We’ve been following the situation of the Laguna Honda Reservoir over the past months. The issue in summary: The Reservoir, situated at the intersection of Clarendon Avenue and Laguna Honda Boulevard, belongs to the Water Department. They had used a corner of it below Clarendon during the renovation project, assuring the neighbors that they would restore it to greenery afterward. Instead, last year, they decided to make it into a gravel yard and headquarter their dive team there. (The details are here and here.)
The neighbors — particularly at The Woods, which is right next to the spot and overlooks it — were very upset and have been in discussion with the SFPUC about it.
But it wasn’t over; and the neighbors have been following up with SFPUC.
Another issue is that a beekeeper has been permitted to place a number of beehives in this area (which is otherwise inaccessible to the public. Some neighbors are concerned about how it looks, and also about how the bees might behave.
It seems that there’s been some kind of a resolution, at least for now. This is a letter from Judith Clarke, President of the Woods Home-Owners Association. (It’s published here with permission and added emphasis.)
I wanted to give you an update on what is happening at the Laguna Honda Reservoir. On August 24, 2011, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) cleaned up the piles of gravel and dirt that had been stored on the Laguna Honda site for about a year. They also removed the pipes that were stored there and raked the loose gravel to allow the plants to grow.
The SFPUC will be working up the street at the Sutro Reservoir to do seismic retrofitting. This work will begin in either November or January. The SFPUC will not use the Laguna Honda Reservoir area for that work.
At this time, there is no movement by the SFPUC to move a trailer and/or shed onto the Laguna Honda Reservoir site for their Dive Team, as had been discussed previously. I spoke with Suzanne Gautier of the SFPUC and she told me that she does not know of any movement in that direction at this time.
This is good news and thank you to all who donated money and participated in the efforts to prevent the installment of the trailer. We must still be vigilant in watching that area in case something changes in the future. Please continue to report any activity. We are still discussing the issue with Sean Elsbernd, District 7 Supervisor, and other members of the Board of Supervisors. Our attorney is not doing any work for us at this time, but she is available to us to provide legal advice and work in the future.
The tarps that covered the beehives on the far side of the reservoir were damaged by the storms we had this year. Currently, there are no tarps covering the fence to hide the beehives. Some homeowners had indicated that they did not like the tarps. Others have said they want the beehives hidden. Please let me know what your preference is for having the tarps on the fence. We have an opportunity to influence whether they are put back or not. Thank you.
Judy Clarke
President, The Woods of San Francisco
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in comments and I’ll send them on. [ETA: This post has been edited to remove personal/ non-public information as requested.]
Another flyer that Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization circulated was a list of contact details for the SFPD Park Station police. (They’re our neighborhood police station.) Here it is:
The other side had burglary prevention tips. We’ve asked SAFE, the outfit that wrote them, for permission to publish them here. If they agree, we’ll edit this to add them in. [Edited to Add: SAFE gave permission and additional information. We’ve published them separately, here and here.]
(FKNO is at http://www.forestknolls.org, not forestknolls.com — a cheap realty website; nor www.forestknolls.info — which is the site you’re on now. Note the different extensions: org, com, and info.)
The Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization (FKNO) has sent out some useful flyers to all the neighbors. (FKNO is at http://www.forestknolls.org, not forestknolls.com — a cheap realty website, nor www.forestknolls.info — which is the site you’re on now. Note the different extensions: org, com, and info.) In case you didn’t get them, or prefer to have things on line, we’re reproducing them here.
The first gave instructions on how to join the Forest Knolls Neighborhood Yahoo group. This group, managed by Mary Allen, is helpful for anyone living in the neighborhood… people send out heads-ups, share information, and occasionally post lost or found pet notices. We get recommendations for handymen and other service providers, as well as neighborhood safety information. I generally post a notice there when I have something new out here, too.
This is a free group. Anyone can join, though of course its greatest value is to people in the neighborhood. And, as groups go, it’s civilized. I’ve seen groups where participants forget they’re in a public space, and start flame-wars or post overly personal information. This is not that kind of group.
So here’s the flyer. (Clicking on it twice will take you to a larger version.)
