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[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Good afternoon, everyone. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the 02/02/2026, regular meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I am Supervisor Myrna Melgar, chair of this committee, joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Chyanne Chen and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. The committee clerk today is John Carroll, and I would also like to acknowledge Jeanette Iglalauf from SFGov TV for staffing us in this meeting today. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements?
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Please ensure that you've silenced your cell phones and other electronic devices you've brought with you into the chamber today. If you have any documents to be included as part of any of today's files, you can submit them directly to me. Public comment will be taken on each item on today's agenda. When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, please line up to speak along your right hand side of this room. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. First, you can send your comments to me via email at johnperiodcarroll@sfgov.org. Or you may send your written comments to our office in City Hall, and the address is 1 Doctor Carlton B Goodlett Place, Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. If you submit public comment in writing, I'll forward your comments to the members of this committee and also include your comments as part of the official file on which you are commenting. Items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda of 02/10/2026 unless otherwise stated.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Carroll. Please call items one and two together.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Agenda item number one is an ordinance amending the planning code to add a new appendix p to article 10, preservation of historical, architectural, and aesthetic landmarks to create the Chula Abbey early residential historic district. Agenda item number two is an ordinance to create the Alert Alley Early Residential Historic District. Both ordinances affirm the Planning Department's secret determination and make findings of public necessity, convenience, and welfare under Planning Code Section three zero two and findings of consistency with the general plan and the eight priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1. Additionally, by special arrangement, each of these items appear on our agenda today as potential committee reports, they may be sent to the Board of Supervisors for consideration on tomorrow's agenda. That's the agenda for 02/03/2026.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. We do have Sophie Marie from President Mandelman's office here who will present on this item.
[Sophie Marie (Legislative Aide, Office of Supervisor Rafael Mandelman)]: Thank you, Chair Melgar. Good afternoon, members of the committee. My name is Sophie Marie, and I'm a legislative aide for the District eight Office. I'm pinch hitting today for Supervisor Mandelman, who had hoped to attend but is stuck in meetings all day, and my colleague who works on this item is out sick, so today you get me. The items before you today will designate Aller Alley and Chula Abbey, Early Residential Historic Districts, as Article 10 Landmark Districts. Our office has worked closely on this legislation with planning staff, the Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association, and neighbors. Supervisor And Mendelman requests that the committee forward these items to the full board with positive recommendation. The two historic districts include 50 contributing properties whose unique architectural designs illustrate how the nineteen oh six earthquake and fires impacted the development of the Mission Dolores neighborhood. The process to designate the Allert Alley and Chula Abbey early residential districts took many years with lots of door knocking and outreach from the Mission Dolores neighborhood association and planning staff. I want to especially thank Peter Lewis and Aaron Phillips from MDNA and Rich Sucre and Polar Lavalle from SF Planning for their work on these designations. With the chair's permission, I would like to invite Polar, senior preservation planner for the planning department, to provide the committee with background on these two historic districts and the landmarking designation.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thank you so much. Welcome, Ms. Bilal. Heavy lift.
