Upper Market Planning Workshop Holds Great Promise, Raises Questions

The last of three Upper Market planning workshops was held December 10, 2007, at the Harvey Milk School. Like the other two events it was well attended, and included both first time participants and those who had attended the entire series of workshops, which focused on shaping new development on sites along Market Street in the Castro.

Several ideas that came out of the workshop should interest everyone concerned about the Castro, and hopefully these ideas will be more fully developed by the time the draft report on the planning effort is released at a public meeting later this winter. See more at http://uppermarket.sfplannning.org.

One idea floated at the workshop is to “expedite the approvals process for projects that clearly address community identified priorities”. This concept has some merit, in that it will facilitate the implementation of both private and community-based projects. At the same time, there are many questions as to how this idea would be applied; would there be any public review of a project that addresses the community’s priorities, and what exactly are the priorities? A similar idea is to allow a height and density bonus to developers that include some community or cultural facilities within their project. This is possibly a great way to provide much needed space to groups like the GLBT Historical Society or Theater Rhinoceros. The proposal would allow new buildings up to 80 feet tall, 15 feet taller than current code allows, so the location and design of these buildings is very important.

One idea that CAPA can definitely get behind is creating more and improved space for Harvey Milk Plaza. The process officially recognizes Heidi Sokolowsky’s design and proposes closing 17^th Street to create a plaza on a least part of the Chevron Station site east of Castro. Supervisor Bevan Dufty announced that he will seek significant funding from the Transportation Authority in January for planning and construction of streetscape improvements at Harvey Milk Plaza and the rest of Upper Market Street. Watch for CAPA updates on details, including on how you can help.

Business Attraction Campaign Wants Your Ideas for New Businesses in the Castro

Ken Stram, the director of economic development at the SF LGBT Community Center, is working hard to attract new businesses to fill the many vacant storefronts in the Castro. The Business Attraction Campaign is looking for your input on what kind of businesses the community wants in the Castro, so the survey is included in this month’s CAPA Planner, and is also available on CAPA’s website (www.capasf.org). Give it some thought, complete the survey and return it to Ken Stram at the Center, 800 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, or email Ken at KenS@sfcenter.org. Be sure to mention that you are a member of CAPA.