West of Twin Peaks Central Council

Neighborhood Alert!


By Denise LaPointeDenise LaPointe, President West of Twin Peaks Central Council


"April hath put a spirit of youth in everything."

 

Neighborhood alert! Heads up one and all – the bike plan is calling for the elimination of 447 parking spots along Portola Avenue! Yikes! Talk about a disincentive for neighborhood, local shopping.  Here’s the further bad news – you have to get in your written comments by April 12! All questions related to the Bicycle Plan environmental review process should be directed to the San Francisco Planning Department, Office of Major Environmental Analysis (MEA), Debra Dwyer, Bicycle Plan EIR coordinator, at 415-575-9031 and questions about the Bicycle Plan and specific bicycle route network improvements should be directed to the Municipal Transportation Agency at bicycle@sfgov.org or 415-585-BIKE (2453).  Make sure and send a copy of your views to your district supervisor or this plan will be implemented quicker than Lance Armstrong riding the Tour de France

 

The March meeting of the West of Twin Peaks Central Council took on a range of issues affecting the land use, transportation, and quality of life issues affecting the homeowner associations which comprise our 70 year old civic organization.

 

MTA gave a presentation on a transit effectiveness project. This review, the first in 25 years was conducted with the City Controller’s office in an effort to transform MUNI. The presentation was informative, and outlined the priorities for MUNI to improve reliability, reduce travel times, and update travel routes. The presentation did not include the new demands on MUNI on the Westside due to the level of proposed development. Many of the smaller bus runs in our neighborhood groups may be eliminated and others upgraded so it’s important to keep informed. Hopefully the study will be used to address the structural budget deficits in MUNI, and the abuse of overtime pay.  In a perfect world, a portion of the savings could be used an Emily Post manners training session for those habitually grumpy MUNI drivers!  Questions and concerns from delegates included our terrain of hills, and how elimination of routes would impact our aging residents who may rely on public transportation. The recommendations are on MUNI’s website and public workshops are scheduled on Saturday, April 19 from 10:30 – 12:30pm will be held at West Portal Elementary School. WTPCC has a delegate who serves on the citizen’s advisory committee, and those who are interested in joining should contact their representative on WTPCC and MUNI to apply.


The WTPCC voted unanimously to go on record objecting to the methods and practices of Laguna Honda’s taxpayer funded community relations employees.  Community “outreach” work from Laguna Honda includes phoning delegates from Midtown Terrace neighbors asking questions, inferring judgments, and planting rumors regarding the delegates work keeping the Council and others informed on Laguna Honda’s policies and actions. Talk about unorthodox!  WTPCC stood firm in recognizing a basic democratic principle is the right of the citizenry to speak and express their views. The last public relations debacle for Laguna Honda was the attempt to house the homeless in the new facility. The fast and furious response from surrounding homeowners resulted in WTPCC sponsoring a town hall meeting, and ultimately the issuance of a letter from Mayor Gavin Newsom promising the abandonment of the new housing concept. Hopefully, the practice of using public money to malign individual neighbors, neighborhood organizations, and their representatives will stop at Laguna Honda.

 

Finally, WTPCC Executive Committee is working hard to respond to the unprecedented level of development in the pipeline on the west side. In addition to hundreds upon hundreds of units on Brotherhood Way, Camdon Drive – the Summerhill Home site, the decimation of the Ardenwood site, Crestmont Hills, San Francisco State, Sloat Boulevard across from the Zoo, Kragen Auto Parts site on Ocean Avenue, and thousands of units at Parkmerced – Stonestown has now proposed major changes including a new Trader Joes grocery store, and a multiplex cinema and other reconfigurations to their site. They’ve started outreach with the neighbors, and we’ll stay informed as they apply for their environmental evaluation and permits.

 

We had our first meeting with District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd who is drafting stronger legislation than his original idea for a resolution urging a cumulative impact study. His draft legislation calling for interim controls on development on the west side of San Francisco will be available soon. One senses this is a political response from the Supervisor based on the consistent hue and cry from District 7 voters about the level of development headed our way in a re-election year. No matter his motives, the legislation will likely give his across-the-board, deep-pocketed real estate, developer, lawyer, lobbyist campaign contributor’s pause! Nonetheless, action must be taken by our elected representative. Supervisor Elsbernd’s voting record on neighborhood development issues is lackluster, so just meeting and talking publicly and privately on this draft legislation gives a glimmer of hope that the real reform can happen. Consideration of impacts on transportation, infrastructure, police, fire, education, recreation and cultural, historical, and environmental resources by our City government must be considered. The desire of residents for responsible development that can be integrated into our neighborhoods and acknowledgement of the uniqueness of our area is understandable and admirable. Given the magnitude of the development rushing our way, let’s reframe the discussion from political chit-chit and innuendo of fast-tracking and inside City Hall maneuvers to logic, responsible planning, accountability and preservation of neighborhood character.


So hats off to all the homeowner groups and fair, civic-minded people who have the courage and fortitude to protect our neighborhood character, and to Supervisor Elsbernd for finally listening to his constituents and taking action on this critical issue.

 

 

January-February

 

You Can't Always Get What You Need


By Denise LaPointe


But if you try sometimes, you just may find, neighbors know what they need.


The West of Twin Peaks Central Council has kicked off 2008 with a bang. Our esteemed 70-year-old neighborhood organization, representing 18 homeowner groups and growing will have to keep our wits about us as wily developers, massage parlor operators, medicinal marijuana clubs and politicians try to tell us what we need.


At our January meeting we celebrated a rare victory with Ingleside Terrace, as we stood with them to deny extended hours to a massage parlor in a residential neighborhood. We weren’t so lucky with the colossal, oversized Ardenwood project, which continues to slip and slide its way through the corridors of power. Republic Urban Properties and their ill-conceived plan for a high-rise tower at 18th Avenue and Wawona continues to give me a headache.

Most recently, we were all duped into signing up for a community meeting with a strict deadline for rsvps (five days before Christmas) only to receive a “got ya” e-mail back that the developer and his public relations team would keep us posted when they would have a meeting. Neighbors who are otherwise a quiet, peaceful bunch have joined together, almost 600 of us to sign a petition of opposition to this development, which threatens our neighborhood character.

In the upcoming year a lot is happening as Parkmerced unveils its plans for 6,000 more units, Summerhill Homes adds another 200, Ardenwood and San Francisco State adds 3,000 units on campus, and the Kragen Auto Parts site adds another 500 units. This doesn’t even include the shameful development on Brotherhood Way – historically a corridor for religious and educational institutions – whose approval was stewarded through by our district supervisor.

Community involvement helps ensure these developments won’t detract from our quality of life. Other issues at the Council include the ever complex Laguna Honda rebuild and elimination of skilled nursing beds, traffic, public safety and the annoying water rate increase that property owners only were slapped with this summer. I urge all neighbors to be vigilant and stay clued-up. The West of Twin Peaks Central Council will do our best to keep them honest and keep you informed.