Transportation and Planning Committee Report

At 2001 Market, the Prado Group has proposed a mixed-use retail and residential development on the previous site of the S & C Ford dealership at Market and Dolores Streets. While this site is just outside the boundaries of HVNA, it will affect our neighborhood and the broader Market and Octavia Plan, so the T & P Committee is watching it closely.

The Prado Group, along with a representative from Whole Foods, presented the latest iteration of their proposal at the HVNA general meeting on October 22, 2009. The proposal includes a Whole Foods grocery store on the ground floor and 6-stories of housing, totaling 80 units. The proposed project would raze all of the existing buildings on the site and should go to the Planning Commission for approval by January 2010. However several major issues remain unresolved.

First, this development is in a transit rich area of the city and will include a neighborhoodserving grocery store. There are 88,000 people within a one-mile radius of the store and many people will be walking and bicycling to this store. Some HVNA members have expressed disappointment that the grocery store will have 65 parking spaces given the great location for a model sustainable store. Whole Foods has stores in New York with no parking. We encourage Whole Foods and Prado to think about being cutting-edge and progressive on the retail parking. They could provide an innovative jitney or taxi service for costumers who walk to the store but need a ride home.

Second, HVNA is opposed to Prado’s request for a “conditional use” permit from the city in order to increase the parking in the residential component of the development. Again, this is a transit-rich, walkable area, and excessive parking is not needed. Prado is not offering any convincing arguments except that it will enable them to sell their units at a higher price. This is not within the spirit and intent of the Market and Octavia Plan. We are insisting that the developer comply with the allowed parking under the M&O plan.

Lastly, affordable housing remains a concern. Many HVNA members would like to see the affordable housing on site, rather than have the developer pay fees that allow the housing to be built elsewhere. We continue to encourage on-site affordable housing so people of diverse incomes can still live in the Upper Market area.

This is an extremely important development and it will be a project that sets precedence for other mixed-use developments in the Market & Octavia Plan area. HVNA applauds the re-use of the site, the provision of housing and the use of the ground floor as a grocery store; but this is a transit rich site and needs to be built that way. HVNA has not yet taken an official position on this project. More details about this project can be found at: http://www.2001marketsf.com

At 1 Franklin, there will be 35 housing units (15% of them affordable) and a small corner commercial space on the ground floor. The proposed building is located at the corner of Franklin and Page Streets, where there is currently a surface parking lot. 1 Franklin complies with the Market and Octavia Plan in almost every way. The HVNA T &P Committee has met several times with the project sponsors and while we still have reservations about some of the architecture, we are very enthusiastic about the project. The Hayes Valley neighborhood worked on the implementation of the Market & Octavia Plan for eight years and we appreciate this developer for adhering to its guidelines. It is expected that this project will appear before the planning commission within a year.