Readers of this blog will know that the much-opposed Crestmont Development (34 units at the end of a narrow road on a steep slope) is back with a new name, The San Francisco Overlook. It’s still 34 units, it’s still at the end of a narrow road, and the hill remains pretty steep. The Environmental Impact Report is in its final phase, and comments will soon be due. The neighborhood coalition is geared up for the battle (pardon the pun) with t-shirts, sweatshirts and bags.
This update was sent by the Crestmont-Mt.Sutro-Forest Knolls Neighborhood Preservation Coalition. (It’s republished with permission and added emphasis):
SF OVERLOOK Development Threatens Our Neighborhood!
EIR in Final Phase!
Preparing for Upcoming Publication of 2nd Draft of EIRUpdate, 6-25-11
As summer has begun, we are awaiting the publication of the 2nd draft of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) pertaining to the SF Overlook 34-unit condominium project at the end of Crestmont Drive. Once it has been published, we will have 30 days to express our concerns and objections regarding this oversized development which will add far too much traffic, parking congestion and density to our neighborhood.
We will notify all of our Mt.Sutro Woods and Forest Knolls neighbors when the time comes to deluge the Planning Department with letters. It will also be important that we attend and speak at the public hearing which will be held by the Planning Commission.
With a united effort on the part of the community, we believe we can stop this project in its present form. If something must be built on this treacherous hillside, we are fighting for a much scaled-back development of far fewer single family homes which would address the critical issues of safety, congestion and density at the end of this fragile cul-de-sac, and be more in character with the surrounding neighborhood.
As a visible reflection of our resolve, we have adapted the now familiar red and yellow “STOP SF OVERLOOK DEVELOPMENT” poster to a line of t-shirts and sweatshirts. We have been wearing them on our walks around the neighborhood and several neighbors have expressed the wish to obtain these distinctive sportswear items for themselves and their family members, to further spread the message of their objection to the proposed development.
We hope to see many neighbors at the hearing wearing these t-shirts and sweatshirts as they might send a powerful message of neighborhood sentiment and cohesiveness!
REMINDER:
Please display the poster in your window and urge your neighbors to also display the poster! If you need a poster, please call 415-640-3869 or email info@crestmontpreservation.org.
Kathleen posted a message to the neighborhood Yahoo Group, to let us know that Friends of the Urban Forest are offering to plant street trees in our neighborhood. (It’s reprinted with permission.)
First, the message from Doug Lybeck (DougLybeck@fuf.net) at Friends of the Urban Forest:
Hello! This is a monthly neighborhood organizing report for tree planting in your neighborhood!
Friends of the Urban Forest is working to get enough commitments to plant trees to enable us to have a tree planting in the Twin Peaks Area and in almost every other area of the City. When we get up to 30 trees committed by property owners we’ll be able to schedule a community tree planting. Can you help create the necessary demand? In so doing you will create a legacy right here in our “front yards” — one that can be enjoyed by yourself and the children and grandchildren of the neighborhood. And at just $75 for the tree and periodic maintenance for 3 years the price is a real bargain. Research shows that trees increase property values, help the environment and improve our quality of life in many ways. So please plant a tree in front of your house or talk with neighbors or local business about planting one (or two) in front of their property! If you know the owner of a site that could plant several trees please let me know — we would love to help them start reaping the benefits of having trees. Plantings are fun and literally bring neighborhoods together.
Kathleen’s message indicates why for some of us, it’s not feasible, even though we’d love to have street trees (like Forest Hill or St Francis Wood!) I have the same problems. Not enough space on the street.
But. All the homes here are not uniform, and some of you may have space and inclination to add trees. Please email Doug Lybeck, and/or leave comments here.
Howdy Neighbors,
Friends of the Urban Forest is organizing the planting of trees in our neighborhood (Forest Knolls is included in the “Twin Peaks Area”). See below [i.e., above] if you are interested in getting a tree planted in front of your house. We checked into it and the sidewalk is not wide enough in front of our house (you need 4′ clear on the sidewalk plus room for a minimum 2-1/2′ cut out for the tree basin). They will also plant the tree in your front planter if you are interested in that (we already have trees in all our planters).
