Upcoming Meeting Highlights

SFJAZZ representatives will be giving a project update and sharing proposed renderings at the June 24th HVNA meeting. More information can be found on their website at www.sfjazz.org. The Transportation and Planning Committee continues to meet with SFJAZZ regarding its plans to locate a permanent home at the corner of Franklin and Fell. The 3-story building will replace an existing automotive repair shop, and serve as the first concert hall on the West Coast designed specifically for the presentation of jazz music. We have worked closely with the nonprofit and its architect Mark Cavenero and Associates in an effort to ensure that the proposal takes neighborhood considerations into account. The project has also recently been covered in the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times.

Proposed SFJAZZ main auditorium. Rendering by Mark Cavagnero Associates. Photo: Courtesy SFJAZZ

Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) Fire Department Staff will discuss upcoming NERT Training in our neighborhood, find out how you can be involved in Hayes Valley’s Emergency Response Team and get Training.

The July 22nd meeting will include a presentation and discussion by SF MTA on the project to make a more neighborhood-friendly, two-way Hayes Street for a portion of Hayes that is currently one-way. Returning Hayes to two-way is called for in the Market Octavia Plan. Our goal is to have a safer, more walkable community without whole blocks being cut off from the adjoining commercial district. Access to Fell, Oak, Gough, Franklin and Octavia are elements of living in Hayes Valley, but we need to shift the focus toward a better balance of pedestrian and community uses instead of the “freeway” mentality fostered by the current configuration.

This meeting is to update the community on the progress and establish a time line for finally making it happen. MTA staff has approved the plan as a priority project and it is going to Planning now for environmental review. They are to assess the traffic impacts and also see how making Fell two ways from Van Ness to Franklin can roll into this project to help reduce traffic on Hayes trying to get to Fell.