Good good morning.

This meeting will come to order.

Welcome to the April 6, 2023 regular meeting of the government audit and oversight committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

I'm Supervisor Dean Preston, Chair of the Committee, joined by Vice Chair Catherine Stephanie and Supervisor Connie Chan.

Committee clerk today is Stephanie Cabrera, and our thanks to the team at SFGov TV for staffing this meeting.

Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements?

Yes, thank you.

The Board of Supervisors and its committees are convening hybrid meetings that allow in-person attendance and public comment while still providing remote access and public comment via telephone.

The board recognizes that equitable public access is essential and will be taking public comment as follows.

First, public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda.

Those attending in person will be allowed to speak first, then we'll take those who are waiting on the telephone line.

For those watching either channel 26, 28, 78, or 99 and SFGov TV, the public comment call in number is streaming across the screen.

The number is 415 655 0001.

Again, 415 655 0001.

Then enter the meeting ID 2494 845 7799 and press pound twice.

When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only.

When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, those joining us in person should line up to speak, and those on the telephone should dial star three to be added to the speaker queue.

If you are on your telephone, please remember to turn down your TV and all listening devices that you may be using as already indicated.

We will take public comment from those attending in person first, then we will go to public comment on the telephone line.

Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in one of the two ways.

Email them to me, the government audit and oversight clerk at Stephanie S T E P H A N I E Gavrera, C as in California, A, BS and Bay, R E R A at SFgov.org.

If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and included as part of the official file.

You may also send a written comments via U.S.

Postal Service to our office in City Hall at 1 Dr.

Carlton B.

Goodlit Place, room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102.

Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of April 18th, unless otherwise stated.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Please call item one.

Item number one is a hearing on the status of opening a neighborhood serving grocery store at 555 Fulton Street and to get updates from site developer ZNL Properties and Trader Joe's and requesting the planning department and Office of Economic and Workforce Development to report.

Members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 415-655-0001.

When prompted, enter meeting ID 2494 845 7799, then press pound twice.

If you haven't done so already, please dial star three to be added to the speaker queue.

The system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand.

Please wait for the system to indicate that you have been unmuted, and you may begin your comments when we go to public comment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Um and colleagues, today I'm pleased to announce a significant step forward in the effort to deliver a neighborhood-serving grocery store at 555 Fulton Street in Hayes Valley.

Uh a promise more than a decade uh in the making.

At the request of my office uh yesterday afternoon, the current owner of the property, Z L properties, uh announced that they are uh in contract to sell the property to a new buyer uh who is reportedly eager to prepare the space for um Trader Joe's to open a neighborhood serving uh grocery store.

This is a uh important development, an important milestone in a process uh many years in the making.

And in lieu of uh having the hearing uh until yesterday we had intended to have, in which we would have had uh heard from all the parties uh from the planning department and others uh in the city about all these efforts.

Um I I will ask your indulgence uh for uh to permit to lay out a little bit of the backstory uh for for the public to help us understand where we are uh today, uh, and then I will be uh moving to uh to continue the item to the call of the chair uh after I make some remarks.

So um the background here is on uh April 22nd uh 2008, nearly 15 years ago.

And this came after years of Hayes Valley and Western Edition neighbors advocating uh for better food access in this part of uh district five.

The intervening decade and a half has been uh a saga to say the least and in the interest of time, I won't go through the whole timeline, but I I I will briefly state the site was purchased by Z L properties in uh 2015 and developed into 139 residential units with a uh 16,686 square foot uh ground floor retailed space.

And there was series of frustrating starts and stops in getting a neighborhood serving uh grocery uh into the ground floor, which stretched all the way to July of 2021 when the planning commission conditionally authorized Trader Joe's to operate in the retail space.

Um it appeared at that time in 2021 uh that at long last uh neighborhood was getting its uh long-sought grocery store, and that while time was needed for alterations, at the time we were told to expect an opening date of late uh 2022 or early 2023.

Um yet as we greeted the new year here in 2023, uh, to our dismay uh and to the dismay of many in the neighborhood, there had been no significant progress in the effort uh to get the Trader Joe's uh opening in that space.

Um in response uh to what appeared to be uh uh a just lack of action and road to nowhere on February 14th this year, um I called for this hearing that is before us today with an eye toward offering all sides a chance to inform the public about their perspective of progress to date, uh what the barriers were to opening, um, and also hearing from our uh departments uh including planning OEWD uh about their their efforts.

Um over the past few weeks, our office has met with representatives both from uh ZNL, the owner, and from Trader Joe's.

And in the course of our meetings, which I think were productive, uh ZNL has shared the information with us about the status of the property.

Um, and yesterday afternoon, ZNL provided a public statement confirming uh the following that ZNL is in contract to sell 555 Fulton Street uh to a buyer that is eager to take the necessary steps to bring in the Trader Joe's.

So this is a very significant development in the effort.

Uh it's welcome news uh as we understood that the barrier to Trader Joe's moving into the space uh was that uh ZNL was not making the agreed upon tenant improvements that were the basis for uh Trader Joe's to be able to move in and open the grocery store.

Um the the potential buyer did not want to make a public statement or identify themselves at this time uh until the deal is closed.

They're doing their due diligence, but our office has communicated directly with them and independently confirmed the facts as stated by ZNL, and that the property is in fact in contract with the buyer and that the buyer is eager to move forward uh with a neighborhood grocery uh as part of uh the commitment in that transaction.

Uh potential buyer asked their identity not be revealed until the deal closes, as I mentioned, and we're respecting that.

Um Trader Joe's has also confirmed in a statement to our office yesterday, they remain eager to open a neighborhood grocery store.