|
 |
 |
|
|
Planning Home > General Plan > Bayview Hunters Point Area Plan Bayview Hunters Point Area Plan
This plan is a tool for residents and the City to guide the future development of the Bayview Hunters Point district of San Francisco. It includes sections on Land Use, Transportation, Housing, Commerce, Industry, Recreation and Open Space, Urban Design, Community Facilities and Services, and Public Safety. Bayview Hunters Point, or simply the “Bayview”, is a predominantly industrial and residential district. Historically it has been the location of the City’s heaviest industries, some of its poorest residents, and its greatest concentration of public housing: characteristics that frequently placed it outside the mainstream of San Francisco life. But today the area is at a critical junction as urban growth is proceeding in a southeast direction toward the neighborhoods of Bayview Hunters Point, creating a situation whereby its problems can be translated into major opportunities for community, citywide and regional progress. Public and private development projects throughout southeast San Francisco, including the areas of South of Market, Mission Bay, the Bayshore Corridor, Hunters Point Shipyard, and the construction of the Third Street Light Rail are increasing the significance of Bayview Hunters Point in the future development of the City as a whole. This plan, based on many years of continued citizen input, seeks to provide guidelines for realizing Bayview’s growth potential in a manner that is in the best interest of the local residents and the City as a whole. This edition of the plan incorporates amendments adopted by the Planning Commission in 2010, and before that in March 2006. These amendments reflect new information, changing conditions, and additional policy directives that have evolved since the 1995 Area Plan update, and are the result of multi-year community planning processes facilitated by the Planning Department, the Redevelopment Agency, and other City Departments. Of particular note is the new title of this document. Formerly the “South Bayshore” Area Plan, the new “Bayview Hunters Point” chapter of the General Plan appropriately reflects the name that the community chooses for itself. Several significant development projects referenced in the policy language and narrative of the 1995 Area Plan have moved from ideas to reality over the past ten years. Perhaps most notable, Phase I of the Third Street Light Rail, completed in 2006, extends Muni metro light rail service from the Caltrain station at Fourth and King Streets to Visitacion Valley and the county line. This major transit investment will connect Bayview residents to a wide range of opportunities throughout the City. Other projects completed since the 1995 Plan update include the Portola Place housing development on the former Lucky Lager Brewery site and several affordable housing developments on Third Street. The City has also approved residential projects at the base of Bayview Hill and in the vicinity of Bayview Playground. The Police Station at Williams Avenue and Newhall Street has been serving the Bayview community since February 1997. Pier 98 was transformed into Heron’s Head Park in 1998 while another Port project, the Illinois Street Bridge, was recently completed. Hunters View received its approvals to transform the existing housing authority site into a mixed income, mixed-use neighborhood better connected to its surrounding neighborhood. Bayview’s eastern edge, San Francisco’s southeast waterfront, is also poised for significant change in coming years. In November 2005, the Port Commission approved a lease agreement for a “living classroom” at Heron’s Head Park that will offer educational opportunities for the local community in a state-of-the-art energy efficient facility. The EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park is slated to open in 2010. Across India Basin from Heron’s Head Park, over 1,200 housing units and nearly 25 acres of recreation and open space are under construction in the Phase 1 development of Hunters Point Shipyard. Near the southern entrance to the shipyard at Yosemite Slough, the California State Parks Department, in collaboration with several state and local non-profit organizations, is planning a major restoration project that would establish the largest contiguous wetlands area in San Francisco. South of Yosemite Slough, adjacent to Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, professional baseball is no longer played at “the Stick”, as the San Francisco Giants moved to a new stadium at China Basin in 2000. Through a ballot initiative in 2008, voters passed proposition G, “Jobs Parks and Housing Initiative”, which provided the framework to move forward on planning a large-scale integrated mixed use development at Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard, including the possibility of a new 49ers Stadium at the Shipyard. Proposition G also repealed Propositions D and F passed in 1997, which previously established the land use controls and financing to reconstruct the 49ers Stadium at Candlestick Point along with a retail entertainment complex. The Department prepared the 2006 edition of this plan to approve redevelopment actions that added approximately 1,500 acres to the existing Hunters Point Plan and created the new Bayview Hunters Point Project Area. The redevelopment plan, amended in 2006, seeks to alleviate blight throughout the project area and including affordable housing, economic development, and community enhancement programs. The economic development program is geographically organized into seven activity nodes, shown in Figure 2 and discussed throughout this document. Since the 2006 edition, the original portion of the Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Project Area (Area “A”) terminated being a redevelopment project area. Likewise, the India Basin Industrial Park Project Area also lapsed. Land use authority for these two areas transferred to the Planning Department. This 2010 edition of the Plan reflects the approval of Candlestick Point -- Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 as set forth in Proposition G. Plan amendments reflect the change in nature of the Candlestick Point Activity Node including the desire to create a vibrant high-density mixed-use neighborhood as a means to fully realize its shoreline location and to help in revitalizing the Bayview. Similarly, the 2010 Plan amendment reflects the new proposal for the second phase of Hunter Point Shipyard development, including the increase in proposed housing and the possible location of the 49ers Stadium. While this Plan does not include Hunters Point Shipyard within its jurisdiction, Hunters Point Shipyard is discussed throughout this Plan because of its clear relationship with the Bayview. Executive Park, and Candlestick Point are largely discussed through separate Sub-Area Plans of this Area Plan. The bulk of this plan was adopted on July 20,1995 by Resolution No. 13917 as part of the General Plan of the City and County of San Francisco. The 1995 plan itself replaced an earlier version of the South Bayshore Area Plan adopted on February 19, 1970 by Resolution No. 6486 and subsequently amended. Adjacent to the Bayview, the Hunters Point Shipyard is governed by the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan and its companion Design for Development document. The citizen input process for the Bayview Hunters Point Plan was instrumental in giving focus throughout the many years devoted to the making of the plan. The process was open to citizen comments on a citywide basis with primary comments coming from the Bayview Hunters Point community which will be most impacted by the plan. The citizen input from Bayview Hunters Point was especially helpful in uncovering the basic underlying issues that most directly affect the City and that provide the basis for making the plan a coherent whole.
Citizen response to surveys conducted prior to the 1995 Plan amendments identified a number of specific goals and objectives for the future. These specific goals and objectives can be summarized into two broad needs:
An analysis of census data illustrates trends of demographic and economic decline and displacement in Bayview. Demographic decline among the African-American population is citywide, as San Francisco’s African American population dropped almost 10% between 1980 and 1990 and another 23% in the decade from 1990 to 2000. No other ethnic group has come close to a similar rate of decline. The city’s white population also declined in size, but at a smaller rate than that of the African American population. In contrast, the City has seen dramatic increases in the size of the Asian and Hispanic populations. Hence while in 1970 African Americans were the second largest ethnic group in San Francisco, they represented the fourth largest group in 2000, approximately 8% of the City’s population. The displacement, however, is occurring not so much as a result of any specific policies of a proposed plan, but because of other demographic and market forces – some of which are regional or statewide in nature. During this time of demographic decline among the city’s African American population, Bayview Hunters Point has emerged as the district with the largest African American population. Between 1980 and 1990, the number of African Americans living in Bayview grew from 15,769 to 17,395 – the only district in the city to experience an absolute increase in the size of its African American population during this time period. By 1990, Bayview Hunters Point had effectively replaced the Western Addition as the center of San Francisco’s African American population, as the Western Addition’s African American population dropped from 18,551 to 14,279 between 1980 and 1990. By the time of the 2000 Census, Bayview’s African American population decreased slightly to 15,922. Although Bayview Hunters Point has emerged as the center of San Francisco’s African American community, the economic status of this role is tenuous at best. The number of African Americans living in Bayview increased in absolute size between 1980 and 1990, but decreased as a percentage of all Bayview residents from 73% to 62%. The 2000 Census indicated that this figure has since dropped to 48%. More importantly, other quality of life indicators have showed downward trends since 1980. From 1980 to 1990, home ownership rates declined by 8% in the district as a whole, and by more than 10% among African American households, from 57% to 45%. Home ownership rates for Bayview’s African American households remained relatively steady between 1990 and 2000, dropping two percentage points during that time period. In the decade from 1980 to 1990, the percentage of persons living in poverty in Bayview increased from 25% to roughly 30%, local unemployment doubled from 5.5% to over 10%, and the percentage of female headed households increased from 31% to over 40%. The 2000 Census, however, indicates that some of these downward trends are slowing or even reversing to some degree. From 1990 to 2000, Bayview’s poverty rate fell by almost 20% while the local unemployment rate dropped over 50%. During the same time period, the percentage of family households headed by females remained relatively constant. Also deeply rooted in Bayview’s experience and local history is the legacy of Bayview Hunters Point as a heavy industrial area. For over a century, at least since 1868, when the City and County of San Francisco, by State legislature mandate, designated the Bayview’s northern area, thereafter known as "Butchertown", to carry on the business of slaughtering beef, cattle, hogs, sheep, and calves, Bayview Hunters Point has been the locus of some of the city’s most noxious and unhealthy heavy industries, including steel manufacturing, ship repair, junk yards, and auto wrecking. While these industries were integral to the city’s economic base and an important source of high paying blue-collar jobs, many were established prior to modern land use, coastal, and environmental regulations. Extensive landfill was carried out along the entire bay line with little regard for soil stability and toxicity. Many of the industries were open-air and emitted soot, dusts, feathers, noxious odors and other pollutants to adjacent and nearby residential areas. The development of Bayview Hunters Point as a predominantly industrial and residential area was thereby achieved at extensive costs to environmental health and through extensive conflict between housing and industry. Since 1950 the worst forms of these environmental and land use problems have abated as the implementation of environmental, land use, and coastal regulations, coupled with redevelopment and functional obsolescence, have given way to newer cleaner industrial areas, particularly in the India Basin industrial area. Despite these important advances, environmental justice concerns persist in Bayview Hunter Point, and land use conflicts remain, particularly in the South Basin and Northern Gateway industrial areas. These conflicts have historically contributed to the demographic and economic decline of the Bayview community. Reducing these land use conflicts is a major objective of this Area Plan, including the 2006 amendments. Subsequent to adoption of the 2006 General and Redevelopment Plan amendments, the Department began additional Planning Code text and map amendments as implementation measures supporting this broad objective. In July 2008, the Board of Supervisors adopted legislation that rezoned a large portion of the industrial neighborhoods to newly created PDR (Production, Distribution, and Repair) Districts, which restricts housing, and limits other uses that conflict with light industrial activity. The rezoning further created buffer zones between the core light-industrial neighborhoods and the residential neighborhoods. One notable area that presents land use conflicts is the eastern edge of the South Basin industrial area adjacent to the Yosemite Slough and the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. Unlike the India Basin industrial area, which is generally insulated from Bayview’s residential areas, the South Basin industrial area is located directly adjacent to the primary residential areas of the district. At the eastern edge of South Basin there are a number of very different, frequently conflicting uses existing adjacent or in close proximity to one another, including the Yosemite Slough, the State Park, Bayview residential neighborhoods, the Alice Griffith public housing project, and the stadium at Candlestick Point. While some industrial parcels at this eastern edge are currently in active use, others remain vacant, underused, or have served as storage yards for automobiles and metal equipment. The California State Parks Department has acquired some of these former industrial parcels for the purposes of the Yosemite Slough restoration project. The Department of Public Works is also studying several potential new truck routes through the area as part of its Bayview Transportation Improvements Project. The final route chosen should adequately serve the existing industrial businesses in the area and also respect the integrity and health of the new wetlands planned for Yosemite Slough. The relationship between these diverse uses is uneasy. There is no clear transition between different use areas. Many of the storage yards are eyesores. Vacant parcels are frequently used for illegal dumping or for spillover parking when the Stadium has sold-out crowds for major events. The Department of Public Works plans to address some of the refuse problem in the area with a new campaign against illegal dumping. The program will include the removal of trash, the installation of cameras to monitor popular, informal dumpsites, and a public education component to encourage citizens to report illegal dumping activities. Since there is a continuing need for improved public transit access to the stadium, most patrons use their private automobiles, frequently creating significant congestion and parking problems on major event days. Industrial operators surveyed for the South Bayshore Issues Report complain of security as the most significant problem. They also complain that there are no amenities, such as cafes, restaurants, outdoor lounging areas, etc., for their employees. This plan and subsequent implementation programs, seek to improve the eastern edge of the South Basin district for all users by establishing clearer transition areas between industrial operations, housing, and recreation and open space. The proposed development under Proposition G will help address this issue.
