[TLC Member News & Alerts] 2 important actions for a more livable San Francisco...

[Jeremy Nelson]

Dear advocates for a more livable city-

Below are two urgent actions that you can take this week to help San
Francisco develop a more sustainable, safer, and less car-dependent
transportation system.  Please take a moment right now to take action on
these important items.

Also, please check out the SPUR noontime forum this Wednesday featuring TLC
executive director Tom Radulovich (more details below).

Best- Jeremy
Policy Director
Transportation for a Livable City


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1) URGENT ACTION: Support traffic calming, safer streets, and having auto
drivers pay their fair share!

WHAT'S AT STAKE:  TLC is actively supporting several pieces of state
legislation that directly affect San Francisco, and 3 of these bills will be
heard this Tuesday at the Senate Transportation Committee.  A summary of
these three bills is below (or read them online at
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html)

TAKE ACTION:  Please take a minute to e-mail or fax a letter of support
these important bills.  For more info, contact Jeremy Nelson at 344-0489 ext
2# or mailto:jeremy at livablecity.org.

- AB 452 (Yee):  Vehicle Impact Fee - This bill would authorize the City to
conduct a study to determine how much damage is caused to city streets by
cars and trucks, and then allow the Board of Supervisors to impose a small
"vehicle impact fee" to pay for street maintenance and repairs, including
resurfacing and restriping of crosswalks, bike lanes, and bus-only lanes.
E-mail your support to mailto:Jennifer.Schieck at asm.ca.gov or fax to (916)
319-2112

- AB 1208 (Yee): Double Fine Zone on 19th Ave/Park Presidio - This bill
would create a "Safety Enhancement Zone" on State Highway 1 as it runs
through San Francisco (essentially 19th Ave. and Park Presidio Blvd between
Junipero Serra Boulevard and Lake Street).  Doubling the fines for speeding
and other dangerous driving behaviors will improve safety on a street in
which 6 people have been killed and hundreds injured by automobiles since
2000.  E-mail your support to mailto:Jennifer.Schieck at asm.ca.gov or fax to
(916) 319-2112

- AB 799 (Leno):  Restore Local Vehicle License Fee (VLF) to 2% -  This bill
would authorize the Board of Supervisors by majority vote to place an
initiative on a future ballot to ask voters if they want to restore San
Francisco's VLF to 2%.  (This is the rate the VLF had been for 50 years
before being rolled back to 0.67% by Davis and Schwarzenegger).  It
two-thirds of San Francisco voters agree that it's worth paying a few
dollars more in VLF in order to pay for services and programs that benefit
all San Franciscans (but especially the most needy),  the VLF will be
increased to 2% will generate $60 million for the General Fund.  E-mail your
support to mailto:robert.tashima at asm.ca.gov or fax to (916) 319-2113.


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2) URGENT ACTION:  Tell Planning Commission that Mid-Market needs less car
traffic, safer streets, and more housing for people not for cars!

WHAT'S AT STAKE:  TLC has been tracking the development of a new plan and
zoning changes for the Mid-Market neighborhood (Market & Mission Sts from
5th to 10th) for the past two years.

As TLC supporters know, Mid-Market has some of the best transit access in
the entire Bay Area and some of the most critical transit, bike, and
pedestrian corridors in the City.  Car ownership rates in the neighborhood
are extremely low, yet the rates of pedestrian and bicycle injuries and
fatalities are tragically high.

Unfortunately, the current plan for Mid-Market allows every new housing unit
to have its very own parking space (1:1 parking), meaning future development
in this area will add more auto traffic to already congested streets.  The
plan also allows for 3 stories of above-ground parking, meaning more parking
and less housing will be built than if all parking was required to be
underground.

TAKE ACTION:  Streets in Mid-Market and surrounding neighborhoods are
currently congested with auto traffic, and future plans to make improvements
for transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians in the area will be made more
difficult if not impossible if excessive parking is allowed.

The car-centric Mid-Market proposal will be heard by the Planning Commission
this Thursday, so please let them know that you are opposed to allowing 1:1
residential parking and 3 stories of above-grade parking in Mid-Market.
E-mail the Planning Commission at mailto:Linda.Avery at sfgov.org and
mailto:Marshall.Foster at sfgov.org (sample language and full contact info is
at http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/midmarket.html).  Even better, come
to the hearing and tell them yourself:  Thursday at 6pm (time certain) in
Room 400 of City Hall.  For more info, contact Jeremy Nelson at 344-0489 ext
2# or mailto:jeremy at livablecity.org.


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3) EVENT: SPUR Forum on "The Greenway Network", with TLC executive director
Tom Radulovich

A coalition of parks, transportation, and environmental advocates are
reviving Daniel Burnham’s 1906 idea of a greenway network that integrates
walking and bicycling, open space, water quality, integrated wastewater
management, and restoration of natural areas. Join Tom Radulovich, executive
director of Transportation for a Livable City, and Jeff Condit, capital
projects coordinator at the Neighborhood Parks Council, to hear about this
ambitious project.  This Wednesday (6/22) from 12:30 to 1:30pm at SPUR
offices (312 Sutter, 5th Floor).

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