Soccer field plan would have significant impacts

by Ed Moy

The San Francisco Planning Department released a long-awaited Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Beach Chalet Athletic Field Renovation on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
According to the Planning Department, the draft report is “meant to identify and assess any environmental impacts of our proposed renovation of the Beach Chalet soccer fields.”
“The DEIR found a significant impact to historical resources from the project,” stated environmental planner, Sarah B. Jones. “All other impacts were found to be less than significant, or could be mitigated to that level. The DEIR considers several alternatives, including an off-site alternative at West Sunset and two versions of the modified project that could reduce the impact to historic resources. The DEIR is an informational document and it doesn’t make any recommendations regarding the merits of the project or the alternatives.”
The DEIR is available to the general public as a pdf file on Rec. and Park’s website (www.sfrecpark.org) or the Planning Department’s website (www.sf-planning.org).
Topics covered in the DEIR include aesthetics, cultural resources, biological resources, hazards and hazardous materials and air quality.
A public hearing on the DEIR will be held at City Hall, Room 400, on Dec. 1. Public comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 12.
The Rec and Park Depart­ment’s fact sheet states the DEIR found that renovation of the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields will create a single “unavoidable significant impact” to the site’s value as a historic resource. The report determined that replacing grass with synthetic turf, installing field lighting, adding on-field spectator seating and creating concrete pedestrian paths around the fields would alter the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields’ existing features, which convey historical significance. However, Golden Gate Park’s designation as a historic place on the federal, state and local levels would remain unchanged as the park has many features which will continue to convey historic character and significance.
The Beach Chalet Athletic Field renovation project came under fire late last year when area residents complained about the environmental impacts of the potential installation of artificial turf. Neighborhood residents also expressed concerns about the installation of night lighting that would allow games to be played until 10 p.m.
According to the City Fields Foundation (www.cityfieldsfoundation.org), a non-profit group that has been raising money to replace grass fields with artificial turf, the synthetic materials have been installed and are in use at several fields across the City. The Foundation says the lower maintenance costs and increased playing time it offers make it a sound choice.
The $8.9 million renovation cost for Golden Gate Park would be partially shared by City Fields, which has already helped to renovate several aging facilities in the City.
“Renovating Beach Chalet with lights and synthetic turf will eliminate all dangerous gopher holes and more than triple the amount of play on the fields,” states City Fields Foundation on its website. “Currently, the fields host 4,738 hours of annual play. The proposed renovation will add 9,582 hours of new play each year. The renovation will also make the facility much more family-friendly and inviting for all – athletes, spectators and park visitors.”
According to Connie Chan, deputy director of public affairs for Rec and Park, a 2004 study found San Francisco would need to add 35 soccer fields and 30 baseball/softball fields to meet demands due to a lack of access to athletic fields in the city. Rain is often a main culprit in the loss of usable athletic fields.
“Since 2006, SF Rec and Park and the nonprofit City Fields Foundation have worked to address this challenge by renovating select city athletic fields with synthetic turf and field lights,” Chan stated. “We are proposing to renovate the dilapidated Beach Chalet Athletic Fields in the western end of Golden Gate Park with synthetic turf, field lights and other amenities because Beach Chalet is one of three primary ground sports fields in San Francisco that are unfortunately in abysmal condition, often closed and lacking spectator seating.”
Chan stated that with the release of the DEIR, public comment will be accepted until Dec. 12.
Submitted public comments will be addressed in a “comments and responses report,” which will be released and considered by the Planning Commission in the spring of 2012.
“The Planning Commission is ultimately responsible for certifying that the DEIR is accurate, adequate and consistent with the requirements of state law,” Chan stated.
For more information on SF Rec and Park’s response to the DEIR, go to the webpage at http://216.121.125.82/BeachChaletAthleticFieldsDraftEnvironmentalImpactReportFactSheet.aspx. To download the SF Planning Department DEIR, go to the city’s website at http://www.sf-planning.org. The report is also available for public review and comment on the Environmental Planning website at http://tinyurl.com/sfceqadocs. Hard copies and CDs are also available at the Planning Department’s information center at 1660 Mission St., first floor.  Referenced materials are also available for review at the Planning Department’s office at 1650 Mission St., fourth floor.

Prescriptions at Walgreens could end

by Aaron Goldsmith

Some west side neighbors may no longer be able to use Walgreens drugstores after Dec. 31 of this year if they participate in prescription drug programs run by Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI).

