San Francisco Land Use and Transportation Committee Regular Meeting - January 8, 2024
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San Francisco Land Use and Transportation Committee Regular Meeting - January 8, 2024
The Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors held a regular meeting on Monday, January 8, 2024, at 9:45 AM. Chair Myrna Melgar presided, joined by Board President Aaron Peskin and Vice Chair Dean Preston. The committee considered four items: a conditional land exchange on Edgehill Mountain, landmark designation for Westwood Park entrance gateways, supplemental inspection requirements for tall buildings, and fire code amendments for lithium-ion batteries in mobility devices.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 2 (Westwood Park Landmark): Kathleen Badicks, a 40-year resident, spoke in strong support of the designation, noting broad neighborhood support and the desire to preserve the pillars.
- Item 4 (Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Code):
- Cyrus Hall, sustainable transportation advocate, supported the ordinance but urged alignment with California SB 712 (1 device per resident), a path for owners of non-compliant devices, and careful treatment of commercial maintenance/sales.
- Claire Mobley, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition advocacy director, thanked President Peskin, proposed amendments reducing spacing from 3 feet to 12 inches for certified devices, removing limits on UL-certified devices in R2 occupancy, and having the Department of Environment lead the public awareness campaign.
- Cash, owner of Warren Planet Bikes, raised engineering concerns: the 3-foot spacing requirement is unrealistic (bikes fit on 10-12 inch centers), and extension cord use is unrelated to battery fires if properly rated; he also requested to submit written comments.
Discussion Items
- Item 1 - Conditional Property Exchange (Edgehill Mountain): Chair Melgar detailed a proposal to exchange five developable lots on unstable Franciscan chert on Edgehill Mountain (prone to landslides—major slides in 1952, 1967, 1982, 1995, 1997) for city-owned paper streets near Moraga and Noriega Avenues, rezoned for higher density housing. The city worked for three years with the community group CARES and HCD (state housing department) to structure the swap. A geologist (George Berwasser) testified that excavation destabilizes the rock, and a resident (Anne Way) described safety risks on narrow Kensington Way, used as a direct route for emergency vehicles. President Peskin clarified that conditions precedent include rezoning and street vacations at the developer's cost; the exchange is likely a year or more out. No public comment was offered.
- Item 2 - Landmark Designation - Westwood Park Entrance Gateways and Pillars: The ordinance designates three sets of gateway pillars built in 1916, designed by architect Louis Christian Mulgardt, as historic landmarks. The Historic Preservation Commission unanimously recommended designation. Supervisor Preston expressed concern about the history of racially restrictive covenants in Westwood Park (legally binding until removal in 1992), arguing the gateway symbolized exclusion. Chair Melgar countered that the neighborhood is now diverse (e.g., 30% Chinese) and that current residents should own their history while preserving character. The item was sent to the full board without committee recommendation.
- Item 3 - Existing Building Code - Supplemental Inspections for Tall Buildings: President Peskin introduced legislation mandating visual inspections every five years for buildings over 15 stories, focusing on windows and exterior glass to prevent failures like those during the March 2023 windstorm (over a dozen failures, including at Fox Plaza). The Building Inspection Commission and a WJE report supported the approach. No public comment was received.
- Item 4 - Fire Code - Lithium-Ion Batteries in Powered Mobility Devices: President Peskin and Fire Marshal Ken Coughlin detailed amendments to address fires from e-bikes, scooters, etc. Fire incidents rose from 12 (first year) to 58 (most recent year); San Francisco had one death versus over a dozen in New York. Key amendments exempt single/two-family homes from stringent storage rules if devices meet safety standards, allow up to four devices per dwelling in multifamily buildings (up from three), define battery cabinets, and require separation for repair areas. Public comment raised concerns about alignment with state law, spacing, and non-compliant devices. Supervisor Preston noted a fatal fire in his district possibly involving a scooter battery. The committee voted to amend and continue the item to January 29, 2024.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Approved unanimously (3-0: Melgar, Preston, Peskin) with a positive recommendation to the full Board.
