Positions: 115 Telegraph Hill Boulevard Construction

The second construction coordination meeting with the project sponsor took place with the neighborhood on August 30th at the Italian Athletic Club, and the plans for the Construction Management were presented, including an impossible cement truck route that routed cement trucks near school children and down Kearny to Broadway. Major concerns were presented, and a special focus was made regarding the dangers to the nearby school children.

-----

Letter submitted to: 115 Telegraph Hill Boulevard:

September 29, 2016

Daniel A. Frattin Reuben, Junius & Rose One Bush Street, Suite 600 San Francisco, CA 94104 Via Email (dfrattin@reubenlaw.com)

Re: 115 Telegraph Hill Boulevard Follow-up on Neighborhood Meeting on August 30, 2016

Dear Mr. Frattin:

On behalf of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers (THD), I want to follow up on comments and commitments made at the neighborhood meeting on August 30, 2016, to discuss the construction of the multi-unit residential project at 115 Telegraph Hill Boulevard.

We were particularly surprised and disappointed by your proposal to use an unrealistic and, in fact, physically-impassable cement truck access route. The failure to account for what should have been obvious defects in that route and the lack of understanding of area circulation patterns that it indicates gave us serious concerns about the thoughtfulness and/or the seriousness with which you and your team have undertaken construction planning for this difficult site.

We assume that, by now, you have corrected your cement truck access route. If so, please provide THD with a map of the corrected route. Have you conducted a traffic study to evaluate and demonstrate the workability and safety of that route and its effect on local traffic circulation and access? If so, please provide THD with a copy of the study.

At the meeting, we understood that certain information would be made available to us. However, we have not yet received it. As a result, I would like to confirm the following commitments made by you at the meeting on behalf of the project sponsor:

To provide timely prior notice to THD and the residents and property owners within 300 feet (including all members of the public on your sign-in sheet at the meeting) of the project sponsor’s required meeting with the City’s Transportation Advisory Staff Committee (TASC) and/or the Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation (ISCOT) on the Construction Management Plan. Please provide THD’s notice to me at stanhayes1967@gmail.com. Also, please provide me with a copy of the meeting sign-in sheet.
To provide THD with the results of all geologic and geotechnical investigations of the project site made following the Board of Supervisors hearing on November 18, 2014, including the results of the exploratory shaft to be excavated to a depth of between 25 and 30 feet as recommended by Cotton, Shires and Associates (Permit No. 201503171094).
To provide THD with pdf copies of all poster boards displayed at the meeting, together with a pdf of the preliminary Construction Management Plan that was distributed for the first time at the meeting.

We understand that you have represented to certain neighbors that the project sponsor plans to commence construction “approximately 30 days” from the date of that representation, or by my calculation, the latter part of October.

However, prior to commencing construction, the project sponsor is required by the terms of the Board of Supervisors’ approval of the project’s Conditional Use Authorization to submit the abovementioned Construction Management Plan to TASC and/or ISCOT and certain City departments. If you have submitted that plan to TASC and/or ISCOT, please provide THD with a copy. If not, when do expect to submit the plan?

At the meeting, you did not provide sufficiently detailed information for meaningful evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of the measures that you propose to use to protect children at Garfield Elementary School during staging of cement trucks. Please provide THD with the results of your consultation with the Garfield principal. Have you consulted with representatives of school parents (e.g., the president of the Parent Teachers Association)? If so, please provide THD with a summary of the results. If not, when and how will you consult with them? Have you conducted an analysis of the safety of your staging plan to evaluate the risks to school children and nearby residents, and your plans for safeguarding children and residents from those risks? If so, please provide THD with a copy of that analysis.

Have you conducted a traffic study to analyze the safety implications of your proposed use of Kearny Street, or its revised alternative, as an exit route for cement trucks? Have you evaluated the impact of construction trucks on traffic congestion on Grant Avenue, or whatever revised alternative you now propose? On Telegraph Hill Boulevard? Have you analyzed the effect of construction truck traffic on fire and other emergency access? If so, please provide THD with a copy of your analysis.

Also prior to commencing construction, the project sponsor is required to consult with nearby residents and certain others before finalizing construction staging and traffic and truck route plans. Despite having two neighborhood meetings, you have not yet provided sufficient information for informed review and consultation.

For example, you have not provided a meaningful schedule of the magnitude and frequencies of construction truck trips, especially peaks, nor have you adequately described the methods to be used to monitor truck movements onto and out of the building site so as to minimize traffic and pedestrian conflicts on Telegraph Hill Boulevard, Filbert Street, and Kearny Street (or whatever alternatives you now propose).

In addition, we continue to be concerned with other important issues such as traffic and pedestrian safety, construction and excavation impacts on surrounding properties, the apparent use of Coit Tower parking area for construction truck turnarounds, the safety of visitors and residents using the Filbert Steps, and the number and scheduling of truck trips (e.g., peak hour and frequency distribution) and their effect on traffic circulation. With respect to the number of truck trips for each construction phase, please provide THD with a copy of your supporting calculations.

Prior to commencing construction, it is your obligation to provide accurate and complete information sufficient for meaningful neighborhood consultation. Because you have not yet done so, you will need to have one or more additional neighborhood meetings, provide timely notice of such meetings, and make available supporting information prior to the meetings with adequate time for review, not handed out at the meeting, as you did on August 30th.

Sincerely,

Stan Hayes President Telegraph Hill Dwellers

cc:

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, District 3 (Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org)
Scott Sanchez, Zoning Administrator, SF Planning Department (Scott.Sanchez@sfgov.org) Claudine Asbagh, Planning Department (claudine.asbagh@sfgov.org)
Tom Hui, Director, DBI (Tom.Hui@sfgov.org)
Edward Sweeney, Deputy Director of Permit Services, DBI (Edward.Sweeney@sfgov.org) Andrea Ruiz-Esquide (andrea.ruiz-esquide@sfgov.org)
Victoria Wong (victoria.wong@sfgov.org)
Mohammed Nuru, Director, DPW (mohammed.nuru@sfdpw.org)
Jerry Sanguinetti, Street-Use and Mapping, DPW (jerry.sanguinetti@sfdpw.org)
Bruce Storrs, DPW (Bruce.Storrs@sfdpw.org)
Edward D. Reiskin, Director, SFMTA (ed.reiskin@sfmta.com)
John Haley, Director of Transit, MUNI (john.haley@sfmta.com)
Chief Janne Hayes-White, Fire Department (secretary.firechief@sfgov.org)
Alice Barkley, Duane Morris LLP (alicebarkley@sbcglobal.net)
Susan Brandt-Hawley (susanbh@preservationlawyers.com)
Lewis Butler, Butler Armsden (butler@butlerarmsden.com)
Grant Uskin, Cirrus Construction Management (grant@cirrus.build)
Mike Sweeney and Jeff Bognar (info@centricgc.com)