At issue is a contract dispute between the retail pharmacy and ESI, the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) for many government and private health plans. According to Walgreens, ESI is insisting on contract terms that will make it unprofitable to serve patients in ESI plans.
The loss of Walgreens as a participating pharmacy will hit senior citizens in some Medicare Part D plans especially hard, as well as active and retired military covered by TRICARE and employees in some employer-provided health plans, like Anthem Blue Shield.

Walgreens has 68 retail pharmacies in the San Francisco area, many of which are open 24 hours. Ten stores are located within easy access of Sunset and Richmond residents, from West Portal to the outer Sunset, Parkside and Richmond districts. Details about exact locations are available at the website http://www.Walgreens.com.

“A vast majority of our pharmacy customers live in the neighborhoods adjacent to our stores in the City and stop by often. Walgreens is committed to serving local needs with unique services like San Francisco’s only 24-hour community pharmacies,” said Shawn Houghtaling, a San Francisco district pharmacy supervisor at Walgreens.

Pharmacies like Walgreens are filling in the gaps in access to health care by offering a variety of expanded health-care services, such as flu and other immunizations shots, in addition to filling prescriptions. According to the website http://www.Napb.org, pharmacists play a key role in helping seniors make effective use of their medications through one-on-one counseling about prescriptions, side effects and drug interaction.

Because of Walgreens services, numerous locations and convenient hours, their departure from ESI health plans could result in serious pharmacy access issues.

Seniors age 65 and older fill more prescriptions, on average, than younger age groups, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services, so any change in pharmacy care will affect them. On San Francisco’s west side, many seniors have mobility issues or rely on public transportation to get their shopping done, so it may be inconvenient for them to find a new pharmacy.

For example, ESI’s pharmacy locator suggests that when Outer Richmond residents can no longer use a Walgreens pharmacy their closest options are the La Playa Safeway and a CVS store on 32nd Avenue near the Palace of the Legion of Honor – each location is at least one mile away.
In the Outer Sunset, several local pharmacies on Noriega and the pharmacies at Lucky’s, off Sloat Boulevard, or the Noriega Safeway will be the neighborhood’s only fallback options. In any case, a short walk turns into a $2 Muni ride and a transfer to another line to reach a pharmacy.

Walgreens is advising seniors who wish to continue to have their prescriptions filled at their stores to select a Part D plan, which includes Walgreens, during Medicare’s annual sign-up from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7.

