Potrero View 2011: February

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February 2011

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Rebuild Potrero Project Stirs Hope, Fear for Neighborhood House Sells the Community’s Future

Photograph by Peter Linenthal

Hill residents and business owners, including Goat Hill Pizza’s Philip De Andrade (left), shared stories about their role in the community while participating in Rebuild Potrero’s community building event late last month. More than 100 participants gathered to talk about the neighborhood’s future. A follow-up meeting will be held at St. Teresa Church, 390 Missouri Street, from 10 a.m. to noon on February 5.

By Nicole Spiridakis Some Hill residents are concerned that proposed redevelopment of the Potrero Annex-Terrace housing complexes – which developers have named Rebuild Potrero – will result in “too many, too much.” Under initial plans, new residential buildings at the complex were to be no higher than four

stories. More recent proposals include a mix of building heights, some as tall as eight stories, and a tripling of the current population, prompting worries that the proposed dramatic increase in housing density could cause parking congestion, and degrade the neighborhood’s character. J a n e F a y, w h o b o u g h t a 1,000-square foot condominium

in Parkview Heights in 1984, is concerned that the population surge prompted by the project could impact the Hill’s small-town character. “It will bring a downtown into an old, quaint neighborhood with the taller buildings,” she said. Fay stressed that many residents were excited about Rebuild Potrero until the number of planned units jumped from 1,200 to upwards of 1,800. The higher density would result in “a great increase in people, cars, reduced parking and reduced Muni service, along with the lack of true integration of income levels,” she said. Rosanna Francescato, who bought her Texas Street home roughly five years ago, believes that higher density will bring more revenue into the neighborhood, aiding revitalization efforts. “I feel like the plan is good overall, and it will only be better than what is there now, for both the public housing residents and everyone else in the area,” she said. “The density of the area would increase, which is true, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing in a city, and it can have some environmental benefits. Also, it’s important to realize that for this project to happen, it needs to be financially feasible, and the density helps with that.”

In Potrero Hill, Recology’s garbage trucks regularly pick-up three kinds of waste – non-recyclables, recyclables and compostable food scraps – in familiar black, blue and green bins. Throughout Southeast San Francisco, the company collects trash from residential customers Monday through Friday, usually between the hours of 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with occasional late night and early morning pick-ups for commercial clients on 15 main routes. Recolog y – for merly NorCal Waste Systems – is a privately-held firm that has a monopoly on collecting the City’s trash, at least in part based on a 1932 voter-mandate. The company transports recyclables to Pier 96, off Cargo Way, to be sorted and processed. At the recycling facility “hiring preference is given

INSIDE

to residents in the 94124 and 94107 zip codes, good paying union jobs that start at $18 to $20 an hour and where drivers can earn $100,000 a year. That’s what going to zero

waste is all about,” said Kevin Drew, San Francisco Department of the Environment’s (SF Environment) residential zero waste coordinator, “creating green jobs, and reducing the need for landfill in the future.”

Short Cuts p. 3

Recology consolidates the City’s non-recyclable garbage – roughly 1,100 tons a day – at it’s Tunnel Road transfer station near Candlestick Point. Union drivers then haul the trash over the Bay Bridge to the Altamont landfill near Livermore, which is owned by publicly-held garbage giant Waste Management of Alameda County (WMAC). In 2009, after reviewing proposals for a new contract to landfill San Francisco’s non-recyclable trash, SF Environment chose Recology over incumbent WMAC. Under the contract – estimated to be worth $115 million – once WMAC’s current contract expires in 2015, Recology will provide landfill services to the City for 10 years or five million tons, whichever comes first. The see landfill page 6

see park page 23

see rebuild page 9

Calendar p. 17

Mission Bay Families p. 13 p. 12

By Sasha Lekach

With little public notice, late last year the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House (Nabe) sold the De Haro Street corner garden located across the road from the neighborhood center. The 3,362 square-foot property is zoned for a two family building, though for years it’s been an empty lot. Although many residents assumed the plot was vacant park space, it was actually privately owned by the Nabe. “We had intentions to build space for additional program space,” said the Nabe’s executive director Edward Hatter. “But all we could do was pay liability insurance on it.” Public records indicate that on December 28, 2010 the deed to the property was transferred from the Nabe to Thomas G. Keegan, Krista Henry Keegan, Eugene J. Keegan and Miriam McGuinness. The Nabe sold the De Haro Street and Southern Heights Avenue lot to make up for a steep decline in City funding over the past two years. “Signing the papers on the last day was a struggle for me in the first place,” Hatter said. “It was either do or die.” The property sold for roughly $330,000 two months after it was placed on the market, significantly less than other recent lot sales in the neighborhood. The Keegans and McGuiness have proposed to build a two-unit house on the property, according to Hatter. The sale of the corner garden came as a surprise to residents; the only clue of the change was a missing mosaic bench that had stood in the lot for eight years. Carolina Street resident David Glober understands the short-term reasoning to sell the property, but “the Nabe will cover a budget shortfall for one year, but this urban respite will be lost to us forever. Privately-held, publiclyaccessible open space is a community asset that promotes neighborhood health and well-being. Adults and children need access to the natural world within City limits.” Dogpatch Neighborhood Association president Janet Carpinelli expressed outrage over the sale.

Garbage Companies Talk Trash Over City Landfill Contract

By Lori Higa

Pocket Park

p. 15

Crime & Safety p. 24 p. 22


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