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SfNFRANCISCOPUBLICLIBRARY 223 06333 5922 Public Review Draft Balboa Park Station Area Plan San Francisco Planning Department As Part of the Better Neighborhoods Program October 2002 DOCUMENTS DEPT. JAN 3 1 2003 SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY San Francisco Planning Department BETTER REF 711. 4097 B1865d Digitized by the Internet Archive 2014 in https://archive.org/details/balboaparkstatio2002sanf Public Review Draft Balboa Park Station Area Plan Prepared with and for the Citizens of Balboa Park by the San Francisco Planning Department As Part of the Better Neighborhoods Program October 2002 Thisplanisdedicatedto thepeoplein the neighborhoodsaroundtheBalboaPark Station. Itwouldnothave beenpossiblewithoutyourselfless interest, tirelesswork,perseverance, andthe belief thatjou can havea betterneighborhood. Weare bringingtheplan back toyouformoreconsider- ation, review, comment, anddiscussion, inthehopesof craftingacoherentsetofpoliciesthatwilloffer, intheend, the bestpossiblesolutionsamong manydifferinginterests. Imagine... the transformation of Balboa Park Station from a bleak and se—emingly forgotten part ofSan Francisco into an active, interestingplace an efficient transitnode andvital hub for the neighborhoods surroundingit. Imagine more people livingaround the transit hub and along Geneva, Ocean and SanJose Avenues. Housing affordable to people of all incomes creates a neighborhood heartthatis no longer just an unpleasant place to wait for the bus or train. New mixed-use buildings gracefully accommo- date much-needed housing, with less ofthe traffic and other ills that can comewhen housingis builtwhere thereis little or no transit, and help enliven the main streets and the neighborhood shops. Imagine dramatically transformed streets and open spaces, comfortable for pedestrians and bicyclists,with calm traffic,gracious sidewalks, safe inter- sections, andmore streettrees and otheramenities. The transit station is transformedinto atruly functionaltransithub,with convenient transfers between BART, streetcars and buses; easy access by foot, bike, and auto- mobile; and new entrances where they are needed. Imagine City College contributing to the vitality ofthe neighborhood by beingbetterintegratedinto it. More students choose to ride transit rather than to drive to the neighborhood. And they are now found in greater numbers shopping in the Ocean Avenue Neighborhood Commercial District. Imagine the future of the Balboa Reservoir finally decided. The reservoir is no longer avoid in the neighborhood, but has assumed its rightful place, too. Imagine the surroundingneighborhoods, little changed except for the ways residents have chosen to care for them even more because traffic has been calmed, more street trees have been planted, and the neighborhoods have gained the vital community heart for which they have waited so long. Now neighbors can walk to shops, if they choose, to take care of daily needs. Imagine a better neighborhood. Thisisthe vision thatemergedfromtwoyearsof discussionswiththeresidentsof the BalboaPark StationAreaaboutthefuture of theircommunity. The lastfiftyyears here are astory of a community besiegedbyprojectsserving largerissues atthe expense of neighborhoodvalues. The neighborhoodisatauniqueplaceinitshistory. Largely because of itspeople, we are working togetherto remedy thathistory. With the BetterNeighbor- hoodsProgram, the city, BART, andothersare readyto reinvestin thisplace asa vibranturban neighborhoodthatis an essentialpartofthe city. Thisplanpresentsthe ideasthatcan createthis newfuture. 3 1223 06333 5922 BalboaParkStationArea Plan Draftfor Public Review October2002 | 62 TableofContents Contents The Better Neighborhoods Program 1 Section 1: Overview 3 Why Plan a Better Neighborhood Here 5 AWalkThrough the StationArea of the Future 7 RealizingtheVision: ElevenKeyStrategies 10 How to Use this Document 1 Section 2: Background 13 PlanArea 15 SubareaCharacterizations 1 Community Based Planning and Community Goals 23 Section 3: Key Strategies 25 1. Design Streets for People 27 2. Create Quality Parks, Plazas, and Open Space 41 3. Encourage New Mixed-Use Infill Development, Emphasizing Housing ....47 4. Build with a Sense ofPlace 53 5. Make Public TransitWork 63 6. GetParkingRight 65 7. Revitalize the OceanAvenue CommercialDistrict 73 8. Integrate City College into the Community 81 9. Realize the Potentialof the Balboa Reservoir 86 10. Enrich thePlanAreawith PublicArt 91 11. Protect and Enhance the SurroundingNeighborhoods 99 Section 4: Development Programs 101 Transit Station Neighborhood 103 Phelan Loop Area 125 Section 5: Implementing the Plan (Not a part ofthis draft) 139 Acknowledgements 141 TheBelterNeighborhoodsProgram AboutTheBetterNeighborhoods Program The Better Neighborhoods Program The development boom of the late 1990s found San Franciscans at odds. Where some would push for development anywhere at any cost, others opposed it just as stridently. The citywas nearly paralyzed, and seemed unable to make rational choices regardingchange. Inresponse, the Planning Department initiated the CitymdeAction Plan, a rational framework for balancing job growth, housing needs, and quality oflife. The Better Neighborhoods Program is one pillar ofthe Citywide Action Plan. It has carried the discussion ofchange to three pilot neighborhoods, where development issues are perhaps felt most acutely but where it makes most sense to find acceptable ways to build much-needed housing. Discus- sions with these communities uncovered deep issues that need to be addressed ifthe city is to continue to thrive. This public review draftis the outcome ofdiscussions with the Balboa Park Community about change and a better neighborhood. San Francisco has a heritage ofbuildingwell. A look around at the beauty ofthis place and the way it is revered by residents and visitors alike shows this. But the evidence also suggests thatwe may have lost some of ourwill to build good neighborhoods, with a sense ofplace, and in ways that respect our public realm. We are payingthe price. San Franciscans have become concerned, and their concerns seem justified. There are many factors that may contribute to a degradation ofour public realm, and that can be addressed through good planning. National financial markets may impose inappropriate "suburban" development models on cities, development projects may seek to express private values at the expense ofpublic place-making (although these projects derive much of theirvalue from the qualities ofthe place), construction economies and methods ma—ywork against San Francisco's fine-grain—ed scale and rhythm, streetfronts always places primarily for pedestrians are often given over to parking or blank walls, planning controls can be at odds with good place-making, unnecessary oversightis imposed on projects that ought to be allowed as of right, materials detail can be inappropriate to a proud city. And the public realm has suffered over time as a result ofthe accommo- dation of automobiles over other ways ofmoving about, which has not been successful even for thosewho drive. It has degraded our streets as places for people, and as a system for moving about by foot, bike, transit, and auto. Many San Franciscans know that somethingis wrongwith our current practices, and even the most civic-minded have begun to respond to change by opposing it. Ifthey do not try to stop a project, people demand changes that sometimes seem to be more about unfocused frustration than 1 BalboaParkStationArea Plan