[Pilar LaValle (Senior Preservation Planner, San Francisco Planning Department)]: Thank you, Sophie. Good afternoon, chair Melgar and supervisors, pilarla valley planning department staff. I do have a couple of slides just so we are all getting to look at the lovely resources. These two landmark districts Allard Alley and Chula Abbey early residential districts were initiated by this board in 2025 these districts were identified as eligible originally in the Mission Delores neighborhood historic context statement and survey that was revised an updated version of which was adopted by the historic preservation commission in July 2022. Centered on Allard Alley and Lander Street between 15th 16th And Dolores Streets the Allard Alley District contains 21 properties. Allard Alley District is comprised of residential buildings built in the Italianate classical revival and Queen Anne architectural styles with a period of significance of 1890 to 1910. Centered on Chula Lane Abbey Street and 17th Streets the Chula Abbey early residential historic district is comprised of 52 buildings. The Chula Abbey District contains mostly residential buildings plus two mixed use buildings The majority constructed prior to nineteen o six in folk Victorian Italianate classic revival and Queen Anne styles with a period of significance from 1865 to 1910. At their hearing on 10/15/2025, the historic preservation commission heard public comments in support of district designations and adopted resolutions recommending designation of both districts. Per planning code the proposed districts were also referred to the planning commission for review and comment and at their hearing on 10/23/2025 the planning commission adopted resolutions with comments finding that these proposed district designations were on balance consistent with the policies embedded in the general plan and the priority policies of section 101.1. Thank you. That completes my presentation. I'm here for any questions.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thank you, Ms. Lovalli. I don't see anyone on the roster with questions or comments from my colleagues. So let's open up this item for public comment, please, Mr. Clerk.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you, Madam Chair. Land use and transportation will now hear public comment related to agenda item numbers one and two, this being the landmark district designations for Chula Abbey and Ellert Abbey. If you have public comment for these two items, please line up to speak along that western wall. I'm pointing out with my left hand, and the first speaker can come forward to the microphone. Please begin.
[Peter Lewis (Former President, Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association)]: Good afternoon, my name is Peter Lewis. I was the president of the Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association for nineteen years, and when I first started the current version of Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association in 2005, I put a group of board members together and engaged the community to with the goal of recognizing the neighborhood as the oldest residential historic neighborhood in the city. And so, worked very, very hard over the years. We got funding from the mayor's office of economic and workplace development, and engaged the communities. Many of the community groups that we put together were, we filled halls in the neighborhood, 5,100, 150 people. This has been going on for many, many years. And so, and people, I run into my neighbors every once in a while and they go, hasn't the city already finished the historic districts? And the fact of the matter is that they haven't, but now we are doing it. We really appreciate Rafael Mendelman's support, and the planning staff, and our current members, and we'd really like you to move it forward. Thank you very much.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Do we have anyone else who has public comment for agenda item numbers one and two? And if we have additional speakers, line up to speak along that wall over there. Please begin.
[Aaron Phillips (President, Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association)]: Sure. Good afternoon. My name is Aaron Phillips. I'm the president of the Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association. Thank you everyone for your time today. Thank you, Pilar, for all your hard work. I was thinking about what makes San Francisco great and it's really the geography, the architecture, and the people. And we're a peninsula here, it's a beautiful city with the bay on one side and the ocean on the other. But also it's the architecture, and you can go through all the different aspects of this city and see amazing architecture that really broad, you know, brings people to this city. You have the downtown, but you also have the Mission, one of the oldest, you know, Mission Dolores neighborhood with some of the oldest architecture in the state. And it's beautiful. And then we have tourists come all the time to the area to see the the Mission Dolores Church, but also the structures, the surrounding structures around it are incredibly important because they help people to understand the history and the character of that part of the city. I hope that we will continue to push this forward and preserve the nature and architecture of this area for future generations. So thank you again, and thank you very much, Pallar.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Do we have any further speakers for agenda item numbers one and two? Madam Chair.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Okay. Public comment on this item is now closed. I would like to make a motion to send these items out of committee to the full board with a positive recommendation. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Madam Chair, were you going to send these as a committee report?
