Cell Phone radiation disclosures, vintage signage preservation, car share vehicles taking up street parking, a ballot measure for street improvement funds and a fight over formula retail pet stores in the Richmond. The Board of Supervisors agenda items that caught our interest for Tuesday, July 25th, 2011.
Item 1: Cell Phone Disclosure Requirements - John Avalos' brain cancer-curing ordinance requiring cell phone retailers to disclosure radiation levels of various handsets needs a final vote.
Item 3: Vintage Signs - Campos' legislation that will allow the city to preserve historic signs needs a final vote, after which the planning code will finally reflect the local population's interest in outdated advertising.
Item 19: $248 million Road Repaving and Street Safety Bond Election - Puts a measure on the ballot to ask voters whether the city should drop $248 million on road repaving, installing curb ramps and redesigning streetscapes. The ballot measure is pretty much a done deal, so voters have until November to decide how they feel about putting a quarter million dollars towards fixing up the streets.
Item 27: Titan Outdoor for Advertising on SF MTA property - The much ballyhooed ordinance that allows 5% of Muni buses and 10% of light rail vehicles to be completely covered in advertising. We're ambivalent here because Muni vehicles are generally kind of hideous as it is. The plan is expected to bring in another $500,000 a year for the SFMTA, which is nothing to sneeze at. May we propose an amendment that every advertisement must make the vehicle look like something out of a children's television show?
Items 30, 31: Renaming the Fillmore Community Benefit District - This would expand on the Fillmore Jazz Community Benefit District, which was generally regarded as a success. Although it's not so jazzy anymore, apparently. If this goes to a Public Hearing, there had better be a public commenter with a saxophone.
Item 39: Limited Live Performance Permits - creates a new level of entertainment permit for "indoor locales whose primary function is not presentation of live performances." The new permit sets limits on noise levels and hours or performances, but doesn't require venues to provide security. So when the cafe down the street wants to host flamenco guitar sessions, they don't also have to hire a bouncer.
Item 40: Inner Richmond Neighborhood Controls - Eric Mar's chance to keep PetCo out of his neighborhood. It also changes the code so video stores are always allowed. Not that there are many new video stores opening.
Item 41: Car Share Vehicle Parking - Allows for some car sharing services to store cars in spaces that were formerly reserved for meter spots. Also allows the city to tow you if you're hogging a car share spot.
Item 43: 0.5% Sales Taxe increase - Increases the sales tax slightly and puts the proceeds towards Public Safety programs for kids and seniors.
Lawsuits and Settlements: The city is settling a suit with T-Mobile Wireless. As part of the settlement, the wireless company is allowed to build a new facility at 725 Taraval, but the number of antennas has been scaled back. Other settlements total $887,000 in payouts.
From the Clerk's Mailbag:
- 46 Letters supporting AT&T network upgrades
- 3 letters opposing AT&T network upgrades
- 4 letters from concerned citizens hoping to save Sharp Park Wetlands
- 30 letters from concerned citizens supporting the "Goldfish ban"
- 12 letters calling for an end to Sit-Lie
- A letter from Bob Larive regarding the homeless in Fisherman's Wharf/North Beach
- A letter from Howard Wong regarding the central subway
- A letter from Carol Taylor, regarding banning plastic bags in grocery stores
- A letter from David Rochelle, regarding the proposed Initiative Ordinance concerning
“Circumcision.”
The full board agenda is available here and the meeting itself kicks off at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays. For those of you who like to follow along from home, you can stream it live on SFGovTV.org.
