Help save the Green Cross!

Dear patients, allies, supporters and friends:

We finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The discretionary review hearing has been scheduled, our proposed location has been inspected by the police, fire, and health departments, and we had our open house for neighborhood residents/leaders/business owners last weekend. Most of the staff attended.

It’s been a challenge to be the first mcd to move through the City’s permit process. Despite the fact that we have worked hard to be meticulous in following every rule, we have met with some pretty formidable opposition from people involved with a few of the neighborhood associations.

So, I turn to you because you helped save The Green Cross last year. Once again, The Green Cross desperately needs quick action. We need to activate and mobilize our base of support. We don’t have the money to launch the kind of PR campaign the opposition has launched. But we have a lot of heart, and know our patients and friends do too.

On July 13th, our application to open at 2701 Leavenworth will undergo a Discretionary Review (DR) hearing with the SF Planning Commission. According to the City’s hand-out describing the DR process, “ discretionary review should be exercised only when exceptional and extraordinary cases apply to the proposed construction, and modifications required only where the project would result in a significant impact on the public interest.”

In an ideal world, we would be confident that we were going to be granted a permit. In our estimation, our new home does not provide “exceptional and extraordinary impact” to the neighborhood. But, we have learned that grass-roots input is very much a part of shaping public policy decisions in San Francisco. It’s clear the opposition is trying to get the hearing room filled with people that think like them. As much as I hate “tit-for-tat” politics, I’m now convinced we need to work to fill the room with patients, allies and supporters. Please, please do your best to come to the hearing! The hearing will take place at: Planning Commission Chambers – Room 400 City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place on Thursday, July 13th 1:30 pm. We are #19 on the agenda.

We want to request you come and speak on behalf of our desire to open at 2701 Leavenworth. Speakers will be limited to 3 minutes. Please focus your comments on any of the following talking points:
1. The fact that there is no mcd operating under the new regulations. The Green
Cross seeks to be a model mcd and follow the rules.
2. The regulations need an opportunity to impact the practices and policies of mcds.
All of the fears and complaints are based on the experience PRIOR to having a regulatory framework. Certainly the new regulations will diminish many of the most common complaints (i.e. double parking, parking in driveways, fines for smoking close to the mcd, etc.)
3. The fact the project does not create exceptional and extraordinary impact on the neighborhood, so it should not be subject to conditions at the time it opens.
4. We have developed a traffic management plan to address potential traffic and parking problems. And, we are open to other suggestions.
5. Our state-of-the-art safety and security camera surveillance system is an effective deterrent to the kinds of crimes identified by the NIMBYs.

Those are just a few ideas. Feel free to make other points you think need to be made. Please try and prepare your comments before the hearing. We’ve been told it’s important to stay focused. Once again, thank you so much for your active support. We really appreciate knowing we are part of a larger movement. If we are allowed to open, it will be because you raised your voice to be heard, and joined hands with the rest of The Green Cross community.

I look forward to the day we can once again open our doors and be of service to all of our patient members.

With lots of faith and hope that justice will prevail.

Kevin D. Reed