The Semaphore A PUBLICATION OF TELEGRAPH HILL DWELLERS PPiioonneeeerr PPaarrkk TTrraannssffoorrmmeedd SEE PAGE 8 ISSUE 174 WINTER 2006 ISSUE #165 û AUTUMN 2003 • PAGE 2 TELEGRAPH HILL DWELLERS Voice Mail/Hotline: 273-1004. Fax: 255-6499. Web Site: www.thd.org P.O. Box 330159 • San Francisco, CA94133 THEBOARDOFDIRECTORS2004-2005 DIRECTORS 2004-2006 PRESIDENT: Brad Willmore, ARCHIVIST:Rozell Overmire, Joe Butler, 324 Chestnut, 956-5307, 31 Alta St., 955-8901, 19 Alta, 989-3945, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Patsy Chan,504 Greenwich, 391- VICEPRESIDENT:Vedica Puri, 111 IMMEDIATEPASTPRESIDENT: 1187, [email protected] Chestnut St., #601, 391-5880, Paul Scott, 26 Darrell Pl., 981-5112, Wells Whitney, 1308 Montgomery, [email protected] [email protected] 398-5077 RECORDINGSEC'Y:Mary Lipian, SEMAPHORE STAFF: 1304 Montgomery, 391-5652, Stan Teng, 333 Greenwich St., #2, [email protected] EDITOR:Art Peterson, 986-2626, [email protected] 101A Telegraph Hill, 956-7817, CORRESPONDINGSEC'Y:Kathleen [email protected] . DIRECTORS 2006-2007 Dooley, 216 Filbert., #1, 433-6932 Mikkel Aaland, [email protected] COPYEDITOR: Tony Long, 362-8363 543 Greenwich St., 392-7742, [email protected] [email protected] TREASURER:Greg Chiampou ADSALES: Kathleen Cannon, 776- 345 Filbert, #3, 834-9338 6014, [email protected] Joseph Alioto, 26 Belair, 902-5346, [email protected] [email protected] BUSINESSMANAGER: Gail Switzer, FINANCIALSEC'Y:Sarah Kliban 341 Filbert, 788-8667, Jennifer Moerer, 5 Edith Street, 265- 463 Chestnut St., 781-2278 [email protected] 0317, [email protected] [email protected] TYPESETTING/DESIGN: Chris Marc Bruno, HISTORIAN:Nancy Shanahan, Carlsson, Cloverleaf Productions., 15 Nobles Alley, 434-1528, 224 Filbert, 986-7094, 608-9035 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] INSIDE THIS ISSUE President’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The Social Report, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 North Beach Citizens’ Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Pioneer Work Party Celebrates 10 Years . . . . . . . . . . .8 Going Solar? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Inside Planning and Zoning Committee . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Bachelors On The Hill, c. 1955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Board of Directors:Motions Passed . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Broadway and Columbus:Good Urban Design? . . . .13 New Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 The Alfa Nose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 THD Committees Need You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Cookie Crawlers Invade Upper Grant St. . . . . . . . . .15 Supervisor PeskinReports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 THDCalendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 COVER:Pioneer Park photography by Art Peterson. The Semaphoreis a publication of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers for its members. Articles, except for the summary of Board of Directors' Motions, do not necessarily reflect the official posi- tion of the Association or its Officers, but are the opinions of the writers of the individual signed articles. The Association can take no responsibility for their content. This membership publication is not to be reprinted or disseminated without Printed on Recycled paper written permission. ISSUE #174 • WINTER 2006 PAGE 3 T P ’ C HE RESIDENT S ORNER Living in a Neighborhood That Matters Ijust got back from a trip to a modern One of our directors, Joe Butler, American city in Arizona. Wow. leads recurring gardening parties in Contemporary urban planning at its Pioneer Park around the base of Coit best? Far from it. The impression that Tower. This is not only a fun way to sticks with me the most is one of endless spend an afternoon with your kids and shopping malls sprawling across the val- friends and neighbors, but also a terrif- ley, each mall with pretty much the ic contribution to one of our neighbor- identical big box retailers and restau- hood crown jewels. Join Joe and the rants featured in the next mall and rest by contacting him at: fjosephbut- sporting acres and acres of asphalt parking lot [email protected] or 776-9416. crammed with cars. I was amazed that anyone In important land use issues, THD members would choose to build in that fashion.It was good on our Planning and Zoning Committee meet once for cars, lousy for people. a month to review