Environmental Review Under Way

The following letter was sent recently by the San Francisco Planning Department:

NOTIFICATION OF PROJECT RECEIVING ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

Date:	June 25, 2010
Case No:	2009.0342E
Project: Address:	2516 Mission Street/Medjool Sky Terrace
Zoning:	Mission St Neighborhood Commercial Transit (Mission NCT) Use District 55-X/65-B Height and Bulk District
Block/Lot:	3616/061
Lot Size:	6,760 square feet
Staff Contact:	Sarah Jones, (415) 575-9034, sara.b.jones (at) sfgov.org

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The proposed project is authorization of use of the building's roof deck as accessory space to the Medjool restaurant and lounge. Approved uses in the building include 8,000 square feet of restaurant/bar use on the ground floor and mezzanine levels and 33 guest rooms, comprising the Elements hotel, in the second and third floors. The project sponsor is requesting authorization to use the buildings roof area as follows: 3,414 square feet for dining/outdoor cooking/bar use and 320 square feet for required open space serving the hotel guests. The project would include construction of laminated glass sound attenuation screens in locations that are currently unscreened on the northern and southern sides of the proposed dining area, as well as infill of existing openings on lower floors of the building with sound attenuating glass.

PURPOSE OF NOTICE

The project is being studied by the Planning Department's Major Environmental Analysis section to determine its potential environmental effects. No environmental documents have been issued for this project. Public comments concerning the potential environmental effects of this projects are welcomed. In order for your concerns to be fully considered or ensure your receipt of future environmental review documents for this project, please contact the staff identified above by July 13, 2010. This notice is routinely sent to community organizations, tenants of the affected property and properties adjacent to the project site, and those persons who own property within 300 feet of the project site. Anyone receiving this notice is encouraged to pass on this information to others who may have an interest in the project.

Environmental review provides information on physical environmental effects and does not make recommendations on the project itself. Other review or approval actions may be required for the project. These actions may involved further public notification and public hearings. If you have comments on the proposed project that pertain to matters other than physical environmental effects, please note the file number and call Ben Fu at 558-6613.

Planning Dept Now Reviewing Medjool's Rooftop Noise Impact on Neighbors

Medjool's rooftop restaurant and bar is now being actively reviewed by the city's planners to determine its impact on the neighborhood. The planners are being very thorough in trying to understand our community issues and we appreciate their efforts. (Sarah Jones at 415-515-9034 or Ben Fu at 415-558-6613). The project will likely come in front of the Planning Commission at a public hearing on a Thursday afternoon in late June or July.

Please show your support for the SFBC and Medjool's other residential neighbors by attending the hearing. We will provide more information here when we have it. If you live in a 300 foot radius of Medjool, watch your mail for notices from the Planning Department. They will be sending a postcard to let neighbors know that the environmental review is under way. This means they'll be looking at noise and other community impacts. Ten days before the public hearing date is scheduled, they will send another notice. Once the mailers have gone out we will post here, so check back regulary (or follow this blog to stay updated -- just click the Follow button on the right.)

REQUESTED ACTION: SAVE THE DATES!

Why? See the news from the February 10 Board of Appeals hearing below.

Planning Commission hearing in April or May
Block out several hours on Thursdays in April and May starting at 1:30, to be ready when the Medjool case is heard at the Planning Commission. We need to be prepared to offer the impacted neighbors' point of view on whether conditions in the conditional use permit adequately address noise impacts on neighbors. Follow this blog to stay updated (just click the Follow button on the right.)

Board of Supervisors meeting in July or August if an appeal is necessary:
Block out Tuesdays at 2:00pm (several hours if you can).

Other ways to help:
As our Feb 5 blog post below states, we have been touched by the 350 people who signed our petition or wrote letters in favor of the City requiring Medjool's rooftop to address community impacts. Click here to read some excerpts from letters of support. If you haven't already, please sign our petition, or help us secure neutral legal advice for the concerned neighbors' point of view by making a donation (specify 'noise impact fund'.) Thank you and we hope we can count on your continued support as we work to coexist with Medjool.

Excerpt from Feb. 10, 2010 Board of Appeals Hearing Concluding Deliberation

President Fung: Commissioners: I would move that we continue this … with strong recommendations to the appellant that it would be prudent for him to not have music on the roof, and to make sure that his clients that come there respect the level of partying they do on the roof.

