Current Newsletter

CAPA/SPUR Castro Walking Tour a Hit

On a beautiful Saturday morning, November 12, over 30 people from as far away as Seattle joined CAPA’s walking tour of the Castro, cosponsored by SPUR (San Francisco Planning + Urban Research). The tour visited several sites where the community is successfully bringing positive change to the neighborhood while supporting the Castro’s identity.

An important part of the tour was meeting and interacting with many of those Castro groups that are involved in making positive change. At Magnet, director Steve Gibson talked about a how they are providing a wide range of health services for gay men in a café like setting. Paul Moffett of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro talked about the new community benefits district and parking issues in the Castro. At the Eureka Valley Library, Supervisor Bevan Dufty and Terence Kissack of the LGBT Historical Society updated the group on plans for a GLBT History Center and Archives which could “co-locate” with the library after the library’s planned seismic upgrade. Sup. Dufty has been busily promoting the idea with the city’s movers and shakers and is very optimistic.

Also on hand was Heidi Sokolowsky, one of the winning Harvey Milk Plaza SF Prize winning designers; through the tour she was able to introduce herself to Sup. Dufty, who invited her to meet with him to discuss the Plaza concept.

Thanks to all members who helped to make the tour a success. The tour route and links to many of the sites are available on CAPA’s website at www.capasf.org.

CAPA Year in Review

In the past year CAPA has continued to play a role in several issues related to development in both the Castro district and the Central City Neighborhoods in San Francisco. Our influence is due in large part to the ongoing dedication of several individuals who represent CAPA’s goals in various local issues, and the relationships that members maintain with groups active in both the city and the Castro.

The importance of community services and facilities was stressed this year especially in the ongoing issue of development of the former UC Berkeley Extension Campus site on Laguna Hill. CAPA members have added their voice and brought the concerns of Castro residents to table. This extended to consultation with the Better Neighborhoods planning staff about ways to provide community facilities and services as the Market and Octavia plan area is built out.

The Trader Joe’s store proposed for Sanchez and 15^th Streets surfaced again earlier this year with a traffic study purporting to show that there would be no significant traffic impacts at a store with over 40 parking spaces attracting customers from all over the city. Since then the plan has been shelved and tenants are now being sought for the existing building-the Dulux Paint store. Members should be pleased that CAPA’s early opposition to the proposal was successful in stopping the project; a greater success would have been to have a more appropriate mixed use building proposed for the site.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE GENERAL MEETING

Thursday, November 10, 2005

CAPA Meeting Space

The lease for the Castro Meeting Room is set to terminate at the end of January 2006 (not the end of December), and the Eureka Valley Recreation Center is several months behind its originally scheduled opening of October 2005. CAPA’s original plan was to move into the Rec Center at the end of 2005, which is now not possible. While the LGBT Center is a possible site, it was determined to be too far from the center of the Castro. Members will research other sites available including the Metropolitan Community Church on Eureka Street. Meeting in members’ homes is also a short term possibility until the Rec Center opens.

Planning for 2006

With the New Year pending, ideas for membership development, events and issues that CAPA should focus on were discussed. Joe Curtin stated that CAPA continues to enjoy some influence, as was evident in the Trader Joe’s and Laguna Hill controversies. But the organization needs to do better in collaborating with other organizations and attracting new members. Other members suggested that quarterly forums on a variety of topics could attract lots of new people; Demian Quesnol suggested that CAPA host a forum on the very current topic of displays of adult material in store windows.

Website Development

The website committee will meet to discuss content as well as a possible new web host establishing an online discussion forum and email for bard members.

AGENDA FOR THE GENERAL MEETING

Thursday, December 8, 2005, 7:30 p.m.

1. Call to Order/Introductions          7:30 p.m.

2. Approval of Agenda and previous meeting’s Minutes

3. Castro Historic Resources Survey/Friends of 1800 Market

4. CAPA Website Planning Tito Vandermeyden

5. CAPA/SPUR Walking Tour Feedback      Joe Curtin

6. CAPA Events Planning

7. Meeting Space Update

8. Officers Nominations– president, vice president, secretary.

9. Finance Report and Membership Update

10. New Business

11. Adjournment               9:00 p.m.

At December’s meeting, CAPA will host Vincent Marsh and Mark Paez from the Friends of 1800, a historic preservation organization with a special interest in sites important to GLBT history. They will discuss how CAPA can participate in their efforts to conduct a comprehensive Cultural Resource Survey. The survey would identify important buildings on both general historical merits, and for importance to the LGBT history and culture of San Francisco.

created by: