Please send an email to the planning department and real estate developer demanding a public meeting for proposed project at 600 South Van Ness
Here’s how you can help demand a public meeting for this market-rate project that has not received adequate public input.
A project currently in the approval process proposed for 600 South Van Ness (at 17th Street) is yet another example of how development planning in the Mission is primarily serving the interests of developers, not our community.
Project sponsor Michael Leavitt is seeking permits to build a market-rate project with zero on-site affordable units and without any indication whether the units will be for sale or rental. The developer has had little or no engagement with the community and expects the project to be rubber-stamped by the Planning Comission this month with virtually no public input.
With all projects that come before the city’s planning commission, the summary of information about the project is not released publicly until the release of the Planning Commission agenda just six days before the actual meeting. Even then, the information is difficult to find and understand for the general public.
More importantly, by the time the information is available, the approval process is so far along that it is almost impossible for the public to offer meaningful input. This system makes it very difficult for the general public to have any influence on the approval decisions of the unelected members of the Planning Commission. Yet these decisions have immense impact on our communities.
Please send an email to the Planning Department and Commissioners, the project developer, and the district Supervisor demanding a public meeting
