Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

November 20, 2008

550 Davis Street, Unit 25, San Francisco, CA 94111

 

The meeting began at 6:10 p.m. and was called to order by President Bill Sauro.

 

Board members in attendance in addition to President Sauro:  Fred Allardyce, Bill Benkavitch, Carol Parlette, Lee Radner, Felix Rodriguez, Linda Schwartz.

 

Board members who were absent:  Morton Beebe, Jonathan Middlebrook, Diana Taylor, Joe Wyman.

 

1.  Quorum Call.  When the meeting was called to order, seven Board members were present.

 

2.  Approval of Minutes.  The minutes of the October 23, 2008 meeting were approved as amended, by unanimous vote.

 

3.  Treasurer’s Report.  Carol Parlette distributed the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Budget Summary Report as of 11/20/2008.  The current balance is $3,670.80, which is $2,175 more than last month.  Gain is due to membership renewals coming in and $1,090 from contributions.  President Sauro will send personal ‘thank you’ letters to the contributors.  Linda Schwartz stated that she has not yet received reimbursement for the stamps used for the membership renewal mailing.  Carol stated she had not seen the request; Linda and Carol will work this out together.  The Board adopted the Treasurers Report unanimously.

 

4.  Committee Reports.

          a. Waterfront Action Committee.

          i. 110 The Embarcadero – 130 foot tall building.  Lee Radner reported that the Board of Supervisors will hear the rezoning request at the December 2nd meeting and not at the November 25th meeting.  The Board discussed the letter sent by President Sauro opposing the project.  The current belief is that the BoS will deny the rezoning.

          ii. Davis Street parking (between Washington & Clay) – 11 spaces.  The Board discussed the recent MTA 6 – 1 vote in favor of this initiative, and the letter sent by President Sauro supporting the initiative.  President Sauro stated that the BCNA letter may have been helpful in the MTA’s favorable vote.

          iii. Cruise Ship Terminal at Piers 27 - 29.  Linda Schwartz reported on the recent SF Port meeting she attended where the Port displayed plans to construct one (1) berth at a cost of $60 million.  The Board discussed whether the Port would be able to fund the project, knowing their weak financial situation at this time.

 

          b.  8 Washington Street Condo Project.  Lee Radner updated the Board on the status of the SF Port’s Seawall Lot 351 Request for Proposals (RFP).  The Port had terminated the first RFP as there was only one proposal submitted (from Simon Snellgrove and San Francisco Waterfront Partners II), and now the Port has issued another RFP with a proposal submittal date of December 19th.  Lee had given testimony at the November 18th Port Commission meeting questioning why the Port was moving ahead so quickly with the new RFP since the severe world-wide financial crisis the Port cited for termination of the first RFP is still ongoing.  Lee stated that the Commissioners did not respond to his question.

 

Lee also advised the Board of two additional Port events.  First, an informational meeting on December 9th on the Waterfront Land Use Plan; the second concerning a review of proposals submitted on Seawall Lot 351 development on January 16th.  Lee said the FOGG will issue an Alert to the FOGG team encouraging them to attend these events.  The Board agreed that both of these meetings are extremely important and every effort should be made by Board members to attend.  BCNA members will be advised of the meeting dates, times and locations.

 

Lee told the Board that the BoS Land Use and Economic Development Committee would be hearing a Resolution similar to one that passed in December 2006.  This Resolution would impose interim zoning controls establishing a requirement for conditional use authorization for a change in use or reduction in size of any recreational space of 15,000 square feet or more including indoor or outdoor facilities for a six (6) month period and making a determination of consistency with the priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1.  This hearing is scheduled for Monday, November 24th.  Lee will keep the Board apprised of the progress of this new Resolution.  District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin is on this Committee along with Sophie Maxwell and Gerardo Sandoval.

 

Lastly, Lee told the Board about an upcoming BCDC Symposium in March 2009 concerning rising sea levels.  Representatives from the Netherlands are expected to attend.  Lee will advise the Board when a firm date and location have been established.

 

          c. Membership Committee.  Carol Parlette stated that there were good renewals coming in from the recent mailing.  President Sauro stated that a 2nd renewal request letter will be sent.  This 2nd letter, which he will compose, will make mention of several of the important things that BCNA has accomplished with membership funds, including the recent Supervisor Candidates Forum.  A 3rd letter may also be sent.

 

          d. Newsletter.  The next scheduled mail date for the Newsletter is January 15, 2009.  President Sauro asked the Board for some topic ideas.  The lead story in the Newsletter will be ‘Meet the new District 3 Supervisor David Chiu’ who has tentatively accepted to address the Board at the January 29th Board meeting.  (The meeting will be held on the Santa Rosa ferry and all BCNA members will be invited to attend.)  Some of the story ideas were:  Waterfront Land Use Plan (see Item 4.b, paragraph 2), Waterfront 20 Acre Park proposal (see SF Chronicle article at this link Article ), Davis Street parking, Cruise Ship Terminal at Piers 27-29, 110 The Embarcadero rezoning, lobby and exterior upgrades at The Gateway, corporate rentals at The Gateway, Pier ˝ parking proposal status.

 

6.  Old Business.

          a. San Francisco Embarcadero Parks and Open Space Initiative.  President Sauro intends to meet with Supervisor-Elect David Chiu to discuss, and would like to have the City Planning Department flush out some of the details (assuming David would support the concept.)  Lee Radner contacted land use attorney Sue Hestor for her legal opinion on the idea.  While neither in favor of nor against, attorney Hestor advised Lee that the cost constraints of below grade parking could make this initiative prohibitively expensive.

         

          b. Davis Street Parking Issue.  See Item 4.a.ii in these Minutes.

 

7.  New Business.

          a. David Chiu Event – January 29, 2009.  See Item 4.d in these Minutes.

 

          b. Promote David Chiu Event with Lead Story in Newsletter.  See Item 4.d in these Minutes.

 

          c. Refreshments Budget for David Chiu Event.  The consensus of the Board was that refreshments should not be offered as they could detract from what could be somewhat limited time the Supervisor-Elect Chiu has available.  And, the regular January Board meeting will be held after David departs.

 

          d. Spring Party.  The Board briefly discussed whether or not to have a spring BCNA party.  The consensus was to hold the spring party in conjunction with the Annual Meeting.

 

8.  Next Meeting.  The next BCNA Board Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 29, 2009 onboard the Ferry Boat Santa Rosa.

 

9.  Adjournment.  The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Bill Benkavitch

Secretary