This Week In Noe Valley: Gov At James Lick, More Shuttle Bus Nastiness, Bethany Is Back

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Governor Brown kicked off the James Lick school year [SF Appeal]
• DPW has made sidewalk landscaping permits easy [SFDPW]
• Another shuttle bus (driver) behaving badly [SFist]
• Noe Valley's official car? [@CarinaOst]
• There must be a video geek in Noe Valley who will appreciate this [pbump]
• July condo sales in Noe Valley average $1M plus [Downing & Co]
• Bethany returns to renovated church; open house is September 15th according to sign in windows [Bethany]
• At least we know why there may be another helicopter in the air for a while [NNSA]

[Photo: Whole Foods parking lot construction or just another day?]

Construction and Community Garden at NV Branch Library

We received an email from Michelle Jeffers, the PR officer for the SF Public Library that DPW is going to be doing some construction work on the rear retaining wall behind Noe Valley Branch Library.

A flyer is being distributed to neighbors [PDF] - this bit caught our eye:

"This project will improve the safety of the Library’s rear retaining wall. Once construction is completed, the community garden project at the Noe Valley Branch Library will resume."

According to Michelle, there was some clean up work behind the library about two or three years ago with local neighbors and a Boy Scout troop. Then because of the retaining wall work, it was put on hold. The idea is that a community garden project can get back on track once the retaining wall is repaired.

Stay tuned for more details on the community garden.

Volunteers Needed: Neighborhood Clean And Green

The San Francisco Department of Public Works is organizing a Community Clean Team event for Districts 8 and 9 this Saturday, June 9th. From the DPW:

Volunteers can expect to do a variety of cleaning and greening activities such as – planting, weeding, wood chipping, graffiti removal, and picking up trash.  The event will take place from 9am – noon and will kick off at Fairmount Elementary School (65 Chenery Street).

Volunteers are encouraged to RSVP to volunteer@sfdpw.org.

NVV June 2012: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories until the middle of the month.

June 2012

Front Page: Noe Valley author Sonia Faleria has a book about life in Mumbai; electric cars get a charge out of Walgreens [Ed note: no mention that even non EVs can park there]; SummerFEST is coming; white dots around Noe = sidewalk replacement.
 
Letters: A reader wants to know why not more police downtown; more hate/love for the Examiner; another plea for a Town Square angel; realtors: get a parking clue.

Cost of Living in Noe: A mini mansion sells for $3.4 million; buyer crowds resemble the "dot-com boom of the late 1990s-early 2000s" (and we know what that got us).

Store Trek: Noe Valley Wine Merchants (3821 24th St.)

Rumors: Real Foods may - or may not - have new plans to make the building safe for retail without adding development; NV Town Square has raised over $100,000 - and needs more money asap; some restaurants for sale [Joe's on 24th St, and another: "owner retiring"] ; Chris Cosentino of Incanto has a cookbook; Chloe's turns 25; First Republic not so popular; Sirena Botanica closes; more Facebook zillionaire puffery. 

[The Noe Valley Voice]

311: Did You Know?

The photo above shows excrement and toilet paper flowing from a street-side sewer vent. Seriously gross, and a health hazard. What to do? A simple call to 311 to report the address and DPW will respond with a cleanup kit. 3 minutes of your time.

Getting the owners to fix their sewer line may take longer, but at least you won't have to worry about risks to you.

More info at http://www.sf311.org/.

Street Trees: 24th St Blight To Get Blightier

The two trees in front of Real Foods are set for removal at the request of the owner, who apparently came out of hiding. The notice states multiple trunk injuries, decay, etc. The notice also states that the trees will be replaced by the Noe Valley Association, which is great but will leave a gap in the canopy for some time.

If you'd like to make the building owner show up at request a hearing to appeal the trees' removal contact the DPW Urban Forestry department at 2323 Cesar Chavez St, SF CA 94124. You can fax your letter to (415) 695-2147.