The underlying strategy to reach these goals involves first, creating the necessary land use and market conditions to make Bayview Hunters Point a desirable place for major employers to invest in the district. Major employers, need land where they can thrive and flourish undeterred by competing uses. One area for businesses and jobs to grow and flourish in the southeast part of the City is the Hunters Point Shipyard. A major element in this strategy is to improve the land use pattern and appearance of the areas surrounding the Shipyard, which in turn would make the Shipyard more attractive to private investors. The surrounding areas most in need of improvement are the industrial lands around Yosemite Slough. This plan refers to this area as the Candlestick Point Perimeter because of its adjacency to the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (see Figure 2). The second strategy proposed in this plan is therefore to use the housing growth presently occurring throughout southeast San Francisco to attract business and job growth. Housing growth, rather than being an obstacle to attracting business growth, can be a means for such attraction. This housing growth, resulting from the shortage of housing in San Francisco and the Bay area, can be guided into appropriate areas along the Third Street corridor, Candlestick Point, India Basin Shoreline, Executive Park, and Hunters Point Shipyard to help attract new investment and job-generating uses. A key rezoning proposal from the 1995 Plan amendment was the Restricted Light Industrial Special Use District in the Candlestick Point Perimeter area (see Figure 3). Because of this proposal, restrictions were placed on highly intensive industrial uses in approximately 70 acres of industrial land in the South Basin district, bordering the waterfront and the residential areas to the south and north. The objective of this proposal was to improve the land use pattern, circulation routes, and physical appearance of the industrial, residential and open space areas approaching the southern entrance to Hunters Point Shipyard, and thereby making the Shipyard more attractive for major private investment that can create business and job opportunities for local residents in Bayview and the city as a whole. Other objectives continue to be to appreciate and stabilize property values of the surrounding residential neighborhoods, conserve and stabilize the predominantly African American neighborhoods on the east side of Third Street in order to maintain ethnic diversity in San Francisco, and improve security and create amenities for workers in the core of the South Basin light industrial area. Another major proposal from the 1995 plan update called for the revitalization of Third Street (see Figure 7). As the primary artery running through the middle of Bayview Hunters Point, Third Street has a significant influence on investment attitudes toward the district as a whole. The major rezoning aspects of this proposal adjusted the height limit of the commercial core of Third Street to enhance the neighborhood’s character, and established a special use district that prohibits new liquor stores and encourages more retail and mixed-use development on the street. Third Street continues to suffer from an over concentration of liquor stores and a lack of essential neighborhood retail services. This over concentration is a significant factor contributing to the leakage of retail dollars from the district, whereby residents avoid Third Street and travel to shopping centers outside the district for most of their retail needs. By prohibiting establishment of new liquor stores, the Special Use District proposal seeks to encourage healthier, more essential retail uses that will encourage local residents to again shop on Third Street. The Third Street revitalization scheme also calls for using housing growth to stimulate job and business growth. At present, Third Street has a low-scale building horizon. Although it serves as the primary commercial strip for the district, most of its buildings are no more than one or two stories high. The most pressing need is not for net new commercial space since the section of Third Street running through Bayview Hunters Point is over 32 blocks long with the ground floors of most buildings devoted to retail or wholesale activity. The most significant need is housing over commercial, similar to what exists on most active neighborhood commercial districts in San Francisco. Construction of housing over retail with good urban design would greatly help to improve the appearance of Third Street and enhance its role as the activity center of the Bayview. Moreover, by bringing more pedestrians onto the street it would help to increase the consumer base for merchants, thereby making retail activity more vital and secure. The Third Street and Candlestick Perimeter proposals were the nuclei for making the 1995 Area Plan an effective and implementable plan. In addition to these proposals, this plan update reinforces a number of policies that reflect citizen input and are designed to strengthen the plan’s function for bringing about real change that is in the best interest of Bayview Hunters Point residents and the City as a whole. These additional proposals and policies are contained in the appropriate plan sections that follow this introductory chapter. Below is a brief summary of some of the more significant concepts:
Policies giving priority to Bayview Hunters Point residents for training, employment, affordable housing, and related opportunities will apply to the maximum extent legally feasible to the entire district. How these policies are developed and implemented will be consistent with citizen input and participation. Many of the objectives of this plan focus on the areas of greatest land use conflict between housing and industry and where the stability of existing residential and industrial areas is most threatened. Also, special attention will be given to restoring natural areas that form key points in Bayview’s topography; especially Islais Creek, Yosemite Slough, Bayview Hill, and the potential for landscape design improvements along Third Street. While this Area Plan calls for revitalization, it is not a redevelopment plan. Whether or not tools such as redevelopment are used to bring about these opportunities will be a matter of choice for citizens and the City’s policy makers. This Area Plan provides a policy framework for implementation programs, including subsequent rezoning proposals that support community revitalization in Bayview Hunters Point. It also stipulates that no residents have their homes taken from them and no resident is displaced. The 2006 revisions to this plan coincided with City action on the Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Plan amendment, which is the culmination of several years of community planning and collaboration between the Redevelopment Agency and the Project Area Committee (PAC). In 1995, the Board of Supervisors designated a Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Survey Area encompassing roughly 2,500 acres of land bounded by Cesar Chavez Street on the north, U.S. Highway 101 on the west, the shoreline of San Francisco Bay on the west, and the San Francisco County boundary on the south. The Survey Area excluded land in the Hunters Point, Bayview Industrial Triangle, India Basin Industrial Park, and the Shipyard Redevelopment Areas. In January 1997, the Bayview Hunters Point community elected PAC members to work with and advise the Agency on redevelopment planning for Bayview Hunters Point. Agency staff began work with the PAC on developing a Concept Plan in 1997, using the 1995 edition of this Area Plan as a starting point. The PAC approved the Revitalization Concept Plan in November 2000, which the Agency published in booklet format in March 2002. The Concept Plan serves as the community’s vision statement that guides the redevelopment planning process, and contains the community's goals and objectives for the revitalization of the Bayview Hunters Point area. The 2006 edition of this Area Plan reflected the primary themes and goals presented in the Concept Plan. The 2010 edition of this Area Plan incorporates and reflects objectives set forth by voters in 2008 through their approval of Proposition G. Subsequent to the completion of the Concept Plan, Agency staff and the PAC identified possible redevelopment programs and activities that would lead to the implementation of the goals and objectives of the Concept Plan. These programs and activities are included in the Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Plan Amendment, which establish three major community redevelopment programs: an Affordable Housing Program, an Economic Development Program, and a Community Enhancements Program. The Redevelopment Plan’s Economic Development Program is organized within a structure of “activity nodes”, which are community-identified catalyst areas in which to focus public investment. The seven activity nodes are the Northern Gateway, the Town Center, the Health Center, the South Basin District, the Oakinba Activity Node, Hunters Point Shoreline, and Candlestick Point. (See Figure 2).
The principal objectives for land use in Bayview Hunters Point are: achieve a favorable balance among residential, industrial, commercial and open space uses; stimulate development in underused and declining areas; enhance low scale physical character in the established neighborhoods; and increase pedestrian-oriented neighborhood commercial and social activities. Background
Overall, Bayview Hunters Point has an established land use pattern with industry and housing as the dominant uses. The existing horizon of industrial, residential, and other buildings tends to be low, rarely over three stories high, which helps to maintain definition of the district’s natural topography. Conflict between housing and industry has abated over the past few decades, but significant conflicts still remain in the following areas: the eastern edge of the South Basin industrial area, which abuts the Candlestick Point State Park and stadium; the Yosemite Slough; the Alice Griffith public housing project.; and areas that experience a heavy circulation of industrial truck traffic through neighborhood residential and commercial districts. Also, on several blocks in South Basin, housing and industry exist directly adjacent to each other. Outside of these areas of conflict, other major industrial areas, particularly India Basin tend to be physically insulated from residential areas. While Bayview’s general land use pattern is already established, the district nonetheless lacks the vitality and vibrancy that exist in most other San Francisco districts. This is most visible in the retail sector along Third Street. To some extent, this is caused by the low-density demographic structure of the Bayview, its low building scale, and a lack of development in many areas. While each use area is largely built up, each also has a fair amount of vacant and underused parcels. Hunters Point Shipyard, the single largest former industrial area in the district, has not been fully utilized since its closure as a naval ship repair facility in 1974. A portion of the eastern edge of the South Basin industrial area along the State Park is also vacant and underused. Of these larger vacant and underused areas in Bayview Hunters Point, the eastern edge of industrially zoned land in South Basin is the most problematic in terms of fostering land use disharmony. Located adjacent to the State Park, a healthy light industrial area, a public housing project, and single-family residential areas, this eastern edge functions as a sort of ‘no man’s land’ where illegal dumping and vandalism are common. Enhancing this area to clarify and improve the relationship between the diverse adjacent healthy uses could be of significant benefit to the district as a whole. Potential development described in Proposition G will help solve and clarify these relationships between land uses and will provide direct connections between adjacent healthy uses on the Shipyard and Candlestick Point. The lack of vitality and vibrancy in Bayview’s land use pattern is also caused by social and economic factors. In many ways, the district’s economy has never fully recovered since the closure of Hunters Point Shipyard in 1974. The Shipyard has traditionally functioned as the economic base of the Bayview Hunters Point community. The loss of jobs and income associated with the closure of the naval ship repair activities at the Shipyard has exacerbated social and economic problems in the district. For example, very few Bayview residents shop regularly on Third Street, the district’s primary commercial area, even though it is centrally located in relation to the residential neighborhoods. Shoppers are deterred by the general unattractiveness of many portions of the street, the lack of variety in essential neighborhood-serving retail uses, the empty storefronts, the over concentration of liquor stores, and related loitering. Third Street has assumed this character during the years since the closure of naval ship repair activities at the Shipyard. Closure of the Shipyard coupled with a dramatic decline in population due to clearance of the old war housing on Hunters Point Hill undercut the market structure needed to make Third Street a vital shopping area. Presently there is little incentive for private investment on the street. Public actions will be needed to make it more attractive for private market activity. Problems on Third Street, underuse of the eastern edge of South Basin, as well as the underused state of Hunters Point Shipyard, suggest that the key to policies for revitalizing Bayview Hunters Point is to adopt a strategy of using housing growth presently occurring as means of attracting business and job growth that directly benefit existing Bayview residents. The amount of vacant land, concentrated and dispersed, that exists throughout the Bayview provides ample room to implement this strategy without diminishing the moderately scaled family orientation of existing residential areas and without threatening the economic vitality and growth of established industrial areas. Stimulating revitalization of Third Street presents a special problem because most of it is already built-up and because the existence of major social problems places a formidable constraint on the ability to re-market the land for healthier uses. Nonetheless, over the long run, an increase in population, both residential and worker, should provide the necessary market stimulus to begin to change the general character of Third Street and attract healthier uses. To maximize the effectiveness of neighborhood revitalization efforts, public and private investment should be concentrated in strategic areas along Third Street and other key locations rather than diffused in an uncoordinated fashion throughout the entire length of the corridor. The Northern Gateway, Town Center, and Health Center activity node each has its own set of existing conditions and implementation plan objectives, as described in the Redevelopment Plan. Economic programs and development proposals within these areas should respond to the unique characteristics and goals of the activity node as outlined in this document and the Redevelopment Plan. (See Figure 1). OBJECTIVE 1 POLICY 1.1 One strategic subarea for using improved land use quality and housing growth to stimulate long term economic and employment growth is the perimeter of the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. The subarea is shown in Figure 5. Part of this subarea consists of vacant and underused land southward of the Yosemite Slough between the State Recreation Area, Alice Griffith Housing project and Candlestick Park. Most of the land is currently zoned M-1, but with the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area and the existing residential neighborhood as the primary adjacent uses, it is becoming less suitable for intensive industry. Yosemite Slough is proposed as a wetlands area by the Master Plan for the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. Parcels immediately surrounding the slough presently include intensive uses such as auto wrecking yards that would not provide a positive supportive environment for the proposed wetlands area. Development or enlargement of these uses on these parcels should be prohibited, and development considered only if the project enhances Yosemite Slough as a proposed wetland area and does not create any conflicts with the surrounding residential areas. Since the approval of the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area Master Plan in 1987, the State has acquired several former industrial parcels in the vicinity of Thomas Avenue and Griffith Street deemed necessary for the restoration of the area and the development of proposed tidal marshes and mudflats at Yosemite Slough. The Alice Griffith public housing development is in need of replacement and is surrounded on one side by the existing State Park, another on vacant land owned by the Redevelopment Agency, and on two other sides by established neighborhoods. The integrated Candlestick/Shipyard project will rebuild these units on a one-for-one basis consistent with the requirements of the Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Plan. Since Ingalls and Carroll Avenues are existing truck routes, it is essential that any housing developed in this immediate vicinity be adequately insulated from the adverse effects of heavy traffic through the existing City policies on sound attenuation and by providing new direct routes between the Shipyard and Candlestick Point. While it is also essential to accommodate this truck route to serve the industrial businesses in this area as well as those proposed for Hunters Point Shipyard, new or expanded businesses in this area should take every precaution possible to minimize impacts from trucks on the surrounding residential areas. Also, soils in the area will need to be tested for the presence of toxic materials; with clean-up required to remedy any hazardous conditions. Like much of the existing southeast shoreline, the Candlestick Point Perimeter area was created by landfill prior to the development of modern environmental regulations and standards. As a once-active heavy industrial area, it could have toxic soil conditions on many developable sites. Most of the area already falls within the soil-testing zone whereby soil tests and clean-up are required as a part of building permit activity. The entire area should be brought under this zone, per Public Works Code, Article 20. POLICY 1.2
POLICY 1.3 There are various blocks throughout the Bayview, and particularly in the South Basin and Northern Gateway areas, that include a mixture of both industrial and residential uses. In some cases, these uses have managed to achieve a healthy co-existence. In other cases, one use type appears to have thrived at the expense or neglect of the other. Those uses should be supported which will help to abate land use conflict in this area. POLICY 1.4 South Basin West (as shown on Figure 2) directly abuts housing areas, but the relationship is less problematic than on the eastern side of Third. Moreover, South Basin West has an interesting mix of industrial and heavy commercial uses, including food preparation and distribution activities, a trade union apprenticeship program, and a telecommunications carrier hotel. The area also has some large sites for potentially major new development. POLICY 1.5 Over the past thirty years South Basin and portions of the Northern Gateway have undergone a natural evolution from a heavy industrial to a light industrial area. This evolution should be supported and reinforced as both areas abut established low-density residential neighborhoods or public open spaces, and the trend toward light industries reduces the potential for adverse conflicts with these residential neighborhoods. The application of new, mixed-use buffer areas should be explored at the edges of the South Basin and Northern Industrial districts. Light industrial zoning controls and development standards should be further developed throughout the district, with special attention given to improving industrial building design. Housing growth should be prohibited in designated industrial areas to provide a more supportive environment for businesses, and the jobs they provide, to thrive and flourish. POLICY 1.6 The stretch of Innes Avenue leading up to the northern point of entry of the Hunters Point Shipyard serves as a buffer between the heavy industrial uses in India Basin and the residential uses on Hunters Point Hill. This area is undergoing modest private revitalization with a potential interesting mix of uses taking place. The base of the area, at the corner of Hawes and Innes Avenues, is the site for Our Lady of the Lourdes, the oldest Catholic church in the district. Several single-family homes are also located in the vicinity. Innes Avenue leading up to the shipyard was changed from CM to NC-2 on the northern side of the street as a result of rezoning actions taken after the 1995 update of this Plan. Additionally, an RH-1 district on the southern side of Innes Avenue was rezoned to RH-1(S), which accommodates the development of one accessory dwelling unit per lot. Directly north of Innes Avenue, an industrial park is proposed. If developed, it would be bordered by open space lands acquired by the Recreation and Park Department that will provide direct public access to the India Basin shoreline. This healthy co-mingling of diverse residential, light industrial, small retail, and heavy commercial uses with natural-oriented open space areas should continue to be encouraged.
OBJECTIVE 2 Revitalization of Third Street is probably the most complex issue facing the community of Bayview Hunters Point. The physical, economic, and social problems that exist on certain parts of the street impact the entire district and need immediate action. Yet there are no quick solutions. The challenge is not simply that of getting rid of undesirable uses; it is also that of attracting healthy and desirable new uses. There is relatively little demand for net growth in small-scale retail space because the corridor already possesses a significant amount of commercial space relative to its existing and potential population size. There is, however, a more noticeable need for certain larger retail functions, including a grocery store and a clothiers. There appears to be little demand for commercial office uses. The use with the greatest potential demand is housing, particularly moderately sized multi-family buildings. Such housing could make the street more attractive while also improving the market for healthy retail activity. Given the central influence that Third Street has on investment attitudes about the entire Bayview district, a series of vigorous public actions are needed to change the appearance and climate of the street and make it conducive for appropriate residential development. The Third Street Light Rail Project brings a significant resource and amenity to the corridor. The project represents a major public investment in Bayview and will help bring increased vitality to the area. POLICY 2.1 Steps should be taken which ultimately would make Third Street an attractive market for new residential development. New dwellings and residents could provide the consumer market structure needed to bring healthier retail activity to Third Street on a continuous basis. Multi-family residential development will not be feasible, however, until the environment of the street is made more attractive and secure for apartment life. An approach for revitalizing Third Street could follow the suggested land use framework, as shown on Figure 7. This framework largely conforms to the existing character of the street. It designates the blocks between Kirkwood Avenue on the north and Thomas and Thornton Avenues on the south as the commercial core of Third Street. Mixed residential/commercial projects should be encouraged, in this Town Center node with the public block that includes the Bayview Opera House serving as the hub. North of the Town Center, Third Street offers opportunities for a range of commercial, light industrial, and job-generating uses. All new development should place active uses on the Third Street frontage to activate the street environment as much as possible, where zoning allows. Senior housing might be considered as a means for improving the character of Third Street and making it more conducive for private market rental housing. This assumes that there are available sites on the street for a senior housing complex. If the City and community decide to develop senior housing, it should be done in a way that minimizes displacement of existing residents on Third Street. The 2006 Redevelopment Plan amendment identifies the Health Center Activity Node as an appropriate location for the development of senior housing due to its proximity to Third Street light rail stops at Williams Avenue and at Carrol Avenue, the Bayview Playground/MLK Jr. Pool, the Southeast Health Center Clinic, and other existing senior housing projects in the area.
POLICY 2.2 By location, historical character, and overall mission, the Bayview Opera House is central to any efforts to revitalize Third Street. As one of the primary city facilities providing cultural and artistic programs for San Francisco’s African-American population, it has the potential to serve as a magnet for attracting the necessary outside market needed to make retail activity on the street economically strong. Moreover, the entire city block where the Opera House is located is publicly owned, and portions of it are presently underutilized. The block also contains Joseph Lee Recreation Center, which was recently renovated. The City should examine ways to introduce new uses to the site with an eye towards maximizing activity in the area. Improvements to the public block site could provide a significant boost to the overall revitalization scheme for Bayview’s Town Center district. POLICY 2.3 One of the primary conditions for revitalizing the Bayview Hunters Point community is the need to attract a healthier mix of retail uses on Third Street and discourage unhealthy uses. The most prevalent unhealthy use is the large number of retail outlets selling alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption. Survey results in the 1987 Issues Report found that Third Street, from Cesar Chavez (Army) Street to Meade Street, contains twice as many liquor stores as neighborhood commercial strips of a similar size in San Francisco. This heavy concentration of liquor stores and their related social problems give a negative image to Third Street. Billboards advertising alcohol or cigarettes, and check-cashing outlets, because of their proliferation, also degrade the image, health and welfare of the environment. Many of these uses attract undesirable loitering that deters pedestrians from walking on the street, creates traffic congestion, and has adverse impacts on adjacent residential uses. Rezoning actions taken subsequent to the 1995 edition of this Plan established the Third Street Special Use District (SUD), which placed restrictions on the sale of alcohol for parcels along Third Street. These regulations were clarified and expanded by the Board of Supervisors in 2003. Figure 8 shows the distribution of liquor stores in the proposed Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Project area in 2004.
POLICY 2.4 There are opportunities for additional residential development and mixed-use projects within the identified activity nodes along Third Street. (See Figure 7). While some opportunity sites are found at the edge of the core commercial area where there are large underutilized lots, such development is also a critical part of the Town Center revitalization strategy. In general, new major development should be located in close proximity to stops along the Third Street Light Rail to encourage use of public transit. See Commerce Objective 7, Policy 2.