Richmond author documents space race: facts and fantasy

by Thomas K. Pendergast

Her family can trace ancestors back to pioneers that settled around the Eugene Oregon area in the 1840s, and she grew up with a strong sense of western lore. As a child, however, author Megan Prelinger’s earliest memories were of the Apollo moon landings on television, plus episodes of “Gunsmoke” and “Star Trek.”
Perhaps, as she browsed a collection of old aerospace industry trade magazines from the early days of the “space race” while sitting in her Richmond District apartment in 2006, it was inevitable she would notice certain connections between cowboys, or pioneers, and space exploration.
The articles were mostly about different projects that various aerospace companies were working on and industry trends, yet the advertisements told a very different story, in which science fiction fantasy dominated.
Two recurring themes of the advertisements showed images of commonplace domestic scenes on some other planet or in future space stations. Frequently, they used a strong western motif.
“It’s not just the domestic environments but also the transference of the sense of the west and westward expansion onto outer space,” said Prelinger. “Like, settling space, it’s about using visual imagery to make space exploration feel natural, inevitable and an extension of things that we’re already doing. And, natural like it’s going to be comfortable when we get there and space is going to somehow warmly receive us.”
She also noticed that the idea of peaceful space exploration was being used as a recruiting tool for companies that had little to do with peace, yet everything to do with building missiles for expanding US nuclear war capabilities.
In 2010 the end result of these insights was the publication of her book “Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957 – 1962,” by Blast Books. It’s a slickly produced, glossy-paged documentation of a grand mixing between the realities of a brave new technological world and the scientific fantasies of future possibilities.
“Most of the research, development, manufacturing and funding was focused on weapons systems and a relatively tiny percentage of federal funding for rocket and missile development really got applied to NASA, the first civil space exploration. Think about the Cold War military. It was nothing compared to that,” she said.
While the articles informed her of the reality, the advertisements were about something else entirely.
“In each of the ads there was a picture and the picture was often of a fantastical landscape. The artist maybe imagined a spaceship that did not yet exist. The imagery is a real fantasy space but … the very copy in the ad itself says ‘actually what we’re recruiting for is we need engineers to work on the titan missile and ICBM projects and Nike, Zeus rocket programs.’ What they’re showing is astronauts heading to Saturn or something like that and I was thinking hmmm, there’s a discrepancy there.
“The advertisements are their own body of literature and they’re like science fiction. They’re telling stories. They’re spinning ideas about the future. … And I thought ‘wow somewhere there’s got to be a really beautiful book that’s been done about this artwork. I’m going to see if I can find it.'”
She went online and tried to find a book about aerospace advertising artwork from the Cold War era but found nothing. She asked in bookstores but no one knew about such a book.
“I decided that it actually had not been done and it needed to be done and that I was going to do it. That was my “Eureka” moment.”
Prelinger first discovered San Francisco when she visited City Lights bookstore as an 11-year-old girl, while on a family road trip to Mexico. She lived in the Richmond District briefly in 1985, then after graduating from Reed College with a BA in anthropology, she moved back to the district in 1993.
She met her husband Rick in 1998. The next year they married and moved into the mid-district house where they still live.
In the same room where she was inspired to write the book, she recently talked about the Cold War period and the space race.
“The ads don’t directly reference the Cold War because they tend to be about a fantasy space, about technology and peace and space exploration,” she explained. “The reality was that people didn’t know how many warheads the Soviet Union had and they didn’t know what the space capacity of the Soviet Union was going to be. They just knew that the U.S. had to be on top. Later, intelligence found out that back when we thought we were behind in the ‘missile gap,’ that we were actually ahead but we didn’t know that. We had a sense of being behind and having to just work as hard as humanly possible to close the gap and have the largest nuclear arsenal.”
Prelinger thinks the ads also served to create a cultural mythology and to show off in front of their competitors.
“I think they thought that the space mythology was a very powerful recruitment tool and at the same time … the space mythology really will come true and it’ll get funded and they’ll get the jobs.”
All of this was being fueled by a pervasive fear of nuclear war that was an ever-present fact of life for many during the Cold War.
“I had some awareness of it even when I was six, seven, eight, Watergate era,” she recalled. “I remember thinking when Watergate happened ‘does this mean we’re all going to get killed in a nuclear war if we don’t have a good president?’
Many ideas in the advertisements are obviously prototypes for today’s high-tech weaponry, like flying drone planes that spy and cruise missiles. Other ideas seem downright laughable today.
“I think it’s an interesting look at the rapid pace of the change of technology,” she said. “We think technology is moving fast now but it was also moving really fast back then. Stuff that was very real in 1965 had been complete fantasy in 1955. So, there really were a lot of ideas, especially in the 1950s. Technology moved so fast in the 25 years post war that people really did tend to over-imagine what might be possible.
“Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957 – 1962” is available at http://www.Amazon.com, the Booksmith on Haight Street, Green Apple Books on Clement Street and online at http://www.anothersciencefiction.com. For more information, send an e-mail to megan@prelinger.net.

