Dropping the gauntlet in a longtime battle over urban space, The Montgomery-Washington Homeowners Association has filed suit against City College. The group, joined by comrades in arms Neighbors for Preservation, Land Use and Community Education, contend that its planned 14-story Chinatown campus has been "recklessly" exempted from the city planning process. Cited concerns include: the visual impact of the building, lack of community involvement, increased burden on public transportation, and the projects shadow on nearby Portsmouth Square. (In other words, the same beef that comes up any time a sizable building pops up on the city skyline.) The questionable environmental impact of the project is also situated somewhere in the argument— extra credit and all. Those damn students, taxing transpo, snapping up real estate right and left, casting shadows all over the place ... The proper course of action is obvious: we must eradicate higher education in the San Francisco downtown metropolitan area, stat! Problem: solved.
Chinatown neighbors sue to block City College building plans [SF Gate]
[Rendering courtesy EHDD|Barcelon & Jang Architects/Square One Productions and SF Gate]
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