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Oh, I'm sorry. As a committee report, as is agendized, yes.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: On the motion offered by the chair, that both of these ordinances be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors with the recommendation of land use and transportation as a committee report. Vice Chair Chen. Chen, aye. Member Mahmood, aye. Chair Melgar? Aye. Melgar, aye. Madam Chair, there are three ayes.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thank you so much. That motion passes. Thank you, Ms. Lavalli and Sophie Murray. Okay. Please call item number three.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Agenda item number three is an ordinance ordering vacation of city property on unimproved street areas of Moraga And Noriega Avenues, finding the street vacation areas not necessary for the city's use, reserving easements related to support for the city owned retaining wall from the street vacation properties and including other conditions to the street vacation, amending the planning code and zoning map to rezone the city property from public open space to R H 240 X and to rezone parcels on Kensington Way adjacent to Vasquez Avenue from R H 1 Slash 40 X to public open space, affirming the secret determination and making findings of consistency with the general plan in the eight party policies of planning code section one zero one point one, adopting findings of public necessity, convenience, and welfare under Planning Code Section three zero two.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thank you so much, Mr. Clerk. Colleagues, I wanted to provide a little bit of background on this item since it is in District 7. And it has been a long process and part of an even longer process way before I became supervisor. So this we are doing a swap of land between privately owned land and land that is currently owned by the city and county of San Francisco. This is, you know, at the it's a subsequent story, a story that started many years ago on Kensington Way. Itch Hill Mountain is it is the hill that is on the other side of Bertola from Mount Davidson. And it is made out of something called Franciscan chert. It's an unstable rock that has had a very long history of landslides. The particular the city has acquired these parcels before from private entities and added it to the open space at Hill Park, which is currently owned mostly by the Rec and Parks Department, although there is some ownership from DPW as well. The particular exchange before us today started with Supervisor Yee. The neighbors around Hitch Hill Park were concerned with potential development of five lots that would have required digging into the hill and potential for landslide. And went upon taking office, went to the Department of Real Estate and went about the process of identifying comparable land that was owned by the city that we could swap to allow the owner to develop housing, which we desperately need, and still protect the health and safety of the community. The laws around land swaps have dramatically changed since the first swaps were done many years ago. It is much more difficult to do it today because of state law and the complexity of the legal landscape. Nevertheless, we were able to find the area of land that could be swapped within District 7 that is comparable also on a hill, but not presenting a health and safety issue. And we went through getting the plan vetted by the state, HCD, Housing Community Development, and also the process with our department and our city attorney. So we are now at the end of this process. A former committee of the Land Use and Transportation Committee and a former Board of Supervisors initiated the legislation that we have before us today. We are rezoning the parcels that are going from open space in RH1 And 2 to RH2 to allow for the swap to take place. So I do have some amendments to the legislation that is in front of you, and that has been shared with you. And that is a clarification. And in addition, in line nine, we are adding the words and RH2 residential housing to family. And then adding the words an assessor's parcel block number 2000 And 42, Lot Number 40 from rh1 residential housing one family and rh2os to rh240x in lines nine and ten. And then adding words residential housing, one family detached dwelling in lines thirteen and fourteen. And there's also changes to the table in the descriptions on page nine. Lastly, we do have some amendments that do not need re referral to the Planning Commission and are non substantive that would give us some time to work out some departmental jurisdictional issues that we will work out before any potential escrow closes on pages six, line seven, eight, eleven, sixteen, and 17. And now, I would like to bring up Audrey Maloney from the planning department who can describe that process. Welcome, Ms. Myrna Melgar.
[Audra Morlone (Planning Department Staff)]: Thank you, Chair Melgar. Hello, members of the committee. Audra Morlone, Planning Department staff. The Planning Commission heard this item on 10/09/2025, and voted to approve the ordinance. Since that time, the department has worked with the supervisor's office and the city attorney on the clarifying amendments. So we would ask for your support today on those as well. And as always, I'm available for questions. Thank you.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thank you, Ms. Maloney. I did present at the Planning Commission colleagues, and it was a unanimous vote at the Planning Commission. So if there are no questions or concerns from my colleagues, let's open this item up for public comment. Mr. Clark.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you madam chair land use and transportation will now hear public comment related to agenda item number three planning code zoning map street vacation for portions of Moraga Nor Yaga Avenues and Kensington Way if you have public comment for this item please line up speak along that wall. I'm pointing out with my left hand, and the first speaker who is at the lectern already can begin.
[Helene St. John (Resident, Kensington Way; CARE supporter)]: Good afternoon. My name is Helene St. John. I reside at 217 Kensington Way. I have with me the organizations who have joined CARE, the Communities Action to Rescue Edge Hill. Along with these organizations, I have several letters. And in addition to that, I have a list of the San Francisco residents who signed CARES petition opposing the proposed development at 146 Through 166 Kensington Way in favor of open space. I also have newspapers here that will detail the history of Edge Hill. Thank you for your time.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker please.