Couple works as a team to help neighborhood businesses thrive

by Jonathan Farrell

Geary Boulevard is one of the city’s major thoroughfares. It starts downtown at Union Square and goes westbound all the way to Ocean Beach. To have a shop along this merchant corridor is to feel the pulse of the City’s economic life.
David and Shlomit Heller, proprietors at the Beauty Network on Geary, know how important it is for a major street like Geary to have a thriving business community. Even before the onset of the current recession, Geary was sensitive to the whims of the economic climate. But, despite the trials and tribulations of running a business, the Hellers are celebrating a major milestone – 25 years in business.
During a recent anniversary celebration at the Beauty Network, dozens of people stopped by to congratulate the dynamic couple – David has been president of the influential Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants and Property Owners Association for the past 10 years and Shlomit has been serving clients as an esthetician.
“It is hard to fathom that it has been 25 years,” Shlomit said. “I never envisioned a career like this, but I am pleased and so thankful.”
All day during the open house customers, family, friends and local city officials stopped by to say hello, including District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar, Richmond Station Capt. Keith Sanford and SFPD Commander Richard Corriea.
Shlomit noted that early in life she only saw herself as a wife and mother. Yet, when the opportunity to become an esthetician presented itself, she followed her intuition and started a new career.
Since 1980, the Beauty Network has been serving the skin care and beauty product needs of the community.
“I keep learning and striving to provide only the best to our customers,” she said.
The Hellers have seen the City change, especially the local neighborhood. Two of the City’s most popular movie theaters closed, the Coronet and Alexandria, which were located on Geary and attracted patrons from all over to the Richmond District.
When a landmark like a large cinema or a major business shuts down, it has far-reaching impacts. The Coronet Theater is where blockbuster movies, like “Star Wars,” made their debut, drawing large crowds. The Coronet was torn down.
“Originally, we were located on Geary between 18th and 19th avenues, just a few doors away from the Alexandria Theater,” Shlomit said. “Now, we are near 22nd Avenue. We’ve been at this place since 1994.”
The Hellers hope the old theater will be resurrected soon.
Since 2008, many long-time shops and stores, like Delano’s, have left the neighborhood. With so many store vacancies along the Geary Boulevard corridor Heller sees it as his mission to bring as much business as possible back into the neighborhood.
“People often don’t realize how much of an impact the loss of local business has upon the neighborhood,” he said.
The Hellers work to promote local businesses.
“Everything we have in our store is from family-owned or small business companies,” Shlomit said.
“If I know the owners and establish a good business-to-business relationship with them, I improve the quality of service not only for my customers but for their customers as well,” she said.
Carol Miller was a sales rep 25 years ago when she met the Hellers and has stayed friends with them ever since. She attests to the couple’s tenacity working to promote business in the community.
“I have known Carol for a very long time and our friendship has been very beneficial to one another,” Shlomit said.
When businesses help each other, the interaction builds and strengthens the community, she said.
“That is what David likes doing, helping others in business so they can raise families and make the City a good place to live and work,” she said.
Shlomit took a moment to recollect how the two of them met.
“We met at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) helping out as volunteers,” she said.
David laughed when he heard her talk about their meeting.
“Do we need to go back that far?” he asked, before telling the story of how he came out west.
“In the mid-’70s I was in New York City, selling clothing,” he said. “When the opportunity to move to California emerged, I followed it. That was in 1977 and I was helping a friend sell his accessory line of merchandise, which included things like perfume, cosmetics, scarfs, etc.
“He needed to sell as much as he could because as a buyer he was over-stocked and wanted to make room for new merchandise. So, I offered to help,” David said. “I fell into this business by accident.”
“I did so well at helping him, I sold his entire stock, that I decided to open a business of my own,” he said.
Shlomit had no idea when she decided to help out in her husband’s venture that she would eventually establish her own professional career as a licensed esthetician.
“An esthetician is a specialist who understands the external as well as intrinsic aspects of skin care,” she said. “It used to be someone who specialized in cosmetics, but now the field has advanced even further, requiring more study and training.”
Shlomit completed a program at Skyline College in 1989 and received her certification and license.
“I thought I was simply going to be a wife and mother. I really had no idea that this would be a career for me,” she reiterated. “This is a real passion for me. I want to help people know about how to care for their skin and what is in the products they use.”
The Beauty Network has products and skin care for men as well as women.
Raya Zion, Shlomit’s sister, vouches for her passion.
“My sister takes pride in all that she does,” Zion said. “She is very talented and very particular.”
As the lead singer for the Tribal Blues Band, Zion understands how important details are and for a team to work well together. She is very happy and pleased for Shlomit and David’s success.
“The products are the most beneficial and of highest quality; there’s no junk in this shop,” Zion said.
“A woman stopped by the shop today after she saw our ad in the local newspaper. She just wanted to stop in and visit and congratulate us on being here for so many years,” Shlomit said. “She said she would come back again. That means a lot to me.”
In this information age of technology and the Internet, Shlomit sees lots of opportunity. Yet, regardless of the new social networking sites on the Internet, she still considers customer service a top priority.
For more information about the Beauty Network, located at 5748 Geary Blvd., call (415) 387-1477 or go to the website at http://www.beautynetwork.com.

