SF Board of Supervisors meet TODAY at 3:00pm
“NO VALENCIA ON MISSION STREET!”
See info below BoS contact info.
Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board
Email: Board.of.Supervisors@sfgov.org
Connie Chan, District 1
Email: ChanStaff@sfgov.org
Rafael Mandelman, District 8
Email: MandelmanStaff@sfgov.org
Myrna Melgar, District 7
Email: MelgarStaff@sfgov.org
Dean Preston, District 5
Email: Dean.Preston@sfgov.org
Ahsha Safai, District 11
Email: Ahsha.Safai@sfgov.org
Shamann Walton, District 10
Email: Shamann.Walton@sfgov.org
Matt Haney, District 6
Email: Matt.Haney@sfgov.org
Gordon Mar, District 4
Email: Gordon.Mar@sfgov.org
Aaron Peskin, District 3
Email: Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org
Hillary Ronen, District 9
Email: Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org
Catherine Stefani, District 2
Email: Catherine.Stefani@sfgov.org
“NO VALENCIA ON MISSION STREET!”
June 8, 2020 3PM
Protect Our Legacy Businesses in the North Mission!!!
On June 8th, at 3 PM, join the battle to protect our community-serving businesses in the North Mission by telling our Supervisors that an upscale tech cafe proposal like 1801 Mission Street is not a right fit for that area!
We are not opposed to new businesses trying to open up in the neighborhood — we are opposed to new projects that take business from long standing establishments and cater to a wealthier gentrifying clientele. It is also unacceptable that the city skipped the required steps to evaluate the proposal.
The 1801 Mission site is a space zoned for retail that is seeking to convert to an internationally famous tech meeting hub in an area where there are already established immigrant-owned and operated cafes – one almost next door. The site is also in the middle of the American Indian Cultural District, which was never contacted by either the Planning Department or the project sponsor.
Small businesses in the Mission corridor are still struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic. Approval of the 1801 Mission Street proposal will put legacy neighborhood cafes that serve our working-class community in further financial jeopardy by making them compete with a famed tech hub cafe, and will put upward price pressure on their rent.
Please protect these small immigrant businesses in their time of need by joining us to demand that our elected officials reject the conversion of the retail site at 1801 Mission to a high-end techie cafe.
We will be updating you with additional background on this proposal and the hearing as we get closer to the date.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89491723924?pwd=VFZwejNaR2tPMXI5OEU4dmVBWHlmQT09
Below are the call-in instructions and talking points for public comment:
Call in Instructions:
Public comment call-in: 415-655-0001
Access code: 187 211 6388
when you call in, you will hear prompts about entering the queue – so listen carefully!!
Public Comment Instructions
Phone Number: 415-655-0001 Access Code: 187 211 6388
1. Enter access code then press #. If prompted for an Attendee ID, just press #.
2. When the Supervisor/ Hearing Secretary calls Public Comment, press *3 to raise your hand.
3. When you hear the prompt, “Your line is unmuted” – THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT.
The background points below include suggested comments which you can use one or two of in your testimony. But feel free to use your own words since the most important thing Supervisors need to hear is your personal statement of why you feel existing neighborhood legacy businesses must be preserved and why the proposed site at 1801 Mission Street will harm them.
You will likely only have 2 minutes to speak.
Greetings Supervisors,
My name is _________ and I am with the (insert org name here).
I am calling in to ask the Supervisors to accept the appeal by rejecting the conversion of the 1801 Mission site to convert their retail space to a high-end cafe.
· I am not opposed to new businesses trying to open up in the neighborhood; but I am opposed to new projects that take business from already existing establishments and cater to a wealthier clientele, especially without the city having even done a proper environmental evaluation of the proposal.
· The illusion of the Creamery being a humble cafe is ludicrous. The Creamery prides itself as a gathering place for tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to converse and execute lucrative deals over cups of coffee. The owner brags about this.
· I want businesses who come into our community that fit the needs of working class residents and enhance the unique cultural heritage of our neighborhood. There are plenty of needed retail uses for this space that can benefit the community – not a new cafe.
· Small businesses in the corridor have struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic. Approval of the 1801 Mission Street proposal will put legacy neighborhood cafes in further financial jeopardy to compete for customers and put upward price pressure on their commercial leases.
· Our community is in solidarity with our legacy small businesses during these hard economic times because they are an integral piece of the Mission’s social fabric. They have always been here to provide us affordable food and services, and especially during this pandemic.
· This project is in the heart of the American Indian Cultural District, who were not notified about the project, nor were the potential CEQA impacts on the District studied — it wasn’t even mentioned in the City’s Case Report.
· Approval of the Creamery opening up on 1801 Mission St will be the tipping point of gentrification in the North Mission and hasten displacement of businesses in the neighborhood.
· Courts have ruled that these well-resourced businesses negatively impacting existing small businesses are CEQA (environmental) impacts that need to be studied – and the City of Bakersfieldcase ruled against the new business, referring to their potential impacts as a “gentrification bomb.”
I ask the Board of Supervisors to deny the 1801 Mission Street project CEQA exemption and have it sent back to the Planning Department for a proper environmental study. Thank you for considering my concerns.