Commissioner Mandelman: … I think what is so upsetting to me about this case is the prolonged operation of an establishment that is having impacts on neighbors where those neighbors have no forum in which to have those concerns heard. The notice of violation was correct, I think. This is exactly the kind of thing that could have had a conditional use permit and there should have been conditions on it and a sound wall or whatever. And the Buddhists and the residential neighbors should have had opportunity to have their hearing at the Planning Commission.

Latest Board of Appeals Hearing Update (Feb 10)

Background: Medjool has been running a large, open air rooftop restaurant and bar (the “Sky Terrace”) at 2522 Mission Street (behind the San Francisco Buddhist Center) for the last five years without proper permits. Almost a year ago, the Planning Department served a Notice of Violation, which Medjool appealed. The case was heard by the Board of Appeals eight months later on Dec. 16, 2009, and was continued (postponed) until February, 2010.

At a hearing on February 10, the Board of Appeals voted to delay upholding the violation, in order to give Medjool time to legalize the rooftop without incurring $100/day fines. By concluding that Medjool needs to secure a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) at the Planning Commission, the Board essentially confirmed that the Sky Terrace has been operating illegally.

Planning Department staff estimate 60 days (mid April) for the CUP to come before the Planning Department for approval. The following month neighbors can appeal to the Board of Supervisors, which could extend the CUP process.

Impacted neighbors would be wise to be prepared to attend Planning Commission meetings and offer their point of view. Mark all Thursdays in April and May in your calendar! The meetings are at 1:30pm. Then in May and June save time on your calendar for a possible appeal at the Board of Supervisors on a Tuesday at 2:00pm.

More information about the Feb 10 Board of Appeals hearing:

• Transcript of the hearing.
• Article about the hearing on Mission Local.
• Watch the hearing (about 90 minutes) on SFGTV.

THANK YOU!

Since a handful of committed volunteers launched Mission Coexistence just a few weeks ago, 350 supporters have either signed our online petition or wrote letters in support of peaceful coexistence between Medjool and all its neighbors. (Click here to read a few of the letters of support.)

Many thanks for your continuing support of the SFBC, which has been dedicated to peace and wellbeing in this community for the last 16 years.

Four Ways You Can Help

Step 1: Take two minutes now to sign our online petition! In the "Personal Statement" section you can share with the City Board of Appeals why the noise is such an important issue, what how impacts could affect you and your work. You can also write about how the San Francisco Buddhist Center has positively affected your life and work. (The petition requires that you enter your name, email, and street address, which are crucial information for us.)

Step 2: Please come to the Board of Appeals hearing on February 10, 5pm, at City Hall (map). If you can come to some or all of the meeting, mark your calendar and RSVP to CoExist@SFBuddhistCenter.org or 415-282-2018. Read more about how you can help on February 10.)

Step 3: Come meet with concerned neighbors February 1, from 7-8pm, to share information and prepare for City Hall. Pizza provided! Location: The SFBC, 37 Bartlett St. (map)

A strong February 10 showing of neighbors is critical to communicate concerns about noise impacts. The SFBC can’t speak for everybody – it’s critical to speak for yourself and voice your concerns. This will balance other viewpoints being communicated by Medjool's professionally run PR campaign.

At the hearing you can either 1) just stand up when needed to show you want noise impacts addressed, or 2) speak for one minute during public comment period (optional talking points provided).

If you can't come to the whole meeting, but can be available between 5pm & 10pm on Feb. 10 to zip over to City Hall for public comment (most essential), sign up for Twitter updates (@missioncoexist) and we will announce the time that this agenda item will be likely to begin.

Step 4: Help secure neutral legal advice for the concerned neighbors point of view. Medjool's attorney is currently suggesting solutions to neighbors. If we pool our resources, we can get independent consultation on noise and legal aspects. A starting estimate is around $10,000. Please consider visiting our donation page for credit card donations, or by writing a check to 'FWBO'. (Specify 'noise impacts fund.')

PEOPLE WHO LIVE NEAR MEDJOOL NEED YOUR HELP!

THIS IS A CRITICAL MOMENT!

On February 10, Medjool could be allowed to run a large rooftop bar with no requirement to address the noise impact on the community.