[Laura Strasso (Attorney for Kensington Way LLC, Patterson & O'Neill)]: Good afternoon Chairperson Melgar and committee members. My name is Laura Strasso. I'm an attorney with Patterson and O'Neill and I represent Kensington Way LLC. I just wanted to introduce myself and say I'm here if you have any questions, and obviously we support the land swap. Thank you.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please.
[Elizabeth Mayer (Speaker for CARE)]: I'm Elizabeth Mayer speaking for CARE. We convened in 2019 when plans came out to develop these lots, and we were worried right away because of the long history of slope failure with digging into these steep sections of Edge Hill. We've had geologists out who explained that when water flow in the hillside is altered by excavation, layers of shale disintegrate faster than surrounding rock, which can cause large sections of the hill to abruptly collapse. And here, they would be excavating 30 horizontal feet in some areas where the slope is almost vertical. We have landslides recorded for seventy four years on Edge Hill in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. I won't go into it too much, all the history, but the last excavation along Kensington in '98 was really disastrous with a landslide and, I think five years delays. So the history's also on our website, in linked articles. It's rescuethehill.org. So, the neighborhood's been working for fifty years to stop development on these steep sections, and that's how we got the Edge Hill Mountain open space, Supervisor Melgar referred to. It's just uphill from these lots. And we've had really strong community support for keeping them open space. We had 200 people oh, that's it.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thirty seconds.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thirty seconds.
[Elizabeth Mayer (Speaker for CARE)]: Oh, 200 people came to planning for the initial public hearing. Two thirty three signed our petition, 29 neighborhood groups. And bottom line is, we believe Supervisor Melgar's solution furthers the city's goals of more safely buildable housing and preserving open space. It would allow for denser housing to be built adjacent to current homes rather than less dense housing.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Speaker's time has concluded. You
[Elizabeth Mayer (Speaker for CARE)]: so On much for board your Hill, thank you.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Next speaker please.
[George Burwasser (California Registered Geologist #7151)]: Good afternoon committee members. My name is George Burwasser. I am a California registered geologist, license number 7151. Oh, my home address is 2341 Bush Street in San Francisco. I've been I apologize for the voice. I've been professionally involved in slope stability studies on Edge Hill Mountain off and on since the mid 1990s. And today, I wanted to touch on a few of the underlying issues contributing to the slope deep steepalization along the flanks of this mountain that doctor Mayer has just told you about. Edgehill Mountain is composed primarily of interbedded chert and shale and massive sandstone. This sounds like it should be a pretty solid bedrock, but in actuality, it's a rather fragile combination, especially when it's disturbed by any form of excavation, quarrying, road building, foundation construction. Much of the chert and shale is layered in beds a few inches to a few feet thick. The chert is hard but brittle, and it's compressed. It's crumpled into a series of very picturesque folds. The chert is moderately strong to strong. It's closely fractured, which is an important point. The interbedded shale generally is soft and moderately hard. Oh, that was quick.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Thirty seconds.
[George Burwasser (California Registered Geologist #7151)]: I'm gonna skip all the rest of the technical stuff then. Regardless of the internal strength of the chert and sandstone on this hillside, when it's interbedded with these soft shales, any form of disturbance will cause it to fail. Quarrying has introduced more water into the system. Retaining walls have kept water in the system. It's added weight. It's added fluctuate.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. The speaker's time has concluded. Thank you. Let's have the next speaker,
[George Burwasser (California Registered Geologist #7151)]: Two minutes.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Folks, when you hear the first soft chime, that means you have thirty seconds. You should wrap it up, and it's two minutes per speaker. Thank you.
