McCoppin Hub Plaza, a minor land use nightmare near where Valencia meets Market Street, beside a U-Haul store, and adjacent to where the 101 meets Octavia, is now fenced off according to Hoodline. This isn't the permanent fence proposed in a contentious plan backed by supervisor Jane Kim, as first floated in 2015, a response to the small park's use mostly by homeless people, but instead a temporary one from the Department of Public Works.
Reached by Hoodline, SF's Real Estate Division director John Updike Gavin, said that McCoppin Hub Plaza is a construction zone that's indefinitely closed. But, what exactly is being constructed, again? The permanent fence? SFist has reached out to Gavin's office for clarification and is awaiting a reply.
That permanent fence idea, which would be open during the day and then closed at sunset like nearby SoMa West Skate and Dog Parks, was met with a mixed reaction at public meetings. Some decried the problem of homeless people there, others called Kim and co. heartless for framing this is a problem in the first part.
"There was a lot of abuse of the site and intimidation by people that frankly were doing illegal activities" Gavin has so far told Hoodline, speaking notably in the past tense. "It was to the detriment of the neighborhood being able to enjoy the rest of the open space. Lots of different drug using, drug dealing, bicycle part chop-shop type of activity."
As for now, no need to worry about bikes getting scrapped in McCoppin Plaza — or being able to pass through on the bike path toward Octavia, either. That appears fenced off as well.
Related: McCoppin Plaza Anti-Homeless Fence Moves Forward With Jane Kim's Support
Rendering via SF Public Works