Issue 311 ___Will you want to live in San Francisco - tomorrow ___March 2007

DOYLE DRIVE : THE FREEWAY THAT REFUSES TO DIE

Doyle Drive is the roadway connecting the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marina District. It is currently a six-lane undivided roadway. Over the years there have been many proposals to replace it with an eight-lane freeway. These have been rejected because of opposition from San Franciscans. But here it is again. Like some creature from a horror movie, it refuses to die.

The eight-lane proposals have been promoted as safety measures. But proposals from citizens for a six-lane divided roadway that would be just as safe, if not safer, have been continually rejected by highwaymen. The latest proposal from the freeway pushers is one that they claim is six lanes, but is actually seven lanes. They claim the extra lane is a merging lane, but a look at the plans show it is clearly an additional traffic lane. The plan also calls for extra wide shoulders and wider lanes than at present. Restriping could easily give it more lanes. The highwaymen will claim that they are following standards and nothing like that would ever happen. Don’t bet on it.

Money that should be going for transit Another galling aspect is the way it is being financed. The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has taken $405 million from the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP) to pay part of the cost of this misguided project. The SHOPP is supposed to be used for repair, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. We, and we think most people, would define these words as meaning work on existing roadways, not construction of new roadways. But CTC has made a real stretch and redefined them to include building an entirely new roadway, which is what the current Doyle Drive proposal is.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has appropriated $54 million from the State Transportation Improvement program (STIP) for the project. This is money that could be used for transit. It is disgraceful for a public agency to divert money from public transportation to highway projects. Some people have said the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District should help pay for this project. We say no. The Bridge District is supporting a transit system and is short of funds as it is.

Some people have said charge a toll on Doyle Drive. Aside from the logistics of how it would be collected, there is the probability that people would take Park Presidio Drive rather than pay the toll, adding to Richmond District traffic. We’re sure our friends in the Richmond District would like that.

This monstrosity is being pushed by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA). Its staff has developed the latest freeway proposal for the Doyle Drive Corridor. It is spending city and county tax money on a state highway!! A gross misuse of that money! The governing board of the SFCTA are the members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors wearing different hats. We urge everyone to contact the Board of Supervisors and tell them not to spend any more of our money on a state highway. State highways are the responsibility of the state Department of Transportation. Let them spend their money on Doyle Drive. Final design would still have to be approved by the Board of Supervisors, just as it is now. That’s the reason previous freeway revolts were successful.

SAVED! Sanchez Creek Canyon
SAVED! (at least for now)
The North Coast Water District Board of Directors unanimously voted against the plan to locate a huge water tank in beautiful Sanchez Canyon In Pacifica and told staff to find alternative sites that would not impact recreation and sensitive biological areas.

(See SFT newsletter of February 2007)

WE SUPPORT A LIBRARY AUDIT
Seven years into San Francisco Public Library’s 10-year, $106 million branch renovation project, only three of the 24 branches have been completed, and there is a $50 million shortfall. The public needs to know what happened.

The situation cries out for an independent audit to assure that best practices are being followed. Mayor Newsom and three library commissioners have publicly stated that they favor the audit. Clearly, dispassionate scrutiny could pinpoint possible operational flaws.

The Library’s response to its financial crisis is to ask the public for new revenue bonds on the November 2007 ballot to enable the completion of the branch modernization work. Voter-authorized general obligation bonds, passed in 2000, were supposed to have paid for the entire $106 million program. The Library’s other reaction to the financial meltdown was to transfer “make-over” budgets at five branches (Golden Gate Valley, Merced, Bayview, North Beach and Ortega) to other branches. If the revenue bonds pass, SFPL would build brand new libraries at Bayview, North Beach and Ortega.

The catch is that the bonds would be paid down with money from SFPL’s set-aside, which expires in 2009. The voters passed the 2.5% set-aside in 1994 to provide more books and open hours at neighborhood libraries. Without it, branch services would drastically deteriorate. Present thinking is to link the revenue bonds to renewal of the set-aside. If the bonds fail to pass, the set-aside vanishes.

