Haight Ashbury Community Events at 730 Stanyan Street

Haight Ashbury Community Events at 730 Stanyan Street

On Saturday, February 26th, members of the Haight Ashbury Community will gather from 2pm-7:30pm at 730 Stanyan for a demonstration event for an interim use at the city-owned lot at 730 Stanyan. The event is being held in response to the city’s abrupt cancellation of an interim use serving the community’s homeless population in October, Mayor London Breed said the use was “unpopular” with neighbors.

The Saturday event includes a range of activities welcoming to all community members and is planned to include:
* Acrosports kids tumble pop up, starting at 2pm-6pm
* Snacks and Hot Beverages including coffee and cider, 2pm-6pm
* Live music, 2pm-6pm
* Seniors’ corner: programs information, referrals and application assistance sponsored by Institute on Aging and Senior Working Group, 2pm-6pm
* Vaccinations will be provided by the Department of Public Health, 2pm-6pm
* Department of Public Health’s Meet a Vax Expert will be on hand to answer questions about Covid and the vaccines, 2pm-6pm
* Movie night, 6pm-7:30pm, "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk," a documentary

Community members who are participating in the Saturday demonstration include a broad representation of the community including representatives of neighborhood organizations including Coalition for a Complete Community at 730 Stanyan (CCC), the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC), the Cole Valley Haight Allies (CVHA), seniors, families with children, non profit organizations, small business owners & front line staff. “We have organized this event welcome to all members of our Haight Ashbury community and to demonstrate that there is in fact strong community support for an interim use at 730 Stanyan which not only includes homeless services but also provides space for community serving activities” said David Woo from the Coalition for a Complete Community (CCC)

The 730 Stanyan lot, location to a former McDonald’s, was purchased by the City of San Francisco in 2018 for the development of permanent affordable housing. The construction which was originally set to begin in 2021 has been delayed until at least 2023 according to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). In July 2021, the Board of Supervisors included funding for a tent drop-in providing homeless services as a transition from the Safe Sleeping Village (SSV) the city had established as a temporary sanctioned tent site for people experiencing homelessness from May 2020 to June 2021. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) had been on track to open the drop in having selected a vendor through an RFP in October when Mayor London Breed appeared to have intervened and cancelled the project after meeting with a handful of neighbors, some identified as prominent donors and allies to the mayor. This was in addition to the decision by MOHCD in 2019 to stop the initial city RFP process for selection of interim uses on the site and continue to leave the site vacant. In response, several community groups and community stakeholders came together to organize an event for this Saturday to show support for the lot’s interim use for both for homeless services and other community serving activities until construction begins.
Publicity for the event has been done by community members primarily through flyers shared with neighbors and with the assistance of neighborhood groups and local small businesses.

The Coalition for Complete Community’s proposal for interim use, developed through a series of community meetings and submitted to the city in 2019, includes on-site services for transitional age youth, seniors, and families as well as events, performances, and workshops such as movie nights, kids play areas, exercise classes, and a community garden to name a few. Like this event, the CCC proposal seeks to reflect the whole neighborhood in activation and use of the site before construction begins.