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Indybay Feature
Stop SF City Privatization Of Balboa Reservoir For Developers
The speculators and developers who run the San Francisco Planning Commission are supporting the privatization of the Balboa reservoir for speculators and developers including Avalon. It will come before the SF Board Of Supervisors in early August
Big Balboa Giveaway Bad Break for SF City College
https://westsideobserver.com/news/balboa.html
by Jean Barish
The Balboa Reservoir Project was, sadly, unanimously approved by the SF Planning Commission May 28. If you listened to the hearing, I hope you took notice of the many concerns voiced by project opponents. This project is an unjustified and unreasonable give-away to a private developer.
quotes
the SF Public Utilities Commission will sell the land, over 17 acres, for approximately $11.2 million ... about $640,000 per acre for prime San Francisco real estate. .. the City of San Francisco is offering to sell prime real estate to a privateer for more than 90% below market rate”
According to the Development Agreement between the City and Avalon Bay, the project developer, the SF Public Utilities Commission will sell the land, over 17 acres, for approximately $11.2 million (page 1231). This is about $640,000 per acre for prime San Francisco real estate. According to a casual perusal of the prices for a lot in San Francisco on Zillow, about one tenth of an acre is selling for over $1 million, or $10 million per acre. In other words, the City of San Francisco is offering to sell prime real estate to a privateer for more than 90% below market rate. If that's not a give-away, I don't know what is.
proposed project at Balboa Reservoir
For public land adjacent to City College of San Francisco, this unconscionable.
Additionally, the future of City College of San Francisco hangs in the balance. The Balboa Reservoir Project, an oversized, largely market-rate development that will be built on land used by City College for years, will cause City College to shrink and become a shadow of its former self. The decline of City College will significantly impact thousands of people throughout San Francisco: students who need a class to matriculate to a four-year college; students who need certification for a vocational training program; seniors for whom classes provide the physical and emotional support they need to stay healthy, vital, and engaged; and people of all ages who are taking non-credit classes to learn new skills, such as ESL, or who simply want to become more productive and fulfilled members of the community.
In 2013, a Budget and Legislative Analyst evaluation estimated that City College’s value to the City was over $300 million by providing job training, skills training, jobs for 2400 faculty, administrators, and classified staff, market value of jobs attained by CCSF graduates, state and federal grants, low-cost higher education compared to for-profit two year programs. But it’s not just economic. It’s also about improving the quality of life of everyone in City by providing well educated and well-trained San Franciscans, from home health aides to tech workers to engineers to artists and musicians.
This Project is a giveaway to a private developer that will decimate City College, and will not benefit the neighborhood or the City of San Francisco. It should not be permitted.
Jean Barish
Read Jean Barish's detailed letter to the Planning Commission (PDF).
A Resolution to Acquire the Balboa Reservoir Property for City College of San Francisco
Presented by the Defend City College Alliance (DCCA)*
See endorsements:
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:00854deb-a83a-4395-9b07-763c6b658af5
PREAMBLE
The overwhelming support for the recent Prop A ($ 845 million facilities Bond for CCSF) shows San Francisco voters desire the development and growth of City College. The Balboa Reservoir is a critical element for CCSF use. The plan to privatize it in order to build some 1100 housing units mostly at market rate contradicts and undermines the public interest. The members of DCCA therefore recommend the following resolution. (Support materials for each whereas and resolve are in the links below)
RESOLUTION
1 WHEREAS, Proposition A, an $845 million Facilities bond measure for new and renovated buildings at City College of San Francisco, also included the authority to acquire land, and
2 WHEREAS, the voter elected Trustees of City College of San Francisco are responsible to the citizens of San Francisco for the protection of the institution, its students and employees from the effects of political intrusion including any encroaching privatization of a public college, and
3 WHEREAS, the Voters of San Francisco previously defeated two proposals for private housing development in the Balboa Reservoir (Proposition B in 1987 and L in 1988) and
4 WHEREAS, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) signed an agreement in 1991 turning over half of its reservoir property to CCSF and promising air rights over the other half which was considered to be required for needed future water safety for San Francisco, and
5 WHEREAS, the San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC) and the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods (CSFN) have endorsed City College's plans for use of the full Balboa Reservoir property and presented resolutions to the San Francisco PUC and the City College Board of Trustees to prevent private development on the site, and
6 WHEREAS, the BOT has passed and later tabled resolutions to seek to secure the lower Balboa Reservoir in order to continue its 75 year use by CCSF for student access and needs which could include housing, and
7 WHEREAS, the Faculty Union (AFT 2121) passed a resolution that asked San Francisco PUC to transfer the reservoir property (public property) to City College of San Francisco, and urged the Board of Trustees and administration to advocate vigorously for the interests of the college and for the principle of public land for the public good, and
8 WHEREAS, the City College Participatory Governance Council (PGC), composed of appointed college representatives from administration, classified staff, faculty and students passed a resolution to recommend to then Chancellor Susan Lamb to ask the Board of Trustees to formally request that the PUC transfer ownership of the lower Balboa Reservoir parcel to CCSF, and
9 WHEREAS, City College has leased the Reservoir property continuously since 1946 and is the only entity that has made any improvement to the property, and
10 WHEREAS, real estate law and lease agreements require the PUC to allow City College of San Francisco right of first refusal to purchase the reservoir property, to wit,
