Friday, May 14, 2010

Laguna Honda


The SFPUC City Distribution Division will continue to use an area of the property at the Laguna Honda Reservoir. This area is just inside of the gate on Clarendon Ave. Activities and facilities for the site were the topic of a community meeting held on April 20, 2010. Below are some of the highlights of that community meeting:

With respect to the ongoing and regular use of the site by our Dive Team, here are the current plans:
• Regular activities at this site will be limited to the hours of 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, with usually no more than one Diver Supervisor dealing with office work. The majority of the Divers are working at dive sites throughout the city. The Dive Team has three passenger trucks, so there will never be more than that number parking there at any given time.
• Once it has been placed on the site the trailer will provide office space for a couple of diver supervisors and a small work shop to repair and maintain items such as air stations, helmets, dry suits, ROVs, cameras, power and light units, and filling air cylinders.
• Construction related to the trailer will be limited to placement of lattice screens/fences to obscure the structure from view.

A pad and structure have been installed close to the fence and gate on Clarendon Ave.

• The PG&E equipment referred to on the pad is a transformer with switch gear. It makes no sound and hence no reportable decibels. The structure surrounding the transformer is 8 feet tall by 3 feet deep by 7 feet long.
• Once the transformer is fully operational, the temporary generator will be removed.

We are planning a follow up with the community on Tuesday June 8th, stay tuned for more details.

5 comments:

  1. This is a residential area - an office buildilng does not belong here!

    We put up with the dust and noise of using this site as a staging area for the pump station replacement program, now you're telling us that it's going to stay? You can't hide those piles of dirt and stone. Again, it does NOT belong in a residential area, when existing sites are already available and used for this purpose.

    In a time where The City is turning paved areas into mini-parks, the PUC has bulldozed over green space to create a new parking lot!

    SHAME SHAME SHAME

    District 7 property owners, let's hear from you!

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  2. This site is an eyesore and has a negative impact to property values in the neighborhood. PUC should clean up the property and remove any unused construction materials.

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  3. On the one hand, I'm happy to see this posting, because I think any communication is good.

    But that said, I'm disappointed. I'm a neighbor of the reservoir, and I was at the community meeting. My impression was that the PUC received strong feedback that what most bothered everyone was not the trailer, but the gravel distribution center, which is a horrible eyesore, and sometimes brings noisy vehicles into the yard at all hours. It would appear that you are turning a beautiful green area into a gravel pit that operates 7x24.

    What does it mean that you didn't say anything about that here? Are you pretending not to hear that feedback because it's awkward for you? Or are you really not hearing it? Please -- at least let us know you heard us. And then, please, tell us how you can respond to our requests that you stop industrializing this green space.

    And don't you have to conduct an environmental impact study when you cut down huge trees and otherwise replace green space with an industrial zone?

    In my end is my beginning: I'm very upset that you are de facto rezoning the reservoir from a residential area into an industrial area, and I'm surprised that it's even legal. But I do applaud communication, and I hope that it can ultimately lead to making this horrible situation better.

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  4. I live adjacent to Laguna Honda and am very upset about what is happening to our beautiful green space and by how the PUC has handled its relationship with the community.

    We have been given misinformation and more importantly, in the not too distant past, the PUC has gone ahead and done whatever it wants to do without even notifying abutters and the community. You are operating an egregious eyesore of a gravel pit with trucks sometimes entering and leaving at all hours. And now you tell us that the trailer will serve as office space and a place to conduct business, in the middle of a dense residential neighborhood. Is this even legal?

    You are not dealing with the community with a spirit of cooperation. You are imposing on neighbors concerned about safety, quality of life, and property values, and you are imposing on the local environment.

    I don't believe the PUC is purposely destroying its relationship with the community. I would guess that PUC senior management is not even aware of how strongly the community feels about what is happening at Laguna Honda. I urge senior management to engage with us directly since what has been happening so far has only raised animosity and mistrust.

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  5. beverly meyer5/25/10, 9:03 PM

    Re The Laguna Honda Reservoir -- it is my understanding that the PUC has permitted a large number of bee hives or bee houses to be installed on the northern side of the reservoir. It is my understanding that these bees and their habitat belong to an individual who is making honey for sale. Is he/she paying rent for this space? Why was the public never told about these bees? No consideration was given to telling the people living nearby in the Woods that these bees were there. No consideration was given to the fact that the bees could sting people who have allergic reaction to bees, and be fatal. Also pets can die from one bee sting. Are you aware there were incidents over the last week when a large number of bees left their hives and came over to the Woods and swarmed one garage, one couple waiting to exit the complex in their car (they were in a convertible and one passenger had to dive to the floor of the car) and they also swarmed the homes facing the reservoir - not on the water side, but inside the complex. Please explain what is to be done about this and why did you not inform us when this was first done? This seems typical of your modus operendi to act however you want behind closed doors and the public be damned. The bees are not safe - many of them have been around our gardens and patios as well. Please be responsible for your actions. I await a reply at yr earliest convenience. This is a reservoir and open space, not a bee farm. thank you

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