Click the photo for complete info.

Parklets: Construction Begins

The long-debated and awaited parklets on 24th St began construction today. The pavers are concrete and rest on steel beams; the planters are also steel. More details from StreetsBlogSF:

The new spaces were designed by Riyad Ghannam, who designed and built the first parklet in the city in front of the Mojo Bicycle Cafe on Divisadero street. The parklets will replace a total of four parking spaces and cost $37,000, the entirety of which came from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development as part of their commercial revitalization budget. The Noe Valley Association, which represents merchants in the area, is the permit holder and will oversee the maintenance of the facilities.

Expect the parklets to be completed in front of Martha & Bros and Just For Fun in time for the weekend -- just in time for the rain.

Update from Carol Yenne:

The Permit Holder is the Noe Valley Association CBD which is the property owners of the commercial district, not the merchant association.

It would also be nice to mention this is a "trial" to see how folks like them. These are not not permanent parklet being set up.

Thanks,
Carol Yenne
Member of NVA CBD as well as NVMPA board.

[StreetsBlogSF: Noe Valley Parklet Installation Begins]

What Could Have Been: Crosswalks Edition

Streetsblog has a great set of photos of the new crosswalk at Market, Golden Gate and Taylor Streets. Soooo much better than what we have at Castro and 24th St here in Noe Valley.

[Streetsblog: Eyes on the Street: A New Crosswalk at Market, Golden Gate and Taylor]
[NVSF: Street Art: Crosswalks]

Street Cleaning: Win Some, Lose More

Remember the all-too-confusing change to the street sweeping schedule here in Noe Valley and other relatively clean neighborhoods of San Francisco meant to save the City money? It's not working out so well:

When city officials cut street sweeping in more than 20 neighborhoods in August to save cash, they knew that the change would lead to a loss in revenue from parking tickets.

They probably didn't anticipate that the city would lose four times more money than it saved - money that would have gone to the struggling Municipal Transportation Agency, which is considering cutting transit service and increasing fares to balance its budget.

Apparently we've figured out how to read the signs. But here's what we want to know after reading the Chron's article: Are they saying that street cleaning is done to generate parking ticket revenue...?

[SFGate: Street-sweeper reductions costing Muni money]
[NVSF: Dirtier Streets, Confusion to Ensue]

These News Racks Are Sprouting Up Everywhere

First noticed last week in a couple places, these racks are now all over the 24th St corridor. Watch where you're going--it'll be more dangerous than usual to text and walk for a while. And since they'll likely make a good baby-changing table you probably shouldn't put your coffee on them.

[NVSF: 24th Street: Now With Less Clutter]

Crime Report: Scavengers

In addition to detailing recent armed robberies, burglaries and drug arrests in the Mission in his weekly newsletter, Mission Station Captain Stephen Tacchini addressed the problem of recycling scavengers:

Over the past few weeks I have received complaints from residents in the district regarding noise, littering, and suspicious persons with pickup trucks, carts, and gargage bags related to the removal of recyclable goods from containers. Upon checking with representatives of Sunset Scavenger, I have come to learn this is a significant and costly problem city wide. Who suffers from the loss of this significant material? You--the neighborhood residents.

The dumping of the recycle bins by unauthorized persons is evident by the debris, broken glass, liquid, and papers they leave on the street, creating a public safety hazard and exacerbated litter problem. This results in the Department of Public Works having to come out to clean up the mess, at a cost borne by taxpayers.

Officers from Mission Station will be working towards reducing the types of complaints related to this problem and assistance from the public will be very helpful. In the spirit of community policing I request citizens who observe persons removing recyclable goods from containers on the street, by other than Department of Public Works or Sunset Scavenger personnel to report their observations to SFRecycling.com. This will provide information as to where, when and by whom, using what type of vehicle this activity is being conducted. Your assistance will help us to identify the persons responsible and we can proceed from there to abate the associated problems neighborhoods are experiencing.