“The right of the first refusal lease clause or addendum is legally-binding and gives City College the right to purchase the Balboa property if it goes up on the market. This means that if the PUC landlord decides to list the property for sale, they will have to accept the tenant’s reasonable offer if the tenant decides to make one”, and
11 WHEREAS, plans for privatizing the Balboa Reservoir land represents a willful contradiction and private undermining of the public interest as indicated by the support of Prop A, and evidence shows that building 1100 mostly market rate homes on the Balboa Reservoir site will make the San Francisco affordable housing crisis worse, and
12 WHEREAS, the Reservoir developers have not had valid feedback from appropriate and fully legal college representatives, but have continued their planning and promoting as though they have, and
13 WHEREAS, the environmental impact report on the private Balboa Reservoir Project identified three significant damaging environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated: construction noise, air pollution, and transportation problems that will go on for as long as a decade or more causing health and safety issues for neighbors, children, students, district employees, and disrupt classroom effectiveness for both Riordan High School and CCSF, and
14 WHEREAS, the developers assured citizens that they would provide adequate parking and transit for City College students and this has not been provided for in their latest plans, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Defend City College Alliance (DCCA) urges the Board of Trustees to initiate negotiations towards acquiring the Balboa Reservoir property from the Public Utilities Commission for City College of San Francisco to allow facility development, open public space (events, student shows, practice) employee and possibly student housing, state required parking, all critical elements for CCSF student success!
Respectfully Submitted,
Steven Brown and Madeline Mueller representing DCCA
*Defend City College Alliance is a group of CCSF faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members who have organized for many years to help support the continued success of all City College students.
BALBOA RESERVOIR PROJECT POINTS FOR
SF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Do Not Approve the Project as Currently Proposed
This Project should not be approved because it privatizes public land that has been used by City College of San Francisco for decades. This land should be owned by CCSF and used to meet the growing demand for education, vocational training and lifelong learning. CCSF is San Francisco’s educational treasure. Selling this public land to the highest bidder for a private housing development is unacceptable.
This Project should be not be approved because it does not meet the City’s pressing need for affordable housing, especially for lower-income residents. At best, only 50% of the units will be affordable, and many of these units will be available to people earning 120% of the City’s AMI. The City does not need more market rate housing. There is already more than enough in the pipeline. What is desperately needed is more affordable housing for lower-income and working-class households.
This Project should not be approved because it will remove thousands of parking spaces that students who drive to CCSF from throughout the City depend on. Removal of this parking will make it impossible for students to attend classes, depriving them of the education they need and deserve. Analysis of the impact of this Project on parking is inadequate. An April 26, 2020, memo to Leigh Lutenski, OEWD, detailing this parking issue is here: https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/ccsf/Board.nsf/files/BPHPXE61935D/$file/Ahrens-Lutenski%20Memo%20Facilties%20Committee%20May%2014%202020.pdf
This Project should not be approved because it does not provide adequate public transit, further exacerbating the impact of the loss of parking. SF MTA has stated several times that transit improvements are not firm, are merely “aspirational,” and “sketchy.” And so far there are no specific plans to improve and increase transit in this already congested area. Additionally, the Final SEIR states that the Project will create significant transportation impacts that cannot be mitigated.
This Project should not be approved because it is an oversized, dense housing development right across the street from City College of San Francisco, adjoining a neighborhood of single-family homes. It is out of scale with the surrounding community,
and is shoehorning thousands of people into a few acres of land with very little open space.
This Project should not be approved because it gentrifies one of the last working-class neighborhoods in San Francisco, which will drive out families who are the backbone of the City, the hard working men and women we all depend on to drive our buses, repair our streets, and teach our children.
This Project should not be approved because the Final SEIR has identified three significant environmental impacts, construction noise, air quality, and transportation, that cannot be mitigated.
Alternative Proposal
Proposition A, an $845 million Facilities bond measure for new and renovated buildings at City College of San Francisco, also included the authority to acquire land.
The voter elected Trustees of City College of San Francisco are responsible to the citizens of San Francisco for the protection of the institution, its students and employees from the effects of political intrusion including any encroaching privatization of a public college.
The Voters of San Francisco previously defeated two proposals for private housing development in the Balboa Reservoir (Proposition B in 1987 and L in 1988).
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) signed an agreement in 1991 turning over half of its reservoir property to CCSF and promising air rights over the other half which was considered to be required for needed future water safety for San Francisco.
The San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC) and the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods (CSFN) have endorsed City College's plans for use of the full Balboa Reservoir property and presented resolutions to the San Francisco PUC and the City College Board of Trustees to prevent private development on the site.
The BOT passed (and later tabled) resolutions to seek to secure the lower Balboa Reservoir in order to continue its 75 year use by CCSF for student access and needs which could include housing.
The Faculty Union (AFT 2121) passed a resolution that asked San Francisco PUC to transfer the reservoir property (public property) to City College of San Francisco, and urged the Board of Trustees and administration to advocate vigorously for the interests of the college and for the principle of public land for the public good.
