A long discussed, previously quashed plan to close down a block of Vallejo Street in North Beach in front of the Church of St. Francis from Assisi to create Piazza Saint Francis, The Poets Plaza, has once again been dismissed by the SFMTA Board*, which has approval power over all such road closures. The plan, first conceived by SF's senior poet laureate and longtime North Beach denizen Lawrence Ferlinghetti, has been pushed for years by onetime supervisor Angela Alioto, and she came with a cadre of a couple dozen supporters to the Tuesday meeting. But they were met with almost twice as many in opposition to the plan, as the Examiner reports.

The plaza, envisioned as a cobblestoned space at the foot of the church's steps complete with trees, benches, and a water feature, had some support from the neighborhood, though Alioto told the Chronicle she believed some of the opposition was lying about being from North Beach because, as she said, "I've never seen them."

Among the opposed is Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who apparently sided with neighbors worried about the traffic problem created if this partial block between Grant and Columbus were to be blocked.

Ferlinghetti chimed in, via a recorded message (he is 98 years old and was not able to attend), saying that neighbors were afraid of some "carmageddon" that he implied was ridiculous.

SFMTA Board Chair Cheryl Brinkman said that while the board generally supported walkable plazas like this, not enough community outreach had been done thus far.*

The Examiner says that "Alioto can say arrivederci to the piazza," but this thing has been declared dead before, and it's been over 18 months since it last seemed dead in the water, so who knows.

Update: Ms. Alioto has joined in SFist's commenter pool and she clarifies, regarding Tuesday's meeting, "They didn't vote at all!!!...There was no vote, this was informational" and she adds "We will be back."

* This post has been corrected to show that the SFMTA did not yet take a vote on the plaza.

Previously: Lawrence Ferlinghetti Reflects On How SF Has Changed Over His 64 Years Here