The principal objective for transportation planning is to provide adequate transportation services to maintain the economic vitality of Bayview Hunters Point and improve the livability of its residential neighborhoods. Background Bayview’s diverse land use pattern poses potentially conflicting requirements on its transportation system. Each major type of land use — the shipping and distribution operations located in the India Basin Industrial Park and on nearby Port property, the heavy commercial along Bayshore Boulevard, the low density residential neighborhoods, the neighborhood serving retail along Third Street, the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area and nearby stadium, and the approved development at Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point – has its own particular transportation needs. With relatively wide streets, two nearby freeways, a light rail extension, and an existing commuter rail system, Bayview Hunters Point has many of the elements of the comprehensive circulation system that would be needed to handle these diverse needs. The primary gaps relate to truck traffic and public transit. Because many industrial uses, particularly in South Basin, are located adjacent to neighborhood residential and commercial areas, there is frequent intrusion of truck traffic into these areas. Bayview lacks a major thoroughfare that connects industrial areas to the freeway system without passing through residential areas or the neighborhood commercial sections of Third Street. Such intrusion is one of the most common complaints among residents about the district. The truck traffic problem is also related to a larger problem dealing with the freeway facilities in the southeast section of San Francisco. I-280 is not adequately connected to the Bay Bridge to encourage industrial truck traffic away from residential areas and off of surface streets. I-280 serves the northern industrial areas of South Bayshore, but going northward to the East Bay, it ends and returns vehicles to congested surface streets before connecting to I-80 at Fifth and Bryant Streets. Because of this lack of connection, many trucks prefer using Third Street to go to the Bay Bridge even though it runs through neighborhood commercial areas. The other major gap deals with the inadequacy of public transportation in relation to existing and future population needs. Bayview Hunters Point was well served by the #15-Third bus line, which was replaced by the Third Street Light Rail project in 2006, which provides a regular direct connection from Third Street to Downtown and City College of San Francisco. Otherwise public transportation services are lacking. Public transit is more convenient for traveling from the heart of Bayview to Downtown than for traveling between different neighborhoods of Bayview Hunters Point. Although there is a major regional facility in the Candlestick Park sports stadium, the public transit services to this facility are limited. The district also lacks the variety of pedestrian and bicycle pathways that one finds in many other parts of San Francisco. Bayview’s social problems also have an adverse impact on public transit, especially Muni services. For example, Muni services in the area are frequently disrupted by juveniles throwing rocks, bottles or other objects at passing Muni buses. When these incidents occur, Muni either reroutes or suspends service to the entire area for the remainder of the evening, greatly inconveniencing residents who need convenient access to public transit for employment and essential services. Much of the reason for the lack in transit services is the low population density in Bayview Hunters Point. It does not have the ridership volumes needed to warrant a greater variety of services. However, this situation is changing with the population increase presently occurring in the district. Moreover, the integrated development of Candlestick Point and the Hunters Point Shipyard as provided for in Proposition G, including the new direct connections between the Shipyard and Candlestick Point, will substantially improve many of the conditions described above. OBJECTIVE 3 POLICY 3.1 Truckers will use non-residential and non-neighborhood commercial streets only if they are provided a viable alternate route. Key improvements to the existing system would serve to encourage truckers to use routes that do not disrupt existing residential and neighborhood commercial streets. The absence of a direct connection to the I-280 from the industrial areas of the Bayview is a major cause of the industrial truck traffic problems in the area. Also, the lack of a direct connection between I-280 and the Bay Bridge discourages many trucks from using I-280, resulting in increased truck traffic on surface streets. In 2004, the Department of Public Works launched the Bayview Transportation Improvements Project (B-TIP), which is studying alternative truck routes to better connect industrial operations in the Northern Gateway and South Basin, to local highways. The City should also work with Caltrans to determine and develop ways of improving truck usage of I-280 as alternative to truck usage of surface streets. As housing development increases with the spread of urban growth along the southeast corridor of the city, from South of Market to Visitacion Valley, the issue of separating industrial traffic from residential and neighborhood commercial traffic will become increasingly important. Integrated development of the Shipyard and Candlestick Point and the new direct connections created between the two sites, helps achieve this desired separation. OBJECTIVE 4 POLICY 4.1
POLICY 4.2 Effective measures are needed for improving public transit services in Bayview. The overall objective of such measures should be to shift resident preferences away from private automobile use to public transit use and to reduce the use of private automobiles accessing events at the existing Candlestick Park Stadium or a potential Hunters Point stadium. This would require improving public transit access among different neighborhoods in the Bayview as well as between Bayview Hunters Point and other parts of the City, especially the Downtown. It would also require ameliorating the social issues that affect the security of public transit services in the district. The development of the Third Street Light Rail, represents a major transportation improvement for the residents of southeast San Francisco. POLICY 4.3 After years of study and community dialogue, the Planning Commission and the Federal Transit Administration gave final approval to the Environmental Impact Statement for the Third Street Light Rail Project in 1999. The operation began operation in April 2007, and provides service from the current station at Fourth and King Streets to the Bayshore Caltrain Station in Visitacion Valley. The new light rail line offers ten stops between Cesar Chavez Street and Bayshore Boulevard. Several stations provide connections to east-west Muni bus lines that serve the Bayview, including the 19, 24, 44, and 29 lines. Phase 2 of the Third Street Light Rail Program will extend rail service 1.7 miles through a new “Central Subway” serving Chinatown, Union Square, Moscone Convention Center, Yerba Buena, SoMa and AT&T Park, as well as BART and Caltrain. A light rail system linking Bayview Hunters Point to Downtown and other parts of San Francisco will be instrumental in achieving the overall transportation, land use, and energy conservation objectives of this Area Plan. It will help to produce direct transportation benefits, such as encouraging more people to use public transit, as well as indirect benefits, such as a more healthful physical environment and social/economic revitalization. In addition, it will help to eliminate the geographical isolation of Bayview Hunters Point from the rest of the city. At least two basic alternatives for a light rail system in the southeast corridor were considered in the 1995 Area Plan update: The existing Caltrain right-of-way and Third Street. Third Street was chosen as part of a comprehensive effort to revitalize the street as the heart of Bayview Hunters Point and increase usage of public transportation to, from, and within the district. As part of the Bayshore Corridor Study, Muni developed many alternatives, of which four were recommended for further study. Subsequently, with the help of the Urban Habitat Program, a local nonprofit research and advocacy group, the community also developed a preferred "Hybrid" alternative that was the basis for the community's preferred alternative, providing more direct service to downtown on Third Street. These alternatives are included in this Plan to illustrate and document the broad community consensus for light rail along Third Street and did not pre-empt the final recommendations of the Transportation Authority's Major Investment Study, which evaluated all of the five alternatives and resulted in selection of the "Locally Preferred Alternative." To the maximum extent feasible and desirable, the following citizen-recommended objectives and other recommendations of Urban Habitat's Bayview Hunters Point Social and Ecological Justice Transportation Plan should continue to be included among the overall objectives of light rail and transportation planning and implementation through the southeast corridor: a. Upgrade existing stations and develop new stations to increase availability of public transit services to local residents. POLICY 4.4 On-street parking in the commercial core section of Third Street, between McKinnon and Revere Avenues, is ninety percent occupied throughout most of the business day. Further study should be given to the idea of constructing a public off-street parking facility in close proximity to the Bayview Town Center area in order to strengthen its capacity to serve as the activity center for the revitalization of Third Street as well as meet the off-street parking needs of Third Street merchants. In the interim, one alternative is to use the parking space of some of the churches along Third Street, since they tend to be underused during the regular business hours of most commercial establishments. POLICY 4.5 Bayview Hunters Point is included as a part of the bicycle and pedestrian circulation system of the Transportation Element of the General Plan. Figure 12 shows the bicycle plan. The City should continue to refine this plan to give specific attention to the pedestrian and bicycle circulation needs for the Bayview. Special attention should be given to pedestrian linkages across the physical barriers formed by freeways that separate Bayview from the rest of San Francisco, and to bicycle facilities that serve recreational and educational facilities. Figure 12 also shows proposed pedestrian trails through Bayview Hunters Point.
POLICY 4.6 Special events at Candlestick Park attract crowds of up to 70,000 persons from throughout the Bay Area and northern California. The large number of automobile trips typically generated by these events can create extreme congestion and block access to nearby residential streets for residents and emergency vehicles alike. A variety of public education, traffic routing and enforcement measures are needed to deal with this problem. If the 49ers stadium is moved to Hunters Point Shipyard, a fully considered exiting plan should be completed and implemented to mitigate impacts to surrounding neighborhoods.
The principal objectives for housing in Bayview Hunters Point are to preserve existing housing and homeownership patterns, and to promote major growth in new housing at price levels, types of construction, and locations that offer maximum choice to a majority of existing Bayview residents. Background Bayview Hunters Point contains over 9,800 dwelling units and 33,500 residents (2000 Census). Approximately 43 percent of Bayview’s housing stock was built prior to 1950 and is of sound construction. This older housing generally consists of one-story dwellings over a garage. Along Third Street there are three residential hotels containing a total of 79 units. The primary housing issue facing Bayview Hunters Point is affordability. It underlies other issues related to housing conservation and new housing growth and affects many different segments of Bayview’s population. Most directly, it affects lower income households. There is a need to protect the existing supply of public housing and to encourage greater resident participation in the maintenance of dwelling units once they have been rehabilitated and improved. There is also a need to forestall or avoid displacement of lower income residents living in HUD-subsidized housing units. Affordability is also a major issue facing moderate and middle-income homeowners in Bayview Hunters Point. Many older residents bought their homes after World War II when property was inexpensive and jobs plentiful. However, because of the extraordinary increase in real estate prices over the past twenty-five years, particularly in San Francisco, and because of the deteriorating employment situation of many Bayview residents, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the offspring of older homeowners to afford to buy housing in the district. Two issues are involved: The need to maintain affordability among existing housing units while improving their overall residential quality; and the need to assure that a significant portion of the new housing constructed is of good construction quality and affordable at the income levels that prevail in the district. The low median income in the Bayview relative to the rest of the city means that affordable housing programs to be effective will require a higher level of subsidies and will need to be especially targeted for Bayview Hunters Point residents. To be affordable to most Bayview households, ownership housing should be at a cost level whereby households earning an amount equal to 80 percent of the city’s median income can purchase it, and rental housing should be at a cost level whereby they are affordable to those with 50 percent of the City’s median income. While providing new, high quality affordable housing is among the highest priorities for the Bayview, there is also a need to build excellent market-rate housing in Bayview Hunters Point. The unfair stigma of Bayview Hunters Point as an undesirable neighborhood stems, in part, from the excessive concentration of low-income housing that existed there during the postwar years. Some new quality market-rate housing to supplement new affordable housing would help to diminish this stigma as well as introduce income diversity among residents. OBJECTIVE 5 POLICY 5.1 Most residential areas in Bayview Hunters Point are zoned for single-family and two-unit homes. This is consistent with the existing building scale in these areas. To maintain this scale, new infill housing and expansion of existing dwellings in the heart of Bayview’s residential neighborhoods should conform to existing residential patterns in terms of bulk, setbacks, and height. Also, as the existing housing ages, there is a greater need to increase maintenance of older housing. In light of the low incomes that prevail among many existing homeowners a special effort may be needed to assist rehabilitation and maintenance efforts among these homeowners in order to prevent the older housing stock from moving to a point of dilapidation. This is especially important since housing is the primary capital asset among Bayview’s predominantly African American community, to a much greater extent than among other ethnic groups, and is therefore important to retaining and establishing San Francisco’s African American population and maintaining thereby ethnic diversity in the city as a whole. POLICY 5.2 The HUD contracts under which the rents for these units are subsidized must be renewed annually. If no way is found at the federal level to continue these subsidies, close to 3,000 Bayview residents, roughly 12% of the district’s total population, could face substantial rent increases or the threat of displacement. POLICY 5.3 Public housing is one of the main supplies of truly affordable housing. Its residential population is one of the most stable portions of the City’s total population. Housing Authority officials and other City officials should work with tenant organizations and individuals in Bayview to increase federal funding to improve physical social, and economic conditions in public housing areas. Many improvements can be carried out without additional Federal funding provided there is sufficient will and cooperation among appropriate local officials and residents. Guidelines for cooperation between local officials and public housing tenants can be designed to operate at varying levels of federal funding. POLICY 5.4 Bayview Hunters Point is one of the primary locations for the City’s sewage treatment facilities. Many of these facilities are located adjacent or in close proximity to residential areas, and affect residential character. During heavy rains, the combined sanitary/storm water sewer system often overflows, causing untreated sewage to surface or drain directly to the bay. Implementation of the Wastewater Master Plan approved by San Francisco voters has helped to modernize wastewater facilities, reduce untreated overflows, and improve their relationship to residential areas. However, one part of the plan -- construction of the Crosstown Tunnel to link the Southeast facility to an ocean outfall facility, or an alternative discharge location -- is yet to be implemented. Existing wastewater facilities in Bayview Hunters Point include sewage handling facilities that treat and discharge waste matter into the bay. The Bayside Discharge Alternatives studies are currently analyzing the Crosstown Tunnel, and other alternatives to find the best solution to the sewage treatment and disposal problems in the Bayview. Other options, which would address the need to eliminate discharge into the Islais Creek vicinity, include a new Bay outfall and reclamation/export of the wastewater out of the City. The Bayview Hunters Point community prefers the building of the Crosstown Tunnel. A layout of the Clean Water Master Plan and the Crosstown Tunnel is shown in Figure 13.
