Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on September 28, 2026, to consider seven agenda items. Chair Mirna Melgar presided, joined by Vice Chair Cheyenne Chen and Member Matt Dorsey. All items received positive recommendations to the full Board of Supervisors, with the mezzanine code item continued for amendments.
All items are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda on October 6, 2026, unless otherwise noted.
Good afternoon, everyone. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the September 28, 2026 regular meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I am Supervisor Mirna Melgar, Chair of the Committee joined by Vice Chair, Supervisor Cheyenne Chen and Supervisor Matt Dorsey. The committee clerk today is John Carroll. I would also like to uh acknowledge uh Suze Enos uh from SFGup TV for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Please ensure that you've silenced your cell phones and other electronic devices you've brought with you into the chamber today. If you have any documents to be included as part of any of today's files, you can submit those documents directly to me. Public comment will be taken on each item on today's agenda. When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, please line up to speak along your right-hand side of this room. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. First, you may email your comments to me at J-O-H-N, period C-A-R-R-O-L-L at SFGOV.org. Or you may send your written comments to uh via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall. The clerk's office is room 244 and City Hall's address is one Dr. Carlton B. Goodlick Place, San Francisco, California, 94102. If you submit public comment in writing, I will forward your comments to the members of this committee and also include your comments as part of the official file on which you are commenting. Items on today's agenda are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of October 6th, 2026, unless otherwise stated. Thank you so much. Mr. Clerk, uh, please call item number one. Agenda item number one is a resolution authorizing the director of public works to approve the installation of a commemorative street plaque to honor the legacy of Mark Bittner, a San Francisco icon, remembered for championing the wild paragraph uh parrots of Telegraph Hill, provided that the installation shall be approved following the Arts Commission's approval of the commemorative street plaque design and the director's review of all corresponding permit application materials, and the commemorative street plaque shall be installed on the public works retaining wall that is part of the Greenwich Street stairway adjacent to 241 Greenwich. This item is on our agenda as a potential committee report, and it may be sent for consideration by the Board of Supervisors tomorrow, September 29th, 2026. Thank you. Uh colleagues, this is a special item. Um Mark Bittner uh was a local treasurer, uh, who is best remembered for his love and dedication to the parrots of Telegraph Hill. He was a writer, musician, friend, brother, and community builder and a lover of nature. Um we lost Mark earlier this year, as you may remember. His loved ones are commemorating him through a plaque that will be placed on the wall next to the Greenwich Street stairway, close to his longtime home at 241 Greenwich, uh, where he wrote his memoir, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, and where the documentary by Judy Irving featuring him was also filmed. Um I got to know Mark through uh the naming process or the process of uh deciding that the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill would be our official animal in San Francisco, uh the contest that we held uh on the chronicle where people voted, the heated uh conversations and camaraderie with my colleagues in all pushing for a different animal where the wild parrots finally won out. Um, you know, I I will say that it is uh some of the best things about San Francisco that we um support these wild critters who are um from somewhere else, uh very gay and colored and um you know have made this uh foggy climate their home being tropical birds. Um Mark saw how beautiful they were and dedicated his life to supporting them and you know helping them thrive. The public works department is uh fully in support of this plaque. I can think of no better way to share the remarkable story of Mark and everything he represented, who reminded everyone around him to live with a sense of wonder, both in our city and in the natural world. Um in 2023, uh Mark was so thrilled when the parrots were chosen as the official animal of San Francisco. Um I want to read a short message from Judy Irving, who could not be here today, but is leading the effort on the commemorative plaque. As the official animal of San Francisco, the wild parrots share many qualities with the city's human inhabitant. They're feisty, colorful, and argumentative. Most of us are immigrants. Mark Bittner paid such a close attention to the wild parrot flock that they became world famous. And this plaque honors his memory. She's grateful for the support from the board.