CVIA Blog
WALLER STREET SKATE PARK REOPENS
Skateboarders and neighbors celebrated recent improvements to the Waller Street Skate Park on October 25, a project spearheaded by local skaters who helped shape its inclusive design that honors its street skateboarding roots.
The skateboarding area on the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park has been beloved since 2011, despite its cracked surface and markings leftover from days as a parking lot. The improvements unveiled this week aren’t just a makeover but a transformation of the area from informal gathering spot to officially sanctioned skate park. It's the first time in the nation that a city has transformed a decommissioned street into a permitted skate park.
The $218,000 makeover includes a high-quality asphalt repaving topped with acrylic overlay ideal for skating. The park kept its nontraditional spirit with elements meant to mimic the urban skate environment such as k-rails, granite blocks and curbs. A new landscape strip allows skaters to both sit and skate amid trees and shrubs. Many of the new elements were salvaged from San Francisco Public Works storage by DLX Skateshop—including granite ledges that once lured skaters to Market Street. Old defensive architecture elements that once attempted to stop skaters from grinding the edges and corners were removed.
A special thanks to the skate community that made this project possible, including Low Key San Francisco, DLX Skateshop, The Skatepark Project, San Francisco Skate Club, Mission Skateboards, FTC, Thrasher Magazine, and more!
Activities and Updates on JFK Promenade
We have been busy enhancing the JFK Promenade for park users! Come out to 8th Avenue at the JFK Promenade and take a coffee break at Golden Gate Park’s new lounge! New trees provide shade on sunny days and a variety of seating options, including benches and spinning chairs, allow you to rest and recharge. And new this week, get out and play with brand new cornhole boards and ping pong tables! Bring your own paddle, balls and bags to get some games in.
The Beer and Wine Garden will be flowing this Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. while our busking program will be in full rhythm this weekend. Additionally, we'll have live music through Music Mosey.
Padrecito is Closing
Good Day,I wanted to share that we will sadly be closing Padrecito with our last night of service this coming Tuesday night.
This isn’t a story of a landlord or anything of that nature as the new owner of the building has been wonderful. It’s is a story of the economics not working for Padrecito in this new restaurant climate. As opposed to letting our quality and integrity for service and products slip, we want to be sure we finish how we started with pride for our food, drinks, service and our team and that means closing now with those standards in place.
At this point there isn’t a plan for the space as I want to be sure to concentrate on our team and these last few days in this wonderful community and neighborhood.
I want to say thank you from the whole Padrecito family. We have been a part of so many of your moments and have watched and been a part of your family gatherings and your and our families growing before our eyes.
Cole Valley is wonderful and we are so honored to have been a part of it fabric for these past 10 years.
With love and admiration,
Nate
Santa on Cole is canceled
Need photos? Check out Sasha (https://sashaphotography.com/) who was to be the photographer.
news from Victorian Alliance
Throughout October: DISCOVER THE NEIGHBORHOODS in self-guided tours for 3 significant San Francisco neighborhoods: Pacific Heights, Haight Ashbury, and the Western Addition at Alamo Square. Discover and rediscover these neighborhoods as you walk about. Enjoy the feeling of “place.” Here’s the link for the Haight Ashbury tour.
news from San Francisco Heritage
Join SF Heritage at the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair
The 43rd Haight-Ashbury Street Fair is taking place on Sunday, October 16, 2022, from 11:00 AM -5:30 PM on Haight Street between Masonic and Stanyan. San Francisco Heritage will have a booth at this popular annual event, which showcases art, live music, and variety of local vendors. Look for giveaways and sign-ups for two free afternoon tours of our historic Doolan-Larson Residence, located at the iconic corner of Haight & Ashbury.
MCCLA Now in SF Heritage's 1506 Haight Street Gallery
San Francisco Heritage is excited to be hosting the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) at our pop-up gallery at 1506 Haight Street in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15, 2022), as well as a special window display and celebration of Dia de los Muertos on November 1. Be sure to stop by the gallery to learn more about the history of the MCCLA and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture.
Please take our brief neighborhood survey
Greetings, Cole Valley and Haight Ashbury neighbors!
Please take 5 minutes to take our survey and let us know what issues are important to you. For 30 years, CVIA has worked to improve the Cole Valley and Haight Ashbury neighborhoods. Populations have changed and issues have changed. We need to know what you think so that we can prioritize our efforts. And please pass it on to other neighbors. The results will be published later on cviasf.org and in the CVIA News.
