potrero view

October 2009

Starr King Openspace Threatened by Proposed Development

By Mary Purpura

Potrero Hill is blessed.  Besides the beautiful views, sunny weather, great restaurants and cafes, independently owned businesses, a vital, responsive neighborhood newspaper, and dynamic, actively involved community members - besides all that – the neighborhood boasts San Francisco’s only privately owned, hilltop open space:  Starr King Openspace, which stretches from 23rd and Carolina streets to 24th and De Haro.

All kinds of flora and fauna flourish at the open space.  Red-tailed hawks, mourning doves, crows, and mockingbirds; Hill residents, with tripods arranged just so, taking photos of the Golden Gate Bridge – visible on a clear day – or Twin Peaks. For several weeks every spring, a succession of native wildflowers bloom, including the Mariposa lily, farewell-to-spring, and the California poppy. Some of the wildflowers that blossom on Starr King are precisely adapted to the rocky, serpentine grassland that characterizes Potrero Hill, and have been carefully propagated or transplanted from other Hill sites to the Openspace by volunteers. In the spring, Potrero Hill resident and native plant enthusiast Ralph Hunter leads free wildflower walks through the space.

“We’re in the middle of an urban environment,” said Hill resident and Starr King Openspace Board Member Dale Scott. “This is a special oasis in the City.”  “Open space is a unique designation, distinct from a park,” explained David Glober, vice president of the Starr King Board and a Hill resident. A park can include structures, but open space can’t. “Starr King Openspace offers a place where people in the neighborhood can experience a touch of nature and the spirit of rejuvenation that comes along with that. It gives us a destination where we can get away from the hustle and bustle and hard edges of the City, away from concrete, steel, and glass.  It’s also the only space of its kind on the south side of Potrero Hill,” said Glober.

Starr King became dedicated open space in 1984, when Barratt Construction, Inc., the company that built Parkview Heights – the 120-unit, planned urban development on the south side of Potrero Hill – struck a deal with the City. In exchange for a variance that allowed the contractors to build on smaller lots, Barratt agreed to break-up and haul away the large, concrete construction pads left after public housing had been demolished on the 3.5-acre parcel that is now Starr King Openspace.  Owned by a nonprofit, Starr King is managed by a nine-person board elected by Potrero Hill residents, with the current board installed last May.

Some of those who ran for the board earlier this year were galvanized by the proposed development at 1321 De Haro Street. For decades, 1321 De Haro Street has been a singe-family residence. In 1992, a judge granted the then-owner of 1321 a right of easement to drive along Coral Road, which crosses what is now Starr King Openspace. The house, despite its De Haro Street address, had no access from De Haro Street. The owner had been using Coral Road to get to his property long before Starr King officially became open space.

Recently, the property changed hands. The new owner wants to demolish the current house, replace it with a three-unit building, and retain the right of easement allowing cars to pass through the adjacent Starr King Openspace to the new units.  “The current proposal will more than quadruple the size of the building on that site,” said Glober, “from 1,100 square feet to 5,300 square feet. Because the development means a change from a single unit to three units, there would be more cars driving across the open space to get to that building.” Glober pointed out that a much taller building on the site would shade patches of the open space where wildflowers – that need sunshine to grow – have bloomed in past years. “The location of these proposed units – visually in the middle of the open space and at its highest point – will change the character of the space,” said Dale Scott.

Some Hill residents have been frustrated by the project architect’s inaccessibility. “I went to an early meeting in the neighborhood about the development,” said Dick Millett, Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association first vice president and a 40-year Potrero Hill resident. “The original plan was to access the property through De Haro Street. That made sense.  Everybody else on the 1300-block of De Haro Street enters from De Haro. When the new plans emerged to keep the Coral Road easement, we invited the architect to make a presentation at the Neighborhood House. He refused. He told us that if we wanted to meet, we could go to his office, during business hours.” Millett believes that such a meeting arrangement compromises transparency and broad community involvement.

“The new owner of 1321 De Haro and his representatives have consistently avoided public discussion of their project,” said Tony Kelly, Boosters president. “If the Starr King Openspace land was built – as condos, a rec center, a landscaped park, anything but a natural area – it would be obvious to everyone that the owner of 1321 De Haro couldn’t ask to use some of that land as a private driveway for his proposed condos. Instead, our neighborhood is on the verge of being penalized for keeping some of its land in a natural state because other forces – in private development and in the SF Planning Department – see the Openspace as a vacant lot. That isn’t fair, and that is why we are fiercely protecting the Openspace.”

The Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association has filed for a discretionary review of 1321 De Haro Street’s building permit application.  Under this process the San Francisco Planning Commission is charged with reviewing unusual circumstances associated with a proposed project.  The Commission has scheduled a public hearing on October 15 to begin to evaluate the existing structure’s demolition, the backyard variance necessary to accommodate the bigger structure, building design, and the proposed easement.

Volunteers are welcome every third Saturday at Starr King Openspace from 9:30 to noon. For more information: http://starrkingopenspace.org


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