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Upper Market Community Design Plan to go Before
Planning Commission
By Jaime San Felippo
On May 12, an open house was held by the SF Planning Department at the Harvey Milk School to showcase the Upper Market Community Design Plan.
Starting in September of 2007, San Francisco planners held a series of three public meetings with Upper Market residents to brainstorm design ideas for the Market Street corridor between Octavia and Castro streets. The plan will go to the SF Planning Commission for approval in June.
Under the Market & Octavia Better Neighborhoods Plan, there are around nine sites in the Upper Market area flagged for development. Developers have been encouraged to build mixed-use structures, with residential units on top and retail space on the ground floor.
The Upper Market Community Design Plan is an extension of the Better Neighborhoods Plan. Sponsored by Supervisor Bevan Dufty and directed by the Planning Department, an outside consultant team facilitated the community meetings, bringing city officials and community members together to create design ideas for the area.
“People really wanted to make the area more warm and welcoming,” said Abigail Kiefer of the Planning Department. “I really feel all of the comments were very constructive, which has been great. We’ve given all of this information to the designer and hope that he will present the (Planning) Commission with a design concept that will be up to the community’s standards.”
Kiefer noted that a majority of community members at the meetings wanted to make the intersections in the Upper Market area more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, create beautiful and engaging sidewalks, and see more green, open space in the area. Another important goal was the creation of a public gathering space at the intersection of Castro and Market streets.
According to Kiefer most everyone who attended was happy with the results.
While the Planning Commission will review the proposed design plan in June, the plans coming to fruition will be a slow going process.
“Each individual project has to go through its own process to get approval and funding,” said Kiefer.
To see proposed drafts of the Upper Market Community Design Plan go to uppermarket.sfplanning.org.
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