Thank you so much.
Cole Valley & Haight Ashbury Resident Survey
Regards,
CVIA Board
Cole Valley Fair - September 25 10 am to 5 pm
Looking forward to seeing you at the Fair on Sunday, September 25 from 10 AM to 5 PM.
Sunset Mercantile is organizing the fair this year and would love some local volunteers. Click here to volunteer
Club Deluxe will stay!
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
I’m writing to share some good news – after an all-day mediation on Monday, an agreement was reached between the owner of longtime Upper Haight establishment Club Deluxe and property owner Veritas Investments, allowing the jazz and blues club to remain in its home of more than 33 years.
Our community faced the potential of a tremendous loss with the closure of Club Deluxe. I am incredibly grateful that all parties came to the table to keep the doors open and we were able to hammer out a deal. It was true before, but even more so as we emerge from the pandemic – our arts and our artists are what make San Francisco, San Francisco. Long live Club Deluxe!
In early August, Club Deluxe notified patrons and musicians that the venue would soon be closing due ongoing disagreements about past and future rent. As with many venues citywide, Club Deluxe had experienced significant pandemic hardship, shutting down for a significant period in 2020 and periodically ever since, with waves of COVID variants disrupting their once bustling destination.
Our office then intervened, urging property owner Veritas and the Club Deluxe owner to restart lease negotiations that had derailed. Negotiations resumed in the days that followed. On Monday this week, we brought parties to the table for a City Hall mediation. Six-and-a-half hours later, a deal was struck.
The resolution was made possible in part by our groundbreaking law, passed in July 2021, to waive certain pandemic-related back rent for small businesses. For the period that a small business was fully shut down by COVID health orders, the law effectively waived back rent during that time. Despite a challenge by landlord lobbyists, the law was upheld by a Superior Court judge in April 2022.
In addition, with support from Supervisor Preston and SF Heritage, Club Deluxe is applying to be added to the city’s Legacy Business Registry, which recognizes long-term small businesses in San Francisco, and provides benefits to businesses and their landlords to encourage long-term stability. On Tuesday, our office submitted a letter formally nominating Club Deluxe to become a Legacy Business, and we look forward to guiding them through the process to be added to the Legacy Business registry.
Club Deluxe is a one of a kind live music venue in the heart of the Haight Ashbury. It’s a gathering spot, a place where people share community, and join together in what makes us human. I am proud that we could help forge a path to keep the music going.
Sincerely,
Dean Preston
Share your feedback with SFMTA and enter to win a $50 Clipper Card
Your Voice Is Needed!
Share your feedback with SFMTA and enter to win a $50 Clipper Card
SFMTA Public Participation and Language Access Survey
The SFMTA is reviewing how we conduct public outreach and engagement, collect and use feedback in agency decisions, and best meet the needs of all of our customers and community members. We want to hear directly from you on what’s working and where we can improve. Please take five minutes to complete this survey – available in multiple languages below - and enter to win a $50 Clipper Card.
Thank you for your time and participation. Please share with your networks!
CVIA Members’ Summer Social on August 27, 1-4 P.M.
The Summer Social and Annual General Meeting will be at Finnegan’s Wake with food catered from Say Cheese. Our special guest is District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.
Please RSVP to cviasf@aol.com so that we will be sure to have enough food, wine and beer at the ready.
$10 per person at the door. Your guests are welcome too.
National Night Out on August 2, 5-7pm at Duboce Park
Hello Park District Residents,
Join us in Celebrating National Night Out (NNO) 2022!
On Tuesday, August 2nd, neighborhoods throughout San Francisco are being invited to join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the 39th Annual National Night Out: “America’s Night Out Against Crime.” NNO, which is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by the San Francisco Police Department and our prevention non-profit Safety Awareness for Everyone (SF SAFE), will involve over 16,400 communities from all 50 states, US territories, Canadian cities, and military bases around the world.
NNO is designed to: heighten crime prevention and community resilience awareness, generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime efforts, strengthen police-community partnerships, and to send the message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
From 5-7PM on August 2nd, residents in neighborhoods throughout the Park District are asked to lock their doors, turn on outside lights, and to spend their time in community with neighbors, families, merchants, and public safety professionals from SF SAFE, SFPD, SFFD, SF Recreation and Parks, the Department of Emergency Management, Park Station’s Community/Police Advisory Board, and others at Duboce Park (50 Duboce Avenue).
