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September 5, 2002
Sunset Recreation Center
In Attendance
Lucretia Anderson, Phyllis P. Ayer, Leslie Bandy, Kristin Bennet, Brian Birkett, Joseph Brunette, Linda Chan, Lionel Chan, Marc Duffett, Ron Dudum, Marks Lam, Krista Spence Loretto, Fiona Ma, Mary McAllister, Shawna McGrew, Sonia Ng, John Reilly, Jesse Stemmler, Vidya Tikku, Doug Wildman, Nancy Wuerfel, Elaine Vay, Tess Ventresca, Hal Voege, Doug Wildman, and Jia Zhong.
I. Welcome and Introduction - Vidya Tikku, NPC
II. Park Scan - Hal Voege, NPC
The Neighborhood Parks Council is working on a new project called "Park Scan." We will start out with a pilot program working in Districts 3, 9, and 10.
We are all here because parks are important to us. Parks provide lots of amenities. They need to be safe, clean and beautiful. Right now there is not a uniform way to evaluate them. Many parks are not as clean as they could be; some parks are even unhealthy. Other than phone calls, there is no way to let Rec & Park know the condition of the parks.
NPC received a grant from the Sloan foundation for to create a community based way to "grade" parks - Park Scan. The pilot project will last 18 months. It will develop uniform standards based on input by you, Rec & Park, citizens and park groups. Trained volunteers from the community will do the work. It will start later this year. We are developing the standards now and will start at three pilot parks in District 3, then 9 and 10.
How it will work: teams of 2 or 3 volunteers will carry out surveys in parks once or twice a month. They will use hand held computers with GPS and digital cameras. The recorded conditions will be forwarded to agencies and stored in our database. All of this data will be available online at the NPC website. Scorecards will periodically be made widely available. This gives an objective, standardized way to show our concerns to Rec & Park. It shows action over time.
Visit the ParkScan website at www.parkscansf.org
What is the amount of the grant you received from Sloan?
Sloan has given us about $450,000.
Does the Rec and Park Department have any sort of system like this already?
They don't have a database that is open and accessible to the public.
The surveys sound like they could be subjective.
There will be training to make the standards uniform and objective.
How is the list of standards developed?
The Sloan Foundation funded a similar project in New York. We started with the criteria that New York City used, then asked our steering committee and other involved parties for their input.
How were the Districts chosen?
Elizabeth Goldstein chose District 3. Districts 9 and 10 were chosen because they fit a combination of criteria, like being heavily populated, having some parks with terrible conditions, being lower income, and having very active park groups.
III. Supervisor's Updates - Mary McAllister
- Supervisor Yee wrote a letter conveying his concerns about reprioritization. He believes there was not adequate public process and many public comments didn't make it into the plan, especially at Stern Grove and Pine Lake. Supervisor Yee would like the public process followed, especially when dealing with use of and control of access to open space.
IV. Capital Plan Update Workshop - Mary McAllister
- We would like to see more details in the Capital Plan. It is difficult to figure out exactly what is on the plan because the headings tend to be very vague. The redraft of the Plan completed after the workshop does not address reforestation. Reforestation was on the previous draft and seems to have disappeared. We'd like to see a better process with better outreach - perhaps a statistically valid survey instead of an evening with five people. There were too many districts all together. It's better on a district by district basis.
- The Pine Lake Master Plan was presented to the public over a year ago.
It was well received. Since then, the Natural Areas Draft Management
Plan has radically different recommendations. RPD intends to fence off
Pine Lake permanently and destroy half of the trail around the lake.
Killing saplings in the short run and not replacing dead trees in the
long run will eventually destroy the forest.
- I saw a breakdown in communication at the workshop. There were arguments about native plants versus dogs, and the discussion about Capital Improvements was lost.
V. Renovating 19th Avenue - Marc Duffett, SPEAK
- 19th Avenue is San Francisco's busiest traffic-moving residential street. It's great at moving traffic, but neglects aesthetics and neighborhood residents. We have a plan that addresses those deficiencies.
- We have identified five intersections to target for traffic calming while keeping We can change drivers' attitudes, and remind them that people have to live and cross the street here. This design includes better pedestrian walkways with different textures and colors, bulb-outs at cross-walks, better lighting, benches for waiting for streetcars, and additional plantings (as part of the second phase).
- Many people park their vehicles partially on the sidewalk because of fears of fast moving traffic. Parking like this causes the sidewalk and curbing to breakdown more quickly than usual and homeowners are required to pay the costs of repairs. We've included a slight rise and differently textured pavement in the parking lane.
- Whose buy-in does your project have?
We've received positive reaction from city agencies. We haven't discussed our proposal with CalTrans yet.
- Who will take care of the greenery?
It has not been decided. There are many creative ways to address this issue, but it does depend on whose turf it's on.
- This plan shows beautiful trees, but I don't think there is enough space for roots.
Each block is different, but this plan has elements that can be modified to suit.
VI. Recreation and Park Department Updates - Shawna McGrew, RPD
- The Parkside Square design plans for ADA access. The Commission approved
the playground plans yesterday.
- The citywide aquatics meeting is on September 19th. Pool hours have
been reduced to 76 hours per week at Sava, Garfield, and Rossi.
- Why have all bids for McCoppin Square been rejected?
If bids don't meet specifications, they are rejected. It may slow the project, but the project will move ahead.
VII. Nature in the City - Jesse Stemmler, NPC
- The Neighborhood Parks Council invites the community to join our
free monthly nature walks and rediscover the nature living within San
Francisco's wonderful neighborhood parks and open spaces. Amazingly
enough, within our dense city, San Franciscans share their neighborhoods
with pockets of plant and animal life that are often overlooked in our
everyday life.
- We started this year's program off with a geology walk in Glen Park. In July we looked at insects at Pine Lake. In August, we toured Mountain Lake and talked about its health. We've got two tours coming up:
- October 19th: Amphibians and reptiles at McLaren Park
- November 9th: History of Edgehill Mountain
- October 19th: Amphibians and reptiles at McLaren Park
- For more information, check out the NPC website: www.sfnpc.org/nitc
VIII. Neighborhood Tree Summits - Doug Wildman
- 19th Avenue is planted and maintained by citizens.
Plantings are now being organized in various areas, so contact Friends of the Urban Forest for more details or information on how to get your own trees. The next District 4 Planting is taking place on December 7th. We need at least 40 trees to be planted in a given radius for a Saturday planting.
- What kind of trees can be planted in the Sunset?
It varies by where you live. Sometimes living on the East versus the West side of the street makes a difference. But, we help you with the choices. The possibilities include New Zealand Christmas Tree, Blackwood Acacia, New Zealand Tea Tree, and Abutus marina.
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