The tenants of the city’s largest landlord have been complaining for years about squalid living conditions. Now the Board of Supes Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee is holding a hearing Wednesday/16on the “impact on the health and welfare of tenants residing in large and speculative units” – and I’m told that Veritas will be a major focus of the discussion.
The special meeting of the committee starts at 10:30 in City Hall Room 263.
It’s pretty clear at this point that at least some of parcels at the old Hunters Point Shipyard that are slated for development are too toxic and even radioactive for people to live. They may be too toxic for office space.
But that city has a long-term deal with Lennar Corp. to turn this site into a bustling new neighborhood – and the recent data on faked soil tests puts a lot of that in doubt.
The issue comes before the Land Use and Transportation Committee Monday/14at a hearing sponsored by all 11 members of the board. The Department of Public Health, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the EPA have been asked to report. Lennar is not on the list.
The full board will consider Tuesday/15a move by Sup. Sandra Lee Fewer to pull from committee a proposal to stop landlords from raising rents because their mortgage and property taxes went up after a sale. This is a big deal: When a landlord buys a building from a long-term owner, the taxes go up under Prop. 13. The prices of new buildings are so crazy that some buyers take out huge loans. And then they want to pass those costs onto tenants.
Her measure has been stalled in the Rules Committee, chaired by Sup. Ahsha Safai. Fewer wants the whole board to consider this.
The board will also consider a resolution opposing a new luxury yacht harbor on Treasure Island.
The Planning Commission gets to consider Thursday/17a proposal by Sup. Aaron Peskin to increase the transportation fee on large office projects by $5 a square foot.
This has come up in the past: John Avaos, when he was on the board, tried to get a modest raise in the price and was shut down. (London Breed and Scott Wiener were among those opposing the increase.)
Reality check here: The cost of providing transit to large office buildings is $87 a square foot, according to the city’s own studies. The city charges $18.
When Avalos tried to raise the fee, Breed said that the calculus was “more of an art than a science” and Wiener worried that some projects wouldn’t get built.
So some office projects, which the city has too many of already, would not get built because the developers don’t want to pay the cost of the transit they need, sticking the taxpayers with it instead? This is a problem?
At any rate, Peskin is trying again. The commission meets at 1pm in Room 400, City Hall.
