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Board of Supervisors Discuss Jumbotrons, Birds, Urban Farming, and More Birds Today

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The Board of Supervisors has a lot on its plate today, but there are three items of interest to Curbed SF readers. The full agenda is here and we've linked to .pdfs of the various items.

Contentious: Soccer fields behind the Beach Chalet [Photo: SF Planning]

America's Cup: First up on the agenda at today's Board of Supervisor's meeting– final approval of the settlement of the Waterfront Watch suit, the last gauntlet thrown at the America's Cup Race by a coalition of the Sierra Club, the Golden Gate Audubon Society and others, lead by Aaron Peskin. Along with $75K in legal fees and $150K for bird study, the settlement includes a process for review of Pier 29 rehabilitation work, Port's technical assistance to reduce air emissions at Pier 27, and an agreement not to place a Jumbotron on the water in Aquatic Park Lagoon. [Previously at Curbed SF]

Urban Ag: A little further along is the creation (.pdf) of an Urban Agriculture Program— and of course, the first step is a study, due December 31, 2012 (Chiu, others.) Basically, the city plans to hire someone to coordinate all the Urban Ag in town, working with the various agencies controlling public land and supporting private residential projects as well. Not to worry, roosters are already illegal. The most interesting item is that by 2014, there should be sufficient land available that residents will not have to wait more than a year to get a community garden plot. Some gardens– like the uber-chic one at Fort Mason– are reputed to have a 4-year waiting list.

Beach Chalet Soccer Field: A lot further along- probably around 4:30pm, the BoS will consider an appeal of the Final EIR for the Beach Chalet Soccer fields, currently a dark, gopher-hole ridden field where much of this town's fútbol takes place. With the opportunity to make public comments, this could go all night. Appellants are the usual suspects– the Sierra Club, Golden Gate Audubon, and the Golden Gate Park Preservation Alliance and neighbors– who basically want real turf instead of artificial and no lights because they don't want any night games. And why don't they want night games? Because they're afraid that non-local players will deprive them of the abundant parking spaces along the park's borders.

Apparently this also falls under the Coastal Commission purview. which will weigh in after all local appeals are exhausted. And while we'd like to blame the opposition to night games and a well-lit field on classic old-school NIMBY neighbors and parking, there is the question of migrating birds on the Pacific Flyway to consider. Text of the appeal is here. [Previously at Curbed SF]

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