Concourse Authority Kicks off Review of Preferred Alternative

By Carol Dimmick

A controversial plan to build a parking garage beneath the music concourse in Golden Gate Park took a giant step forward when a top executive of the project announced he will meet with city planners to kick off the environmental-impact review process.

Mike Ellezy, CEO of the Golden Gate Park Concourse Authority, told board members at a July 10 meeting that he expects to meet with officials from the city's Planning Department to work out the parameters of the environmental review process.

After deliberating for months over design choices for the underground parking facility, which was approved by voters in 1998, the Concourse Authority selected a $60 million plan over several alternatives at its June meeting.

The plan adopted by the board consists of two underground two-level parking lots, one in front of the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum and the other in front of the California Academy of Sciences. The two lots will be connected by a tunnel, with an additional wedge-shaped, single-level parking lot at the east end of the concourse. The new garage will provide a total of 862 parking spaces.

Following Ellezy's opening remarks at the meeting, a parade of consultants hired by the Concourse Authority to develop components of the newly adopted plan gave their progress reports.

Michael Rice, deputy regional manager for EIP Associates, explained that the EIS process is flexible and will include a popular proposal by the Sierra Club, not currently a part of the plan, to take into account the preservation of two tunnels located on the east and west sides of the California Academy of Sciences. That part of the plan had drawn fire from activists.

Rice told board members the scope of the EIS will cover the project's three main elements - the underground parking garage, the concourse and transportation improvements. He also said a draft of the EIS report should be ready for public comment by spring 2002.

"Right now we are in the scoping process. We will be meeting with the Planning Department to outline what is appropriate to include in the EIS," Rice said.

Architect John Adams, a principal with Gordon H. Chong & Partners, described the architectural component of the project as a two-tiered process.

Adams said the project is currently in the preliminary or schematic design phase which includes the garage itself, roadways and traffic circulation.

The second phase, which develops the plan in more detail, includes items such as building materials, landscaping, signs and cost estimates.

Board members also learned from Marilyn Duffy, owner of Duffy Transportation, that a funding snafu could derail a pilot shuttle bus program scheduled to begin in August.

According to Duffy, funding restrictions by the San Francisco Transportation Authority forced her firm to reapply for a grant in two segments. If the first grant for $50,000 is approved on time, the marketing component of the pilot program could begin in August.

Duffy also told board members that she is working with the SF Department of Parking and Traffic to make sure new signs that restrict parking to three or four hours are posted in the park and she will meet with small business owners and officials from UCSF to make sure everyone is fully informed of the new parking regulations.

Public Urges Comprehensive EIS, More Funding for Shuttle

After listening to the reports, several members of environmental, tenant and neighborhood organizations voiced concerns about the EIS process and the scale of the pilot shuttle bus program.

Marianne Miller, a member of the Sunset Parkside Education and Action Committee (SPEAK), wanted one comprehensive EIS that would cover the garage, new M.H. de Young Memorial Museum and the rebuilding of the California Academy of Sciences.

"I want a comprehensive EIS for all projects going on in the park. This should all be studied at one time. I urge you to publish and circulate the initial draft EIS as widely as possible," Miller said.

David Spero, a member of the Alliance for Golden Gate Park, challenged board members to expand the shuttle bus component.

"We need to get to a New York situation. You have to plan for a massive shuttle program with massive funding," Spero said.

Funding Agreement for Garage Remains Elusive

The Concourse Authority was created in 1998 after voters approved a privately funded $40 million parking garage. Shortly thereafter, the Community Initiatives Fund (CIF) was created as the private fundraising arm for the project.

Last year $225,000, for the salaries of CEO Mike Ellezy and his assistant, was paid with city funds, a fact that raised some eyebrows with newly elected supervisors.

On June 28, the Board of Supervisors' Finance Committee cut $175,000 that was earmarked for Ellezy's salary from the city's proposed 2001-2002 budget.

Ellezy explained that last year Mayor Willie Brown felt justified including his salary in the city's budget.

While Ellezy dismissed the June vote as a minor "hiccup," he admitted that funding for the project remains stalled while the Concourse Authority and the CIF wrangle over terms of an agreement that would begin the release of privately donated funds.

According to Ellezy, the CIF has received $30 million in pledges for the $60 million project but he has no idea how much of that amount has been received by the CIF.