Update on appeal of Oak/Fell project

From: Jung Yun O'Donnell
To: sfpedestrians@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, December 3, 2012 3:55 AM
Subject: Oak Fell Traffic Project Appeals Update
  

Neighbors,

Thank you all for your interest and support to appeal SFMTA's decision to make drastic traffic, safety, parking, and biking changes to Oak/Fell...all this with no independent study on the impact it will have on our neighborhood and everyone who lives here. They would not consider alternative plans people shared, and they pushed the project through during the election/holiday season so we might be too busy to notice or take any action.

I wanted to provide an update and ask for your help in the next step of the appeals process. After SFMTA approved their project and said they were exempt from any sort of review, 3 residents appealed to the Board of Supervisors. Mark Brennan, Howard Chabner and Ted Loewenberg's appeal was accepted, and we are scheduled to be heard at the Board of Supervisor's meeting on Tues, Dec 11 at 4pm at City Hall Room 250. Please mark your calendars. We need as many residents who can show up to attend.

The appeal is specifically concerning the “exemption” they said they have from any environmental/traffic review. However, in reality the hearing will be both based on legalities of their project being exempt as well as political pressures. Our neighbors are not anti-bicycle as SFMTA will make people out to be. This is a huge impact on our neighborhood. We will all be directly impacted daily (more congestion, safety issues, more traffic on side streets, etc). There were many alternative ideas they would not even consider. SFMTA are not right when they said in their report that there is only minimal indirect impact on us.

We’d also like to ask you to send emails or letters to them, preferably before Dec 6 so it can be inside the official packet for them to receive. Otherwise, you can email them by Dec 11. Please send to: board.of.supervisors@sfgov.org, MTABoard@sfmta.com, mayoredwinlee@sfgov.org, bill.wycko@sfgov.org. I know many of you wrote to SFMTA previously. You could use that same letter.

We have also put together a flyer that summarizes the concerns of many of us. Please forward the flyer to your neighbors, HOA members, and favorite merchants and encourage them to get involved. We need your help and energy to stand up for our rights...

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Thank you!

Jung