It was the helicopter that caught our eye. Elegant as a dragon-fly, gleaming in the evening sunlight between two fat white clouds in the blueness of the sky, it hovered. It was going nowhere, and as we neared home, it seemed to be over Mount Sutro Forest. I jumped out of the car, and took some photographs, not easy because it was into the sun, which at 5.15 p.m. was still quite high.
What was happening? I went off into the forest to take a look. I could see the helicopter through the trees, on the western side of the forest.
But what was it there for? All was quiet in the woods; the only other people there were a couple of friendly bike-riders who called a greeting as they rode past.
It turned out I was barking up the wrong trees. The cause of all the commotion was right back here, in Forest Knolls. The first block of Christopher was blocked by an SFPD car, yellow tape, and a couple of news reporters with cameras.
Someone inquired, and called me in the forest. “They found some ordnance in one of the houses, and are waiting to clear it out.”
Aha. I made my way back to where the police car still stood, and talked to the officer. “Some old munitions,” he said.
“World War II stuff?” I asked.
“I think something like that,” he said. “Old materials.”
“Did someone just buy a house and find it?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe someone died.”
“What’s the helicopter about?”
“It’s just a news helicopter,” he said.
Later, Lulu posted a KRON news report to our neighborhood group (where Nola had already given everyone a heads-up).
“The SFPD Bomb Squad found a WWII Era grenade at a residence,” the report said. The SFPD had gotten a call at 2.33 p.m. They planned to remove and detonate it tonight.
Some of you already know there are coyotes living in the area: one, maybe two families are somewhere around in the Twin Peaks/Glen Canyon/Golden Gate Park habitats. We’d posted about it on the Sutro Forest website, here.
Today, someone on our neighborhood group described an encounter with a coyote on Twin Peaks while out running with their dogs, early in the morning… in which the coyote chased them off the hill:
I spotted a coyote running up the street… I would stop and yell at him and tell him to go away (as if), and he would briefly stop but continued coming…..we finally got away…must be protecting his cubs.
It ended with a warning to people going up there with small unleashed dogs. (The coyote picture here isn’t of that coyote; it’s a public domain photograph.)
[ETA 25 May 2011: I personally saw a coyote a couple of days or rather, nights, later. It was around midnight, on the other side of Twin Peaks, near Panorama. Possibly the same animal.]
I’d like to refer everyone to the brilliant Coyote Yipps blog. It’s kept by Janet Kessler, the “Jane Goodall of San Francisco’s coyotes.” It minutely observes and documents the behaviour of a family of coyotes she watches (and also another family of coyotes in Los Angeles, observed by Charles Wood).
However: It also posts a warning.
More importantly, if you go with dogs into coyote areas (most open parkland in San Francisco or its surroundings): What concerns coyotes is dogs. Here are the special guidelines for dog-walkers. (Note that the person who originated this warning did the right thing by yelling at the coyote.)
[ETA: However, Janet Kessler added in a private communication: “…it is best never to run away from a coyote, but rather to walk away slowly. Running away sparks an instinct to chase.”]
Here’s a link to a Coyote Yipps post with more detailed pointers for dog-walkers. I’d recommend them to everyone. Janet Kessler’s been watching coyotes and their interactions with people and dogs for some years now. She’s deeply knowledgeable.
Someone sent me the notice below with a request to post it here. The Crestmont project (which I wrote about here, almost exactly a year ago) seems to have reappeared with a new name, and a fast timeline. There are meetings in early May.
Here’s PG&E fixing the power lines. (If some of the pictures are a bit fuzzy it’s because I’m taking them through glass, at an angle…)
The tree-fall occurred around 3.35 p.m. It involved two trees — one a cypress, I think, and one a stump of a eucalyptus that had already been trimmed of all its branches. I called 911 at 3.40 p.m.
By 5.50, PG&E had a cherry-picker out there, with two workers ready to chainsaw the trees out. Presumably they’d shut off the power along there much earlier.
First they tackled the cypress, carefully trimming off the branches. They piled up underneath, looking like the remnants of a Christmas tree lot. The workers freed each wire from the mass, letting it spring back to its original position. Finally, the trunk was resting on a single wire. Then they tackled the eucalyptus stump.
They sliced it off into logs, each dropping to the road with a thud.
When it was done, they returned to the cypress. By now, most of the power lines had been freed up.
