Dogpatch! - will be available, union-printed and union-made in USA.

WHEN: Saturday, December 14, from 4:00 to 7:00pm
WHERE: 360 Kansas St between 16th & 17th

Progress Park Plant-Up

Just a few more plants to put in the ground around the new "Gears" on 23rd at Iowa.  Please join us for a "plant up" around the gears.

WHEN: Saturday, 12/14
TIME: 10am (90-minutes)
WHERE: 23rd & Iowa in Dogpatch
Please join us - Happy Holidays!
Last time this year ;)

Dogpatch Warehouse Sale

Join over 50 neighbors and local merchants on Saturday, December 7th from 9am-4pm in the Dogpatch for a special holiday event hosted by the American Industrial Center and Triple Aught Design.  This year, the warehouse sale is shutting down 22nd Street between 3rd and Indiana for their marketplace. There will be a large selection of products, samples, prototypes, specialty gifts, discounts, food and drink - all in time for the holidays!

For more information and updates visit: http://dogpatchwarehousesale.com/

Potrero Streetscape Improvements Community Open House

What’s happening:  After receiving your comments and suggestions, we have reshaped the proposed designs for Potrero Avenue between 17th and 25th streets to still meet the project goals, while removing less parking. 

Option A, which includes sidewalk widening and a planted median, now removes 58 parking spaces. 

A new Option C removes 28 parking spaces, with strategically placed bulb outs and median islands.

Both options have the potential to recover some of those spaces on nearby streets. Please join us for an open house to learn more about these proposed designs.

For more information please visit www.sfdpw.org/potrero

When: Thursday, November 7, 2013; 6 to 8 pm (feel
free to come at your leisure)

Where: San Francisco General Hospital cafeteria 
1001 Potrero Avenue
2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94110

From the SF Bicycle Coalition:

A Safer Potrero Under Threat: Take Action Despite another pedestrian tragically killed this week on Potrero Avenue, the City continues to back pedal on safety improvements to Potrero Avenue due to the pressure from an anti-pedestrian lobby. The City has announced an unprecedented fourth community Open House on November 7 from 6-8PM at the SF General Hospital Cafeteria, 1001 Potrero Avenue, 2nd Floor. We are calling on all our members to email the Mayor and Supervisors Campos and Cohen and let them know that Potrero needs to be safe for everyone. We also want as many neighbors to make it out to the community open house and speak up for a safer Potrero. Contact chema@sfbike.org if you want to get involved.

Happening this weekend

You can't do it all, but you can do a lot this Saturday in D10!

Four Barrel Opens! Opens at 7AM, with festivities beginning at 10
HPS Bus Tour 10AM - 1PM
Free Dental Exams for Children 10AM - 2PM
SF City Walks Vis Valley 10AM
Halloween at Pier 70 noon - 5PM

BRITE General Meeting 10AM - noon
Potrero Hill GBD Workshops 12:30 - 2:30PM

AirBnB Community Volunteer Day in Potrero Hill

The holidays are fast approaching and Airbnb is gearing up to lend a hand for our 3rd Annual Community Volunteer Day! Join us on Saturday, November 9th for a morning of service with fellow hosts at the Potrero Rec Center. We will be renovating the landscape, planting, and weeding. Come hungry - we’ll be serving up breakfast & coffee from some of our local favorites!

Make sure you RSVP to secure your spot.The holidays are fast approaching and Airbnb is gearing up to lend a hand for our 3rd Annual Community Volunteer Day! Join us on Saturday, November 9th for a morning of service with fellow hosts at the Potrero Rec Center. We will be renovating the landscape, planting, and weeding. Come hungry - we’ll be serving up breakfast & coffee from some of our local favorites! Make sure you RSVP to secure your spot.

Potrero Gateway Park Community Design Workshop

This is it - the final workshop. Come See the final concept vision for The Loop!

The Potrero Gateway Park steering committee and Bionic Landscape team have held three community meetings to come up with a design for the 101 freeway right-of-way north of Mariposa on San Bruno, 17th and Vermont.

Please come and see the result! We want you to see the final design rendering and help us make the vision into a reality.

When: Wednesday, October 30 7-9 pm 
Where: Russian Gospel Church 2233 17th Street San Francisco 

Check out our website: http://www.potrerogatewaypark.org/

Pier 70 Phase 0 Workshop

Forest City and the Institute of the Commons are teaming up to offer an innovative and exciting opportunity to “dreamstorm” possibilities for bringing a piece of Pier 70 alive by next spring!  

We'll provide minimal parameters, allowing you and other community innovators and residents the freedom to explore and share your creative ideas with one another.