OBJECTIVE 6 POLICY 6.1 Plans for the revitalization and intensification of Third Street, and new housing at Hunters Point Shipyard and the Candlestick Point Activity Node provide the potential for thousands of new housing units in Bayview. For those projects proposed within redevelopment areas, including Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard, affordability requirements are set forth in the applicable redevelopment plan. For all other projects, San Francisco's Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program applies to projects containing five or more units. At least twelve percent of the units in those projects are required to be affordable using guidelines provided by the Mayors Office of by the Redevelopment Plan. Beyond these basic requirements, a major effort targeting new affordable housing for existing Bayview Hunters Point residents is needed to avoid displacement of the existing population resulting from new housing development over the next ten to twenty years. POLICY 6.2 In addition to stabilizing Bayview’s existing residential areas, supporting new moderate density housing on Third Street is a high priority of this plan and would be beneficial to the district as a whole in the long term. This includes abating illegal industrial nuisances near housing, phasing out legal, nonconforming intensive industrial uses, and encouraging improvement through better truck route enforcement, hazardous waste containment, building design, and landscaping. The Land Use section (Objective 1) contains policies and actions toward this goal. Development of more housing on Third Street, however, will in itself help to improve the neighborhood environment because more residents would be keeping their eyes on problems and actively working to improve their environment. Additional guidelines for the revitalization of Third Street are provided under Objective 2, in the Land Use section. A graphic description is given in Figure 7. POLICY 6.3 There are close to 200 scattered vacant sites in Bayview that are zoned RH-1 and RH-2. Many are owned by local homeowners and non-profit housing developers and represent their primary stake in the private economy. Together these sites present a potential opportunity for substantial new housing and for improving the capital base in a capital-deficient community, particularly among African Americans. Many sites will be developed through the private market mechanism. Others may need technical assistance and public incentives to stimulate development, assure affordability, and give existing residents a stake in the private economy. POLICY 6.4 The ridge portion of Hunters Point shipyard consists of approximately 70 acres directly abutting the Hunters Point Hill residential area. This ridge portion of the shipyard used to provide housing for the military, and many of the housing structures remain. The Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan gives consideration for providing affordable and mixed-income housing ranging from single-family to multi-family residential developments. The Redevelopment Plan calls for development of new streets and clustering new residential construction along Hunters Point Hill, to improve the circulation between the Shipyard and the adjoining residential neighborhoods to better integrate the shipyard into the surrounding community. As of 2010, development of up to 1,600 residential units, including a substantial amount of new affordable housing, has been commenced as “Phase I” of implementation of the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan, which includes the ridge. POLICY 6.5 The recent and projected growth in population in the Bayview Hunters Point area has increased the demand for all types of housing. Families have been leaving the district because of limited choices in the existing housing stock. For a long time the Bayview Hill area remained undeveloped, but within the last 20 years it has become subject to significant growth pressures. Close to 50 new units were constructed on the Western slopes in the mid 1990s. Over 1,250 dwelling units have been constructed or received approval from the Planning Department in the Executive Park area as of 2005. An application for a 198-unit condominium development on the northern side of Bayview Hill, facing Jamestown Avenue, was approved in 2004. The Candlestick Point – Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 project includes substantial high density residential development consistent with the Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Plan and the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan, much of it located east of the Hill. Over the past 25 years, the Recreation and Park Department has acquired or designated as open space much of the land on Bayview Hill. Some undeveloped land on the north side of the hill facing Jamestown Avenue remains residentially zoned. The 1990 Department of City Planning "Inventory of Land Suitable for Residential Development" listed this as a Housing Opportunity site based on a preliminary street survey for the Residence Element. More housing at the base of Bayview Hill with the appropriate infrastructure, locational pattern, and architectural design could help to meet the housing demand as well as contribute to the revitalization of the neighborhood. Additional housing could help to expand the consumer base for local, neighborhood-serving businesses without displacing any existing residents. The site could also provide economic development opportunities for local residents such as short-term construction contracts, construction jobs, home ownership, or participation in interim uses compatible with the adjacent parklands and residences. Bayview Hill is one of the few remaining hills in San Francisco that has significant open space that supports an array of habitats, natural areas, and recreational activities, and is visually prominent in the southeast part of the City. In addition to the privately-owned land (including an open space easement in Executive Park on the southern slope), the city-owned park at the crest of the hill is currently over 36 acres, and there are several acres of State and City-owned land on the west side of the hill. In 1991, the Recreation and Park Department began to acquire some of the privately owned land atop the hill as part of the San Francisco Open Space Acquisition/Park Renovation Program, administered jointly by the Recreation and Park Commission and the Planning Commission.
The principal objectives for commercial development in Bayview Hunters Point are to improve the vitality of shopping areas and attract commercial investment for the greater convenience of the people who live and work in Bayview. OBJECTIVE 7 Bayview has over 500 commercial establishments. These establishments are dispersed throughout the district, but the greatest concentrations occur along Bayshore Boulevard and on Third Street. The establishments along Bayshore consist primarily of heavy commercial outlets, such as large lumberyards and hardware stores. Located on the periphery of the district with direct access to the James Lick Freeway, the Bayshore Boulevard commercial area serves a regional market and holds the potential for growth. Third Street, running through the middle of the district, is also a major thoroughfare but with more neighborhood-serving businesses. While immediately accessible to the surrounding residential community of Bayview Hunters Point, it has been relatively insulated from other parts of the City and region and has not yet succeeded in attracting a larger outside market. This is expected to change somewhat with the introduction of the Third Street Light Rail. The primary challenge facing the commercial sector in Bayview Hunters Point is stimulating sufficient private investment interest in healthy economic uses on Third Street. To meet this challenge, the City should establish a set of community and economic development funding programs specifically designed and organized to meet the financing needs for successful revitalization of Third Street. POLICY 7.1 This section is the logical heart of Third Street. It contains the largest concentration of existing retail establishments in the district outside of those on Bayshore Boulevard. Its blocks should be the focus of a Third Street revitalization program for encouraging healthy pedestrian-oriented and neighborhood-serving retail reuse. POLICY 7.2 Third Street is a major thoroughfare. A large number of persons travel through on their way to and from Candlestick Park, India Basin Industrial Park, and Hunters Point Shipyard. However, there is a current lack of convenient, attractive and safe retail services on Third Street, which deters through traffic from stopping. The core of the commercial district between Kirkwood and Thomas Avenues is characterized by more local and pedestrian-serving uses, while the northern end and the southern end are characterized by more regional and automobile-oriented uses. These ends also contain larger and sometimes vacant parcels. In these areas there is a need and opportunity for development that could provide new jobs and a higher intensity of activities to attract more patrons. Housing development is appropriate in the identified mixed-use nodes and essential for the commercial revitalization of the corridor as a whole. Automobile-oriented retail should be limited to outside the Third Street core area where it will not conflict with the new light rail alignment or the pedestrian environment of the Town Center. POLICY 7.3 Commercial uses in the district should be distributed in a pattern that provides convenient access to essential retail services for all residential neighborhoods. All residents should be within walking distance, approximately one-half mile, of essential neighborhood retail services. Neighborhood commercial areas should be in conformity with the applicable provisions of the Commerce and Industry Element of the General Plan, which govern neighborhood commercial districts and uses. C-M zoning is being phased out citywide and replaced with NC-3, NC-2, new light industrial districts, or special NCD zoning where the uses are primarily neighborhood-serving commercial. This more specialized zoning is better suited to areas that abut residential neighborhoods, as it encourages housing and discourages large intensive uses, which disrupt pedestrian and residential character. Candlestick Point is not subject to these controls. POLICY 7.4 The existing sports stadium within this district may be replaced with a new professional football stadium at Hunters Point Shipyard. Redevelopment of Candlestick Point should include the creation of a destination retail and entertainment center.. At Hunters Point Shipyard, redevelopment should include a vibrant neighborhood serving retail and commercial mixed use area. Such uses would help create urban cores for Candlestick and Hunters Point Shipyard helping to attract visitors to new developments from around the region. A destination retail center would also increase the accessibility of goods and services to Bayview residents who are currently underserved by retail. At the same time, a retail and entertainment center could help to establish a sense of place for the benefit of adjacent uses, including high density housing and offices to create a vibrant urban center. Retail and entertainment development for Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard need to be thoughtfully programmed to ensure that it is acting as a catalyst for economic revitalization throughout the Bayview and not unduly compete with established retail corridors, most importantly Third Street.