The City College Participatory Governance Council (PGC), composed of appointed college representatives from administration, classified staff, faculty and students passed a resolution to recommend to then Chancellor Susan Lamb to ask the Board of Trustees to formally request that the PUC transfer ownership of the lower Balboa Reservoir parcel to CCSF.
City College has leased the Reservoir property continuously since 1946 and is the only entity that has made any improvement to the property, and
Real estate law and lease agreements require the PUC to allow City College of San Francisco right of first refusal to purchase the reservoir property, to wit,
“The right of the first refusal lease clause or addendum is legally-binding and gives City College the right to purchase the Balboa property if it goes up on the market. This means that if the PUC landlord decides to list the property for sale, they will have to accept the tenant’s reasonable offer if the tenant decides to make one”, and
Plans for privatizing the Balboa Reservoir land represents a willful contradiction and private undermining of the public interest as indicated by the support of Prop A, and evidence shows that building 1100 mostly market rate homes on the Balboa Reservoir site will make the San Francisco affordable housing crisis worse, and
The Reservoir developers have not had valid feedback from appropriate and fully legal college representatives, but have continued their planning and promoting as though they have.
The environmental impact report on the private Balboa Reservoir Project identified three significant damaging environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated: construction noise, air pollution, and transportation problems that will go on for as long as a decade or more causing health and safety issues for neighbors, children, students, district employees, and disrupt classroom effectiveness for both Riordan High School and CCSF, and
The developers assured citizens that they would provide adequate parking and transit for City College students and this has not been provided for in their latest plans,
Conclusion
The future of City College of San Francisco hangs in the balance. The Balboa Reservoir Project, an oversized, largely market-rate development that will be built on land used by City College for years, will cause City College to shrink and become a shadow of its former self. The decline of City College will significantly impact thousands of people throughout San Francisco: students who need a class to matriculate to a four-year college; students who need certification for a vocational training program; seniors for whom classes provide the physical and emotional support they need to stay healthy, vital, and engaged; and people of all ages who are taking non-credit classes to learn new skills, such as ESL, or who simply want to become more productive and fulfilled members of the community.
In 2013, a Budget and Legislative Analyst evaluation estimated that City College’s value to the City was over $300 million by providing job training, skills training, jobs for 2400 faculty, administrators, and classified staff, market value of jobs attained by CCSF graduates, state and federal grants, low-cost higher education compared to for-profit two year programs. But it’s not just economic. It’s also about improving the quality of life of everyone in City by providing well educated and well trained San Franciscans, from home health aides to tech workers to engineers to artists and musicians.
In view of the foregoing we urge you to support the purchase of the Balboa Reservoir by City College of San Francisco from the Public Utilities Commission to allow facility development, open public space (events, student shows, practice), employee and possibly student housing, and state required parking, all critical elements for CCSF student success!
More Privatization & Theft. Of Public Land For Property Speculators In San Francisco
SF to sell housing site for bargain-basement price
J.K. Dineen June 21, 2020 Updated: June 21, 2020 4 a.m.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/SF-to-sell-housing-site-for-bargain-basement-price-15353678.php
The Balboa Reservoir is the site of a decades-long fight over housing development in San Francisco.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018
Critics say the city’s proposed price for the land is a giveaway to private developers.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018
The site is planned for a mix of market-rate and affordable housing.Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2018
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is preparing to sell the 16-acre Balboa Reservoir property to a private development group for $11.4 million, a bargain-basement price that has become the latest point of contention in the long-simmering dispute over city plans to build 1,100 housing units there.
The price for the land — a vast, flat parking lot just west of the City College main campus — represents a 50% discount from fair market value, according to the appraiser, Clifford Advisory. The markdown takes into consideration the fact that the developer will be responsible for financing and building 366 units of affordable housing on the site, along with 550 units of market-rate housing. In addition the price takes into account the developer’s obligation to build out $48 million in infrastructure improvements, including four acres of parks, as well as roads, utilities and sidewalks.
Brad Wiblin, an executive vice president with Bridge Housing — which is building the project with AvalonBay and Mission Housing — said the $11.4 million figure was consistent with an appraisal his group commissioned earlier in the process. He said the 366 affordable apartments will cost about $91.5 million to subsidize, or about $250,000 per unit. He said the market-rate housing will occupy about half of the 17 acres, with the rest of the land going to the affordable housing, streets, sidewalks and open space.
After Pier 45 fire, San Francisco pledges $1 million-plus in...
“That was the game plan from the beginning,” said Wiblin. “That half the site would be used for public good and in return the developer builds some market-rate housing on the other half.”
But critics say that the price tag is far below market value and that the city agency is getting a bad deal. They point to the fact that the city utilities commission was paid $9.9 million for the 3.3-acre Francisco Reservoir, which was bought by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. While the value of land in general is expected to drop significantly due to the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, the price of the Balboa property — less than $11,000 per buildable unit — is just a fraction of $100,000 to $200,000 per unit that has been paid in recent years.