Park Station Captain Jim Hart
CVIA Revised Bylaws
The CVIA board revised our bylaws to reflect the way we do business. We will ask for your approval at the Summer Social / General Membership Meeting on August 27. Important changes include
designation of membership categories where non-residents can become members but not serve on the board or vote
votes by the board can be taken via email
there can be up to 15 board members
Eat Local - join the CVIA in supporting our local restaurants!
Dear CVIA Members,
The Cole Valley Improvement Association wishes you and your family a very happy and healthy New Year. CVIA would like to thank each member for your continued support. In the spirit of gratitude and new possibilities, CVIA is asking all members to make a New Year’s resolution to support our local restaurants by ordering some delicious takeout. To show CVIA's commitment, we are sending all member households a $10 coupon to spend at local restaurants. Please note, this one-time, $10 coupon will expire on February 14, 2021. Please feel free to pass the coupon on if you can’t use it.
The coupon will be good for take-out purchased in-person at the participating restaurants* which include Bambinos, CreoLA, Crepes on Cole, Ice Cream Bar, Ino Vino, Kezar Bar & Restaurant, La Boulangerie de San Francisco, Padrecito, Reverie, Wooden Coffee and Zazie. CVIA will reimburse the restaurants for all coupons used.
If you post a photo of yourself to CVIA's Facebook page, CVIA will donate a $5 bonus to the restaurant. When you collect your food, post a selfie to our Facebook page including yourself, the coupon, and the restaurant. CVIA will then increase the value by $5 for a $15 reimbursement to the restaurant. We encourage you to also tag the restaurants where possible!
Like your own cooking but still want to support the local restaurants? Send us a tax-deductible donation and we’ll distribute the funds to the restaurants. You can easily donate via our website specifically for this cause or you can send a check to us (PO Box 170611, San Francisco, CA 94117) with an indication it’s for COVID restaurant help.
Our restaurants are suffering badly, now more than ever. The best way to support them is to continue to patronize them. We need to intentionally support our restaurants to help them survive the pandemic. One final request - please consider adding a generous tip if it's not already included in the bill. For many, this gratuity may be a lifeline.
If you have any questions about the program, please send them to board@cviasf.org.
730 Stanyan Developers hosting community meeting on August 20
Joint developers Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) are hosting a Community Meeting about the 730 Stanyan development for permanent affordable housing on August 20, 2020 at 6pm via Zoom.
The deadline for registration and submitting questions is this Friday, August 14, 2020 at 6pm.
Register to attend:
Go to www.730Stanyan.org.
Scroll down to Upcoming Events.
Register your name and email.
You will receive a confirmation to the email address you registered with and it will include a second link to register for the meeting on Zoom.
Click that link and enter your name, email address, mailing address, Zip code and preferred language.
Click Register and you will be provided with the Zoom meeting link to save in your calendar.
Those who do not have internet access can register by phone at 415-935-3135.
Submit questions prior to the event
The developers have requested that questions are submitted in advance of the Zoom meeting. Information about how to submit questions is provided once registered.
2020 Cole Valley Fair Update
A Message from the Cole Valley Fair Organizers
To our Cole Valley Fair Community,
We hope everyone has been staying safe and healthy over the last six weeks, it's been quite the adventure. We have been following all of the information and guidelines about COVID-19 from the city, state and national authorities over the last few months, and wow, there's a lot of updates!
After careful consideration, extensive conversations and the amount of uncertainty as we move forward, we believe the right thing to do for all of our vendors, volunteers, local businesses, musicians and attendees is to skip this year's Cole Valley Fair.
We want you to know we did not make this decision lightly or quickly. We believe it is in the best interest of everyone involved to wait until 2021 to hold such a large scale gathering in person to ensure the Fair is safe and successful for everyone involved.
But don’t be too sad just yet, we are hard at work on finding ways to still connect in a virtual way. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.
We are so grateful for everyone who supports the Fair each and every year and we cannot wait to be back wandering down Cole Street, seeing all of the amazing artists creations, eating delicious food, listening to the incredible musicians and checking out the unique cars of our neighbors.
We hope everyone stays safe and healthy and here’s to an outstanding Cole Valley Fair in 2021, we can’t wait to see you!
Erica Kajdasz,
Cole Valley Fair Organizer ; Co-owner Lavation & MIDLINE
Website: http://colevalleyfair.com/
Tent Encampments
Summary
Local homeless advocates have been distributing tents for those living on the street in the Upper Haight.
There is no designated location for these tents.
