The City's new jobs and housing program
I don't know who Reed Prack is, but he has a brilliant satire on today's BeyondChron on the implications of the city's grotesque Parkmerced project: Inspired by Parkmerced, City Unveils New Citywide Demolition Program
by Reed M. Prack
April 01‚ 2011 At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Sean Elsbernd announced a new development strategy inspired by the proposed Parkmerced project. Under the new “Transit Oriented Demolition and Development” plan, the City will offer incentives to developers that agree to demolish existing low-density residential neighborhoods with older housing (“TODD zones”) and replace them with higher density, “transit oriented” development.
Against a backdrop showing a condominium high-rise skyline, Mayor Lee said of the plan: “We are so convinced of the benefits of the Parkmerced project that we are excited to bring these benefits of greater density, transit improvements and greenhouse gasses to the entire city.”
Stellar Management and Fortress Investments, the Parkmerced developers, will reportedly seek approval to develop two other TODD zones in the city---an 18 square block section of the Sunset District and a 23 block area of the Richmond district. Stellar spokesman P.J. Johnston would not confirm or deny the plan for the Sunset and Richmond districts, but did acknowledge that “these are certainly areas with low density, older housing and limited transit that would benefit from the type of smart growth we’re doing at Parkmerced.”
Sup. Elsbernd will introduce legislation at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting to relieve developers of Planning Code limits where they propose to demolish units and promise to replace them. Under the plan, developers who promise to demolish more than 20 units will be granted density bonuses, waivers of height and setback restrictions, and freedom from conditional use hearings. There will be additional incentives for larger projects. A developer who agrees to demolish at least one hundred units will also qualify for special tax exemptions.
According to Elsbernd, “We’re creating an incentive structure here. I know it’s counterintuitive, but the more units that are demolished, the more housing we will end up with. Only by demolishing units can we attract the funding necessary to rebuild higher density housing, which will have the net impact of increasing housing supply. The residents might not know it now, but this is for their own good..."
Read the rest here.
Labels: Highrise Development, Parkmerced
posted by Rob Anderson @ 10:19 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Be nice if we could "relocate" you.
Prack's piece would have had more bite with a riff on the bike issue:
"Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition, supported the new policy, particularly the part of the ordinance that calls for mandatory caning of any motorist who causes injury to a cyclist on the streets of San Francisco, with the caning to take place on the last Friday of the month prior to the start of Critical Mass. She and Supervisor Mirkarimi wanted to include skateboarders in the ordinance, but they couldn't get majority support on the Board of Supervisors. For their part, the Board's moderates unsuccessfully opposed the Union Square proposal, arguing that the caning should be done in private, not with a cane, but with a rolled-up copy of the Bay Guardian..."
It's a joke, Anon, and it's about caning motorists, not cyclists, though I have suggested caning graffiti/taggers like they do in Singapore. Just on a trial basis, you understand, to see if it has a deterrent effect.
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