Contra Dancing Alive and Well in Sunset District

By Judith Kahn

“Swing your partner,” “do si do,” and “circle left” might be familiar words to those who know square dancing, but these words are also used in contra dancing – square dancing’s cousin.
This lively dance is done with long lines of couples paired off, called a set. Two couples dance together as a group of four, going through a sequence of moves for one round of the dance. Then, the two couples change places up and down the line, facing the next couple and ready to start another round of the dance.
Sets are generally arranged so they run the length of the hall, with the top, or head, of the set being at the end closest to the band and caller. A fundamental aspect of contra dancing is that the same dance, one time through, is repeated over and over, but each time you dance with new neighbors. Each dance runs 10 minutes, long enough to dance with 15 to 20 partners. The mood of the dance is usually upbeat, with a quick tempo.
Musicians who accompany the dancers are often top-notch musicians, performing music from Irish, Scottish, English, Canadian and American folk traditions and led by dance callers with local and national followings.
The most common dance repertoire is rooted in the Anglo-Celtic tradition. Tunes in contra dance are always “square,” with 64-beat tunes. Until the 1970s, it was traditional to play a single tune for the duration of a contra dance; now the contra dance musicians typically play tunes in sets of two or three related, and sometimes contrasting, tunes.
Although single tune dances are becoming popular with some northeastern bands, in the Celtic repertories it is common to change keys with each tune. A set might start with a tune in G, and switch to a tune in D. An old-time band might play a set of tunes in D, then use the time between dances to retune for a set of tunes in A. But whatever tunes the musicians decide to play, the music is always upbeat, lively and quick-paced.
Contra dancing dates back to the 17th century, when English country dances were taken up by French dancers. The French called these dances contra-dance, or contredanse, and would incorporate steps from French court dances into their country dances.
As time moved on, the English country dances spread and were reinterpreted throughout the Western world. Eventually, the French form of the name came to be associated with American folk dances. Contra dances were highly popular in the United States until the early- to mid-19th century, when they were supplanted by square dancing. The “quadrille” and “lancers” were two of the most popular square dances.
By the 1930s and 1940s contra dances were only done in small towns and in widely scattered parts of northeastern North America, the maritime provinces of Canada and northern New England.
It was Ralph Page who maintained the New England tradition until it was revitalized in the 1950s and 1960s.
Today, contra dancing is alive and well in San Francisco and all over the Bay Area. There are contra dance weekends and camps.
In San Francisco, in the Sunset District, at St. Paul’s Church at 43rd Avenue and Judah Street, contra dance enthusiasts dance every first, second and third Saturday and every fourth Friday of the month, from 8 to 11 p.m. A lesson is given for beginners starting at 7:30 p.m., which is then followed by dancing from 8 to 11 p.m. Since it is a group dance, a partner is not needed. The calls are often and come quickly, so first timers usually pick an experienced partner to help them navigate dance moves.
Charlie Fenton organized the San Francisco contra dance in 1981. It was originally held at Fort Mason but moved in 1984 to St. Paul’s Church. On any given night the crowd can range from 30 to 50, depending on the band. If the band is “hot” and well- known, the crowd is larger. In the past they have had some very popular bands and expect more in the future, says Maria Markoff a regular at the dances.
On Oct. 28, The Retro­spectacles appeared. The group of young contra dance musicians have torn up dance floors all over the Northwest with their enthusiasm and powerful playing. They are inspired by the eclectic music of today’s contra dance scene, as well as old-time Irish, Scottish, French and Canadian traditions. They played many of their own compositions, arranging their music into densely woven and highly-rhythmic beats and sounds.
In April, Perpetual e-Motion from Maine played at the San Francisco contra dance. This duo band was described as “captivating, passionate and progressive.”
The price of admission to San Francisco contra dance events is $10 for non-members and $8 for members. Students and low-income participants pay $5. For more information about contra dancing in the Bay Area, visit the website at http://www.bacds.org. For more information about dances at St. Paul’s Church, contact Maria Markoff at (415) 566-1789 or Mmarkoff@yahoo.com.

Supervisor Shines Spotlight on Muni’s Light Rail Service

By Ed Moy

Supervisor Carmen Chu addressed concerns over Muni light rail service in the Sunset District during a hearing at the SF Board of Supervisors’ City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee in October.
Chu said the hearing was productive because it included a review of performance data gathered on Muni light rail service for the N-Judah and L-Taraval lines between February and April of this year. Her office is analyzing the data.
Among the concerns Chu covered were the number and reasons for missed train runs, on-time performance, frequency and causes of train switchbacks, and how the SFMTA plans to address those issues.
Muni management claims it is working to alleviate or minimize disruptions to the public.
Chu pointed out that a key reason for delays along the N-Judah and L-Taraval lines is a recurring problem with malfunctioning stairs aboard the light rail trains coming out of the downtown tunnel to street level. She stated that repairs have been on-going to correct the stair problems.
She also stated that a lack of qualified Muni light rail operators will be addressed by SFMTA through the hiring and training of new operators.
Chu said the new N-Judah shuttle buses operating as a downtown express bus route have helped improve service during peak commute hours.
Earlier this year, Chu addressed the issue of Muni light rail train switchbacks, a policy of “short-turning or early turn-around” of trains headed to the Outer Sunset, with the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee.
The early train turnarounds are a cause for concern for many elderly and disabled passengers, who are sometimes left stranded along the N-Judah line waiting for the next train to arrive in order to continue with their commute.
Other topics up for review included the bus service along 19th Avenue and Sunset Boulevard on Muni’s 28 and 29 bus lines.
Chu said Muni conducted an extensive analysis of the two bus lines to monitor on-time performance, frequency and passenger loads. The data compiled is being utilized to improve the service along both the 28-line and 29-lines, which run along the two major commute corridors linking the Sunset and Richmond districts.
Sunset and Parkside residents with Muni concerns can contact Chu at (415) 554-7460 or chustaff@sfgov.org.

