San Franciscans love their change–except when that change occurs in their backyard
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One example is a proposed helipad at UCSF Mission Bay that would save the hassle of transporting expecting mothers and sick children to Stanford or Oakland. Despite an efficient flight plan and a promise to use the “quietest choppers in existence,” Mission Bay residents still quibble with the impact such life saving technology might have on their eardrums. As Tom Ammiano put it in a recent resolution, “neighborhood concerns about noise have taken precedence over the health needs of the community.”
Grappling with San Francisco residents might move with a limp, but grappling with the Board of Supervisors moves at a crawl.
Angelo Sangiacomo’s longstanding plan to redevelop the Tenderloin has been in the news a lot the last 20 years. The most recent snag in his plan–which would construct three towers with 1900 residential units (590 of which would be rent control or affordable housing)–occurred when the developer requested that 10 of the 12 affordable housing units in the first tower be studios, instead of the proposed 2 units. The ratio is not all that low, considering that throughout the three towers 80 percent of all units, including rent control, are studios. Despite his best efforts to work with the City, not to mention his willingness to build 360 rent control units, an obligation that only pertains to apartments built before 1979, the city remains unflinching and uncompromising.
Time will tell if luck favors SFJAZZ, who has only recently entered into the city’s protracted development process. The organization, best known for running the San Francisco Jazz festival, has plans to tear down an existing auto shop on Franklin and replace it with three-story Jazz performance hall, that will act as the organization’s headquarters.
Let’s hope the supervisors are music fans.
