[TLC News & Alerts] Support Downtown Parking reform this Thursday * Web Designer and Program Committee Members Needed * TLC in the News

[Tom Radulovich]

SUPPORT DOWNTOWN PARKING REFORM

Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee hearing
Thursday, January 19, 1PM
City Hall, Room 263
In November, the Planning Commission approved groundbreaking  
legislation to reform residential parking in the city's C-3 (downtown  
commercial) zoning districts. This legislation will help reduce  
traffic congestion downtown, improve the affordability of downtown  
housing, create more car-free housing downtown, and preserve and  
enhance the quality of downtown streets for walking, bicycling, and  
public transit; see our campaign page (http://www.livablecity.org/ 
campaigns/c3.html) or the PDF version (http://www.livablecity.org/ 
campaigns/C3%20Parking%20fact%20sheet.pdf) for more information about  
the legislation and how to get involved. The legislation will be  
heard at the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee on Thursday,  
January 19 at 1 PM in City Hall. Please plan to be at the hearing,  
and contact committee members Sophie Maxwell, Jake McGoldrick, and  
Gerardo Sandoval, to let them know you support the legislation.

The good news is that on Tuesday January 10, the Board of Supervisors  
overwhelmingly rejected an appeal of the C-3 legislation's general  
rule exemption from environmental review, which had been filed by pro- 
car advocates in December. The appellants tried to withdraw their  
appeal, on the excuse that alternative legislation will be  
introduced. The appellants were scolded in absentia by President  
Peskin for filing an appeal that was clearly a delay tactic, rather  
than a valid claim under environmental law. The Planning department's  
well-argued response, which debunks the appellant's claims that the  
legislation will reduce housing supply and create "parking deficits"  
downtown, is available on our web site in PDF (http:// 
www.livablecity.org/campaigns/Appeal_Response.pdf) or Microsoft Word  
(http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/Appeal_Response.doc) format.

The bad news is that Supervisor Michaela Alioto-Pier, at the behest  
of the city's pro-car lobby, introduced rival legislation last  
Tuesday. Her legislation is mostly a big step backward; it is weaker  
than either Supervisor Daly's C-3 legislation, the Planning  
Department's recommendations, or the recently-approved Transbay and  
Rincon Hill plans on both parking maximums and minimums, and on  
reducing the impact of new projects on pedestrian, bicycle and  
transit safety and movement. Please encourage Supervisor Alioto-Pier  
not to try to derail the C-3 legislation, but instead get behind it,  
and to bring forward her worthwhile proposals (she proposes to extend  
car-sharing and bike parking requirements citywide, for example) as  
complementary legislation.

Also, Mayor Newsom sent a letter parroting pro-car arguments from the  
environmental appeal — arguments so flimsy that the appellants didn't  
even show up to defend them. Urge Mayor Newsom to drop the specious  
arguments abandoned by his pro-car allies and debunked by his  
Planning Director, and to make good on his World Environment Day  
promises from last year by supporting bold initiatives that will make  
our city more livable and sustainable.

WEB DESIGNER NEEDED

TLC wants to update the look, feel, and utility of its website. We  
have some ideas, and we're looking for more. If you have some time  
and creativity to donate to the cause of transforming our city to a  
place with more bicycling, more walking, more transit, and fewer  
cars, and know web programming, please contact Dave Snyder:  
mailto:dave at livablecity.org. Thank you!

TLC PROGRAM COMMITTEE NEEDS YOU!

TLC has a program committee, open to all TLC members, that reviews  
legislation and policy, neighborhood plans, and projects for TLC  
endorsement. We are looking for more active members interested in  
serving on the committee; if you are interested, contact chair Tim  
Dunn (tim at livablecity.org), and let him know if you prefer Monday  
evenings or Tuesday evenings as a meeting time.  Meetings are monthly  
or every other month.

TLC IN THE NEWS

TLC gets the last word on Treasure Island: If you design a bunch of  
green buildings, then fill them full of cars, is it still a green  
project? TLC anwers the question in last week's Examiner:  
"Transportation plan for T.I. Iimits car use" by Emily Fancher,  
Monday January 9, 2006 (http://www.sfexaminer.com/articles/2006/01/10/ 
news/20060110_ne08_transp.txt).

TLC on Bikescape: Jon Winston's Bikescape site is a great resource  
for people interested in bicycling, urban space, and the urban  
environment. Check out Bikescape's interviews with TLC founder,  
president, and transportation visionary Dave Snyder, looking back at  
his years of transportation activism (http://bikescape.blogspot.com/ 
2006/01/dave-snyder-velorutionary-looks-back.html), and with TLC  
executive director Tom Radulovich on TLC's vision for a livable city  
(http://bikescape.blogspot.com/2005/12/transportation-for-livable- 
city.html).



Tom Radulovich
Executive Director
Transportation for a Livable City
995 Market Street Suite 1550
San Francisco CA 94103
415 344-0489
www.livablecity.org
tom at livablecity.org