McCoppin Square Re-opens with Memorial for Taraval Officer

By Thomas K. Pendergast

When San Francisco acquired the land we now call the Sunset District in 1868, people already lived there. A part of the deal to get them off the land was that a certain portion of it would be set aside for parks, said local historian David Gallagher. That is how the 8.9-square-acre McCoppin Square, located at 24th Avenue and Taraval Street, came to be.
After a $3.8 million renovation, McCoppin Square was dedicated once again by city officials and local citizens on Oct. 22. It is the first project funded by the Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond to be completed. San Francisco voters passed the bond in 2008.
On an unusually hot, summer-like Saturday, about 100 people gathered next to the new playground for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which began with performances by the Abraham Lincoln High School band and drill team.
“What you see before you is a beautiful playground renovation, new sport court renovations, new field renovations, new pathways, new ADA accessibility, and a brand new restroom,” said Phil Ginsburg, general manager for the SF Recreation and Park Department. “And the best news of all is that this project came in over a million dollars under budget. This was another project done with great cooperation amongst our city agencies, so we’re really incredibly excited about it.”
District 4 Supervisor Carmen Chu, who represents the Sunset District, began her speech with some historical trivia.
“When they first opened McCoppin Square in the 1930s, they actually had a huge parade that came down Taraval Street, with drill corps, drum corps, marching bands, everything. And today it’s only fitting that we actually have Lincoln’s presentation here,” she said.
She noted that in the area of the square sitting across the street from the San Francisco Police Department’s Taraval Station, there is a garden memorializing police officer Bryan Tuvera, who was killed in the line of duty in December of 2006 while trying to arrest an escaped prisoner in the Sunset.
“We really wanted to make sure that we honor his memory and create a contemplative garden in that area so we can remember him always,” Chu said.
“We have today a beautiful opening. We have a newly-renovated library and a beautiful playground. But the hardest part of all this is really how are we going to maintain this playground and park over time? So, I really want to encourage you to get involved with the Friends of McCoppin,” Chu said.
Ginsburg said that 146 years ago Frank McCoppin became mayor at the age of 34 and is considered one of the founders of the city’s public park system.
“Under Frank McCoppin’s tenure the city and country of San Francisco purchased from the federal government an area in this City known as the ‘Outside Lands,’ which included Golden Gate Park. So, this is one of the reasons why this particular plot of land is called McCoppin Square,” Ginsburg said.
Supervisor Scott Wiener, who has been involved in a number of library and park renovations throughout the City, was also at the opening.
“When you look at what the library and Rec. and Park have been able to do in delivering these projects under budget, saving the taxpayer money and being able to make those capital investments to improve our community, it’s been pretty amazing,” Wiener said. “Spread the word on that so people understand how effective our parks department is.”
David Gallagher of the Western Neighborhoods Project noted the square’s history goes back much further than when it was named after McCoppin during its first dedication in 1935.
“This park is one of the oldest in the Sunset District. It was laid out and set aside for public use in 1868. That makes it the same age as Golden Gate Park,” Gallagher said.
Local residents Tyson Jue and Judy Riggle are starting a citizen’s support group called Friends of McCoppin Square. They are looking for volunteers.
“We really need your participation to make great stewards for this park and to have a clean and beautiful playground for us to play in and for the kids to really enjoy,” Jue said.
Kevin Martin, vice president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, talked about the memorial for officer Tuvera.
“We’re very, very happy to have a memorial plaque for Brian,” Martin said. “Although Brian, a young man when he was taken from us, was married, he never had any children. But it’s only fitting that there will be a memorial plaque dedicated to him just beyond where children will be able to play and grow for generations to come. So, on behalf of the police department and the San Francisco Police Officers Association, we’re very, very grateful to be a part of this project. Thank you.”