The Library blames its financial problems on worldwide economic crisis! If that is indeed the case, the public needs to know it. But if there is some other reason for their shortage of funds that would inform future action, SFPL and the public need to know it.

Why not require bio-degradable plastic bags?

San Francisco Tomorrow has weighed in with its support of legislation authored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi to require bio-degradable plastic bags as a substitute for the polyethylene bags in which we take home our produce from the market. Petroleum-based bags are a danger to the environment. It takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce the 30 billion plastic bags consumed annually in the U.S. The production of these bags puts 9.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Additionally, plastic bags fill land fills, foul the recycling stream, litter and cause millions of deaths of aquatic life.

The bags that would replace the polyethylene bags are made from either corn, potato, or wheat starch. One criticism is that in order to make the bags from foodstuffs there is a possibility of an increase in price for these food products. Already in Mexico the use of corn shipped to the U.S market for bio-fuels for cars is causing a 400 percent increase in the price of tortillas. The price increase has angered Mexicans who rely on corn for their sustenance.

Substituting for petroleum-derived plastics and the gasoline we use in our cars makes people feel good and avoids the need to make any lifestyle changes. Using bio-fuels for cars will not prevent the present annual 42,000 auto deaths in the U.S. Bio-fuel bags will not necessarily prevent the fouling of the environment for those who ignore placing these bags into compost bins. The litter will continue and the ingesting of these bags by wild life will not necessarily diminish. Bags not put in compost bins will not degrade at the rate necessary to prevent harm to the environment.

The legislation is still in committee and is being studied to include more than the 54 large grocery stores that would have to implement this legislation. Supervisor Alioto-Pier has asked that the legislation include Walgreens and Rite Aid. Of course, the grocery store lobby is totally opposed to this legislation.

UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE: Closing the Books at UC Berkeley Extension

A short film has been made that gives a unique view inside UC Berkeley Extension as plans unfold to close its historic San Francisco campus and covert it into a lucrative private development. This campus has historically served the City of San Francisco. Nearly six acres located in the heart of the city, the campus measures two city blocks *squared.* It borders Hayes Valley, Lower Haight, the Filmore, and is within walking distance to the Castro, Mission, and Civic Center. The original home of San Francisco State University, the campus has been a hub for art, education and community to the entire city of San Francisco and has a history of public use exceeding 150 years.

UC Regents have engaged private developers A.F. Evans to convert the campus into high-density housing. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the development, as it would require rezoning the campus, which would permanently end public use zoning (P). P zoning is usually untouchable because it shields Parks and open space from development, but these days housing trumps parks and public open space.

The Planning Commission public hearing about the proposed re-zoning and re-use of the campus is scheduled for April 19th. The filmmaker, Eliza Hemenway, hopes that UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE can help to raise awareness about the imminent loss of the campus. She has offered to screen the film for SFT members. (The date Is not yet firm; please go to www.sanfranciscotomorrow.org for the date as we learn it.) Remember to visit www.SanFranciscoTomorrow.org

The new HIGH RISES: what about SAFETY?

Jeffrey Heller, San Francisco architect, has a problem. Current code is not clear on the question of life safety requirements for super highrise residential towers, buildings over 600 feet in height. San Francisco magazine recently featured a cover story on the new super highrises in their February issue and there are a number of them currently under review at the San Francisco Planning Department.

Mr.Heller recently requested a meeting with the Fire Marshal, a meeting attended by Debra Walker, President of the Building Inspection Commission and Charles Marsteller, SFT member, plus staff of the Department of Building Inspection. There were members of major architectural firms, including Mr. Heller, and some developers in the room. Marsteller identified himself as a public interest advocate and a former member of the seismic safety Citizens Advisory Committee.

New draft regulations regarding fire safety codes were on the table. These regulations were specific, addressing, for example, how fire personnel are going to fight a fire on, say, the 67th floor in one of the new proposed residential towers.