Jean Bearish, a former City College biology professor, called the Balboa deal a “giveaway to a private developer, who’ll be able to line his pockets with money that should go to ratepayers.”
“I don’t know whether to call it a swindle or a heist,” she said. “I think it’s an outrage.”
The redevelopment of the lot below City College has been a hot-button issue for more than 40 years as multiple mayors have attempted to build housing there, only to be blocked by neighbors, who object to the density and height of buildings, and by the City College community, which argues that the land should be set aside for expansion of the college.
The current proposal, which will likely be before the Board of Supervisors for final approvals in the early fall, calls for 50% of the units to be affordable. In addition to the 366 affordable units the developers are responsible for, the city has committed to funding another 184 units. Phase 1 would include 154 units of educator housing and 123 apartments that would be affordable to a family of four making between $37,000 and $98,000 a year. City College faculty and staff would have first preference for the educator housing.
John Manning, a broker with Avison Young who specializes in raising debt and equity for development projects, said with all the costs the developer is obligated to take on it’s not surprising the price tag is so low.
“At first glance the $11,000 per unit seems exceptionally cheap, but when you add the affordable housing and the infrastructure costs, the arithmetic smells about right,” he said.
Chris Foley, a broker and developer who has been negotiating land deals in the city for more than 20 years, said the price seemed reasonable. “Construction costs are still high and the infrastructure work is going to be a beast,” he said.
San Francisco Housing Action Coalition Executive Director Todd David said that the neighbors criticizing the low land cost are the same people who pushed for a low-density project. “If we double the number of units the underlying land value would go up and the PUC would be getting a much larger payment,” he said. “The opponents want to have it both ways.”
If approved, work on the $30 million of required infrastructure improvements — parks, roads, utilities, sidewalks, landscaping — will likely start in 2022. The first four buildings — two affordable and two market-rate — are to open in early 2024.
Bearish, the opponent, said that the improvements the developers are making are not so much public benefits as “mitigation” for the impact the development will have on public transportation, traffic, parking, and other things.
“They are not donating anything,” she said. “They are getting a deep discount on the land to offset the cost of the affordable housing.”
SFPUC Deputy General Manager Michael Carlin said the agency has spent five years working on the project and was excited to bring it to the commission for approval.
“The project will provide 50% affordable housing, infrastructure improvements, and a number of other important community benefits that are much needed in our city,” he said.
J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen [at] sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
CCSF Art Students Do Art & Music To Save Ft. Mason & Stop Privatization Of Balboa Reservoir
https://youtu.be/o3jdKvOHzls
San Francisco City College art students from Ft. Mason held and class in front of SF City College to protest the possible closure of the Ft. Mason campus where they hold their classes. They talked about what their program means to them and also the threatened privatization of the Balboa reservoir for the profits of Avalon and other developers for million dollar condos.
They also reported on the systemic violation of the Brown Act by the former Chancellor Rocha and his illegal $400,000 payoff by the CCSF Board of Trustees in secret meetings. The president of the board of trustees Shanell Williams has said that the $400,000 payoff was completely proper even though it fragrantly violated transparency and the Brown Act. The $400,000 would also have paid for the continued lease of the Ft. Mason campus which they will possibly be destroying.
Additional media:
Protest To Stop The Destruction of CCSF Through Elimination of ESL, Shuttering of Campuses, Privatization & Union Busting
https://youtu.be/GzGEZRrOWqY
Stop The Cuts! Hundreds of CCSF Students & Faculty Protest 300 Class Cuts AT BOT Meet-SF & CA Demos Lead The Attack On Public Education
https://youtu.be/7ohpgRD_cOg
CCSF Board Of Trustees At Meeting All Support Chancellor Rocha Cuts & Union Busting
https://youtu.be/2uwdqug6Ii4
AFT 2121 CCSF Faculty Speak Out On Rocha Budget Cuts & Public Education
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCjhCG0wunc
Students, Faculty & Community Demand STOP The CUTS At CCSF With Funeral
https://youtu.be/2caDc_WN60g
Shooting Yourself In The Foot & Increasing Executive Salaries At CCSF By Chancellor Rocha
https://youtu.be/3esO55xUlp8
Speak-out On Privatization of Balboa Reservoir For Developers Which Threatens SF City College
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbeRvY-HRhY
BUSTING up CCSF! CCSF Chancellor, Bd President & Bd Majority Wrecking City College
https://youtu.be/pizpoBQcQuQ
The Downsizing & Privatization Of CCSF "Vision 2025" & The Secret Illegal CCSF Board Meetings
https://youtu.be/JhDq_BakeQo
Privatization and Destruction of CCSF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnDjK5RAkes&t=2s
Build The PAEC NOW! Stop The Privatization & Developers Rip-off Scam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkGMe_w6JaU
Conflicts of Interest, CCSF & The Attack On Public Education Privatization With Kathy Carroll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux4mRloWBEA&t=3s
Public Education, Privatization, Corruption And The
Destruction Of Our Schools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_eu5u70tTE
"Are You Out Of Your Minds"? AFT 2121 Faculty Challenge CCSF Board On Mark Rocha Appointment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEZpOS8p4gQ
This rally was sponsored by Higher Education Action Team HEAT.
