Question of the Day: Why is the San Francisco Tenants Union trying to stop the 8 Washington development project on the Embarcadero?
Another volley was fired out of the Golden Gateway tennis courts this week with the announcement that the lawsuit seeking to shut down the proposed 8 Washington/Seawall Lot 351 project was expanding with new defendants and new plaintiffs. To recap, opponents of the project are invoking the Save Tara decision of the California Supreme Court which said that West Hollywood may have been too enthusiastic over building some new senior housing, and that the Planning Department and Ports are doing the same in endorsing the 8 Washington project ahead of an EIR. This time, in addition to suing some poor retired teachers who just want to invest their pensions, opponents have rounded up a rogue's gallery NIMBYs from all over town:
?the lawsuit now names, as real parties in interest, that project’s development team, Pacific Waterfront Properties and CalSTRS (CA State Teachers Retirement System). “The City continued to ignore state environmental law after we filed our lawsuit” said Dick Stewart of Neighbors to Preserve the Waterfront, “and this troubling precedent has attracted new plaintiffs to our cause including the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association, Dolores Heights Improvement Club, Sunset-Parkside Education and Action Committee (SPEAK), Russian Hill Neighbors and Middle Polk Neighborhood Association as well as two of the city’s largest tenant and housing organizations, the San Francisco Tenants Union and Affordable Housing Alliance.We don't understand why Mr. Stewart expects the Planning Commission and Ports to stop because he's filed a lawsuit- Dick, it just doesn't work that way.
What became of Save Tara besides the best lawsuit name, ever? West Hollywood finished their paperwork and soon those senior citizens will have a new place to live. As for the new plaintiffs, there are the usual suspects, but we're wondering why the San Francisco Tenants Union has joined in. It's not like anyone's being evicted except tennis courts that happen to be standing in the middle of Pacific Avenue. We couldn't find anything called the Affordable Housing Alliance in California, and the project calls for 30 out of the 168 units to be BMR, so what's up? As for the Dolores Heights Improvement Club, where's the EIR for that Pirate Ship playground?
· Tennis Anyone? NIMBYS Rage Over Turf on the Waterfront [Curbed SF Archives]
· The Two Sues: Hand-to-Hand Combat in the NIMBY Trenches [Curbed SF Archives]
· Waterfront Plan Lawsuit Press Release [PDF]
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