SFNBBA Accomplishments In 2018

By Joe Bonadio

In keeping with our history of support and leadership for the commercial district of our neighborhood, the North Beach Business Association has assembled a quick report detailing a few of our organizational accomplishments for 2018. This is a partial list, but it will give readers some idea of the breadth of our efforts for the neighborhood.

NEIGHBORHOOD BEAUTIFICATION AND CLEAN UP

• Continued funding and enhancement of decorative street lighting in our commercial district, including street pole lighting, Columbus Avenue holiday lights, and cross street lighting on Grant Avenue and Green Streets.

• Continued funding of hanging flower baskets in the district.

• Ongoing work with North Beach Citizens, SF Department of Public Works and Recology to create and implement a 6-point plan to clean and sustainably maintain streets in our our commercial district. Included in this plan is the installation of “Big Belly” garbage cans, as well as ten cigarette butt containers (already installed) to help minimize the amount of cigarette waste on our streets.

MITIGATION OF NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK WATER RECLAMATION PROJECT

• Negotiated with Rec and Park to create a landmark letter of understanding for the upcoming Washington Square Park water reclamation project. This letter stipulates concessions for our commercial district by limiting the duration of the project to six months in contract. limiting the use of street parking by contractors and their crews. preventing the spread of dust and dirt. and limiting the use of streets by trucks hauling away debris and dirt from the project.

MITIGATION OF OVERALL CONSTRUCTION WORK

• Continued to work with our district supervisor to address the ongoing problem of continuous street work and seismic upgrades, work which has displaced businesses and inhibited visitors and residents from patronizing our shops. Through SF DPW, we have also identified 203 active public and private construction permits in our commercial district. Accordingly, we are negotiating with city agencies to review and coordinate these projects, and limit them to work that has been deemed necessary.

COMMERCIAL VACANCY

• Worked with Supervisor Peskin’s office to bring attention to vacancy issues caused by owners who neither maintain their storefronts nor choose to lease them, a primary cause of commercial vacancies and blight. In January of this year, we participated in a press conference on this issue at which legislation was proposed to address this problem. This action received widespread interest in the city at large, and prompted a movement to encourage other districts to follow our lead, increasing pressure on landlords to make their storefronts available for lease–or face penalties.

• Completed the most up-to-date vacancy study of our North Beach neighborhood, with the help of North Beach Neighbors and Telegraph Hill Dwellers (work we’ve been doing with THD for many years now).

TOURIST SHUTTLE

• Worked with Chinatown to extend a tourist shuttle bus from the Embarcadero up Broadway to Chinatown and North Beach, a much-needed service due to debut this year.

EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, NORTH BEACH FESTIVAL, WINE WALK, FIRST FRIDAYS 

• Continued upgrades to our signature North Beach Festival, including new attractions such as Circus Bella, which help draw new visitors to our neighborhood.

• Created a North Beach Wine Walk, bringing hundreds of new visitors to North Beach.

• Continued to sponsor and work with galleries for our monthly First Fridays events.

OUTREACH AND COORDINATION WITH FILM COMMISSION

• Strengthened our dialogue with the film commission, with an eye to garnering greater participation and coordination of North Beach merchants with future film projects.

At the SFNBBA, we look forward to continuing and broadening our work to maintain the vibrancy of our commercial corridor, efforts which benefit both merchants and residents alike. Here’s to a healthy and prosperous year. See you in the neighborhood!