What Are The Issues?

The City should require Medjool to address community impacts through a formal permit review and approval process like any similar business typically does. Those processes make sure all neighbors can coexist.

• There is more development coming. By being vigilant about Medjool’s rooftop we make sure that now and in the future the City and businesses will follow the proper processes protecting the health of ALL the neighbors in our mixed residential-commercial area.
  
  
• We want to avoid a situation in which neighbors call Medjool and the police night after night at 1:00am to have music turned down, and ask them to quiet down drunk, yelling partygoers. Gus Murad, the owner, cares about the Mission so we hope that he does not want this either. It's the City’s job to use its permitting authority and expertise to keep the neighborhood livable.

Options for Helping at City Hall

One hundred and fifty people are needed on Feb. 10 at City Hall. A strong showing of concerned neighbors is critical to provide an alternative point of view to the one being generated by Medjool's professionally run "Save Medjool" PR campaign. Now is the time to make the urgency known to the City and to Medjool.

Depending on your availability, there are 3 options for your participation:

1. Full participation: Arrive by 4:40pm to get a seat in the hearing room and plan to stay until 10:00. We will make the time fun for us all!
   
   
2. Targeted participation: Come solely for public comment period, which is most essential. During public comment you can just stand up when needed to show you want noise impacts addressed, or speak for one minute (optional talking points provided). Reserve 5:00-10:00pm to be able to zip over to City Hall when needed. Then sign up for Twitter updates (@missioncoexist) live from the meeting that will broadcast the time that this agenda item will be likely to begin.
   
   
3. If you can’t attend Feb. 10 at all, there are other ways to you can help (see Four Ways You Can Help, above.)

Is it Really So Loud?

We will let the people who live near Medjool speak for themselves. Here are three different neighbors sharing their points of view:

1. We moved to our home right around the corner from Medjool in 2008. We were excited to be a part of the vibrant area, but quickly found that the noise/music/boisterous crowds on the roof were disruptive even with our windows closed. In addition, the "after party" seemed to continue outside on a number of occasions requiring police, fire trucks, and / or ambulances, which only added to the disruption and noise. Medjool needs to be held accountable for the constant nuisance its neighbors have had to bear and become more considerate neighbors.

2. I felt like my apartment was vibrating with sound, even with windows shut, a pillow over my head, and earplugs in my ears.

3. I have a view of Medjool's rooftop bar from my front windows. Sound carries from there, directly into my living and bedrooms, and it's as if it's playing in my own home.

People talking loudly or shouting - I can make out conversations perfectly some nights. Camera flashes bounce off the walls in my living room.

And then when the bar closes at 2am, there's a chorus of people carrying on as they disperse throughout the neighborhood.

It's extremely disruptive and deeply inconsiderate.

When Medjool's roofdeck was being operated without scrutiny, the noise was oppressive. Since April of 2009, it has been quieter, but Medjool wants to pursue a busier, more active rooftop bar/restaurant with an international clientele (people on vacation who at 1am won’t think about whether their party is keeping neighbors awake). Life could become unbearable again for neighbors if we don’t have a conditional use permit limiting noise from the rooftop.


More About Medjool

Though it is part of a larger, legally permitted business (Medjool restaurant and bar, and the Elements Hotel), Medjool’s rooftop restaurant and bar is not legally permitted. Despite multiple legal avenues Medjool had pursued in order to try to justify the rooftop restaurant/bar, the City Planning Department informed Medjool in April of 2009 that the rooftop restaurant and bar were operating without proper permits. Medjool appealed the notice, and a Board of Appeals hearing was held on December 16, 2009.

Medjool provided free transportation and other incentives for over 100 people to attend the hearing, many of whom spoke in support of their appeal. (Read hearing transcript.) The Board decided to reconvene on February 10, allowing Medjool to keep operating the illegal rooftop bar in the interim and giving them a chance to put together a plan to rectify their violation. City staff suggested that Medjool choose the conditional use permitting process to make their rooftop business legal. This process would require that Medjool address impacts on neighbors in the rooftop design (for example, by building sound barriers) and the operation of the bar/restaurant (for example, by agreeing not to play outdoor amplified music).