[Unidentified speaker (retired tax lawyer; resident near Moraga Street)]: Thank you chairman Melgar members of the committee. I have a statement that I prepared I'd like to have it in the record if I may.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Just put it right there on the railing with the rest
[Unidentified speaker (retired tax lawyer; resident near Moraga Street)]: and will get
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: to the
[Unidentified speaker (retired tax lawyer; resident near Moraga Street)]: committee. Here. But if you but if you do okay. You've stirred the clock. I'll go fast. I live about, three houses away from the portion of Moraga Street that is proposed to be vacated. I'm a retired tax lawyer, and I have a problem with the structure of the transaction and not with the relief to be afforded to Edge Hill. The transaction is structured as a like kind exchange, property for property, no cash or money changing hands. Who benefits from that? Why not just sell the land that the city has to the highest bidder, use the money to buy the Kensington land? And the answer is that doing it as an exchange avoids tax on about 3 and a half million dollars of gain for Kensington. No benefit to the city there. So I look at the transaction as a citizen. How do we know it's fair to the city if there's no open market transaction and no bidding? The answer is the appraisal requirements. You must exchange land for a 100% of its value, appraised value, or explain why not. And what's the appraisal problem? The board's earlier resolution and the appraisal said that the part of Moraga to be vacated was 30 feet by a 100 feet. That changed with no additional appraisal.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. The speaker's time has concluded.
[Unidentified speaker (retired tax lawyer; resident near Moraga Street)]: Thank you. Thank you. In July 2025.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Let's have the next speaker, please.
[Laura Swaminathan (Resident)]: Hello. My name is Laura Swaminathan, a resident at 98 Rockaway Avenue within Edge Hill Slope. I'm also a homeowner of 63 Garcia Avenue and have personally been through the four year arduous process of taking building plans through the structural advisory committee, is required to get anything built on Edge Hill Slope, whereby we pay, I think, four or five engineers to cross peer review one another through in front of the city. It's very arduous and expensive. It cost us about $500,000 to get through to the building permit alone in four years. It's understandably going to be cheaper for the Kensington Way LLC to build on this swapped land, but my concerns do align with that of the previous speaker that currently we have 10 buildable lots. The idea that it's dangerous to build on Kensington Way has not been subject to the Structural Advisory Committee. Every engineer we spoke to on our process said that building engineered foundation walls with proper drainage actually stabilizes the slope. It does not destabilize the slope. There have been rock fall and tree fall onto Kensington Way that the city is responsible for, liability wise, as well as cleaning and maintenance. This can be prevented by allowing the current private property owners to develop the land as it was intended through the Structural Advisory Committee review process. Second, right now, so we have 10 buildable lots, it's going to be reduced to five. That's contrary to the city's housing goals. We're giving up essentially $5,000,000 in equity, and potentially $250,000 of annual property tax revenue if these five houses get built as designed. So, again, my concerns somewhat align with the previous speaker that just as a taxpayer, it's a lot of money to give away to protect five people's views and to protect the developers' construction cost. I hope the city considers that and that the supervisors respect their fiduciary duty to the citizens and taxpayers. Thank you.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please.
[Frank Chen (Property owner at 1802 8th Avenue area)]: Good afternoon. My name is Frank Chen. Property on 181802 8th Avenue, right on the corner of Noriega Avenue. It has, it was built in 1997 right after, took a while, right after the nineteen eighty nine earthquake. It has a bedroom and kitchen windows on three levels adjacent to where the paper sidewalk would have been built. The plans were approved prior to 1997 where I have the bedroom and kitchen windows. The same was true of the previous building which was ultimately demolished after that Loma Prieta earthquake. When the new owner takes over the vacant lot and takes possession of it, will the nonexistent sidewalk allocated space still exist? When the new owner builds, will they honor the sidewalk space? I have three levels of windows which are necessary to maintain the definition of a bedroom and would like confirmation that these existing windows will still be allowed and whether I will have light in those bedrooms. Will you honor my rights? The other issue I have a concern about is the city is the issue of plugging up or abandoning one of the storm water storm sewers, and it's adjacent to the retaining wall and is in the very corner of my property at the very bottom of it toward Laguna Honda or 7th Avenue. I've attached pictures of the sewer and the sewer is at the low point of several neighbors property from up the hill 1804, 1806, 18081810 8th Avenue, etcetera. My concern is that the sewage will stay on my property with nowhere to flow thus creating a health and safety hazard. So consideration to address my rights and concerns are appreciated when the city vacates its rights for the land swap. And I apologize for seeming self selfish and self centered.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you I've for
[Frank Chen (Property owner at 1802 8th Avenue area)]: heard all their comments as well.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Let's have the next speaker, please.
