Keep Lower Haight Whole--Join us tomorrow 3/17 (Saturday) at 10am for D5 meeting
Thea Selby
Hello, Lower Haight residents and merchants.
Tomorrow at 10am, the Redistricting Task Force will be holding a meeting specifically for District 5. This is a great chance to talk about the southern boundaries of District 5, where the Lower Haight lies and to urge them to keep the Lower Haight whole.
Attached is the map we are advocating as the Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Association. Please join us in representing the Lower Haight at this meeting! I’ll be at Café International at 9:30—join me if you want to walk over there (it’s about a 15-min walk). Or, meet at Ella Hill Hutch Community Center (1050 McAllister Street) at 10 am.
If you can't make it and have time to write a letter to the redistricting task force letting them know you support keeping the Lower Haight whole, please email rd...@sfgov.org
A few talking points for letters and for 2-minute messages to the Redistricting Task Force are attached and below:
Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Association is one of a few merchant and neighbor associations in the city. We chose this way of organizing because we are smaller than some other merchant areas, and are not a “corridor” like neighboring Divisadero, and because we wanted to keep the needs of both the merchants and the neighbors in mind when making decisions. We have formed strong bonds with merchants whose businesses shoot off—north and south—of Haight Street. We think of the bull’s eye as Haight and Fillmore with stores and residents radiating out from there. This has been a very successful way of organizing our neighborhood, and we’d like the district to reflect that community of interest. Our community is very diverse; we have low-income housing and ridiculously expensive Victorians for rent; we have a high % of African Americans, LGBT community, and a growing number of children and seniors. What unites us is our strong community and grassroots connection, and a strong value of “live and let live,” which encourages inclusion and diversity.
1. Southeast corner:
a. We advocate keeping the LGBT Center in District 8. We understand how important it is to District 8 to have the Castro and the LGBT Center in the same district and honor it.
b. 55 Laguna property, located in the Lower Haight, should be in District 5 with the rest of the Lower Haight.
i. A major development is going in at 55 Laguna, where we created our "Love in the Lower Haight" gateway to the Lower Haight mural. This development has the possibility of changing our neighborhood significantly.
ii. The development can be done more openly with Waller opening to the public and lots of porous access to the area, or it can be done more like a gated community with most of the residents using it as a parking space for their car, which they then drive to work, come home late, and don't mix with the rest of the community. Currently the boundary for D5 on that block is at Haight, leaving 55 Laguna entirely in the 8th District.
iii. If the entire project is pushed into D8, there will be less reason for the developer to consider the wishes of the Lower Haight residents and merchants to make 55 Laguna PART of their thriving community as opposed to a blocked off gated development with no contact with the rest of the community.
iv. We have safety issues on that block of Haight Street, which we are addressing with our Land Use and Transportation group and our Safety group. Car break-ins are rampant, lighting is sparse. There are several families on the north side of the street with young children. We need a strong advocate for keeping safety in the forefront when decisions are being made about the Haight Street side of the development.
v. HVNA, a D5 neighborhood organization, has been instrumental in pushing for community access for years. They are now joined by the Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Assn push.
2. Southern border: We advocate going up Waller to Buchanan, moving over to Hermann to encompass our merchant “cluster” and then moving back to Waller at Duboce Park (@ Steiner) (see attached map).
a. Waller Street—in the middle of 55 Laguna development, but open on both ends to foot traffic--has the opportunity to be a truly marvelous streetscaped pedestrian walkway. This is not a high-money item, and no focus has been yet paid to the opportunity. Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Assn, creator of Love in the Haight mural, a 100% community-driven project, Lower Haight ArtWalks, and a partner in WalkStops, is uniquely suited to making sure this pedestrian walkway will be filled with art work, greening, and other elements that add foot traffic and vibrancy to the area.
b. We have a 3-block border along Haight Street that splits this major thoroughfare in two. As much as we protest that for Geary Blvd, we protest it for Haight Street.
c. We currently have our merchant corridors broken up. Part of Fillmore/Haight Street merchant corridor is in 8, and part in 5. All these businesses are part of the Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Association and should be included in one district.
Please let me know if you can come out and speak even for a few seconds on behalf of keeping the Lower Haight whole this Saturday from 10-12 at Ella Hill Hutch (1050 McAllister Street, between Webster and Buchanan).
Thank you! See you at Café International at 9:30 or at Ella Hill Hutch Community Center!
Best regards,
Thea Selby
President, Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Assn
P.S. If you can only come for a part of the time, please still come. They have public comment throughout the meeting. We need your voice!
P.P.S If you cannot come, please send a letter with some of the points above to the Redistricting Task Force at rd...@sfgov.org. T