At the December 16 hearing, the Board also noted that in the years they had been operating the rooftop bar, Medjool had not acted in good faith with neighbors. For example, less than 24 hours before the hearing, Medjool’s attorney contacted the SFBC to share a short list of ideas for mitigating sound. The SFBC was glad to be contacted and also knows that real solutions need to come from neutral, technically qualified consultants, and be legally enforceable. The letters sent by the SFBC to the Board of Appeals give more detail on concerns about the rooftop bar and restaurant’s impacts on neighbors. (Read SFBC letter.)

Who Are We?

The San Francisco Buddhist Center (SFBC) is a neighborhood nonprofit community that has been serving the Mission for 16 years. We offer contemplative practices to the general public to promote health and well being and believe that such practices makes a constructive contribution to the modern world.

Around 100 people per week--many of whom are low income --come to the SFBC to attend classes offered by our volunteer community in meditation, yoga, stress reduction, as well as cultural and arts events. We are operating as early as 7:30am to as late as 9:30pm seven days a week. Above the Center there are two apartments where five permanent residents live, most of whom are ordained Buddhist teachers. We also frequently host visiting teachers for a few days, or for as long as six weeks.

We are located on Bartlett Street, less than 25 yards away from Medjool's rooftop. Based on past experience, we have a real concern that noise from a Medjool rooftop restaurant and bar could make our home unlivable and our Center inoperable. At the same time, we realize Medjool’s large indoor restaurant, bar and hostel are a thriving business attracting visitors from around the world. We support Medjool as a successful business and appreciate the owner Gus Murad's many contributions to the community. We also believe Medjool can be a good neighbor and work with us to find a workable solution to the noise problem created by the rooftop bar so that all can coexist.

The SFBC worked successfully with Foreign Cinema to use the City’s Conditional Use Process to ensure the outdoor, open air restaurant was designed and operated so that we could co-exist as neighbors. Our agreements are a formal part of the permit conditions allowing the restaurant to operate, even if the business changes owners.

Medjool in the News and Blogs (Excerpts)

Just How Many Favors Can S.F. Grant to City's Favorite Politically Connected Barkeep?
(SF Weekly blog)

[Christina Olague] queried whether the rooftop bar at Medjool -- also owned by New Mission Theater developer [Gus] Murad -- was legal under the city's zoning laws. It took until Saturday for the Chronicle to report and expand upon what zoning administrator Larry Badiner said at the time: It's not. (read whole post)

Campaign to 'Save' Medjool's Rooftop Bar...But Is it Grassroots or Astroturf?
(SF Weekly blog)

"This is just crazy to me," Planning Commission President Christina Olague told SF Weekly at the time. "Every politician in town has been up on that roof deck. Dennis Herrera had his fund-raisers up there, even Mark Sanchez, a progressive Green. And, since 2004 [when the rooftop bar opened], it was illegal and no one knew? No one held [Murad] accountable?" (read whole post)

They Say “Save Medjool”… We Say “Save the Progressive/Historic Latino/a Mission District
(Mission Antidisplacement blog)

Here is some historical background that may help clarify the situation...

• When the New Mission Theater was put on the market by City College, Gus Murad out bid local nonprofits...
• He was anti-union in selecting contractors for developing Medjool and the accompanying Elements Hostel;
• He chose to provide “community benefits” by selecting Mission Neighborhood Centers as the recipient of space on the ground floor of his New Mission Theater project...For a project of this scale and impact, simply giving up some community space is not enough...
• Murad, notoriously, has given money and gifts to politicians and community leaders to gain their support, thereby compromising their principles and corrupting democratic processes;
• He bypassed the proper permitting process for his roof-top bar by using the political capital he has accumulated through political donations and favors. (read whole post)

Goof Gives Newsom Donor 20 More Feet
(SF Chronicle)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom used a clerical error to ensure that one of his major political donors would get a chance to build a taller condominium project than is otherwise allowed, members of the Board of Supervisors alleged Tuesday..."And here we are with four votes, a clerical error, and a mayor who has gained politically from the property owner," [Supervisor Chris] Daly said. "And that's how it's going to go down. This is disgusting." (read whole article)

Murad Leaves Small Business Commission
(SF Examiner)(read full article)

Mission Watering Hole Still Connected
(SF Examiner) (read full article)