https://ccsfheat.wordpress.com and endorsed by the
CCSF Collective
https://www.ccsfcollective.org
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org
https://westsideobserver.com/news/balboa.html
by Jean Barish
The Balboa Reservoir Project was, sadly, unanimously approved by the SF Planning Commission May 28. If you listened to the hearing, I hope you took notice of the many concerns voiced by project opponents. This project is an unjustified and unreasonable give-away to a private developer.
quotes
the SF Public Utilities Commission will sell the land, over 17 acres, for approximately $11.2 million ... about $640,000 per acre for prime San Francisco real estate. .. the City of San Francisco is offering to sell prime real estate to a privateer for more than 90% below market rate”
According to the Development Agreement between the City and Avalon Bay, the project developer, the SF Public Utilities Commission will sell the land, over 17 acres, for approximately $11.2 million (page 1231). This is about $640,000 per acre for prime San Francisco real estate. According to a casual perusal of the prices for a lot in San Francisco on Zillow, about one tenth of an acre is selling for over $1 million, or $10 million per acre. In other words, the City of San Francisco is offering to sell prime real estate to a privateer for more than 90% below market rate. If that's not a give-away, I don't know what is.
proposed project at Balboa Reservoir
For public land adjacent to City College of San Francisco, this unconscionable.
Additionally, the future of City College of San Francisco hangs in the balance. The Balboa Reservoir Project, an oversized, largely market-rate development that will be built on land used by City College for years, will cause City College to shrink and become a shadow of its former self. The decline of City College will significantly impact thousands of people throughout San Francisco: students who need a class to matriculate to a four-year college; students who need certification for a vocational training program; seniors for whom classes provide the physical and emotional support they need to stay healthy, vital, and engaged; and people of all ages who are taking non-credit classes to learn new skills, such as ESL, or who simply want to become more productive and fulfilled members of the community.
In 2013, a Budget and Legislative Analyst evaluation estimated that City College’s value to the City was over $300 million by providing job training, skills training, jobs for 2400 faculty, administrators, and classified staff, market value of jobs attained by CCSF graduates, state and federal grants, low-cost higher education compared to for-profit two year programs. But it’s not just economic. It’s also about improving the quality of life of everyone in City by providing well educated and well-trained San Franciscans, from home health aides to tech workers to engineers to artists and musicians.
This Project is a giveaway to a private developer that will decimate City College, and will not benefit the neighborhood or the City of San Francisco. It should not be permitted.
Jean Barish
Read Jean Barish's detailed letter to the Planning Commission (PDF).
A Resolution to Acquire the Balboa Reservoir Property for City College of San Francisco
Presented by the Defend City College Alliance (DCCA)*
See endorsements:
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:00854deb-a83a-4395-9b07-763c6b658af5
PREAMBLE
The overwhelming support for the recent Prop A ($ 845 million facilities Bond for CCSF) shows San Francisco voters desire the development and growth of City College. The Balboa Reservoir is a critical element for CCSF use. The plan to privatize it in order to build some 1100 housing units mostly at market rate contradicts and undermines the public interest. The members of DCCA therefore recommend the following resolution. (Support materials for each whereas and resolve are in the links below)
RESOLUTION
1 WHEREAS, Proposition A, an $845 million Facilities bond measure for new and renovated buildings at City College of San Francisco, also included the authority to acquire land, and
2 WHEREAS, the voter elected Trustees of City College of San Francisco are responsible to the citizens of San Francisco for the protection of the institution, its students and employees from the effects of political intrusion including any encroaching privatization of a public college, and
3 WHEREAS, the Voters of San Francisco previously defeated two proposals for private housing development in the Balboa Reservoir (Proposition B in 1987 and L in 1988) and
4 WHEREAS, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) signed an agreement in 1991 turning over half of its reservoir property to CCSF and promising air rights over the other half which was considered to be required for needed future water safety for San Francisco, and
5 WHEREAS, the San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC) and the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods (CSFN) have endorsed City College's plans for use of the full Balboa Reservoir property and presented resolutions to the San Francisco PUC and the City College Board of Trustees to prevent private development on the site, and
6 WHEREAS, the BOT has passed and later tabled resolutions to seek to secure the lower Balboa Reservoir in order to continue its 75 year use by CCSF for student access and needs which could include housing, and
7 WHEREAS, the Faculty Union (AFT 2121) passed a resolution that asked San Francisco PUC to transfer the reservoir property (public property) to City College of San Francisco, and urged the Board of Trustees and administration to advocate vigorously for the interests of the college and for the principle of public land for the public good, and
8 WHEREAS, the City College Participatory Governance Council (PGC), composed of appointed college representatives from administration, classified staff, faculty and students passed a resolution to recommend to then Chancellor Susan Lamb to ask the Board of Trustees to formally request that the PUC transfer ownership of the lower Balboa Reservoir parcel to CCSF, and
9 WHEREAS, City College has leased the Reservoir property continuously since 1946 and is the only entity that has made any improvement to the property, and
10 WHEREAS, real estate law and lease agreements require the PUC to allow City College of San Francisco right of first refusal to purchase the reservoir property, to wit,
“The right of the first refusal lease clause or addendum is legally-binding and gives City College the right to purchase the Balboa property if it goes up on the market. This means that if the PUC landlord decides to list the property for sale, they will have to accept the tenant’s reasonable offer if the tenant decides to make one”, and
11 WHEREAS, plans for privatizing the Balboa Reservoir land represents a willful contradiction and private undermining of the public interest as indicated by the support of Prop A, and evidence shows that building 1100 mostly market rate homes on the Balboa Reservoir site will make the San Francisco affordable housing crisis worse, and
12 WHEREAS, the Reservoir developers have not had valid feedback from appropriate and fully legal college representatives, but have continued their planning and promoting as though they have, and
13 WHEREAS, the environmental impact report on the private Balboa Reservoir Project identified three significant damaging environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated: construction noise, air pollution, and transportation problems that will go on for as long as a decade or more causing health and safety issues for neighbors, children, students, district employees, and disrupt classroom effectiveness for both Riordan High School and CCSF, and
14 WHEREAS, the developers assured citizens that they would provide adequate parking and transit for City College students and this has not been provided for in their latest plans, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Defend City College Alliance (DCCA) urges the Board of Trustees to initiate negotiations towards acquiring the Balboa Reservoir property from the Public Utilities Commission for City College of San Francisco to allow facility development, open public space (events, student shows, practice) employee and possibly student housing, state required parking, all critical elements for CCSF student success!