Once they removed that, the lines all sprang back into place. They were apparently pretty resilient, despite the spectacular blue sparking I’d seen earlier. None of them had broken or even sagged visibly from where they normally hang.
All that was left was to inspect the lines. It was 6.07 p.m. and they were pretty much done.
This notice was sent out by a neighbor’s group, calling a meeting on Wednesday March 2, 2011 to discuss the SFPUC’s plans for Laguna Honda Reservoir. (I’d posted about those plans here.)
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Dear neighbors:
We have invited our fellow neighbors from Midtown Terrace and Forest Knolls to the Social Center this Wednesday for an urgent meeting regarding the PUC’s plans for Laguna Honda Reservoir. The meeting is at 7:30 PM, this Wednesday, 3/2/11.
On 2/18/2011, the PUC filed a Categorical Exemption with the SF Office of Planning and SF County Clerk for the Laguna Honda Reservoir that, if upheld, will allow the PUC to move forward with their plans to install the 20 x 40 trailer next door to The Woods.
The deadline to appeal the Categorical Exemption is March 25th. If we don’t take action by then, this exemption is permanent. Please attend to lend a voice and discuss how our neighborhood can work together to preserve this site and our property values.
We look forward to seeing you at the The Woods’ Social Center on Wednesday at 7:30 PM.
The Woods of San Francisco HOA
[Edited to Add: I attended the meeting, led by Judy Clark of The Woods and Walter Kaplan of Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization. Well-organized and interesting. The website for the Friends of Laguna Honda Reservoir is here. They’re on Facebook here.]
The SFPUC has apparently decided to stop using the area next to the reservoir as a gravel yard, and use it mainly as a Dive Team HQ. We received a note (reproduced below) from the SFPUC regarding the Laguna Honda Reservoir, following the neighborhood meeting on Feb 9th, 2011.
The SFPUC is asking for an exemption from the Planning Commission that would permit them to operate a Dive Team office. This would involve having two structures, one a trailer 20 x 40 and ten feet in height (the office and prep site); and the other, a shed 10 x 20 feet and eight feet high (for storage). Electricity has already been connected.
They have already filed for the exemption, on 18 February 2011. If anyone has comments, this would be the time to send them in. The person to contact appears to be Bill Wycko.[ETA: No, he’s the SFPUC person. I guess the SF Office of Planning and Research would be the place to send comments. And the County Clerk. Addresses in the notice at the bottom.]
THE SFPUC NOTE ABOUT THE LAGUNA HONDA RESERVOIR MEETING
Here’s the note (emphasis added):
The SFPUC and Laguna Honda
February 2011
In June 2010 the SFPUC provided information about the planned use of an area at the Laguna Honda Reservoir, here are some updates from our Feb. 2011 community meeting.
Prior purchase and placement of a trailer at the Laguna Honda site, the SFPUC applied for and was granted:
1. A Categorical Exemption from the Planning Department – the Planning Department determined that the proposed project was exempt from environmental review – Pending Filing of the Notice of Exemption, see below.
2. General Plan Conformity Determination – for the placement of the Dive Headquarters at Lake Honda – “with consideration of removal of structures and improvements and site restoration if the proposed PUC Dive Headquarters Facility is relocated in the future, as described further in this case.”
A Notice of Exemption will be filed with the County Clerk/Recorder, confirming that this project has been granted a Categorical Exemption by the Planning Department. Once filed, anyone objecting to this Exemption will have a period of 35 days to file suit challenging the Planning Department exemption determination under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The Categorical Exemption and General Plan Conformity Determination can be found at the link below: https://infrastructure.sfwater.org/fds/fds.aspx?lib=SFPUC&doc=634937&data=244450745
Community representatives and neighbors expressed deep concern regarding the lack of communication from the SFPUC, in particular because of the filing of the Categorical Exemption request and issuance of the exemption determination by the Planning Department. The community members felt that the SFPUC was not honoring its commitment to communicate throughout the process.
The SFPUC will notify the community and neighborhood stakeholders when the Notice of Exemption is filed at the Office of the County Clerk.
Community members indicated a willingness to pursue any and all options to prevent the SFPUC from using any of the space within the fence along Clarendon Ave. for any maintenance, staging or other operations, including but not limited to activities of the Dive Team.