- Item 2: Approved (3-0) to send to the full Board without committee recommendation.
- Item 3: Approved unanimously (3-0) with non-substantive amendments and a positive recommendation.
- Item 4: Approved unanimously (3-0) to adopt amendments and continue the item to the January 29, 2024 committee meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the January 8th, 2024 regular meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Happy New Year, everyone. I'm Supervisor Mierna Melgar, Chair of the Committee, joined by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Paskin and Vice Chair Supervisor Dean Preston. The committee clerk today is John Carroll. Thank you, Mr. Carroll. And I would also like to acknowledge Matthew Now from SFGup TV for staffing this meeting today. Mr. Clerk, do we have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Please ensure that you silenced your cell phones and other electronic devices that you've brought with you into the committee room today. If you have any documents to include as part of the files upon which you comment, you should just submit them to me over the rail here up front of the meeting. Public comment would take on each item on this agenda when your item of interest comes up and public comment is called. Please line up to speak along your right hand side of the room. Alternatively, you may submit public comment and writing in either of the following ways. First, you may email your comments to me. I'm the land use and transportation committee clerk, and my email address is J-O-H-N, period C A R R O L L at SFGOV.org. Or you may send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall. The address is one Dr. Carlton B. Goodlick Place, room 244, San Francisco, California 94102. If you submit public comment in writing, I will forward your comment to the members of this committee, and I will include your comments within the file upon which you are commenting. And then items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of January 22nd, 2024, unless otherwise stated. Thank you, Mr. Carroll. Please call item number one. Agenda item number one is a resolution authorizing an agreement for the conditional exchange of vacant land located on Edge Hill Mountain for city's property on paper street areas near Moraga Avenue and Noriega Avenue. Finding that the exchange agreement is a conditional land acquisition under CEQA guidelines to be exempt surplus land under California Government Code Section 54221 F1C and authorizing the director of property to execute documents, make certain modifications, and take certain actions in furtherance of the exchange agreement that do not materially increase the obligations or liabilities of the city. Madam Chair. Thank you so much, Mr. Carroll. We have on Edge Hill Mountain. It is not active recreation, it is a wilderness area. We have owls and hawks and squirrels and all sorts of critters who live on Edge Hill Mountain. It is made of something called Franciscan chart, which is a very friable rock that is prone to landslides and has in fact slid down many times during the history of San Francisco. So there are five developable lots, lots that we have said you know can be developed on that are dangerous to develop on because we know that every time someone's messed with that rock, it slides down, and there are many people living downhill from this mountain. So we have been uh negotiating a swap uh of this land so that we can preserve it and add it to the open space that the city already owns there on that hill. Um, and also allow the folks who owned the land to develop um housing elsewhere uh in district seven within uh you know a short distance. So uh for the past three years, I've been working with a community with a group called CARES, Community Action to Rescue Edge Hill, um, and several uh of the neighbors in the Greater West Portal area to come up with an agreement that will work with uh the city and also with them that will make folks whole, that will allow us to develop the housing that we need and at the same time not put people at risk for uh a landslide of a mountain that we know is unstable and has shown to be unstable for decades. And so uh we have uh uh the Andriko Pennick here from the Department of Real Estate if folks have any questions. Um and also we have been working with the city attorney for the past three years. Now I just have to say that the process that we undertook uh changed over the past three years uh from when the time when we started working on it because housing law in um California has changed dramatically. So we had to go to the California department um of housing to get permission to before we even introduced this legislation that's before you today, and got their permission to do so uh because we will be developing uh housing elsewhere. Uh we're not just preserving this for not you know for not developing housing. So um that is what's before you today. I do have several members of the public who are gonna testify. Uh we have Anne Way, who has been uh spearheading the campaign through CARES, uh, and Elizabeth Meyer, who's the president of CARES, uh, as well as George uh Berwasser, who is a geologist that we've been working with for many years uh to support the effort.
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