Respectfully Submitted,
Steven Brown and Madeline Mueller representing DCCA
*Defend City College Alliance is a group of CCSF faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members who have organized for many years to help support the continued success of all City College students.
BALBOA RESERVOIR PROJECT POINTS FOR
SF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Do Not Approve the Project as Currently Proposed
This Project should not be approved because it privatizes public land that has been used by City College of San Francisco for decades. This land should be owned by CCSF and used to meet the growing demand for education, vocational training and lifelong learning. CCSF is San Francisco’s educational treasure. Selling this public land to the highest bidder for a private housing development is unacceptable.
This Project should be not be approved because it does not meet the City’s pressing need for affordable housing, especially for lower-income residents. At best, only 50% of the units will be affordable, and many of these units will be available to people earning 120% of the City’s AMI. The City does not need more market rate housing. There is already more than enough in the pipeline. What is desperately needed is more affordable housing for lower-income and working-class households.
This Project should not be approved because it will remove thousands of parking spaces that students who drive to CCSF from throughout the City depend on. Removal of this parking will make it impossible for students to attend classes, depriving them of the education they need and deserve. Analysis of the impact of this Project on parking is inadequate. An April 26, 2020, memo to Leigh Lutenski, OEWD, detailing this parking issue is here: https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/ccsf/Board.nsf/files/BPHPXE61935D/$file/Ahrens-Lutenski%20Memo%20Facilties%20Committee%20May%2014%202020.pdf
This Project should not be approved because it does not provide adequate public transit, further exacerbating the impact of the loss of parking. SF MTA has stated several times that transit improvements are not firm, are merely “aspirational,” and “sketchy.” And so far there are no specific plans to improve and increase transit in this already congested area. Additionally, the Final SEIR states that the Project will create significant transportation impacts that cannot be mitigated.
This Project should not be approved because it is an oversized, dense housing development right across the street from City College of San Francisco, adjoining a neighborhood of single-family homes. It is out of scale with the surrounding community,
and is shoehorning thousands of people into a few acres of land with very little open space.
This Project should not be approved because it gentrifies one of the last working-class neighborhoods in San Francisco, which will drive out families who are the backbone of the City, the hard working men and women we all depend on to drive our buses, repair our streets, and teach our children.
This Project should not be approved because the Final SEIR has identified three significant environmental impacts, construction noise, air quality, and transportation, that cannot be mitigated.
Alternative Proposal
Proposition A, an $845 million Facilities bond measure for new and renovated buildings at City College of San Francisco, also included the authority to acquire land.
The voter elected Trustees of City College of San Francisco are responsible to the citizens of San Francisco for the protection of the institution, its students and employees from the effects of political intrusion including any encroaching privatization of a public college.
The Voters of San Francisco previously defeated two proposals for private housing development in the Balboa Reservoir (Proposition B in 1987 and L in 1988).
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) signed an agreement in 1991 turning over half of its reservoir property to CCSF and promising air rights over the other half which was considered to be required for needed future water safety for San Francisco.
The San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC) and the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods (CSFN) have endorsed City College's plans for use of the full Balboa Reservoir property and presented resolutions to the San Francisco PUC and the City College Board of Trustees to prevent private development on the site.
The BOT passed (and later tabled) resolutions to seek to secure the lower Balboa Reservoir in order to continue its 75 year use by CCSF for student access and needs which could include housing.
The Faculty Union (AFT 2121) passed a resolution that asked San Francisco PUC to transfer the reservoir property (public property) to City College of San Francisco, and urged the Board of Trustees and administration to advocate vigorously for the interests of the college and for the principle of public land for the public good.