The principal objectives for industry are to maintain and fully utilize existing industrial areas to better meet the City's and Bayview’s economic needs and to achieve a closer linkage between the employment and investment opportunities created in the industrial areas and the employment and entrepreneurial needs in the Bayview Hunters Point community. Background Over one quarter of the land in Bayview Hunters Point is occupied by industrial uses, not including the Shipyard or Port property. The subareas that have industry as a primary land use include: Northern Industrial, India Basin Industrial Park, South Basin East, and South Basin West. Together these industrial areas contain over 1,000 establishments and provide almost 15,000 jobs. Maintaining the vitality and growth of these areas is crucial to the economic well-being and future of Bayview as well as the city as a whole. The Northern Industrial area, India Basin Industrial Park, and the Port facilities at Piers 94 and 96 are oriented toward light and heavy industrial activities, maritime industry, and heavy commercial. Physically removed from Bayview’s primary residential areas, India Basin Industrial Park and the Port's container terminals in particular are more directly linked to the adjacent maritime/heavy industrial uses in the Central Waterfront north of Cesar Chavez Street, immediately outside the boundaries of Bayview Hunters Point. Industrial growth in South Basin is circumscribed by surrounding residential areas and the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. Future growth should be directed toward achieving more efficient utilization of space in already built-up industrial areas and improving compatibility with the State Park and surrounding residential areas. The other previous industrial area is the Hunters Point Shipyard. Through special legislation under the federal Base Closure Act, it is being ceded to the city. Occupying over 500 acres, it was the single largest industrial area in the district, and has had determining influence on the overall economy of Bayview and the city as a whole, particularly when it was fully utilized by the Navy as a major ship repair facility from World War II to 1974. By physical location and characteristics and by citizen input, it is an appropriate location for a wide range of new uses, including housing, research and development, retail, commercial office and light industrial uses. The historical conflict between housing and industry in the Bayview and the need to achieve harmony between residential and industrial areas prompted the extensive community planning process to develop the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan, which designates land use throughout the Shipyard. Land uses include a variety of Research and Development Uses, Office Uses, Light Industrial Uses, Mixed Land Uses, residential and Cultural and Educational uses. For specific policies governing Hunters Point Shipyard, see the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan and its accompanying Design for Development document. OBJECTIVE 8 POLICY 8.1 Northern Gateway, South Basin, Oakinba, and the India Basin Industrial Park have been rezoned to new Production, Distribution and Repair designations. The new districts clarify the purpose of these vital neighborhoods by clearly limiting uses that could compete for land and could create damaging land use conflicts. A major opportunity to bring the Hunters Point Shipyard under productive use for local purposes has become available with the Congressional Base Closures Act. Separate legislation to specifically cede Hunters Point Naval Shipyard to the City creates a unique opportunity for the City to bring the shipyard area into full productive use in a way that benefits both the local and regional economy. Reuse of the shipyard has been planned for in the Hunter’s Point shipyard Redevelopment Plan and its accompanying Design for Development document. The Redevelopment Plan provides for a mixed-use development including light industrial, and other mixed uses. For specific policies governing Hunters Point Shipyard, see the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan. Given the central role of the shipyard in the overall economy of Bayview Hunters Point and the City and County, it is essential that these activities be closely coordinated with the planning activities for the Bayview as a whole. POLICY 8.2 A major opportunity to bring the Hunters Point Shipyard under productive use for local purposes has become available with the Congressional Base Closures Act. Separate legislation to specifically cede Hunters Point Naval Shipyard to the City creates a unique opportunity for the City to bring the Shipyard area into full productive use in a way that benefits both the local and regional economy. Reuse of the Shipyard has been planned for in the Hunter's Point shipyard Redevelopment Plan and its accompanying Design for Development document. For specific policies governing Hunters Point Shipyard, see the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan. Given the central role of the Shipyard in the overall economy of the Bayview and the City and County, it is essential that these activities be closely coordinated with the planning activities for South Bayshore as a whole. OBJECTIVE 9 POLICY 9.1 The India Basin Redevelopment Project has been successful in attracting new industries to the Bayview district. It is not clear, however, that the project has fully met its employment goals of creating major job opportunities for local residents. Local unemployment rates have fluctuated since completion of the redevelopment project. Future revitalization activities should give greater priority to assuring job opportunities for local residents. POLICY 9.2 The business community in Bayview Hunters has focused much of its interest on revitalizing the retail section of Third Street. Yet even with such revitalization, business opportunities would be limited because of the essentially neighborhood-serving commercial function of Third Street and the ample supply of existing commercial space. Bayview’s industrial sector also offers many business opportunities. The local business community should broaden its interest in economic development to look at ways of playing a larger role in the industrial sector. POLICY 9.3 The South Bayshore Economic Study (May 1988) prepared by Recht Hausrath Associates documented that "Warehousing/Distribution/ Transportation" (W/D/T) industries dominate the Bayview economy. African-Americans are grossly underrepresented in these industries. In most cases, as business owners and operators, they are totally unrepresented. Since the late 1980s, a few African American firms have managed to gain a foothold in this economic sector. These firms include one trucking firm owned and managed by African-American women. The efforts of these firms should be strongly supported. They still face many barriers to full participation as private entrepreneurs because of the historical isolation of African Americans from these industries. These barriers include private market restrictions relating to bonding, financing, contract bidding, marketing, and organizational leverage. Programs specifically designed to eliminate each of these barriers should be developed and implemented so that African American firms can compete on an equal basis with other private firms in this important economic sector of Bayview Hunters Point.
There is enough developable land among and within built-up portions of Bayview Hunters Point for new growth to have a major impact on its overall aesthetic character. The primary design challenge is to locate and shape new growth to accentuate the positive characteristics inherent in the topography, history, and existing use activities of the district. See Figure 14.
India Basin/Hunters Point Hill The steep incline of the northern side of Hunters Point Hill provides a dramatic visual image of the separation between the heavy/maritime industrial uses of India Basin and the residential neighborhoods of Hunters Point. Innes Avenue along the northern base of the hill has a low building scale and interesting mixture of single-family residential, commercial, and light industrial activities in an intimate pedestrian setting. New retail and eating and drinking uses would help foster commingling among these various uses. Roadways combing the intricate texture of the hill reveal a dense residential style population, where blocks of older multi-family housing projects are linked to blocks of newer suburban-style housing, with sudden dramatic views of the bay at various points. The open space at the top of Hunters Point Hill Park offer sweeping views of the industrial side of the bay - Hunters Point Shipyard, the shipyards of Oakland and Alameda - views linked to the industrial-oriented character one experiences in parts of Bayview at the pedestrian level. South Basin, East of Third Street The eastern edge of South Basin along the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area provides an interesting mixture of light industrial, institutional and residential uses with level topography and convenient pedestrian access. Cottages and small church buildings scattered among the small manufacturing, warehousing, and other industrial uses of South Basin convey a sense of the ‘early industrial city’ when there was a healthy tolerance for and commingling among these diverse uses. Candlestick Point State Recreation Area The state park provides direct public access to the southeast shoreline of San Francisco Bay with a major wetlands area to be developed at the Yosemite Slough. The park provides a naturalistic upland and wetland environment along the shore of the Bay that offers respite and seclusion. Strong gusty winds along the shoreline during most days tend to encourage individualized activities, such as walking, fishing, and windsurfing. Bayview Hill Perceptions from the heavily wooded glade at the top of the hill interweave a sense of closure and seclusion with dramatic open-ended views of the entire Bayview Hunters Point area, Downtown, and the bay. Existing residential neighborhoods reveal an interesting mixture of small cottages and single family flats over a garage, many perched in intimate niches created by the uneven topography of the hill. The evenly terraced eastern side of the hill above Executive Park contrasts with uneven texture of the northern side where sudden drops in elevation reach flat table-like formations. Silver Terrace Uniformly developed older residential blocks consisting of one-story flats over garages with stucco exteriors, are reminiscent of those in the Sunset, Richmond and Excelsior districts. The former Bayview Farm agricultural area provides an open vista from the solid residential blocks and a transition to the light industrial uses in South Basin, west of Third Street. Third Street Third Street has an intimate pedestrian character, with a warm sunny climate on most days. This character is understated because of the over concentration of unhealthy uses and automobile orientation that presently characterize the street. The Town Center public block, which includes the Bayview Opera House, is uniquely situated to serve as a major activity center that preserves the area’s working class heritage and brings together the diverse social and cultural elements that make up today’s community. OBJECTIVE 10
Bayview has many positive features: a varied topography, a shoreline, a warm and sunny climate, a small pedestrian-oriented building scale, and at times a certain charm to its unkempt character. The problem is that many of its positive aspects become overwhelmed by such things as unattractive building features, intrusive truck and automobile traffic, and ‘blank’ spaces of vacant land that lack definition. To a large extent, many of the community economic development problems will have to be resolved before the positive features of Bayview Hunters Point as an urban district can become fully expressed. For example, Third Street provides the initial and primary visual impression of the district to most outsiders traveling through it. The bars on shop windows and doors, the boarded-up storefronts, and the general scene on many blocks give an uninviting impression. It will be difficult to correct this negative visual impression until healthier economic uses are brought to the street. The underlying problem is economic. However, once a certain threshold is reached in solving the economic problems, urban design becomes very important. The scale of buildings, their relationship to each other and the street and sidewalks, the placement of street furniture, and other factors relating to the treatment and organization of space become important for giving the street an inviting appearance and sustaining marketability and growth over the long run. Sponsors of projects in the area should refer to the appropriate design guidelines documentation for direction on crafting compatible, quality development for the Bayview. The Planning Department’s Residential Design Guidelines (December 2003) and Industrial Area Design Guidelines (August 2001) discuss approaches to new construction and major renovation projects in residential neighborhoods and industrial zones, respectively. As of the publication date of the 2006 amendments to this Plan, the Planning Department and Redevelopment Agency have also produced a draft Third Street Design Guidelines document that focuses on the Town Center District of Third Street in the Bayview. The document is an important resource in helping residents, local business owners, and City staff evaluate development proposals along Third Street with an eye towards enhancing the overall look and feel of the district. For Candlestick Point and the Hunters Point Shipyard, the applicable Redevelopment Plan and Design for Development documents provide the relevant design guidance and shall control over the other documents identified above. POLICY 10.1 Bayview Hunters Point has a unique assortment of public open space, including Bay View Hill Park, Hilltop Plaza, Adam Rogers Park, Youngblood Coleman Playground, Bayview Playground, the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, India Basin Shoreline Park, and the former Bayview Farm. Yet some of these areas do not stand out visually, and some are not fully accessible to the community, due in part that some of them, such as Bay View Hill and Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, are not fully improved as public open space areas and the surrounding privately owned property is not clearly delineated. Development of appropriate uses and the introduction of more intense pedestrian-oriented activity around their edges would help to accent their existence as open space areas, and promote their use. POLICY 10.2 Third Street between Kirkwood Avenue and Thomas and Thornton Avenues is proposed as the primary commercial and activity center for Bayview Hunters Point. Although Third Street is a major vehicular thoroughfare and a light rail corridor, the building scale is pedestrian-oriented. This orientation should be strengthened in concert with efforts to bring healthier economic uses and more people on the street to shop. Particular attention should be given to making the space around the historic Opera House more attractive and secure for leisure shopping and for cultural and social events. Development of the Bayview Connections Project on the two small triangular blocks in this section of Third Street can play a useful role in this regard. See also Objective 2 in the Land Use section and Objective 7 in the Commerce section. POLICY 10.3 Archeological evidence indicates that prior to European settlement, the Bayview, like many other parts of San Francisco was the home of Native American groups for thousands of years. Doubtless, many remains of the settlements of these groups remain buried in the area. The Bayview Hunters Point Plan recognizes the significance of this deep cultural heritage, and accordingly views the entire geographical area covered by the Plan as having potential archeological significance. Under this view, archeological investigation and plan remediation are encouraged for any substantial proposed physical development with the potential to encounter buried archeological resources within the boundaries of Bayview. Appropriate mitigation measures