The MARCH FOR MISSION STREET has been POSTPONED until Jan. 25th.
Please see the statement from our partners at United to Save the Mission Below.
COMMUNITY STATEMENT:
In this time of mourning and loss for our City — and in honor of Mayor Lee and out of respect for his family — we have collectively decided to postpone the Dec 14th march.
We are jointly requesting that the San Francisco Planning Commission join us in this gesture of respect by postponing all scheduled hearings of that day. If these hearings are not rescheduled, we will be compelled to testify on behalf of our community, as we do many weeks, at this Thursday’s Planning Commission hearing in opposition to the luxury project proposed for 793 S. Van Ness Ave., as we are aware that developers will not pause the pushing of their luxury projects that are causing displacement of our Mission community. You are invited to join us as we make our voices heard. Please meet us at City Hall, outside Room 400, at 1:30 p.m.
TAKE ACTION: send an email today
Demand the Planning Commission deny approval to the Monster. Please send an email explaining your opposition the Monster to these addresses:
- richhillissf@yahoo.com,
- dennis.richards@sfgov.org,
- planning@rodneyfong.com,
- christine.d.johnson@sfgov.org,
- joel.koppel@sfgov.org,
- myrna.melgar@sfgov.org,
- kathrin.moore@sfgov.org,
- Commissions.Secretary@sfgov.org
CC:
- Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org,
- amy.beinart@sfgov.org,
- john.rahaim@sfgov.org,
- richard.sucre@sfgov.org,
- debra.dwyer@sfgov.org,
- maria@plaza16.org
SAMPLE EMAIL:
It’s always great if you can explain in your own words why you oppose the project but if you need it, here’s is a sample letter you can copy & paste or adapt.
THANK YOU!
City officials need to hear from everyone in the community who opposes the Monster. Thank you, and help spread the word!
Dear President Hillis and Planning Commissioners,
I am writing to express our strong opposition to the project proposed for 1979 Mission Street by Maximus Real Estate Partners, known widely as the “Monster in the Mission.” As you know, the Mission District is facing a dire crisis of community and cultural displacement. To address this crisis, we must prioritize deeply affordable housing at this site, not a project of mostly luxury-priced housing that will further accelerate gentrification and the displacement of the existing residents, SRO hotels, mom and pop businesses, nonprofit organizations, arts and cultural spaces, PDR spaces etc. We urge you to recognize the urgent crisis facing the neighborhood, acknowledge the impact of the current massive and unsustainable imbalance of market-rate vs. affordable development in the neighborhood, and reject this project outright.
Furthermore, the Maximus project would have a significant negative impact on the Marshall Elementary School community. Not only would none of the housing in the project be affordable to the majority of families and employees at this Spanish immersion school, the project would also cast a shadow over the school’s playground for most of the school day. For many students this playground is their primary outdoor recreational space. The developer’s proposal to raise the playground would not sufficiently mitigate the shadow impact. We stand with the many Marshall community members who oppose this project due to its unaffordability and student-harming shadow impacts.
With the overwhelming influx of market-rate development across the Mission, we must prioritize affordable housing at all remaining building sites. Yet as 16th and Mission is one of the City’s busiest public transportation hubs, affordable housing there is even more essential. Recent research confirms that low income households use public transit at much higher rates than higher income households that drive and/or use car shares at much higher rates. Therefore, building deeply affordable versus market-rate housing at 16th and Mission would benefit the environment and our city with reduced greenhouse emissions and less street congestion.
The Maximus project would exacerbate the Mission’s displacement crisis, would cast both a metaphorical and literal shadow of the Marshall School community, and would likely result in both increased pollution and traffic. Instead of the Monster, our organization supports a plan for the site such as the “Marvel,” the community serving project envisioned and created with input from over 300 community members via a grassroots year-long process anchored by the Plaza 16 Coalition. We strongly urge you to fulfil your sacred duty as city planners and use your significant power to reject an unaffordable, community-harming Monster in the Mission and instead advocate for an affordable, community-serving Marvel.
Sincerely,
Benny Yee