The City College Participatory Governance Council (PGC), composed of appointed college representatives from administration, classified staff, faculty and students passed a resolution to recommend to then Chancellor Susan Lamb to ask the Board of Trustees to formally request that the PUC transfer ownership of the lower Balboa Reservoir parcel to CCSF.
City College has leased the Reservoir property continuously since 1946 and is the only entity that has made any improvement to the property, and
Real estate law and lease agreements require the PUC to allow City College of San Francisco right of first refusal to purchase the reservoir property, to wit,
“The right of the first refusal lease clause or addendum is legally-binding and gives City College the right to purchase the Balboa property if it goes up on the market. This means that if the PUC landlord decides to list the property for sale, they will have to accept the tenant’s reasonable offer if the tenant decides to make one”, and
Plans for privatizing the Balboa Reservoir land represents a willful contradiction and private undermining of the public interest as indicated by the support of Prop A, and evidence shows that building 1100 mostly market rate homes on the Balboa Reservoir site will make the San Francisco affordable housing crisis worse, and
The Reservoir developers have not had valid feedback from appropriate and fully legal college representatives, but have continued their planning and promoting as though they have.
The environmental impact report on the private Balboa Reservoir Project identified three significant damaging environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated: construction noise, air pollution, and transportation problems that will go on for as long as a decade or more causing health and safety issues for neighbors, children, students, district employees, and disrupt classroom effectiveness for both Riordan High School and CCSF, and
The developers assured citizens that they would provide adequate parking and transit for City College students and this has not been provided for in their latest plans,
Conclusion
The future of City College of San Francisco hangs in the balance. The Balboa Reservoir Project, an oversized, largely market-rate development that will be built on land used by City College for years, will cause City College to shrink and become a shadow of its former self. The decline of City College will significantly impact thousands of people throughout San Francisco: students who need a class to matriculate to a four-year college; students who need certification for a vocational training program; seniors for whom classes provide the physical and emotional support they need to stay healthy, vital, and engaged; and people of all ages who are taking non-credit classes to learn new skills, such as ESL, or who simply want to become more productive and fulfilled members of the community.
In 2013, a Budget and Legislative Analyst evaluation estimated that City College’s value to the City was over $300 million by providing job training, skills training, jobs for 2400 faculty, administrators, and classified staff, market value of jobs attained by CCSF graduates, state and federal grants, low-cost higher education compared to for-profit two year programs. But it’s not just economic. It’s also about improving the quality of life of everyone in City by providing well educated and well trained San Franciscans, from home health aides to tech workers to engineers to artists and musicians.
In view of the foregoing we urge you to support the purchase of the Balboa Reservoir by City College of San Francisco from the Public Utilities Commission to allow facility development, open public space (events, student shows, practice), employee and possibly student housing, and state required parking, all critical elements for CCSF student success!
More Privatization & Theft. Of Public Land For Property Speculators In San Francisco
SF to sell housing site for bargain-basement price
J.K. Dineen June 21, 2020 Updated: June 21, 2020 4 a.m.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/SF-to-sell-housing-site-for-bargain-basement-price-15353678.php
The Balboa Reservoir is the site of a decades-long fight over housing development in San Francisco.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018
Critics say the city’s proposed price for the land is a giveaway to private developers.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018
The site is planned for a mix of market-rate and affordable housing.Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2018
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is preparing to sell the 16-acre Balboa Reservoir property to a private development group for $11.4 million, a bargain-basement price that has become the latest point of contention in the long-simmering dispute over city plans to build 1,100 housing units there.
The price for the land — a vast, flat parking lot just west of the City College main campus — represents a 50% discount from fair market value, according to the appraiser, Clifford Advisory. The markdown takes into consideration the fact that the developer will be responsible for financing and building 366 units of affordable housing on the site, along with 550 units of market-rate housing. In addition the price takes into account the developer’s obligation to build out $48 million in infrastructure improvements, including four acres of parks, as well as roads, utilities and sidewalks.
Brad Wiblin, an executive vice president with Bridge Housing — which is building the project with AvalonBay and Mission Housing — said the $11.4 million figure was consistent with an appraisal his group commissioned earlier in the process. He said the 366 affordable apartments will cost about $91.5 million to subsidize, or about $250,000 per unit. He said the market-rate housing will occupy about half of the 17 acres, with the rest of the land going to the affordable housing, streets, sidewalks and open space.
After Pier 45 fire, San Francisco pledges $1 million-plus in...
“That was the game plan from the beginning,” said Wiblin. “That half the site would be used for public good and in return the developer builds some market-rate housing on the other half.”
But critics say that the price tag is far below market value and that the city agency is getting a bad deal. They point to the fact that the city utilities commission was paid $9.9 million for the 3.3-acre Francisco Reservoir, which was bought by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. While the value of land in general is expected to drop significantly due to the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, the price of the Balboa property — less than $11,000 per buildable unit — is just a fraction of $100,000 to $200,000 per unit that has been paid in recent years.
Jean Bearish, a former City College biology professor, called the Balboa deal a “giveaway to a private developer, who’ll be able to line his pockets with money that should go to ratepayers.”
“I don’t know whether to call it a swindle or a heist,” she said. “I think it’s an outrage.”