must be implemented to assure sensitive treatment to potential significant archeological sites, including, when appropriate, the use of archaeological research design and treatment plans. Both the Board of Supervisors and Human Rights Commission have approved resolutions supporting the claim of the Muwekma tribal government as Native American descendants of Bayview Hunters Point and other parts of San Francisco. This policy recognizes these City actions and encourages participation by the Muwekma tribal government, among all affected tribal groups and governments, in the archeological investigation and remediation activities under state and federal law Major land use projects should include outreach efforts to relevant Native American groups to elicit input regarding such undertakings. OBJECTIVE 11 New development can be used to shape and better define the urban pattern of the City as a whole, including its individual neighborhoods. In Bayview Hunters Point, new development could help to emphasize important locations throughout the district and to distinguish between Bayview’s various subareas. In particular, the design of new buildings along Third Street should reflect and enhance the prominence of the corridor in relation to its surroundings. One way in which new development can accomplish this objective is through accents in building height. In general, taller buildings located at important locations along a given street, including corners, major catalyst sites, and transit stops, highlight these areas as distinct and help create a visually interesting urban pattern. In coordination with the community, the Planning Department will conduct a height analysis of Third Street to determine where minor height limit adjustments may be warranted. Height limits should support the economic development goals for the corridor by helping to enable appropriate development in the defined mixed-use nodes along Third Street. New developments at Executive Park, Candlestick Point, and Hunters Point Shipyard also provide opportunities to introduce taller buildings as a means to provide higher residential densities, more concentrated commercial activity, and to mark the location of important new urban cores. Taller buildings need to be very carefully considered to assure that they create an compelling and coherent skyline, do not unduly compete with nearby geographic features, and work with the adjacent street and open space network so that impacts from shade and wind are minimized. POLICY 11.1 The major land uses in Bayview tend to be distributed in bands that stretch across the width of the district. The northernmost band is predominantly industrial and commercial in nature. The central band consists of the heart of the residential community, commonly known as Bayview Hunters Point. It is followed by South Basin, a light industrial area that has an intimate relationship to the residential neighborhoods along its edges. Below South Basin is Bayview Hill, the southernmost residential neighborhood in the district, as well as Candlestick Park Stadium and Executive Park. The existing built environment in the Bayview is generally lower scale than many parts of San Francisco, yet includes a rich variety of land uses. Hunters Point has been noted for its heavy concentration of public housing; yet it contains a variety of residential neighborhoods and housing types. Historically, there have been serious land use conflicts between industry and housing throughout the area. Today significant conflicts remain, but there is a strong potential through sensitive urban design for industry, housing, commerce and open space to function together as a coherent whole. Efforts to revitalize Bayview should be accompanied by efforts to encourage greater recognition and definition of the diverse uses that make up the subareas of Bayview Hunters Point and of the interrelationship among these subareas that give a unique character to the district as a whole. POLICY 11.2 The pedestrian bicycle trail system is shown on Figure 12. Bayview’s large land area and hilly topography can make it difficult to cover by walking. Bicycling is a convenient alternative. Information about the plan should be made more available to the residents of the Bayview. There may be an opportunity to extend the plan through the area with the use of abandoned rail lines. Integrated development of the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point described in Proposition G and the new direct connections between the two sited, provides an opportunity to increase awareness of pedestrian and bicycle trails in the Bayview and the use of bicycles as a primary means of transportation within the Bayview.
OBJECTIVE 12
Bayview is fairly well served with recreation and open space facilities in terms of gross acreage. When the Candlestick Point State Recreation is counted among its overall facilities, the amount of parkland per 1,000 households in Supervisoral District 10 comes out to approximately 25.7 acres, as compared to the City average of 16.3 acres per 1,000 households. Primary issues to deal with include the following: limited resident utilization of some facilities; the lack of improvements at some facilities; lack of accessibility due to geographic distance or topography; need for sensitive design of small scale open spaces in more dense areas to enhance aesthetic quality of the district, imbalance in some cases between specific recreational facilities or programs offered and the interest of the surrounding community in these facilities or programs; and the costs of adequately maintaining facilities. See Figure 15 for open space and park locations. POLICY 12.1 The Bayview is served by a number of City parks and recreation facilities, including Youngblood Coleman Playground, Hilltop Park, Adam Rogers Park, Joseph Lee Recreation Center, Milton Meyer Recreation Center, Bayview Playground, Gilman Playground and King Pool. A new public shoreline park has recently been created along India Basin. In addition to City facilities, the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, which is proposed to be reconfigured and improved in connection with redevelopment at Candlestick Point extends along the eastern shoreline from the San Mateo County line north along the Bay to the Hunters Point Shipyard. The list of facilities includes hilltop parks with great views of the City and Bay region, shoreline parks, and neighborhood parks with specialized recreation facilities and programs. Many of these varied parks, open spaces, and recreational facilities are underused by the neighborhood residents. In some cases this is due to limited access, such as at Bayview Hill Park, in other cases, it may be due to an imbalance between specific recreational facilities and the interest of the surrounding community in these facilities; a need for increased recreation programming and staffing; better facility maintenance; or a lack of resident information about available programs. All these issues should be addressed. In each case, community residents and Recreation and Park Department recreation staff should be discussing these issues and identifying mechanisms to increase resident utilization of the recreation and park facilities. The Recreation and Park Department holds public hearings annually to receive public input on what recreational activities neighborhood residents want offered at their local parks and recreational facilities. In addition to the annual meetings, staff of neighborhood facilities meet with community residents to talk about facility programming and other neighborhood concerns. The Recreation and Park Department should consider whether their community outreach efforts should be increased to achieve broader community consensus about needs, interests, goals and improvements. It should also discuss with the community the importance of small-scale passive open space in improving the urban design of the district. POLICY 12.2 In addition to City and State Recreation and Park facilities, a number of other recreation facilities and programs are located in Bayview Hunters Point. Opportunities for community use of these facilities should be increased and/or improved. Some of these facilities include public schools. In the Bayview district, after school recreation programs are offered at Bret Harte School, Sir Francis Drake School, Joseph Lee Recreation Center, Youngblood Coleman Playground, and Milton Meyer Recreation Center. The Recreation and Park Department and the community should monitor community utilization of available after school sites, and determine whether site additions are required, and whether any other program changes would result in better utilization of the available facilities. There are also great opportunities for community use of the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. The City and the Bayview community should continue to work with the State Department of Parks and Recreation to implement the General Plan for Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. Provision of better public transit to the State Park from parts of Bayview Hunters Point and from the City as a whole would also help to increase use of this significant recreational resource.POLICY 12.3 Parks and recreation facilities throughout Bayview Hunters Point need regular maintenance and periodic renovation in order to attract and accommodate continued and increasing neighborhood use. Bayview should receive its fair share of funds for this purpose. OBJECTIVE 13 The Recreation and Open Space Element of the General Plan contains specific policies for open space development along the shoreline of the Bay. The general policies and the policies for location within the Bayview are as follows (See Figure 15 for Open Space locations): POLICY 13.1 POLICY 13.2 POLICY 13.3 POLICY 13.4 The Friends of Islais Creek is a voluntary organization formed over 15 years ago to restore the Creek and its immediate shoreline as nearly as possible to its natural state prior to modern human development and make it accessible for human recreational use. Through voluntary work efforts, such as clean-up and replanting activities, supported by a modest amount of State funding, the Friends have already taken major steps toward this goal. They are working with affected local and regional agencies to prepare and implement a master plan for restoration. This Plan fully endorses and sanctions efforts to revitalize the creek area. A restored Islais Creek would provide a major visual and recreational focal point for entry into the Bayview from the Downtown area. Pier 98 is a narrow eleven-acre spit of land extending about 2,400 feet into the Bay at India Basin that was converted into Heron’s Head Park in 1998. The area originally consisted primarily of fill placed there for a new bridge, the Southern Crossing, which was once proposed for the site. The area now supports of a significant seasonal shorebird and wildlife population and the project has restored and enhanced marsh and tidal mudflats. The Candlestick Point State Recreation Area extends from the County line north to Shafter Avenue along the Bay shoreline. The State’s General Plan, which was last updated in 1987, is scheduled to be revised again. Improvements currently call for the restoration of Yosemite Slough , replanting of indigenous vegetation and construction of hiking and bike trails throughout, enhancements of picnic areas, campgrounds, water access for boats, fishing piers, among others. Concessionaire for a food service is also considered.
COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVICES Background Overall, Bayview Hunters Point has an adequate physical supply of multi-purpose community facilities. The primary issues which should be addressed relate to: providing adequate physical maintenance for these facilities in light of shrinking local funding; maintaining an effective level and quality of program services in the face of federal and state funding cutbacks; increasing utilization of existing facilities, particularly the Opera House, the Southeast Community College Center and the old Wells Fargo Bank building which is now serving as a community center; and shaping the overall coordination of program service delivery to have maximum impact on social needs in the Bayview Hunters Point community. A comprehensive survey of community problems by the Bayview Hunters Point Roundtable, a coalition of service providers, found the Bayview Hunters Point community to be facing "spiraling problems relating to poverty, teen pregnancy, unemployment, substance abuse, single parent families, and students dropping out of high school." The survey, entitled "Directions to the Future, Issues and Strategies for Change in the Bayview Hunters Point Community, (1987) identified four major issues to be addressed to deal with these "spiraling problems":
Many of these issues are addressed in various policies of the proposed Plan. For example, the Housing section proposes specific objectives and policies relating to maintaining and enhancing the existing family character of Bayview’s residential areas and to targeting affordable housing for existing Bayview Hunters Point residents. The Industry section proposes specific objectives and policies on improving job training, employment and business opportunities for the Bayview Hunters Point community. Since the General Plan deals primarily with physical and economic aspects of development, it does not cover specific issues relating to the delivery of social programs and services. Nevertheless, the social problems and needs in Bayview are of such a nature and scale that they must be addressed as a part of an overall strategy for revitalization. A strategy for physical and economic revitalization of Bayview Hunters Point will not be successful if it does not also address social concerns. There are over 300 agencies and persons providing services to the Bayview Hunters Point community in the areas of Child Abuse, Child Care, Spiritual Life, Community Advocacy, Education, Emergency Services/Family Support, Employment, Housing, Legal, Mental Health/Medical Facilities, Meeting Facilities, Recreation Services and Substance Abuse. The Directions to the Future report provides a framework for assessing programs affecting the Bayview Hunters Point community according to four issue/goal areas: Quality of Life and Lifestyle; Affordability; Problems of Youth; Political, Economic, and Cultural Power. The framework is broad enough to include all types of physical, social, and economic programs and can therefore provide a basis for assuring that social program efforts in Bayview Hunters Point are effectively integrated with physical and economic efforts. This assurance would occur through a tracking plan that monitors each program, documents and assesses performance, and establishes priorities. Task forces on each issue/goal area would be used to implement the tracking plan, and community-wide meetings would be held to provide information of its progress. OBJECTIVE 14 Since Bayview Hunters Point already has an ample supply of general-purpose community facilities the primary need is to provide adequate maintenance for those that already exist. Additionally, the educational-related facilities, such as the Southeast Community College, appear to be under used by local residents, especially young people. In light of the urgent need to improve skill levels among residents, there should be a concentrated effort to increase local use of educational-related facilities. POLICY 14.1 POLICY 14.2 POLICY 14.3 OBJECTIVE 15 There is an increasing need for physical facilities for more specialized community services, particularly child care centers and senior housing related facilities. Although the Bayview has one of the highest female-headed household and child populations in the city, it has only two subsidized child care centers. As large scale new development occurs it will be important to also require provision of child care facilities as a part of the development. The need for even more specialized services has come with the increase in babies born into addiction due to drug usage by their mothers during pregnancy. The effort to stimulate construction of more senior housing in the district should include measures to assure that the housing is properly designed to meet the social and health needs of the residents on a project specific basis.