Several questions were asked about other potential locations throughout the City. Suggestions included use of a portion of the Laguna Honda Hospital Parking Lot, as well as an area adjacent to the Summit Pump Station below Sutro Reservoir.
The valley below the Sutro Reservoir is not suitable because the area will be used for a project to seismically upgrade the reservoir will begin sometime later this calendar year.
There were questions about the P – Public zoning district and the Open Space height and bulk district designation of the reservoir parcel. The Categorical Exemption and General Plan Conformity address this designation and the proposed land use.
The trailer/Dive Team Headquarters would be in operation under the guidelines below:
Although the Categorical Exemption document says normal work hours are 7:00am – 5:00pm, activities at the site would be limited to the hours of 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, although emergencies and operational needs may require off-hour operations. These events are infrequent, usually no more than a few times per year. The Divers are working at dive sites throughout the city. The Dive Team has three passenger trucks, and it is anticipated that only these vehicles would be parking on-site on a regular basis.
The trailer will provide office space for dive team staff and a small workshop to repair and maintain items such as air stations, helmets, dry suits, ROVs , cameras, power and light units, and filling air cylinders.
Additional installation activities at the trailer site will be limited to placement of lattice screens/fences to obscure the structure from view and additional landscaping.
Access to the area via the Clarendon Avenue gate will continue to be limited to members of the San Francisco Beekeepers Association and authorized SFPUC City Distribution Division personnel.
SFPUC is pursuing landscape and property improvements at Lake Honda/Laguna Honda:
Plant and maintain vines and other greenery to soften the appearance of fencing as much as possible, including both the fence along Clarendon and the interior fence. Attach green fabric to the interior fence gate because planting near the fence is not feasible. Also, since the fabric would be attached to the interior fence, graffiti tagging should not be a issue.
The SFPUC is working to identify plants that will thrive along the interior fence.
The bee boxes have all been painted and relocated along the walkway/fire access road adjacent to the reservoir.
There was some concern expressed about the possibility of bees swarming away from the reservoir and the risk to people and animals if they are allergic to bee stings. Paul Koski, one of the beekeepers can be reached at pkoski7@netscape.net if there are questions about the bees.
The City Distribution Division Landscape Supervisor is investigating the feasibility of planting more native plants inside the fence lines.
The sand and gravel piles and other construction materials will be moved off-site as soon as possible and should be completed in coordination with the Dive Team Headquarters installation.
In addition to the area adjacent to Clarendon Avenue, other landscape and vegetation management projects are underway at Laguna Honda:
A draft tree health and hazard report has been received and is currently being reviewed by SFPUC staff. Based on the report findings the SFPUC will draft a plan of action to trim and remove diseased, dying and dead trees within the watershed to reduce the fire hazard, thin the forest for sustainability, and remove invasive plants and possible replanting with native species. The scope of the project has not yet been determined.
Removal of invasive species in the Franciscan Scrub above the reservoir should occur within the next two to three months. The SFPUC has initiated discussion with representatives of Nature in the City, the California Native Plant Society and the Golden Gate Audubon Society regarding the proposed invasive species removal effort.
Unauthorized use of the site as a homeless encampment is being regularly monitored and has been significantly reduced.
For more information e-mail Suzanne Gautier, SFPUC Communications at sgautier@sfwater.org.
I posted about the Laguna Honda Reservoir a few times (here, here, and here and here). The SF PUC wants to put in a gravel yard and a Dive Team office in a space they had said they would restore into a green area.
The neighbors are meeting with the SF PUC on 9 February 2011 from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m, at the Woods Social Center, 600 Clarendon Avenue, San Francisco CA. It’s a public meeting, open to everyone. If you’re interested in the reservoir, it may be helpful.
Here is a selection of decorations from around our neighborhood. They’re delightful, (even if not as ubiquitous as those at Midtown Terrace especially the wonderful Santa’s Court). Happy Holidays, everyone!
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There’s a shiny new set of traffic lights at Clarendon x Panorama, opposite Clarendon Elementary School’s playground.