The redevelopment of the lot below City College has been a hot-button issue for more than 40 years as multiple mayors have attempted to build housing there, only to be blocked by neighbors, who object to the density and height of buildings, and by the City College community, which argues that the land should be set aside for expansion of the college.
The current proposal, which will likely be before the Board of Supervisors for final approvals in the early fall, calls for 50% of the units to be affordable. In addition to the 366 affordable units the developers are responsible for, the city has committed to funding another 184 units. Phase 1 would include 154 units of educator housing and 123 apartments that would be affordable to a family of four making between $37,000 and $98,000 a year. City College faculty and staff would have first preference for the educator housing.
John Manning, a broker with Avison Young who specializes in raising debt and equity for development projects, said with all the costs the developer is obligated to take on it’s not surprising the price tag is so low.
“At first glance the $11,000 per unit seems exceptionally cheap, but when you add the affordable housing and the infrastructure costs, the arithmetic smells about right,” he said.
Chris Foley, a broker and developer who has been negotiating land deals in the city for more than 20 years, said the price seemed reasonable. “Construction costs are still high and the infrastructure work is going to be a beast,” he said.
San Francisco Housing Action Coalition Executive Director Todd David said that the neighbors criticizing the low land cost are the same people who pushed for a low-density project. “If we double the number of units the underlying land value would go up and the PUC would be getting a much larger payment,” he said. “The opponents want to have it both ways.”
If approved, work on the $30 million of required infrastructure improvements — parks, roads, utilities, sidewalks, landscaping — will likely start in 2022. The first four buildings — two affordable and two market-rate — are to open in early 2024.
Bearish, the opponent, said that the improvements the developers are making are not so much public benefits as “mitigation” for the impact the development will have on public transportation, traffic, parking, and other things.
“They are not donating anything,” she said. “They are getting a deep discount on the land to offset the cost of the affordable housing.”
SFPUC Deputy General Manager Michael Carlin said the agency has spent five years working on the project and was excited to bring it to the commission for approval.
“The project will provide 50% affordable housing, infrastructure improvements, and a number of other important community benefits that are much needed in our city,” he said.
J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen [at] sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
CCSF Art Students Do Art & Music To Save Ft. Mason & Stop Privatization Of Balboa Reservoir
https://youtu.be/o3jdKvOHzls
San Francisco City College art students from Ft. Mason held and class in front of SF City College to protest the possible closure of the Ft. Mason campus where they hold their classes. They talked about what their program means to them and also the threatened privatization of the Balboa reservoir for the profits of Avalon and other developers for million dollar condos.
They also reported on the systemic violation of the Brown Act by the former Chancellor Rocha and his illegal $400,000 payoff by the CCSF Board of Trustees in secret meetings. The president of the board of trustees Shanell Williams has said that the $400,000 payoff was completely proper even though it fragrantly violated transparency and the Brown Act. The $400,000 would also have paid for the continued lease of the Ft. Mason campus which they will possibly be destroying.
Additional media:
Protest To Stop The Destruction of CCSF Through Elimination of ESL, Shuttering of Campuses, Privatization & Union Busting
https://youtu.be/GzGEZRrOWqY
Stop The Cuts! Hundreds of CCSF Students & Faculty Protest 300 Class Cuts AT BOT Meet-SF & CA Demos Lead The Attack On Public Education
https://youtu.be/7ohpgRD_cOg
CCSF Board Of Trustees At Meeting All Support Chancellor Rocha Cuts & Union Busting
https://youtu.be/2uwdqug6Ii4
AFT 2121 CCSF Faculty Speak Out On Rocha Budget Cuts & Public Education
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCjhCG0wunc
Students, Faculty & Community Demand STOP The CUTS At CCSF With Funeral
https://youtu.be/2caDc_WN60g
Shooting Yourself In The Foot & Increasing Executive Salaries At CCSF By Chancellor Rocha
https://youtu.be/3esO55xUlp8
Speak-out On Privatization of Balboa Reservoir For Developers Which Threatens SF City College
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbeRvY-HRhY
BUSTING up CCSF! CCSF Chancellor, Bd President & Bd Majority Wrecking City College
https://youtu.be/pizpoBQcQuQ
The Downsizing & Privatization Of CCSF "Vision 2025" & The Secret Illegal CCSF Board Meetings
https://youtu.be/JhDq_BakeQo
Privatization and Destruction of CCSF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnDjK5RAkes&t=2s
Build The PAEC NOW! Stop The Privatization & Developers Rip-off Scam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkGMe_w6JaU
Conflicts of Interest, CCSF & The Attack On Public Education Privatization With Kathy Carroll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux4mRloWBEA&t=3s
Public Education, Privatization, Corruption And The
Destruction Of Our Schools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_eu5u70tTE
"Are You Out Of Your Minds"? AFT 2121 Faculty Challenge CCSF Board On Mark Rocha Appointment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEZpOS8p4gQ
This rally was sponsored by Higher Education Action Team HEAT.
https://ccsfheat.wordpress.com and endorsed by the
CCSF Collective
https://www.ccsfcollective.org
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org
For more information:
https://westsideobserver.com/news/balboa.html
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