[Glenn Gulmous (Publisher, West Portal Monthly; long-time Kensington resident)]: Hi. My name is Glenn Gulmous. I published the West Portal monthly newspaper for twenty five years. My publishing company, San Francisco Times, is a founding member of the San Francisco Neighborhood Newspaper Association. I' lived on Kensington for forty years, come from two generations of homeowners and builders the city, and what' looking at here is a potential ecological disaster. If they were to excavate into the hill, it's a recipe for disaster as soon as you add water. I've seen this time and time again. Every single time there's been large development on Edge Hill, there's been massive landslides. There was a 100 ton landslide that dumped rock up to the 2nd Floor of Knock Ash Hill neighbors. That was they were closed for months. It resulted in the demolition of a octagonal house atop Edgehill Way. This solution that supervisor Melgar has come up with is beneficial on many levels. It preserves habitat, it prevents landslides, and it protects families. It's one of those things where I know previous speaker characterized it as saving the views of five people. You have not been around long enough to see what I have seen. The damage that has been done from excavation on Edge Hill is can be catastrophic. And I, support this land swap land swap, going into DPW's jurisdiction with Carla Short, whose background in urban forestry will help protect the area. And I believe this is a solution that's been a long time coming since I toured the area with Assembly Member Jackie Speer, since Supervisor Tony Hall engineered the original land swaps that opened open space on Edge Hill.
[SFGovTV Announcer]: Speaker's time is clear.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: You for your comments. To the next speaker, please.
[Huntley Barad (Homeowner on Kensington Way)]: My name is Huntley Barad. I'm a homeowner on Kensington Way. I want to just say it seems to me that there's, after all these years of investigation and negotiations and public meetings that everybody everybody's deal and everybody's feelings have been taken into account and tried to make this a fair deal. Nobody's gone to the developer and tried to take something away. Nobody is trying to, you know, muscle in and and push it one way or another. We're taking everybody's feelings and needs and economic concerns into the pot to decide what what can be done we're trying to protect our street and we want a fair deal for everybody I don't really understand the tax consequences as the other gentleman spoke about but I'ninety sure that they'92ve been taken into consideration and supervisor Melgar has done such a great job that I'ninety sure that she totally understands how this can impact the fiscal health of the city and would not put together a bad deal for the city. That's my 2ยข. Thank you.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker please.
[Greg King (Board Member, Edge Hill Ways Neighborhood Association)]: Good afternoon. I'm Greg King, and I'm a member of the board for the Edge Hill Ways Neighborhood Association. We have several board members here today and other neighbors supporting this move too. And we'd like to thank our supervisor for coming up with a very good plan for addressing what would have been a big problem in the future. It's not just about views, it's not just about people protecting their neighborhood at the expense of others, it's because of safety issues and concerns about how the development would have been done. I've lived on Edge Hill now for going to my twenty sixth year now, and we were actually involved with the very first land swap as well too. And, I know it's a difficult situation as people look at these things, but I'm convinced that the city has done their job to make sure that this swap is reasonable and fair in the process they're doing and it's the best way to address this. So you have our our neighborhoods full throated support with this activity and we appreciate the efforts the city has made on on our behalf. Thank you.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please.
[Dan Chelsky (Board Member, Edge Hillway Association)]: I'm Dan Chelsky. I'm also on the Edge Hillway Association Board. I'm here really to support my neighbors. I want to support the comments that Greg King just made. We want to thank the for helping to come up with an equitable trade swap land swap to accommodate the situation and I want to confirm that yes this hill is very steep It is not just unstable, but it's extremely steep. And so it just makes it very susceptible to a possibility of landslides. I also want to point out one more thing that I haven't heard is that Kensington, which I use frequently, is basically a one lane road to get by cars coming up the hill you quite often have to go up on the sidewalk. The thought of having multiple years of construction on that street would be quite the nightmare for not just the residents but also anyone planning to use that street so I think the plan that has been identified here is a sensible one and will really resolve a major issue thank you very much.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments next speaker please.