SFPD expects there to be increases in tents and encampments in the coming weeks and months.
The City, including SFPD, is not confiscating tents or asking homeless people to relocate.
The City is asking homeless people to maintain social distancing and refrain from illegal activities.
Residents are encouraged to report encampments to 311 so that they may be identified and the City can arrange for social services, trash pickup, sidewalk cleaning, etc.
Proposed Solution: The Cole Valley Improvement Association is proposing that the blacktop space and basketball courts in the Panhandle Park be made available as a temporary sanctioned tent site during the shelter in place, and is reaching out to Buena Vista Neighborhood Association and Haight Ashbury Improvement Association to ask for their support.
Background
In late March, local homeless advocates and the Homeless Youth Alliance began collecting tents for distribution to people living on the street. These advocates made public requests for tents and distributed them in the greater Upper Haight. To our knowledge, there was no plan or coordinated effort with the City for where these tents would be set up. As a result, they’ve been increasingly appearing on residential streets, such as Waller.
City Response
During this pandemic, the number of available shelter beds for the homeless has dwindled. Thankfully, the City recently announced that it will purchase over 7,000 hotel rooms (with talks to increase to 8,500) to house front-line workers and homeless people, but it will take some time for the logistics to be worked out and homeless people moved into the rooms (if they voluntarily agree to do so).
Captain Renee Pagano of Park Station confirmed that her officers have received increased reports of tent encampments, which is a new development as SFPD historically has very rarely received reports of tents on the sidewalk in our area. Since the tents are continuing to be handed out, she expects residents will see “significantly more tents showing up” in the coming weeks and months. Captain Pagano also shared that her officers are not confiscating tents or asking people to move.
Until further notice, SFPD Park Station officers and other City agencies are adhering to the guidelines provided by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing in conjunction with the Healthy Street Operations Center, which includes the rules below. This is to improve public health and safety during the shelter in place.
Do not take or remove tents.
SFPD may still address criminal activity in encampments.
The City should collect garbage at encampments.
Ask people to stay one per tent and keep tents six feet apart.
Educate people on COVID-19 and distribute a laminated flyer that was provided.
If residents have tents set up near their homes, please report it to 311 so that it may be catalogued and the City can organize resources such as social services and trash pickup, and call the SFPD non-emergency line (415-553-0123) if you witness illegal activities.
Neighborhood Reaction
The residents of our neighborhoods are not indifferent to the plight of people experiencing homelessness, especially during a pandemic. Our neighborhood has a long history with this subject matter, with opinions ranging from unequivocal support to lending help while emphasizing personal responsibility to strict law-and-order. Reactions to these new encampments have been mixed, with many of those that live closest to the encampments understandably being the most frustrated. Neighbors have reported issues such as lack of social distancing, public drug/alcohol use, urine/feces and other ancillary behavior.
For many, these encampments are intimidating and disruptive, especially in times of a pandemic and “shelter in place.” One family in particular noted that the sidewalk outside their home was their daughter’s only reprise from being inside all day because they have no backyard, but now their daughter is too afraid to play on their sidewalk outside their home because of the encampment. For seniors confined to a few local blocks due to mobility issues, this issue is even more pressing since those in the encampments have typically not been practicing social distancing.
Response from Supervisor Preston
We reached out to Supervisor Preston Thursday morning (April 9) to discuss this situation and seek his help. Although he has not yet responded to our urgent request, we intend to ask him the following questions:
Do you condone the distribution of these tents when there was no plan for where they would go?
If yes, will you take responsibility for current and future tent encampments (after the shelter in place concludes) in the Upper Haight where historically there hasn't been tents on the sidewalks?
How will you ensure that our neighborhood will not experience the negative side effects that have historically plagued encampments elsewhere in the City, such as loose trash, drug paraphernalia, feces, urine and criminal behavior?
If neighbors experience problems with those living in tents in front of their homes, how would you suggest they respond?
Proposed Solution
Background
Historically, on issues such as these, CVIA has taken a compassionate while pragmatic approach. That being said, even our own best intentions have not always succeeded. For example, in 2018 we provided a sizable donation (as well as several Cole Hardware gift cards) to the non-profit Taking It To The Streets SF, to help support their work of helping homeless young people in the Upper Haight move out of homelessness. Unfortunately, we were informed the following year that this organization was shut down by the City for “doing things they shouldn’t have been doing,” which is what we were told by then-supervisor Vallie Brown.
