June 2008
Mayor’s Open Space Task Force
The Mayor's Open Space Task Force -- a collaborative effort between the City, Neighborhood Parks Council and SPUR, with members from other public agencies, local businesses, community and neighborhood leaders, planning and design experts and open space advocates-- has been working diligently to create a consensus vision and an Action Plan for SF's open space since it was inaugurated by Mayor Newsom in November 2007. The group is now in its third phase of the process – Charting the Steps.
At the May 8th meeting, held at the Port of San Francisco, Task Force members heard from members of the community who are actively involved in open space issues in San Francisco. The Task Force then broke into groups and were asked to imagine and explore ideas for five key opportunity areas: Urban Barriers, Dense Neighborhoods, Waterfront, Dynamic Programming and Financing Values. These focused visioning sessions identified a number of visionary yet achievable recommendations for the Task Force’s Open Space Action Plan, in addition to considering these ideas for the update of the General Plan’s Recreation and Open Space Element (ROSE). To read the minutes from the May 8th meeting, please click here.
The next meeting of the Mayor’s Open Space Task Force will be held on July 10th at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, from 3-5pm. The group will be discussing three more opportunity areas including: the Downtown, Natural Areas/Habitat, and Greenways/Green Streets. The public is welcome to attend. Please contact Karin Edwards (kedwards@sfnpc.org) if you would like more information.
After almost ten years of analysis and planning, the Planning Commission initiated the Eastern Neighborhoods adoption process on April 17th, 2008. During this adoption phase, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors have been holding public hearings to consider the various aspects of the Area Plans, Planning Code, and Zoning Map, and decide whether to approve, change, or reject the proposals. The next hearing is scheduled for July 7th and will address the implementation of the Plan.
In addition, the San Francisco Planning Department recently released a proposal for the Eastern Neighborhoods Development Pipeline. The document addresses proposals for development projects that were submitted before the Eastern Neighborhoods initiation date of April 17, 2008, but have not yet been approved. This could impact the amount of financing that the Eastern Neighborhoods will receive for public benefits, which includes parks and open space.
Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors meetings concerning the Eastern Neighborhoods continue to take place. Check out http://www.sfgov.org/site/planning_index.asp?id=25288 for a schedule and more information.