(Literally shiny! They’re so new the post hasn’t yet oxidised to the usual dull gray.) They appeared suddenly, like magic. I drive by there several times a day, usually, and didn’t see them go up. One day they were just there, like great steel and glass mushrooms that had sprung up overnight.
“A good thing,” I thought. It’s opposite the Clarendon Elementary School, and it should make our kids safer. It’s the suspenders in addition to the belt of the conscientious crossing guards who patrol the place when school gives out.
“I hate those new lights,” commented someone last evening as he waited at the lights, red against the Clarendon traffic. There wasn’t another car in sight. No one crossed the road, not even a raccoon. “It’s needed like maybe twice a day, on weekdays. What about the rest of the time?”
“He has a point,” said a passenger in the car. “There isn’t much cross traffic here. They should just switch off the lights at 6 p.m.”
“Or convert them to flashing beacons,” said another.
“And,” the first speaker added, “It doesn’t bother anyone below Panorama. It essentially just affects our neighborhood.” [Which is true if you assume that most traffic on Clarendon goes south toward Laguna Honda Boulevard.]
So what does everyone else think? (If you leave a comment, don’t worry if it doesn’t show up until the next day; all comments are moderated as an anti-spam measure.)
A few days ago, I posted (here and here) about UCSF cleaning up the brush along Christopher and Crestmont. Over the last couple of days, I’ve been walking around and talking to people who live near there. It’s looking good.
They did a pretty neat job of trimming back the bushes that were overhanging the pavement, so it’s easier for cars to park without blocking the roadway. Some of the overhanging branches have been trimmed back too, and it’s all been nicely and professionally done so it actually looks good rather than raw and nasty. They’ve been careful to preserve plants that people had put in or nurtured along the road edge.
They actually felled and removed two hazardous trees along Crestmont. Any others presumably must await the full hazardous tree report.
And as a bonus, this old prickly-pear cactus appeared, apparently thriving under all the acacia! (You may need to click on the picture to embiggen it to actually see the cactus.)
Thanks, UCSF; and thanks, Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, which has been working to make this happen.
Separately, I’m not sure where the dispute with the city stands on who has responsibility for hazardous trees. The map below shows the issue: The purple line (I think) shows the UCSF boundary. (This map – made in Year 2000 -is based on an excerpt from the EDAW report done for UCSF. The colors just show in which direction bits of the mountain face…blue is north, red is west, yellow is south, and green is east.)
According to this map, the UCSF Open Space Reserve boundary is not exactly aligned to the roads. There’s a space between the road and the reserve. And that’s where some of the trees are that people are worried about. Of course, if the map is accurate, then one crucial area is fairly obviously UCSF’s: where Crestmont makes a sharp turn from North to East.
It’s a bit like the Prop 8 thing: Hurry up and wait.
It looks like I jumped the gun when I posted that UCSF was doing something about the hazardous trees. I’d written to UCSF to ask if they’d pulled permits to deal with the hazardous trees on Crestmont — from Devonshire to the cul-de-sac, and especially around the area where the road turns from west to north. (City permits are needed to remove any tree over 20 feet tall if it’s within ten feet of a public right-of-way.)
Nope. That may be happening later. Here’s the response from UCSF’s Damon Lew:
The work that is beginning this week will focus on overgrowth and removal of hazardous ground material and not the removal of hazardous trees.
The trees you mention may have been identified in a recent hazardous tree survey that was done for the Facilities Management (FM) Dept. The work that will be done once the tree hazard survey is received by UCSF will not take place until later this year.
So I guess right now it’s precisely what they said: Mowing down vegetation for 2 feet from the roadway, including overhanging shrubs. (This may take care of some overhanging trees, actually; we’ll find out.)
If you are living on Christopher or Crestmont and have plants across the road you want to save, it may be a good idea to mark them in some way. Or be out there to talk to the crew.
[ETA: Today Damon Lew sent out a notice that they actually will be removing two hazardous trees:
I’m writing to inform you that on either Monday, August 23rd, or Tuesday, August 24th, Bartlett Tree Experts will be performing the following hazardous tree work along Crestmont Drive:
· Cutting down 1 Monterey Pine located across from 171 Crestmont Dr.
· Cutting down 1 Monterey Pine located across from 90 Crestmont Dr.
