New Life On 24th St

From a reader:

New trees planted at the Noe parking lot between Le Zinc and Radio Shack to replace the old eucalyptus trees today. I chatted with the guy planting the trees – he said they are Japanese flowering cherry trees. They have flower blossoms (pink) in the spring, but no edible fruit. Appropriately, they’re going in during the Cherry Blossom festivals around the world and are just starting to bloom now. They’re cute!

Cute or not, they were planted a lot quicker than we expected.

[NVSF: Appeal? Lost. Budget? Intact. Trees? Gone.]
[SF Cherry Blossom Festival]

Two New & Notable Noe Valley Blogs

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has set up a blog for Districts 8 and 9 to keep residents informed of water, sewer and power projects in the area. Today's post details what's going on at the corner of Noe and Hill Streets.

"The tiniest farm in all of Noe Valley. Maybe." Fans of seasonal, local produce can't get it any better than this. The Noe Farm Report hopes "to keep you entertained by the miracle of (plant) life."

[SFPUC: Districts 8 & 9]
[The Noe Farm Report]

Another Noe Valley Restaurant/Cafe For Sale

Sure sounds like the recently opened City Grill:

A very strong location in Noe Valley with a glass frontage, display kitchen, wood floors, outdoor seating and a comfortable dining room including counter seats, booth seating and tables and chairs. Some of the equipment includes as follows: coffee maker, ice machine, 3 door glass under counter refrigerator, 2 compartment sink + rinse hose, walk-in refrigerator, 2 microwaves, mop sink, 1 door under counter wine refrigerator, washer & dryer machines, 4' display refrigerator, counter mixer, 2 full door refrigerator, double fryer, 2' x 3' char grill, 3'6" flat grill over oven, 3' -in freezer, 3 door under counter refrigerator + sandwich station, 8 burners over oven, 11' type 1 hood with fire suppression system, 2 hand sinks, 2 group espresso machine and coffee grinder, etc. There are also 2 restrooms, an office area and storage areas. There is upside for increased hours and increased meal periods.

General Information:
Organization: Corporation
Seating: 49 + 16 outside
Square Foot/Size: 1,400 + outdoor seating
Parking: Street
License(s) Required: Business, ABC Type 41 (Beer & Wine)
Days Open/Hours: 6 / Tu-Fr 5:30p - 9:30p, Sa-Su 9:00a-3:00p

[Listing: Noe Valley / Castro Restaurant]
[NVSF: Opening: City Grill]

Tidbits

Closing: Simply Chic. And it's for real this time - there's a big sign out front announcing up to 80% off. Guess the agreement with the landlord fell through.

Another retailer fighting a landlord is Mabel Chong. We stopped in to talk with partner Mark Welte last week when we noticed a For Rent sign in the window. The upshot? Their lease is up, and the owner wants to raise the rent. If someone is willing to pay the higher advertised rate, then Mabel Chong will hunker down at the Sacremento St location. We'll be watching to see if this works out better than another jewelry store that fought with its landlord.

Washington Mutual is now Chase in more than name - the signs are up on the building. Senior account rep Russell Chang told us that the most annoying aspect of the change is the requirement that he wear a tie. Noe Valley is going corporate. This morning we saw him standing in front of the entrance to the Farmer's Market handing out cards. In the hot sun. In formal dress. Bummer.

Speaking of the Farmer's Market, there's now a mushroom vendor who will try and be there every other weekend. We forgot to ask, but we think it might be Far West Fungi. Can anyone confirm that?

Also at the Farmer's Market: advertisements for the Whole Foods shuttle. The presence of the signs tells us that Whole Foods is continuing to work with the neighborhood.

And finally, Andrew Calabrese has posted a sign in front of the future Whole Foods with his email so the whole neighborhood (and not just those searching online) can ask questions and express concerns.

[NVSF: 24th St Rumors: Simply Chic Not Closing]
[NVSF: Opening: The Jewelry Box]
[NVSF: Whole Foods: Senior Shuttle]
[NVSF: Approved: Whole Foods in Noe Valley]

Growing Pains: ESB Ale

The recent press and success of Elizabeth Street Brewery has apparently ticked off a neighbor who filed a formal (and anonymous) complaint. Rather than stopping by to talk about their issues over a cold pint of free beer, said neighbor called the police. "As some of you already know by now, my wife returned home on Tuesday afternoon to be greeted by Officer Miguel Granados and Deputy City Attorney Michael Weiss."

Find out how it all turned out on ESB's blog.

[NVV: The Elizabeth Street Brewery: From Chocolate Milk to Firecracker Red]
[NVSF: Operation ESB Super Bowl]

Reminder: Shuttle Bus Community Meeting

Community Meeting: tonight at the Upper Noe Rec Center starting at 7:30pm and hosted by Upper Noe Neighbors.

To add more background to the reason the SFCTA may be considering regulation, reader Yoyo did some digging and left this comment regarding the legal issues of shuttle buses:

California V.C. section 35400(10)(A) states that buses up to 45 feet (that's the length of the Setras) can have reasonable access between highways and "points of loading and unloading for motor carriers of passengers". So the size itself isn't in violation, and these buses do travel to Noe Valley and other neighborhoods to load and unload passengers. The question remains: what is reasonable access?

Here, the SF transportation code has something to say. Section 501 lists a whole host of streets on which heavy vehicles (over 6000 lbs.) are forbidden; a number of these are in Noe Valley west of Church, but Sanchez is not included. Section 7.2.87 also forbids commercial passenger vehicles (capacity 8 or more) from the streets listed in Section 501 (the code says 503, which doesn't exist; 501 appears to be the correct referenced section, from an old version of the code).

[NVSF: Shuttle Buses: Useful or Menace?]

Community Meeting: Open Space SF

What: Open Space Framework Community Workshop: Mission Dolores Park/Noe Valley
When: Tuesday March 24, 6-8pm
Where: Upper Noe Rec Center
Hosts: Friends of Upper Noe Rec Center, Friends of Noe Valley

Vision and Goals from the website:

THE VISION

The Vision Plan provides a broad outline of what San Francisco's ideal open space network would look like in a 100-year time frame.

The 6 Components of the Vision

• An Active, Accessible and Connected Waterfront Open Space System
• An Eco-Corridor that Allows for Both Human and Wildlife Movement Across the City
• A System of Linear Parks and Daylighted Creeks
• A Network of Livable Streets in High-Density Neighborhoods
• Revitalized and Activated Destination Open Spaces
• Connectivity – A System of Public Transit + Green Streets Connecting People to Open Space
  

GOALS

• Every San Franciscan is within a 10-minute walk from an open space greater than one acre.
• Every San Franciscan has access to a network of high-performing open spaces.

Want to get involved but annoyed that we posted this at such late notice? (Can't blame you--it slipped under our radar.) Take the survey and/or send comments to Susan.Exline@sfgov.org. Minutes from past meetings are available here.

[Open Space SF: 2100]

Real Foods Blight: Blighted

Can't give an exact date, but the broken window and boards appeared at least 2 weeks ago. Any guesses how long it will be until Noe Valley's most famous blight returns to its former inglorious state?

Update (3/24): A reader let us know that "I walked by Real Foods this morning and they were fixing the windows. I guess that's a start..." Indeed.

[NVSF: Blight: Real Foods]
[NVSF: NVDC Town Forum: SFPD, Whole Foods & More]