Our focus will be on bringing to life the 1-acre parcel at 20th and Illinois Street for the short-term (over the next 3 years), while planting seeds for potential activities for when Pier 70 is fully developed.  This event is designed to give you the opportunity to meet each other, form partnerships/friendships, and experience what community can become.  It is a chance to co-create a shared space we can all enjoy in the near future.

This interactive workshop will take place Wednesday, October 30th, from 6:00-9:00pm (event doors open at 5:30pm) at Dogpatch Café on 3rd Street.  Please plan to arrive on time and stay to completion as the design of the evening builds continually from start to finish for maximum creativity and collaboration. 

Please register here to attend: http://pier70phase0.eventbrite.com 

More information on the Pier 70 Phase 0 RFP after the break...

Halloween at Pier 70

Enjoy historic Building 12 at Pier 70, with a daytime, family-friendly Halloween festival and a nighttime art and music festival. Ghost Ship Halloween, produced by Space Cowboys and Sunset SF, has thrilled thousands with unparalleled art installations schemed and built from scratch. This year, they plan to open their doors in the afternoon for a family-friendly sneak peek with special tricks & treats for costumed kids. At night, the building will transform into a wavy wonderland under the sea, featuring original installations by the leaders of the Bay Area’s dynamic large scale production art community, the world’s most exciting art cars, and multiple sound-stages hosted by top local DJ crews.  

Saturday, October 26
Pier 70, Building 12
22nd St @Illinois
Noon - 5PM

Join the Facebook event here.

Potrero Hill GBD Community Workshops

What Join the Green Benefits District (GBD) Formation Committee at one or both workshops to review the draft Management Plan and draft budget for the creation of the GBD, and to learn about what services the GBD will provide and capital projects it could support.

Why Based on input received through a survey and workshop process this past spring, the GBD Formation Committee has developed
a budget and Management Plan for the potential District, and we need your input before we move forward with a petition and ballot process to form the GBD.

When Saturday, October 26th, 12:30pm - 2:30pm The Workshop Residence, 833 22nd Street
Monday, October 28th, 6:30pm - 8:30pm Slovenian Hall, 2101 Mariposa Street

RSVP to Hannah Smith, hannah@upurban.org
Before the workshops, a draft Management Plan, budget, and accompanying documents will be available for download on www.phd-gbd.org 

14th Annual Potrero Hill History Night

Host: Potrero Hill Archives project

Time: Saturday, November 02, 2013 05:30PM

Location: International Studies Academy

Address: 655 De Haro Street, San Francisco

Additional information:

History Night is a great way to meet neighbors and learn about the neighborhood. Begin the evening with a barbecue ($6) with jazz band on the school's patio from 5:30 to 7pm. Benefits go to I.S.A.'s student travel program. See displays by the Bethlehem Shipyard Museum and Historypin. Then move inside for a free program from 7-9pm featuring historian & author (and founder of the SF Historical Society) Charles Fracchia talking on "Potrero Hill: an Adventure in Urban Archaeology". Then hear Philip DeAndrade (Goat Hill Phil of Goat Hill Pizza) talk with Etienne Simon about her early years growing up at her grandmother's farmhouse at 1333 Vermont, now the site of the 101 Freeway. And as always, surprises!

Call 415-863-0784 for more information

Tour Palms & Subtropical Trees of Potrero Hill

From Friends of the Urban Forest:

Sunday, October 6, 2013 10:00 am - 12:00 pm 

A surprising variety of palms and other subtropical trees can be grown in San Francisco.  Join us for a tour of these trees in the Potrero Hill neighborhood, led by Jason Dewees, Palm Broker for Flora Grubb Gardens.

We’ll start at Project Artaud at 17th & Florida streets, where rare palms have grown since the 1980s.  We’ll visit unusual flowering trees at 17th & Folsom streets, and conclude at the riotous street-side plantings at 20th & Wisconsin streets atop Potrero Hill.
Among the species we’ll see are a fruiting specimen of the Chilean wine palm, Jubaea chilensis; two species of Andean coconut palms, Parajubaea cocoides and P. torallyi; and a mature nikau palm from New Zealand.  We’ll also see large specimens of flowering trees such as Ceiba speciosa and Brachychiton acerifolius, with the former likely to be in bloom. 

To get to the starting point, take Muni buses 9, 22, 27, 33 or 90. 

Note that some portions of the tour will be on foot, and other portions will involve driving; we have space for 20 passengers (and can accommodate another 10 participants who have their own cars). 

Tree Tours are free, but please RSVP to Michele using our contact form. 

Arborists, note: 1 CEU from ISA per tree tour.