POLICY 15.1 There is a need for subsidized day care centers in Bayview Hunters Point, especially those providing specialized services, such as care for children born into drug addiction. Developers of forty or more dwelling units should be encouraged to provide physical facilities for a child care center. POLICY 15.2 POLICY 15.3 Bayview also has important indigenous community resources. According to the Bayview Hunters Point Roundtable, there are close to one hundred churches in the district, perhaps more per capita than any other district in the City. These and numerous other community institutions have considerable influence in shaping community opinion. They can help to provide valuable services, especially to families, and mobilize voluntary community efforts for civic pride and revitalization. POLICY 15.4 As the centrally located hub for the commercial revitalization of Third Street, the Opera House is ideally suited to serve as the central place for district-wide community activities in Bayview. The community-based organization occupying the old Wells Fargo Building is also well suited for this purpose. The existing staff and physical facilities of these organizations are already available to and utilized by a wide variety of Bayview Hunters Point organizations and individuals for a variety of purposes. With minimal enhancement to existing resources, they can centralize the community information network needed for physical, social, and economic revitalization of the Bayview Hunters Point community.
OBJECTIVE 16 POLICY 16.1 The new district police station developed at Williams Avenue at Newhall Avenue in the Bayview provides a more central location for police services in the southeast section of the city. The station at Williams and Newhall, which became operational in 1997, also reflects improved standards and technological advances in the area of police operations. POLICY 16.2 Bayview Hunters Point includes a large land area, approximately three and a half square miles. The five fire stations currently serving the district are essential to assuring that all areas-residential, commercial, industrial — receive prompt and effective fire services. The continued existence and maintenance of these fire stations should be supported. The Fire Department is installing new lines for a "high pressure" water pressure system to be used exclusively that will significantly improve fire-fighting capacity in the district. POLICY 16.3 Overall, Bayview is adequately served by general-purpose health facilities. However, there is an urgent need for specialized health programs that directly relate to pressing social problems, such as drug abuse and teen-age pregnancies. Problems related to drug rehabilitation are especially acute. There are few programs available for lower income drug abusers seeking long-term treatment frequently necessary for recuperation. Many of these problems are related to a decline in federal and state funding. A concentrated effort is needed to develop specialized health programs that are directly relevant to these pressing social problems.
The principal energy-related objectives are to promote the efficient use of energy resources in Bayview Hunters Point to encourage economic development, and to support the achievement of other community goals through the improved management of energy resources. Background At the time of the 1995 plan update, annual energy expenditures in San Francisco averaged $650 million. Since San Francisco imports almost all of its energy supplies, a major portion of the City’s energy expenditures leaves San Francisco, constituting an enormous drain on the local economy. Energy conservation and the use of local renewable energy technologies can help retain dollars in the community and can contribute to increased demand for local goods and services and the creation of new local job opportunities. From 1980 to 1995, the United States became a net importer of energy. Increased U.S. dependency on imported fossil fuels has made our country increasingly vulnerable to external events, posing a threat to our economy and national security. Following the 1975 oil crisis, federal, state and local energy conservation programs were instituted. As a result, during a period when the U.S. economy grew by thirty-three percent, energy consumption actually shrank by two percent. But these figures only begin to show the potential. In spite of our improved energy efficiency, the United States still does not perform well in terms of energy use per dollar of gross national product, as compared to other countries. The City’s goals for energy efficiency are expressed in the Environmental Protection Element of the General Plan as:
The City’s concern is to decrease the drain of capital from the local economy in the form of energy purchases from outside the city, and to significantly reduce personal and business energy costs. In addition, energy conservation can contribute to the long-term affordability of both housing and business uses, and to the attractiveness of the community as a place for living and working. OBJECTIVE 17 POLICY 17.1 Energy efficiency can serve as an important economic development tool in Bayview Hunters Point. Specifically, appropriate energy policies can: lower the costs of living and doing business in the Bayview and mitigate the effects of variations in energy supply and cost; contribute to local business development and revitalization (efficient use of all resources, not just capital and labor, can make a difference in a business’s bottom line profits); minimize operating costs of new housing and commercial developments through energy efficient design; upgrade existing public facilities by implementing energy saving programs and capital improvements, thereby expanding the power of tax dollars and improving the comfort and aesthetics of facilities. Energy efficiency policies can also provide job development opportunities to meet community needs. Conservation and renewable energy technologies are labor-intensive in nature, offering opportunities for addressing job training and employment needs. Community talents, resources and businesses can be brought together in a coordinated effort to both establish new job opportunities and train workers in skills that will help bring about community energy savings. POLICY 17.2 Every attempt should be made to integrate energy planning with other community goals and revitalization efforts. The ideal time to address energy use in existing buildings, for example, is during major rehabilitation. OBJECTIVE 18 POLICY 18.1 Transportation activities represent about a quarter of the energy use and costs in San Francisco. It appears that the Bayview community has above average potential for reducing transportation energy use. At present residents shop and drive outside of the local area more than residents in other parts of the City because of the lower density character of Bayview Hunters Point. However, as population density increases with more residential and economic growth, there is likely to be an increased need and demand for public transit services. If more residents are encouraged to use public transit services, this would reduce auto use and in turn the economic, environmental, and health costs associated with such use. The energy used to move people and goods in a community is determined in part by patterns of development. The spatial relationships of individual buildings and entire neighborhoods-their density and the degree to which different kinds of uses are integrated-determine in part how far and by what means people travel. Land use organization can provide for more efficient use of energy by promoting more compact development, and by locating new developments close to a variety of services and facilities. Such land use practices result in reduced dependency on the automobile and increased efficiency of mass transit systems. POLICY 18.2 The residential sector consumes nearly one fourth of the electricity and approximately two-thirds of the natural gas used in San Francisco. Natural gas is used primarily for space and water heating while electricity is used for lighting and appliances. Approximately sixty-three percent of the housing in the Bayview consists of single-family homes compared to thirty two percent citywide. Single-family homes are much more energy consuming than multifamily homes, thus also having a greater potential for energy savings. Furthermore, single-family homes and multifamily homes in Bayview Hunters Point consume more gas and electricity per unit than homes found in any other area of San Francisco. Approximately forty-three percent of the homes in Bayview were built prior to 1950 and close to ninety percent prior to the adoption of the California building energy standards. There is usually a direct correlation between residential building age and poor energy efficiency since the buildings were built when energy prices were low and few energy saving measures were included. In Bayview, residential natural gas usage represents significant energy savings potential. Cost-effective weatherization measures and more efficient operation of space and water heating can contribute to lower energy costs. Residents in Bayview should have much interest and incentive for achieving energy savings through home energy saving improvements. Bayview claims a higher percentage of homeowners than the city as a whole, and residents show a marked degree of stability. A large percentage of residents who do rent pay their own utility bills. Residents of Bayview Hunters Point would benefit from energy efficient rehabilitation in several ways. Energy measures would bring improved cash flow, improved building conditions, increased comfort, stabilized rents and improved resale values of homes. Energy efficient design and construction techniques in new housing will contribute to the long-term affordability of housing through lowered energy costs. Energy efficient design measures, in addition, can add amenities such as greatly increased comfort or increased daylight. Lower utility costs and the associated amenities from these design measures can also serve as a marketing tool attracting residents to new housing developments. POLICY 18.3 In San Francisco in 1995, the commercial and industrial sectors spend approximately two hundred and fifty million dollars a year for electricity and one hundred and thirty-two million dollars a year for natural gas. Energy conservation in the commercial and industrial sectors is important in the Bayview because of the large number of businesses located there. Bayview Hunters Point is one of San Francisco’s most important locations for industrial activity. As of 2003, industrial use in Bayview includes over 1,000 production, distribution, and repair businesses, representing over six million square feet of building area. Retail and office functions also occupy more than two million square feet of commercial space in the Bayview. In the commercial and industrial sectors, electricity is used for lighting, air conditioning, office equipment and industrial operations such as welding, while natural gas is used for space and water heating, food storage/preparation and metal fabrication. The greatest energy savings can be achieved through improved design, management and maintenance of lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. An effective conservation program will save businesses substantial amounts of money that can then be reinvested in the local economy. Energy costs can represent a significant portion of expenses for businesses. Low energy costs are especially critical to the profitability of energy sensitive businesses. In cities experiencing an exodus of business from the city, high energy costs are frequently cited as a major factor. In Bayview Hunters Point, reduced energy costs can be used as a tool for retaining existing businesses and attracting new businesses. Furthermore, energy efficiency is also relevant to building owners by enhancing the marketability of buildings to potential tenants and owners. Efficient buildings have better long-term property values, tend to be more attractive, especially to institutional owners, and are often more comfortable. POLICY 18.4 There is a relatively large concentration of community facilities in the Bayview including schools, libraries, childcare and community centers, fire stations, recreation and park facilities and the sewage water treatment plant. Improving the energy efficiency of these facilities could result in more tax dollars being directed towards delivery of community services. Energy saving programs will also improve the environmental conditions and physical appearance of facilities. The City also has a successful residential recycling program in place. Presently, the City diverts over sixty percent of its waste away from landfills through recycling, composting, reuse, and source reduction programs. In an effort to extend the life of our landfill and reduce costly transportation of waste to the landfill, the City has adopted a recycling goal (as established by the Board of Supervisors in 2002) of seventy-five percent by 2010. Recycling of paper, glass and metals should be encouraged in Bayview in appropriate locations that do not contribute to land use conflicts and environmental problems. The recycling services and convenience found in other parts of the City should also exist in the Bayview community. Recycling saves energy and water, reduces air and water pollution, and conserves other precious resources.
|
© City & County of San Francisco. All rights reserved. |