Beach Preservation Plan Released

By Thomas K. Pendergast

The future of Ocean Beach is beginning to take shape and the first glimpse of it came when the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research association (SPUR) made its recommendations for a new Ocean Beach Master Plan at an Oct. 29 community workshop.

The recommendations include rerouting the Great Highway around the east side of the San Francisco Zoo, avoiding a section of the beach starting at the end of Sloat Boulevard that’s been eroding severely over the last few years. Both that intersection and the intersection at Sloat and Skyline boulevards would be completely reconfigured and that section of that Great Highway would be reduced to one lane in each direction with another lane between them for a turning lane.

If this draft of the plan moves forward, the Muni L-Taraval light rail line would be extended to a new terminus at the San Francisco Zoo.

The Great Highway would also be reduced from four lanes down to two starting at Balboa Street and running all the way south to Sloat. With the two southbound lanes no longer being used, the open space would be used for public amenities, like bathrooms, etc.

Parking along the beach would be revamped, with small pockets of parking distributed at key access points and the Zoo.

“With the road absent in the area immediately in front of the Zoo … we then get the opportunity to withdraw from the existing bluff’s edge, the existing revetments and so forth, and incrementally demolish the roadway, restroom and parking at Sloat and really pursue a managed retreat strategy,” said Benjamin Grant, program manager at SPUR.

Grant explained that the process for coming up with a new Ocean Beach Master Plan, which started in January, is now nearing the end.

“We are actually coming toward the end of the process,” said Grant. “We will take your input from these draft recommendations and work to develop a draft document by the end of the calendar year. There will then be a period in which that’s open for comment by the public and by all affected stakeholders and agencies and so forth. We will be trying to finalize that by the end of February of next year.”

The Army Corps of Engineers regularly dredges a section of sand from a sand bar off the coast of the San Francisco Bay to keep a large ship channel open. The Corps is planning to use that dredged sand to create sand dunes in the heavily eroded area, essentially sacrificing those artificial dunes to the ocean forces and hopefully taking pressure off the cliffs and bluffs to help preserve them.

“The dredged sand from that ship channel represents one of the major opportunities in terms of managing sand at Ocean Beach because that sand can be placed directly on the beach,” Grant said. “There’s a process underway with the Army Corps of Engineers to permit that and figure out a way to deliver a lot of sand right on the beach.”

Another issue is the sewage and utility infrastructure south of Sloat that is being threatened by erosion. Grant said the most visible part of this system is a wastewater treatment plant with most of its infrastructure below ground.

There is the Lake Merced sewage tunnel, a 14-foot-diameter sewage and storm drain pipe running from north to south though the bluff at about the same level of the nearby beach that’s being eroded.

There are also two transport boxes that handle water overflow from storms about where Lincoln Way ends at the beach and another where Wawona Street ends.

“The reason that’s so important is that infrastructure is also immediately adjacent to the coast and hence very, very threatened by the erosion that’s taking place,” said Grant.

There are also two bird species listed by the federal government as threatened that use the beach around that area as a breeding ground, the snowy plover and the bank swallow. The former uses the dunes for nesting while the latter burrows into the bluffs near the southern end of the beach.

Alma DuSolier, a principal landscape designer with AECOM, a consulting company advising the planners, said a balance between all these issues and the public’s desires for using the beach needs to be struck and this in turn requires public input and dialogue.

There is also the challenge of coordinating this plan with several different, local, state and federal agencies, including the city’s Department of Water and Power, California Coastal Commission, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and National Park Service, which runs the publicly-accessed areas of Ocean Beach.

“This is why we have a combined system of outreach, so there’s public events like this workshop, this is the third one that we’ve had,” said DuSolier. “We have a steering committee that has representatives from all the different agencies. We have a PAC, which is a planning and advisory committee that provides a lot of input at the staff level, gets into the details and keeps us in check. We’ve had a lot of work sessions with them that are separate from these public meetings. We also have input that we collect through the SPUR website.”

Grant added that the PAC includes representatives from advocacy organizations and local community group leaders.

Although most of the Lake Merced sewer tunnel is drilled through the hard material of the cliffs and bluffs near Fort Funston, some of it is not and instead it is covered with sand and therefore is especially vulnerable to further erosion, especially when rising sea levels due to global warming are taken into account.

For this section, SPUR is recommending the sewer pipe be covered by a cobblestone berm, which in turn will be covered with more sand by the Army Corps of Engineers.