· Time permitting – cut down branches overhanging the street within the area
The stumps of the trees will be cut down to 2-4” above grade and debris from the project will be removed from the site. These trees were recently identified as part of a hazardous tree survey performed by Hortscience and were also brought to our attention by several of our neighbors. No noisy work will be performed by 9:00 a.m. but staging of the area may begin earlier.]
Some time ago I wrote about the problems Crestmont residents in particular were having with hazardous trees on the edge of Sutro Forest, and in getting either the city or UCSF to do something about them. They eventually complained to the Fire Department. UCSF said they’d do something about it, and it looks like they will. [Edited to Add: Not quite…see followup post.]
It’s scheduled for August 18-27. There will be parking restrictions in some areas of Christopher and Crestmont while they work.
Here’s a letter we got from UCSF’s Damon Lew today:
Dear Neighbor:
I am writing to inform you that in response to both neighborhood concerns and a Notice of Corrective Action we have received from the San Francisco Fire Department, the UCSF Facilities Management Department has arranged to have grounds maintenance work done along Crestmont, Christopher, and Clarendon Drives. This work is scheduled to begin on August 18, 2010 and will be completed by August 27, 2010. The nature of this work will include the following actions:
· High weed mowing
· Brushes and shrubs overhanging the street curbs will be trimmed back up to a distance of 24” from the curb
· Dead and dying vegetation to be removed
This work is scheduled to take place between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. During this time parking along certain areas of Christopher and Crestmont Drives will be prohibited in order to allow access to the site.
Please feel free to contact me at dlew@cgr.ucsf.edu if you have any questions about this project or if you would like to be added to our listserv to receive updates about other projects pertaining to our Parnassus campus.
If you have questions or concerns during the operating hours of this project please contact the UCSF Customer Service Center at (415) 476-2021.
Sincerely,
Damon
Hope it goes well.
Just as a PS: Some neighbors have mentioned there are areas along Clarendon where our gardens, tamed or untamed, are spilling over the sidewalk and making it difficult to pass – especially in rainy weather. So this is a heads-up to anyone whose home backs onto Clarendon: Please check whether your plants are seeking world dominance by way of Clarendon Avenue, and if so, restrain them…
I dropped in on the Forest Knolls Playdate at Midtown Terrace Playground to find kids running around the play structures, and the adults standing around a table laden with snacks and drinks. Kids swooped by from time to time, foraged among the snacks, and disappeared back into the newly refurbished playground.
Ethan and Laura
It’s looking great and seems to be good for play. There’s no sand there any more, which the kids probably miss (mine used to spend hours digging in it) but the adults, not so much. (I used to spend hours afterward shaking sand out of their clothes, their hair, and my car.)
Laura Bloch, who organized the Playdate was there with her husband and two children. So were a number of other neighbors, of all ages. I was in a rush, but I wish I could have stayed longer and chatted. Despite the grayness of the day, everyone looked to be having fun.
Attention Neighbors with kids (or kids who are neighbors!):
Edited to Add: The date has been changed to July 25, 2010, from 1-3 p.m. The lawn area has been reserved.
There’s a Forest Knolls Neighborhood play date planned at Midtown Terrace Playground. Here’s a message from Laura Bloch on Evite for this event:
Calling all Forest Knolls families, especially those with kids! Come on over to Midtown Terrace playground for a neighborhood get-together. We have some new families in the ‘hood, so it’s a good chance to say hello to new faces and old.
You can REPLY directly to LJBloch@aol.com. Please indicate # of adults and # of kids attending. We’ll advise if there’s a change to the date or time.
We have someone bringing finger sandwiches, water and a folding table. Feel free to bring other food or drinks to share!
Last, if you know a family who is not on the Yahoo Group, let them know they are welcome to join us!
We’ve been following the situation of the Laguna Honda Reservoir over the past months. The issue in summary: The Reservoir, situated at the intersection of Clarendon Avenue and Laguna Honda Boulevard, belongs to the Water Department. They had used a corner of it below Clarendon during the renovation project, assuring the neighbors that they would restore it to greenery afterward. Instead, last year, they decided to make it into a gravel yard and headquarter their dive team there. (The details are here and here.)
FOREST KNOLLS NEIGHBORHOOD 