[Gordon Atkinson (Vice President, Edge Hillway Association; Architect)]: Good afternoon my name is gordon atkinson I'm the vice president of Edge Hillway Association. I'm an architect. I have a private practice in San Francisco. I've been a resident of Edge Hillway for thirty years. I have reviewed the plans submitted for the proposed development of the Kensington Way properties. And apart from the other concerns already voiced, I want to reinforce what you may already be aware of is the access to the public right of way from the proposed lots. As far as I know, the entrance and vehicular entrance to the proposed development residences has not been addressed. There would have to be significant public infrastructure changes in order to bring the driveway access into compliance with the subdivision code and the Caltrans standards. A steep slope, and there's an embankment there. And as Greg mentioned, Dan mentioned, it's like a one way street. There's a very convoluted intersection that is already out of compliance with Caltrans standards, and it's difficult to navigate and understand the traffic signals as is. And, I, as an architect, I can't even imagine how they could arrange
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: entrance Speaker's time has concluded. Thank you for sharing your comments.
[Dan Chelsky (Board Member, Edge Hillway Association)]: Let's hear
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: from Public the next
[Gordon Atkinson (Vice President, Edge Hillway Association; Architect)]: way from from the driveway.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you so much. Let's have the next speaker please. And if we have anyone else who has public comment for agenda item number three, please don't have to speak along that side of the room. Otherwise, this will be our last speaker.
[Nicole Saint John (Resident, 217 Kensington Way)]: Hello. I'm Nicole Saint John. I reside at 217 Kensington Way. I'd like to say first that any trees and rocks that have fallen on Kensington have happened only after they've dug a test pit to test the Franciscan Church. It's only after digging into Edge Hill that there's anything that falls onto the street or sidewalk. In addition, I'd like to say that prior public comments mentioned lost tax revenue. The developer will build suitable housing where it is safe for all residents. And if these speakers are concerned about potential tax revenue, what is the cost to fixing a disaster with a massive landslide caused by a massive landslide? Thank you.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Thank you for your comments. Do we have any further speakers for agenda item number three? Madam Chair.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: Okay, thank you. Public comment is now closed. Thank you, colleagues, for hearing this item. Thank you to all the members of the community who came out for public comment. I wanted to address just a couple of the things that were said for my colleagues. As I had stated during my opening remarks, this has been a years long process. We had not one but two appraisals actually done on both the original property on Kensington and the one that was swapped that we're swapping. In accordance to state law, we did offer the land that the city currently owns as a paper street to nonprofit developers for affordable housing development twice, actually, because the state law changed in the middle of our process. And there were no takers. They're very small lots, it doesn't support a lot. And this action that we're taking today is only about the swap. It is not a development approval. The developer or the owner of the swap lots will have to do everything himself from scratch, including any easements and any issues around sewer or access to public improvements, like the retaining wall. And also, I just wanted to make sure that we understood that in the legislation that we are approving today, we are not changing anything that has to do with setbacks from the neighboring properties. The zoning remains, and the bulk height remains as is. So with that, I don't know if there's any questions or comments from my colleagues. I don't see any. And if that is the case, I would like to make a motion that we amend the legislation that's before us as I read into the record, and then that we send it out with a positive recommendation as amended to the full board.
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: According to motions, offered by the chair, the first to amend the ordinance and the second to recommend the ordinance as amended to the board of supervisors on those motions vice chair Chen Chen aye member Mahmood aye chair Melgar
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: aye
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: Madam chair there are three ayes on each of those motions
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: thank you that motion passes Thank you. Mr. Clerk, are there any other items on our agenda today?
[John Carroll (Committee Clerk)]: There's no further business.
[Supervisor Myrna Melgar (Chair, Land Use and Transportation Committee)]: We are adjourned. Thank you.