That is to say that even the best of intentions (including our own) are sometimes fraught. Recently, advocates have espoused the idea that we should “just provide anything” for homeless people, like a tent. However, without having somewhere safe for these tents to be placed, there is a burden placed on a subset of people who have to shoulder the consequences of having a tent encampment outside their home. We feel it is important to remain calm and make responsible decisions, especially when long-term impacts must be carefully considered.
Proposal
In light of the proliferation of tents in our neighborhood during this pandemic, coupled with the lack of social distancing and ancillary negative behavior witnessed thus far at encampments, we will be working with the City on the proposal below, and will be reaching out to the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association and Buena Vista Neighborhood Association for support.
Designate the blacktop area of the Panhandle Park, including the basketball courts, a temporary designated site for homeless people in tents until there is a room available for them at one of the City services.
While there are multiple potential locations, this one is ideal because (1) it’s already located near a public restroom, (2) it’s bound by two major thoroughfares (Fell and Oak) and removed from essential neighborhood services with heavy foot traffic, such as a grocery store, (3) it’s only a three minute walk to the corner of Haight & Ashbury, thus being close enough to areas with high homelessness for social workers to potentially convince this population to join the site, (4) its accessible to the Upper Haight, Lower Haight and NOPA, and (5) its location mitigates any potential negative “quality of life” side effects. There are other potential sites we would like to discuss with the City as well.
The former McDonald’s lot at 730 Stanyan was also considered, however, we do not believe that is a viable location for a number of reasons. Given that this is the site of permanent new affordable housing, which has been given priority construction, and the uncertainty regarding how long any tent encampment site might remain open after the shelter in place is lifted, we don’t believe selecting this location warrants potentially delaying the production of the 100% affordable housing development. Additionally, this location is in a high-traffic area that is more densely populated than the blacktop area of the Panhandle, as well as its very close proximity to the area’s largest grocery store.
*****
If you have any questions about this information, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Cole Valley Improvement Association at board@cviasf.org. Also, we encourage you to reach out to Supervisor Preston at Dean.Preston@sfgov.org.
Stay safe, everyone.
Supporting Our Merchants During the “Shelter in Place”
Cole Valley Businesses are open
Accelerate Sports Performance, American Cyclery, Bambino's Ristorante, Beit Rima, Cole Cleaners, Cole Hardware, Cole Valley Pets, CreoLa, Crepes on Cole, Dasluz, Dignity Health-GoHealth Urgent Care, Finnegans Wake, Gamble + Design, Ice Cream Bar, Ino Vino, Kamekyo, Kezar Bar & Restaurant (closed for renovation), Kezar Pizzetta, La Boulangerie de San Francisco, Lavande, LiveFitGym, Luke's Local, Mane Attraction, MARJANG Architecture, Padrecito, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Pharmaca, Postal Chase, Reverie, Say Cheese, SF Bikes, Sunny Country, Sword & Rose, Taboun, Val de Cole, Vierra & Friends, Walgreen's, Wooden, Zazie
Closed Businesses in 2020
Limited Capacity Businesses
Open Businesses
We reached out to as many merchants as possible when compiling this list. If you know of a Cole Valley merchant who wants to be included, please have them reach out to us at board@cviasf.org.
CVIA’s Community Meeting (March 2020)
When: Wednesday, March 4th
Where: Wooden Coffeehouse (862 Cole Street)
Time: Meeting Start Time: 7:00pm, but doors open at 6:30pm for a meet-and-greet with neighbors
Speakers:
District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston (elected Nov. 2019)
SFPD Park Station Captain Renee Pagano (appointed Nov. 2019)
Adam Cuadra from SF Safe.
**Everyone (members and non-members) is invited and encouraged to attend**
**Light refreshments and snacks will be served**
Supervisor Preston will be discussing a broad number of topics that impact the neighborhood and the city, including:
The recent shooting at Haight & Ashbury
Car break-in prevention and response programs
Proposed MUNI changes
Storefront vacancies
Homelessness in our surrounding area
Captain Pagano and Mr. Cuadra will speak about some of the crime-related issues facing our community and ways residents can stay safe.
There will also be time allotted for Q&As with each of our speakers. This is a great opportunity to have the ear of city officials and express your opinions regarding the various issues facing our neighborhood and our city. If you’d like to submit questions in advance, please email them to cviasf@aol.com.
Lastly, we will be sharing some of our plans for Cole Valley and the Greater Haight Ashbury in 2020.