“We would use a revetment made of softball-sized stones,” Grant said. “It’s excellent at diffusing wave energy but it also can move and can take shape according to the natural process.”

Cost estimates for the alternative, moving the entire pipe, run up to $160 million.

Battle over rooftop cell phone antennae near school

by Paul Kozakiewicz

A fight has erupted between two Jewish organizations over the installation of cell phone antennae.

The Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy of San Francisco, located at 645 14th Ave., is an orthodox Jewish school with about 250 students, many of them immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union. It is located next to the Bureau of Jewish Education, a non-profit group that promotes Jewish education, promotes connections to Israel, and provides student scholarships.

The Bureau of Jewish Education wants to install six AT&T antennae on the roof of its building in fake chimneys to earn extra money and has applied to the SF Planning Commission for a Conditional Use Permit, which is scheduled to be heard Nov. 3.

When teachers, administrators, parents and students got wind of the plan, they organized to fight it.

According to Rabbi Pinchas Lipner, dean at the Hebrew Academy, two meetings with the leadership at the Bureau of Jewish Education failed to produce results. The Bureau claims the antennae are safe because scientists have been unable to make a solid link between electromagnetic radiation from cell phones and cancer or other health-related issues.

On Oct. 26 about 80 concerned people gathered at the Hebrew Academy to plot strategy.

“We’re up against tremendous forces,” Lipner told the crowd. “We have to tell them our lives are in danger.”

Numerous people volunteered to attend the Planning Commis­sion meeting to oppose the antennae and some said they would write letters, sign petitions and contact elected officials.

If the Planning Commission approves the permit, the group plans to take its appeal directly to the SF Board of Permit Appeals and/or the SF Board of Supervisors.

The Planning Commission was originally slated to hear the permit application at its Oct. 13 meeting, but that date was during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which lasts eight days and restricts the ability of Orthodox Jewish people to drive or ride in vehicles.

When Lipner complained about the timing of the hearing, AT&T rescheduled it for early November.

According to David Waksberg, an AT&T representative, there are already two antennae located on the Bureau of Jewish Education and he did not anticipate any problems adding six more.

Lipner said he did not know there were already antennae on the roof of the building or whether or not he will pursue the removal of them. Because the agreement between the Bureau of Jewish Education and AT&T is private, it is unknown what the two parties have agreed to.

Golden Gate Park bicycle lanes get unanimous OK

by Ed Moy

The SF Recreation and Park Commission voted unanimously in October to approve the John F. Kennedy Drive Separated Bikeways project for implementation in January 2012.

The Bikeways Project is a joint effort of SFMTA in conjunction with the SF Recreation and Park Department to install cycle lanes on John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park, which would provide a new bikeway separated from moving vehicles.

The project also received approval from the San Francisco Concourse Authority in early October after two community workshops to discuss the design concepts for the new cycle tracks.

According to SFMTA, the goal of the project is to make John F. Kennedy Drive accessible to all users, including pedestrians and cyclists of all abilities, and to support the SF Board of Supervisors’ 2010 resolution to have a goal of 20 percent of trips in San Francisco by bicycle by 2020.

By creating a bikeway that is physically separated from parked and moving vehicles, the project addresses the need for bicycle lanes and creating a buffer between cyclists who are not comfortable riding with cars next to them.

SFMTA also notes that in addition to increasing the comfort level for cyclists, separated bikeways reduce the incidence of having vehicles stopped in the bike lane or having parked cars open their doors into the bike lane.

Paul Rose, SFMTA spokesperson, stated that the project will cost about $425,000, including $40,000 from air quality grants. He said the final design has not been finalized.

“While the project received final approval from the Rec. and Park Commission, the work is not done,” stated Rose. “We are continuing to work with pedestrian safety and disabled advocates (including the Mayor’s Disability Council) to make minor design changes and to collaborate on an education/outreach process to help ensure safety following implementation.”

Some disabled activists testified at the Planning Commission meeting that the current design is unsafe because vehicles with ramps would have to encroach into the buffer zone and possibly into the cycle track to drop off or pick up disabled people.

“I oppose this plan as proposed,” said Bob Planthold, an activist for the disabled community.

Rose also pointed out that although the original estimates in the bicycle plan indicated that about 150 parking spaces would be eliminated, according to estimates in the current plan, there would be a net loss of about 80 parking spaces.

Additional details on the project can be found on the website at http://www.sfmta.com.