At the Board of Appeals meeting tonight at 5 p.m., the final round of arguments to impose restrictions on a building set to go up at 1050 Valencia Street will be heard. Arguing for these various conditions and restrictions is The Marsh Theater, which has been in operation next door at 1062 Valencia for 25 years, and which purchased the building it's housed in back in 1996.
As City Insider reports, members of The Marsh's staff are most concerned about noise transference between the two buildings, specifically construction noise during the construction phase, but also the possibility that a loud bar or restaurant could end up going in next door and forever causing noise problems during performances.
But here's where it gets dicey. In her appeal, artistic director Stephanie Weisman is asking that the developer include in every purchase and sale agreement for the condos a disclosure that states:
[The Marsh] typically creates sounds typical of an entertainment use, including loud dialogue and amplified sound and live and recorded music... Owners and occupants understand that patrons of the theater will drop off and pick up performers and patrons before and after the show and patrons will queue along Valencia Street at the beginning of some shows and leave en masse at the end of shows, producing parking, traffic and noise impacts expected at such activities.
This seems reasonable, but we're not sure such a disclosure is going to keep any prospective owner from complaining, as many SoMa condo owners have done once they figured out that their neighborhood turns into clubland on weekends.
Weisman says The Marsh is "definitely not against development, but we have some concerns," and she suggests that they're lucky to have been able to stay in the Mission as long as they have, which is entirely due to the fact that they bought their building almost 18 years ago.
A separate, more direct and anti-development appeal has been filed by Mission resident and activist Alicia Gamez who states that she and 400 other "neighbors object to the size, density and design of the proposed building." Also she objects to the concept altogether, 12 luxury condo units over retail, calling it "in-your-face gentrification." If her appeal fails, Gamez is promising to sue.