new buildings and businesses North Beach and Telegraph Hill, on the other that are planned for our neighbor-hood. Members hand, have frequently been lauded as among the meet with Department of Planning officials and best places to live in the country and the lobby for rules that help keep the soul of our neigh- world. But of course we all know that. We know borhood alive. Anyone is welcome and especially how unique and special this place and its history those with backgrounds or interests in architecture are.It’s why we support the diversity of small busi- and planning. Contact Mary Lipian at: nesses over chain stores and why we fight to pro- [email protected] 645-8236. tect our historic districts, our parks and trees and Every month we hold a Social Hour at one of our squawking parrots. It’s why we band together our favorite neighborhood venues, complete with to protect a city that is Human Scale rather than music and appetizers. We also schedule member- designed around cars and sprawling freeways and ship dinners and special outings to city events parking lots. It’s why we know our neighbors and (such as the symphony and ball games). All of our neighborhood rather than becoming just this is run by our own Pat Swan and it’s easy to another faceless consumer at the mall. join in the party planning and get to know your But the magic of this neighborhood is that in neighbors even better by contacting Pat at: creating a place that matters, we have also creat- [email protected] or 650-432-7031. ed a place where people matter. Live here in Many of you have celebrated Thanksgiving North Beach and you are an important part of a in the past by volunteering at one of Marc neighborhood fabric, here you make a difference, Bruno’s neighborhood dinners for the here you have a real impact. When I talk to all homeless. Marc also produces neighborhood per- the friends and neighbors active in the communi- formances that add a real experience to the ty that’s the response I hear the most. There are neighborhood. It was Marc that brought the lots of ways to be involved here, and they all Christmas tradition of the La Posada procession- make a difference. al to Grant Avenue. Marc Bruno and Jimmy continued on page 5 PAGE 4 ISSUE #174 • WINTER 2006 ENRICO’S Sean O’Donnell H ANDYMAN “Anything can be fixed except a fallen soufflé.” 30 years experience. Local & neighborhood references. A Telegraph Hill Dweller since 1982 Live 415-307-1205 Jazz 504 Broadway inNorth Beach 415 982-6223 for reservations Nightly www.enricossidewalkcafe.com Issue #174 • Winter 2006 PAGE 5 P ’ R RESIDENT S EPORT continued from page 3 Schein (of Schein & Schein on Grant Avenue) acquisition of the Triangle next to Joe DiMaggio also organized our street cleanups on Grant playground so that we could expand that play- (something that THD was a major donor for).E- ground and renovate the library there. Well now mail Marc if you have a flair for the theatric or a it’s time to plan the next phase and commence heart for the homeless: [email protected], fundraising for the new, bigger, better (and green- he can always use another helping hand. er!) Joe DiMaggio Playground. Contact Liz Diaz You know we also had an enormous amount of at: [email protected] fun this year putting on our first “Nonna’s North We also have neighbors with different inter- Beach Christmas” festival and cookie crawl. ests and skills that support all this with website (Nonna is Italian for “grandmother.”) It was only and webmaster skills, our Beautification possible because of all the volunteers and bakers Committee, and our financial and membership who came out and lent a hand (or 250 work. If you enjoy the idea of keeping a website cookies!). Don’t miss being a part of next year’s current send me an e-mail. festival when we send out the call for volunteers All of us, and those who went before us, have and bakers (or send me a note at [email protected] created in this place a neighborhood that mat- now and I’ll put you on the list). ters; a neighborhood that, in turn, values every We have a lot of members who work togeth- one of us.It is a place worth being an active part er on waterfront issues (such as development and of, it is a place worth saving, a place worth cele- historic preservation) on a committee chaired by brating. Come and join us! Vedica Puri and Paul Scott.If you have an inter- est in keeping shopping malls off our piers, and fishermen and recreation on them, then contact Vedica at: [email protected] If you like being