It is important to recycle and be as energy and environmentally efficient as possible. It is also important to maintain clean and safe streets while working towards reducing the amount of garbage going into land fills. Reducing the incidence of the theft of recyclable goods will result in fewer noise complaints, cleaner / safer streets, and potentially lower service charges.

Timely, because since a San Francisco Judge "ordered a dozen of the city's most prolific recycling scavengers to stop looting bottles, cans and cardboard from curbside bins" last month they seem to be out in stronger force.

[SFRecycling: Report Form]
[NVSF: Recycling Theft = $469,000]
[SFGate: Judge orders scavengers to stop raiding trash]

24th Street: Now With Less Clutter

Reader Tom sent the above photo from outside Noe Valley's Holey Bagel: "Just saw these on 24th." These racks have been planned City-wide since at least 2007 and some think they'll actually bring in more revenue for the City (but you have to fill the racks to make money). DPW says they "reduce the amount of sidewalk clutter associated with free standing news racks." So why are they bolted down next to free standing racks....?

[DPW: News Rack Program]

PSA: Storm Readiness

This from the San Francisco DPW:

Public Works Encourages the Public to Get Storm Ready
Sand Bags Made Available to City Residents

San Francisco, Ca -The Department of Public Works is advising the public to be storm ready this winter. Residents should call 3-1-1 or go to www.sfgov.org/dpw to find storm preparedness information, report downed trees, tree limbs or clogged catch basins; and to get free sandbag information.

DPW offers free sandbags to the public during the winter rainy season to protect property in San Francisco. Sandbag pick up is available at 2323 Cesar Chavez Street, entrance at Kansas and Marin streets. The schedule is Monday through Friday between 7:00 am - 4:00 pm. For after hours and weekends, the public may call 3-1-1 to coordinate a pick up with DPW. Both filled and unfilled sandbags are available at no cost with a limit of 10 sandbags per address. Residents must show a valid ID with a San Francisco residence.

Sanchez / 25th St

Dirtier Streets, Confusion to Ensue

Click for larger PDF on SFGov.org

Starting this week, the Department of Public Works will save some money by cleaning the streets every other week instead of every week in certain neighborhoods (including Noe Valley). If you live on one of the streets outlined in blue or yellow above, you can expect confusion about which day you risk a parking ticket (it's the 2nd and 4th week of each month). No change for the streets in red.

The City's grimier neighborhoods will continue to get regular scrubbings. As they get cleaner and we get dirtier, the City will have a more uniform sparkle. Or something like that.

Update (Sep 22): Street signs are being altered as of now.


[Mechanical Sweeping "Improvements"]

Street Trees: Green Your Sidewalk!

In the summer of 2006 the SF Dept of Public Works made it easier for residents and businesses to reduce the amount of concrete between them and the street. They also reduced fees from $800 to $160-215. Unfortunately they did nothing to reduce the bureaucracy. We spoke with a NV resident who had a very hard time getting his permits through: "...all kinds of inspectors came out to 'inspect'. The city is always assuming the homeowner is doing something wrong." If you want to fight with the DPW yourself, forms and requirements are here.

For the rest of us? Enter Plant*SF, a non-profit dedicated to promoting "permeable landscaping equally as sustainable urban infrastructural practice and as a beautification effort." After reading through their site and looking at the projects they've worked on, we think everyone should work with Plant*SF.

Don't have a sidewalk that meets requirements for greening? Donate time or money to beautify the rest of Noe Valley.

Bonus: Plant*SF is also pushing for alternatives to the water- and maintenance-intensive hanging flower baskets like we have on 24th St:

Planted hanging baskets are gaining popularity in San Francisco and while beautiful, daily watering and use of 'disposable' plants keeps them far from being sustainable. Plant*SF has proposed climate adapted, self-propogating alternatives that will be piloted in front of City Hall soon.

[Plant*SF]