Developments in Development: Opposition

Get ready, y’all, because development opposition is about to sweep through the Mission in a big way. With at least two development-y items on the ballot, advocates and opponents of both are taking their battle stances. And we’re here to make sure you’re up to date on it in a revival of our somewhat weekly Developments in Development.

The Mission Moratorium is officially on the ballot as Prop I, and a coalition of organizations including Plaza 16, MEDA, Calle 24, ACCE, and Causa Justa :: Just Cause has formed a new group called Save the Mission to promote it. Thursday marked their campaign kickoff, and the activists held an informational session and volunteer signup at Mission Neighborhood Centers, Inc.

Speaking of campaigns, Airbnb, after flirting with an old T-Mobile office space on Mission Street for its “SF For Everyone” campaign to defeat the homesharing regulation proposal on the ballot this November, backed out. We were told that the space didn’t suit their needs, but Capp Street Crap extracted a confession of poor judgment, in which an Airbnb spokesperson said they had caught wind of the sketchy business practices of the landlord and decided not to rent there. The new office is expected to be somewhere in the city’s western half.

Opposition to the enormous 5M project in SoMa has spilled over into Clarion Alley, where muralists have created a piece decrying it entitled “No Clear-Cutting Our Community.” The mural, by Christopher Statton with words by Tony Robles, can be seen now.

With that underway, there is little enthusiasm for the interim controls on market rate housing construction that the Planning Commission has been considering for some time. And when we say ‘little enthusiasm,’ we really mean almost unanimous opposition.

Public comment was, as always, plentiful at last week’s Commission hearing on the matter, and again fluctuated between “it’s a good idea, but not enough” and “it’s a terrible idea, snap out of it.” So what does the Commission do? Take more time to think of course, and postpone a decision until September 3. (That’ll be round three, folks.)

At that same meeting, which was cut short at just before the 12-hour mark, the ongoing drama over the reshuffling of office, retail and arts space at the Redlick Building was, you guessed it, continued, until September 3.

It also transpired that the developer of the massive (and massively controversial) proposed project at 2000-2070 Bryant Street has tired of the Commission’s ponderous approach and invoked the Permit Streamlining Act, which is apparently a thing you can do. After a notice was posted in a local paper (in this case, it was the Examiner), the Commission is forced to make a decision on whether to allow or disallow the project within 60 days of filing. If they don’t reach a decision, it’s automatically approved. Verdict to come by September 30, at which point we’ll see whether or not it’s wise to push the Commission.

Switching gears now to a smaller scale, SocketSite reports that something is finally happening at the old DeLano’s market site on South Van Ness near 23rd. And the winner is…Grocery Outlet! That’s right everyone, not condos! The site will remain a grocery store, at least if conditional use permits on file with Planning (to permit the change from grocery store…to grocery store??) are approved.

You might also have noticed the disappearance of the Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club from the basement next to Aquarius records. Fear not, punk friends! The quirky arts and music proto-label remains more or less alive and is operating out of a bedroom upstairs from their former location as the basement undergoes renovations and gets an ever-so-chic little succulent garden accent out front. The future remains nebulous, but Silver Sprocket is looking for a quirk-friendly storefront space to move into in the neighborhood. Maybe something can be worked out with the new owners of Viracocha?

Capp Street Crap has the scoop on two more local business developments: A former furniture store on Valencia next to the Elbo Room whose temporary front facade has become more of an ad hoc art wall and poster magnet may become a multistory residential building with a restaurant in the ground floor. And in a fun reversal of the all too common narrative of bookstores closing, Mission: Comics and Art is actually expanding and moving out of its tucked-away 20th street location to Mission street between 18th and 19th.

Finally, Amnesia is changing ownership and wants everyone who likes their music to come by and sign the petition to make sure that the business license is transferred to the former owner’s friend Craig Wathen, of City Beer fame. He will be taking questions and meeting and greeting at Amnesia next Monday at 5 p.m., a day before the hearing for the license transfer, which happens August 18.