Robert Fruchtman

We can only assume Divisadero St must now be affordable, so the organization decided to disband after that

I just realized why it doesn't come in search results: I got the name wrong. It was Affordable Divisadero, sorry about that. I had to look it up myself. They no longer have an Internet presence.

It is (was?) a totally real neighborhood group co-founded by Dean Preston to fight several proposed housing projects circa 2015-2016, just in time for him to run for D5 supervisor.

Has anyone heard from Livable Divisadero recently?

"You shouldn't need a special handshake deal with Aaron Peskin to open up a business in North Beach"

- My man @ira.bsky.social giving 🔥🔥 public comment just now in support of @dannysauter.bsky.social legislative package to eliminate layers and layers of corruption from our planning code

Supervisor Fielder points to a letter in support of the project from Mission District community organizing. She makes a motion to deny the appeal. Supervisor Melgar seconds the motion.

The motion passes unanimously. La Maravilla survives the appeal. The hearing is now over. Thanks for reading.

Fielder says that the City eviscerated budgets for public safety outside downtown. 16th and Mission has been deprived of public safety resources, including community ambassadors.

Fielder notes that Zurich, when faced with similar issues, turned to a balanced strategy that included harm reduction. They are now one of the safest cities in the world. However, SF only relies on enforcement, including the displacement of unhoused people.

Fielder holds SFPD accountable for the lack of public safety. The police and sheriff were allocated hundreds of millions of money. That money could go to case workers who could otherwise be in front of PSHs.

Fielder says that it's not okay that children feel afraid to walk to Marshall Elementary. She took the mayor on a walk down 16th St regarding his fentanyl emergency declaration.

Supervisor Fielder says she has a lot to say. She was at a town hall years ago, presided over then-Planning Commissioner Melgar. This hearing is not over the housing project, but rather over a parcel map permit. The appeal deals with planning issues.

Supervisor Walton says issues related to permanent supportive housing can be mitigated. The concerns are very real, but we can't keep people living on the streets because of addiction. We need strategies to mitigate issues, but this is important housing from a policy perspective.

Supervisor Melgar says that there has been a decade of community organizing to bring affordable housing at 16th and Mission. Housing is part of the solution to drug use and homelessness.

Supervisor Melgar says she will support the project, but she wants to address some of the philosophical aspects. She has worked with SRO occupants in the past providing support to drug users. And those buildings are private without services. This project has not brought drug use to the neighborhood.

Dorsey says he is troubled that people are being shamed as privileged or NIMBYs when he doesn't think that's true. However, the appellants' arguments were based on issues unrelated to the tentative parcel map permit.

Supervisor Dorsey says that PSH sites are among the sites that are subject to the most 911 calls. However, City departments say they don't have enough funding to provide security. Instead, the police department showed up 2x a day, which is very expensive.

Supervisor Dorsey is up first. He says everyone supports affordable housing, but permanent supportive housing has problems that the Board needs to dig into. He reads from a PSH document which states that it doesn't evict due to drug use.

Salomon's time is up. President Mandelman gavels the appeal as being filed, and now the Board will discuss.

Salomon says that the BOS has rigged public comment in support of the project, and that approving this project would tell Mission District kids that they are second class citizens. He further claims that project proponents are NIMBYs and that the opponents are the YIMBYs.

Public comment is now closed. The appellants get three minutes for rebuttal. Marc Salomon is speaking for the appellants. He says that white YIMBYs are projecting their prejudices and says that Laura Foote's comments about the Board having the votes violate ex parte rules.

Public comment in support of the project is still ongoing. There are many more speakers supporting the project than opposing it.

Public comment is now starting in support of the project.

Supervisor Walton says that the community has been fighting for affordable housing at this site for decades. He says it's a beautiful thing to acquire a site for 100% affordable housing and that we need more permanent supportive housing.

Sam Moss says Mission Housing and MEDA want to house homeless people. They will do everything possible to make the surrounding conditions better.

Mandelman says that when he looks at 16th and Mission as a priority area for City cleanup, and the area is promised to not get worse, and often it does.

Mandelman says he thinks there's a concern among people who live in neighborhoods like the Mission that the City often promises that projects like this will make the City better, and often they don't.

President Mandelman says this should be an easy appeal, except Sam Moss said this is about privilege. There will be different buildings with different funding sources serving different populations.

After a presentation by the MEDA partner (I was trying to find her name, sorry), Supervisor Melgar asks Moss to confirm that the subdivision is needed because there will be different buildings serving different populations.

Moss asks what the Board of Supervisors is doing to prevent projects like this from being delayed again. It's not acceptable to hide behind cries of neighborhood character when people are sleeping on the streets.

Sam Moss is back to present in support of the project as a project sponsor. He says that housing is a human right, and affordable housing is a cure to a dire project. He calls the appeal the weaponization of process and a backdoor attempt to derail affordable housing.