September, 2024 Community Meeting Summary
Upper Noe Neighbors
September 18, 2024
Upper Noe Rec Center
Agenda:
- J-Church / 28th Stop sign Updates – SFMTA
- Restore the J Working Group – Karen Kennard
- Upzoning Discussion – Ryan
- Block Party Organization – Chris
- Final banner design presentation
- Empty Storefronts
Announcements: Upper Noe Block Party Sept 21
J-Church Updates
Jessica Kuo (Project Mgr), Erin McMillan (Public Affairs Mgr), Nick Veronin (Public Info Officer)
28th and Church 4-way stop
- A spike in traffic collisions occurred at this intersection in 2019-2022. Safety improvements are needed.
- SFMTA policy does not add stop signs on rail lines except at transit stops.
MUNI stop spacing proposal See Project Details
- Eliminates Clipper St MUNI stops and 27th St MUNI stops.
- Adds 26th St MUNI stops and 28th St MUNI stops.
- This proposal does not include changes to the 29th St MUNI stop but the documentation shows that SFMTA plans on eliminating it eventually.
- SFMTA considered relocating inbound 30th St MUNI stop onto 30th Street but they are not pursuing that now.
- Relocating the transit shelter from 27th to 28th is in progress as a separate process under DPW. DPW engineers have been measuring in front of Chuck’s and MoBu Dance Studio.
- Transit platforms are not in the current plan or budget.
Next Steps
- Oct 15th: SFMTA Board will consider the current proposal in totality. They cannot separate the 28th St stop signs from the MUNI stop relocations; it’s all or nothing.
- Fall 2024: If approved, stop sign installation and MUNI stop relocations.
- Future phase (2025): Evaluate future improvements to J Church reliability.
While concerns were not completely assuaged about the effects of the relocation of stops, we have evidence and a strong consensus that the stop sign is critical for public safety. We have been working on the stop sign too long and too hard to lose it now. Thus, the UNN Board supports the proposal as is and urges our members to do so.
Restore The J Working Group (RTJ)
Kathy Setian and Karen Kennard
Karen published “The J Church Story” on page 9 of the September Noe Valley Voice https://www.noevalleyvoice.com/2024/September/
Since it was restored to the tunnel, the J has not caused any delays in the subway. Julie Kirschbaum, Director of Transit, confirms during every meeting that the J has not added any congestion yet. However, RTJ is keeping an eye on SFMTA’s Community Working Group since most of their recommendations include removing the J from the tunnel.
Things to try before removing the J from the tunnel include decreasing S Shuttles, extending turn-around after Embarcadero, running longer trains, making across-the-board frequency reductions on all lines, and opportunistic train couplings
The L Taraval will be returning to the tunnel on Sept 28th with 6 trains/hour. RTJ will be monitoring delays and talking to SFMTA about increasing J Church frequency. On average, only 58 of 68 inbound J trains are occurring during the week. RTJ will continue to Gather data on trains leaving the barn at Balboa Park. So far, they have discovered that J trains are not reliably leaving the barn. They are more than 5 min late 16% of the time, and leaving more than 10 minutes late 13% of the time.
Upzoning Discussion
UNN VP Ryan Patterson
A forum about upzoning occurred on Sept 9 at Noe Valley Ministry. UNN originally agreed to co-sponsor this event since it was presented to us as an educational forum put together by nearby neighborhood groups. We withdrew sponsorship when we discovered that the event was actually organized by Neighborhoods United, and anti-upzoning group advocating for more local control. UNN has taken no position on upzoning citing a lack of critical information about how it would be implemented.
The reality today is that the state is requiring the city to plan for 82k additional units. Where do we put all these units? There is a three-year time period to do this rezoning. Over the next two years, the city will be coming to us to ask our ideas and we will invite the Planning Dept to our meetings when they have more information.
Upper Noe Block Party 11am to 3pm on Sat Sept 21st
Chris Faust
- This event puts our neighborhood on display.
- Mayor Breed, State Senator Scott Weiner, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman are coming.
- 24 local businesses will participate with product samples and over 40 prizes to give away.
- Music by the Adrian West Band
- UNN members are encouraged to staff tables and act as ambassadors.
C
hurch Street Banners
Chris Faust
Rhonell Roberts completed the two designs we commissioned for 17 banner locations between 30th St and Cesar Chavez. The audience response to the banners was all positive. Permits are in process. Installation is expected before the holidays.
Empty storefronts
This was not on the agenda but arose during discussion.
There was inquiry about what is happening with empty storefronts at Veteran’s, Pomelo and Toast. Mandana Massih (The Buzz) informed us that:
- Vetran’s construction is almost complete. What is going there is still unknown.
- Work at Pomelo continues behind the boarded up front but the design was rejected and needs to go back for changes and review. The building owner would renovate XO Cafe’ next.
- Taffi’s is opening soon at the former Toast. No problem with permits, it’s the same type of business. They are just painting and getting it ready.
The next UNN Community Meeting is November 20 at 7pm at Upper Noe Rec Center.