February 2013Letters to the EditorEditor, “Potrero Hill Town Hall Meeting Draws a Crowd” (December 2012) provides an incomplete picture of how the gathering was organized. Many neighborhood associations, groups and individuals wanted to meet with government representatives, including the Public Works, Police and Recreation and Parks departments. This coalition of entities encouraged the airing of a collection of issues and attendance at the Town Hall meeting. Jane Westfall McKinley Square Community Association Editor, I read a “Short Cuts” piece in your January issue with a mixture of amusement and anger. Trumark Homes is proposing to knock down a couple of short buildings on 645 Texas Street and replace them with a big — 40 foot — building, with room for 101 residential units. The piece went on to describe City Code requirements with respect to the size of the units. Then came the interesting part: the City is allowing one off-street parking space for every two bedroom unit that’s greater than 1,000 square feet, and one more space per every other four units. This gives a total maximum off-street parking allotment of 39 to 59 spaces for a building with 101 units. Based on the average number of San Francisco households owning at least one car — 80 percent — this will, at minimum, add an additional 20 cars to street parking in that area of Texas Street. The last sentence, though, was the real killer: the Planning Department "strongly encourages" Trumark to minimize the number of off-street parking spaces because of the site's proximity to public transportation..." What are they smoking at the Planning Department? I guess they probably have the same stuff that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has; it must be really potent to induce such hallucinations about the state of public transit on Potrero Hill. Jim Wilkins Pennsylvania Street Editor, I just read the October 2012 column by Mauri Schwartz, with the question from the parent of "Sam," who graduated from Cal State Hayward — now Cal State East Bay — two years ago and still works at the bookstore where he was employed before investing all the time and money into a college degree. Ms. Schwartz gave the parents pretty good advice to pass along to Sam. It’s the same information that career centers pass along to students on a regular basis. Our most important message to students is: don't wait until you graduate before starting your career search. As the new director of academic advising and career education at Cal State East Bay, I'd like to reach out to Sam, and help with that resume revision and job search. Can you pass my contact information along to him — or the parent who wrote to Ms. Schwartz — and encourage him to contact me? I'd appreciate that. Larry Bliss Director, Academic Advising and Career Education, California State University, East Bay 510.885.3621 |
This Month's StoriesSchool District Denies K-8 School at International Studies Academy Campus Kaiser Permanente Floats Revised Plans for Proposed Development City Budget Discussed at Town Hall Meeting Mariposa-Utah Street Neighborhood Association Challenges Development San Francisco Board of Supervisors Hosts Hearing on MTA Parking Plans Smashburger Replaces Blockbuster at Potrero Center on 16th Street Third Street Police Station to be Rented Hill Resident Helps LGBT Seniors SF Shines Brings Façade Improvements to Bayview As Neighborhood Transforms, Bayview-Hunters Point Still Plagued By Trash Bayview Professor Goes to Harvard Dogpatch Wine Bar Gets Trivial Thieves Repeatedly Steal “Safe and Clean Zone” Fence at McKinley Square Frameline37 Film Festival Features Potrero Hill Filmmakers The French Set-up Shop in Potrero Two New Officers Keep the Beat On-going FeaturesPublisher's View: Middle School
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