Balboa Reservoir housing project clears Planning Commission

Last Thursday, The SF Planning Commission approved the Balboa Reservoir Project, the housing development planned for the 17-acre site between Ocean Ave, City College, Riordan High School and Westwood Park currently used for CCSF parking.

The rest of the approval process includes: a hearing at the board of the SF Municipal Transportation Agency, then the SF Public Utilities Commission, and finally the Board of Supervisors, likely in late summer. The first housing will be begun in 2022, with the project finish anticipated in 2028.

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From the SF Examiner [source: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/planning-commission-greenlights-1100-unit-balboa-reservoir-project/ ]

Planning Commission greenlights 1,100 unit Balboa Reservoir project

Development near CCSF expected to include 50 percent below-market rate units

IDA MOJADAD May. 28, 2020 6:45 p.m.

The Balboa Reservoir project, expected to bring 1,100 units to a City-owned parking lot near City College of San Francisco, received key approvals Thursday.

The San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously approved the mixed-use project’s environmental review and agreement with a private developer, and recommended that the Board of Supervisors rezone the 17.6-acre area.

Balboa Reservoir community meeting and related news

The next meeting of the Balboa Reservoir Community Advisory Committee [BRCAC] will take place online on Monday May 18th (6-8 PM). The The meeting agenda is here.  More about the BRCAC here.

Agenda Items:

• Review of Upcoming Schedule and Approval Process
• Overview of the Development Agreement community benefits

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Here are the instructions to join the Virtual CAC meeting:

Join Zoom Meeting: https://avalonbay.zoom.us/j/91969648584?pwd=anQ3MXQrQzA4VGxoMjl2WmF3VXVRUT09

Meeting ID: 919 6964 8584 Password: 143551 One tap mobile +16699009128,,91969648584#,,1#,143551# US (San Jose)

Public Comment during Zoom: The raise hand feature will be used to manage public comment.  (For phone users: press *9 to raise hand & Press *6 to mute/unmute)

Note that you will be automatically muted. For your privacy, you may wish to join via audio.  If you choose to turn your camera on, we recommend that you are mindful of your background.

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Office Hours 

Supervisor Yee introduces Balboa Reservoir legislation at SF Board of Supervisors

Yesterday at the weekly meeting of the SF Board of Supervisors, President and D7 Supervisor Norman Yee introduced three pieces of legislation that advance the approval process for the Balboa Reservoir housing project. The 17- acre project site is located just south of Sunnyside, between Frida Kahlo Way, Ocean Ave, Westwood Park, and Riordan High School. Plans include a two-acre park and 1100 units of housing, of which half will be affordable.

One of the three items will extend the charter of the Balboa Reservoir Community Advisory Committee (BRCAC), which had been scheduled to sunset in March of this year. Supervisor Yee’s involvement with the Balboa Reservoir began with him establishing the BRCAC in 2015, in conjunction with SNA. Lisa Spinali, SNA President then, was instrumental in the process and became the first chair of the committee and Sunnyside’s first representative.

The BRCAC is a forum for community concerns about the housing project, and has been afforded a great deal of logistical and technical support by the Planning Dept and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the two City agencies overseeing the Balboa Reservoir project. The legislation extends the sunset date for the BRCAC to July 1, 2021, so the committee will continue to be a conduit for neighborhood concerns about the development and its process.

The other two items of legislation introduced by Supervisor Yee are the Special Use District (SUD) and the Development Agreement (DA). The Special Use District rezones the 17-acre property, which is currently publicly owned by the SFPUC. The Development Agreement details the agreement between the City and the Reservoir Community Partners, the group of developers chosen for the site, including AvalonBay, BRIDGE, Mission Housing, and Habitat for Humanity.

Apr 27: Balboa Reservoir community meeting

The next meeting of the Balboa Reservoir Community Advisory Committee [BRCAC] will take place online on Monday April 27th (6-8 PM). The The meeting agenda is here. Meeting will include a review of the draft design guidelines and the future of the BRCAC, with the central topic being transportation. More about the BRCAC here.

Here are the instructions to join the Virtual CAC meeting:

• Individuals who wish to watch this meeting can join from the Teams app or a web browser at: https://tinyurl.com/brcac0427 or click  Live captioning is available on the stream.
• If Internet access is not available, you can listen to the meeting by dialing the toll free number: (866) 434-5269 and enter access code 8863144.
• Comments or opportunities to speak during the public comment period are only available via phone by dialing the toll free number: (866) 434-5269 and enter access code 8863144. (There is no need to hang up and call again if you are already on the line and want to provide public comment on the next agenda item, you will be prompted with the same instructions over the phone).

The following is step-by-step instructions for commenting:

1. DIAL the Toll-Free Number listed for the meeting (listing of meetings below).
2. Enter the Access Code then press ‘#’.
3. Press # again to join the meeting as a participant.
4. When you hear that ‘you are connected to the meeting as a participant’: ▪ Stop and LISTEN ▪ Wait for Public Comment to be announced (by Item # or for General Public Comment)
5. When the Clerk calls Public Comment, dial ‘1’ then ‘0’ to be added to the speaker line.
6. When the system message says you will be notified when the speaker is ready for your question and to withdraw your question, press ‘1’ then ‘0’.’ – WAIT for your turn to speak.
7. When the system message says ‘your line is unmuted, please ask your question after the tone [BEEP] ‘- THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT after THE BEEP. (This is not a question-and-answer period, this is your time to provide a statement.)
8. You will have the standard 2 minutes to provide your comments.
9. Once your 2 minutes have ended, you will be moved out of the speaker line and back listening as a participant in the meeting (unless you disconnect).
10. Participants who wish to speak on other items on the Agenda or for other comment periods may stay on the meeting line and listen for the Clerk’s next prompt.

Best Practices for Providing Public Comment at a Remote Meeting:

• call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television or radio.
• Alternatively, you may submit public comment via email brcac@sfgov.org, or during the meeting, where you will have an option to post your comments to be viewed by the CAC and the public.
• The meeting agenda has been posted to the project webpage: https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/agendas/2020-04/balboareservoir_agenda-042720.pdf
• We encourage comments and questionsto be sent over email to brcac@sfgov.org

Thank you all for your continued engagement.

SF Examiner: Approval process for Balboa Reservoir project gets underway

Source: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/approval-process-for-balboa-reservoir-project-gets-underway/

The proposed Balboa Reservoir housing development would include up to 1,100 homes. (Daniel Kim/Special to S.F. Examiner)

Ida Mojadad

Apr. 9, 2020 6:15 p.m.

The Balboa Reservoir project received the first approval on Thursday needed to rezone 17 acres of public land into housing.

At its first-ever virtual public meeting Thursday, the San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously approved the initiation of a General Plan Amendment for the 1,100-unit Balboa Reservoir project in Ingleside.

The vote rezones a parking lot for a proposed large mixed-use development adjacent to City College of San Francisco that has been under discussion for decades, and sets the stage for a public hearing scheduled to take place on or after April 30.

It remains unclear, however, whether that meeting will be held in person.

“If not, we’ve really done a robust job of meeting and hearing concerns,” said Brad Wiblin, executive vice president of BRIDGE Housing, one of the project’s affordable housing developers. “The scale of the project warranted this kind of effort.”