Pardon us if we somehow didn't notice this little bit of local legislation until we slammed right in to it today: Supervisor Mar, famously responsible for banning Happy Meals, pushed through new legislation this afternoon to "establish standards for bird-safe buildings." The problem, as anyone with a sliding glass door and a backyard full of avian life has probably noticed, is that birds tend not to notice clear glass window panes. Mar's legislation would require less transparent or non-reflective glass on new buildings and construction projects in the city.
When the matter was before the Planning Commission, expert witness Judy Irving (the documentarian responsible for 2003's The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) told the heart-wrenching story of Phoenix, an injured parrot who had an unfortunate run-in with a glass window. Those non-native species notwithstanding, our fair city also sits right in the middle of the Pacific Flyway, a sort of highway for over 250 species of migratory birds.
In the past, at least one commissioner from the planning department called a proposed Washington Street condo project a "death trap" for birds, so it's no surprise Mar's legislation has already gotten the OK from the Planning Commission. The legislation has the backing of the Golden Gate Audubon Society and it won unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors at today's meeting. Assuming it passes a second vote next week, the new regulations could go in to effect as early as November of this year.
