SF Gps Ask Presidio Trust for More Comment Time on Controversial Plans
John G. Millar
To SF Neighborhood
Organizations: FYI
News Release
June 20, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Whitney Hall (707) 778-6975 <whit...@comcast.net>
Redmond
Kernan (415) 751-1126 <redmon...@yahoo.com>
www.presidioassociation.org // www.savepresidio.blogspot.com
SF GROUPS ASK PRESIDIO TRUST FOR MORE PUBLIC COMMENT TIME ON CONTROVERSIAL
CONSTRUCTION PLANS
San Francisco, CA....The Presidio Historical Association
(PHA), a nonprofit group, has asked the Presidio Trust to extend the public
comment period for its recently released Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS) from 45 days to 150 days. The Cow Hollow Association,
Marina Community Association, and Pacific Heights Residents Association,
neighborhood groups, have also asked for an extension.
The Trust's 318-page draft SEIS, released last week, describes the historic and
natural impacts of several highly controversial proposals, including a 100,000
sq. ft. contemporary art museum proposed by Gap founder Donald Fisher; a 90,000
sq. ft. hotel, and movie multiplex being considered as new additions to the
Presidio of San Francisco’s grounds.
“The length, complexity and controversial nature of the Presidio
Trust’s Environmental Impact Statement require far more than the legal
minimum of 45 days for the public to study and adequately comment upon
it,” said PHA’s past President Whitney Hall.
The Trust, a federal agency which manages real estate in the historic national
park, also announced it has suspended an ongoing consultation on the negative
impacts of these proposals, a process that is required under Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act. Critics believe this move is designed to
push through the Trust’s building plans before the public can respond to
the findings of the historic preservation review.
The massive new construction -- whose square footage is approximately that of
three football fields -- is planned for the most historically sensitive site of
San Francisco’s
birthplace and center of activity in the early West, dating back to the
Presidio’s founding by a Spanish expedition in 1776. The Presidio
was the nation’s longest-operating military base until it became a
national park in 1994.
The entire Presidio, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA),
is designated a National Historic Landmark District, a status that the National
Park Service has said is threatened by the “adverse effect”
of the scale and location of the Trust’s proposals.
The Presidio Trust has scheduled one public meeting for citizens to comment on
the SEIS and its proposals for Monday, July 14, 6:30 pm at the Presidio
Officers' Club. Written comments to the Trust are due on July 31st.
###
Founded in the 1950s, the nonprofit Presidio Historical Association (PHA) has
worked in cooperation with the National Park Service and Presidio Trust since
1994 to advocate for preserving the integrity of the Presidio’s National
Historic Landmark District, located within the Golden Gate National Recreation
Area (GGNRA). PHA created a museum for the Army when it was based at the
Presidio. Earlier, PHA helped restore historic Fort Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.
sanja...@sbcglobal.net
On Jun 23, 8:25 pm, "John G. Millar" <jgmil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> To SF Neighborhood Organizations: FYI
>
> News Release
>
> June 20, 2008
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> For more information, contact:
> Redmond Kernan (415) 751-1126 <redmondker...@yahoo.com>www.presidioassociation.org//www.savepresidio.blogspot.com