Last December, the Fire Marshal reported at the joint session of the Building Inspection and Planning Commissions that the Fire Department assumes that it will take a fully equipped fire officer TWO minutes to walk up one flight of stairs against a stream of panicked residents fleeing downward. Multiply 67, in our example, times 2 and it is clear that this would be untenable in a super highrise.

The proposed remedy is a new type of elevator sealed from fire, smoke and water so as to allow fire personnel rapid ascent to any floor. The fire officers would stop two floors short of the fire and climb the rest of the way by stairway.

The capacity of new elevator technology, particularly the ability of the doors to seal against smoke and water, was discussed, as well as the accuracy of the electronics in the elevator monitoring systems when under stress during a fire. A representative of the elevator industry said that this new fire elevator system with its advanced engineering can be installed in residential towers.

However, in recent years permits for very tall buildings have been issued without this new life safety feature, so prospective new highrise condo buyers are well advised to research carefully which new buildings downtown have the new technologies required by the new code.
It was disconcerting to learn that the life safety concerns of the City are addressed only on a project by project basis. Fire management of the many fires that would occur due to a seismic event are not considered. The Fire Marshal explained that cumulative impacts are not considered in project approvals as fire fighting resources will not be available in a general disaster. Thus, the Department is rewriting the code for so-called “normal conditions” and not to respond to potential seismic events.
The inescapable conclusion is that the code will be modified to accommodate all residential towers. Thus, architects and developers will be able to propose tall residential towers, such as the one rising beside the Bay Bridge, although permit approvals will be contingent upon design and location.

As for the larger public policy question of whether such buildings as a class can be made life-safe in a seismic zone, that is a question for the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors, or the Courts. The Mayor is the City’s Incident Commander post earthquake, so theoretically, it falls to the Mayor to decide the highrise life safety question. So far, the Mayor has not made his views known.


Reminder: SFT is co-sponsoring two hikes

Yerba Buena Island (San Francisco County)
Sunday, April 29, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Leader: Mike Wood
(Reservations required) To reserve, contact Mike Wood at wood-biological@mindspring.com or 925-899-282.

Hike co-sponsored by California Native Plant Society and San Francisco Tomorrow
Yerba Buena Island, only a mile and a half offshore, was entirely overlooked by early botanical explorers. This familiar yet little-known feature of the San Francisco Bay was placed under military control in 1868 and has been off-limits to the public for 130 years. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), the Navy began the process of identifying surplus ands no longer essential for military operations. Mike Wood conducted a two-year floristic study of the island for the Navy’s base closure environmental analysis. Join Mike for a circumnavigation of this natural geologic feature. Remarkable native plants! Astounding views!

Lobos Creek, The Presidio
Saturday, May 6, 11 a.m.
Leader: Michael Chasse
Hike co-sponsored by California Native Plant Society and San Francisco Tomorrow

One of the last free-flowing creeks in San Francisco, Lobos Creek serves as a drinking water source for the Presidio. As such, the public is generally not allowed access to the creek. Here’s your chance to go“inside the fence” and explore the oak and willow riparian wonderland of Lobos Creek! Participants will enjoy the creekside vegetation such as horsetails, bulrushes, and one of the few San Francisco occurrences of western goldenrod (Euthamia occidentalis). Efforts to diversify the coast live oak and arroyo willow riparian understory will also be highlighted. Time permitting, the group will also explore the restored dune scrub habitat adjacent to the creek. Meet at the Lobos Creek Valley boardwalk trailhead, near the El Camino Del Mar/25th Avenue entrance to the Presidio. The trailhead is at the southwest corner of the parking lot, which is to the east of Lincoln Boulevard. To RSVP, call Michael Chasse, National Park Service at 415-561-4457.

JOIN THE FIGHT AS AN SFT MEMBER!
You can help protect our urban environment as an up-to-date member of San Francisco Tomorrow. Celebrate SFT’s 35th Year of Action by sending in your dues check as a 2006 member. Your choice: $15, $25, $35, $50 or more. Make checks payable to “San Francisco Tomorrow” and mail them to SFT at 41 Sutter Street, #1579, San Francisco 94104-4903.