part of our twice yearly movie night in Washington Square Park then you should contact our immediate past president, Paul Scott at: [email protected] Many of you were involved in neighborhood PAGE 6 Issue #174 • Winter 2006 Issue #174 • Winter 2006 PAGE 7 North Beach Citizens’ Profile of NBC Client Vince Depasque By Brady McCartney became more and Vincent Depasque has one of the most eas- more active in the ily recognizable faces in North Beach. community. But, he Chances are he has helped you or your still found it difficult neighbor move in or out of your apartment, to get off the streets walked and watched over your dog, cleaned up and create a consis- after a dinner party or festival you’ve attended, or tent income stream. simply smiled at you in Washington Square Park. Shortly after his Vince arrived in North Beach five years ago initial introduction to after a 20 year stint in Yosemite National Park NB, Vince had anoth- working as a waiter at the Yosemite Lodge. He er critical meeting has lived in various doorways and SROs (Single when he attended the Room Occupancies) during his time in North monthly dinner for Beach. Recently, though, he found and rented a the homeless and housed at Bocce Café and met room he can call his own. Kristie Fairchild, the Executive Director of North During his time sleeping in doorways, Vince Beach Citizens. The two talked throughout the stayed afloat by working all sorts of odd jobs event and by the time the dinner ended, Kristie offered to him by other North Beach residents. For had convinced Vince to come to NBC the next his first 3 months in North Beach, he more or less morning. Vince showed up and, after an initial exclusively helped other North Beachers move period of hesitation, began coming daily eventual- things from their apartments until one day when a ly becoming an active and integral member of neighborhood dog ran into him when he was read- North Beach Citizens. ing in Washington Square Park. The dog’s owner However, it wasn’t until Kristie strongly apologized to Vince as she waited for some sort of encouraged Vince to get his California I.D. and response. Instead of getting mad at the dog or its his social security card that things really started owner, Vince started talking to the dog’s owner to change. Vince had been in a sort of no man’s and by day’s end was watching that very same dog land without I.D., unable to rent a room or apply while its owner ran errands around the city. With for any government benefits. But, after NBC this meeting, Vince began establishing himself as applied and paid for a copy of his birth certificate, “the Dogfather of North Beach”. he was able to obtain a CA. I.D.—through NBC’s This introduction to the dog community of California I.D. subsidy—and a Social Security North Beach proved critical as it provided Vince card. The combination of these three develop- with constant employment, several guardian ments then made it possible for Vince to utilize angels, and more pets than anyone in North Beach NBC’s Housing Stabilization Subsidy to rent an or Telegraph Hill other than Mark Bittner and his SRO, which made him eligible for General “wild parrots”. Assistance’s full benefit. Since then GA benefits Once established in North Beach, Vince continued on page 27 PAGE 8 Issue #174 • Winter 2006 Pioneer Park Work Party Celebrates Ten Years By Joe Butler create, through a community process, an alter- Acontingent of students from San nate vision for the park. Francisco’s International High School Ten years later we are halfway through our swelled the ranks of neighborhood volun- 20-year plan, restoring the vegetation from the teers as the Pioneer Park Second Saturday Work monoculture of eucalyptus and cypress to the Party celebrated its 10th anniversary in November. coastal scrub of indigenous ground covers and Since 1995, when the first organized group of shrubs with a forest of coastal live oaks, toyons neighbors reported for garden duty on a Saturday and buckeyes. With an eye toward habitat cre- morning, a world of transformations has occurred ation, the forest and its understory are already in the park. attracting the birds, butterflies and insect life that Working in conjunction with the Recreation preceded us on the beautiful promontory of this and Park Department, new stairways were fabulous peninsula. Hawks are returning, butter- planned and built, a ramp to connect the Coit fly larvae are spinning cocoons, the new plants Tower lobby murals to the parking lot was ingen- are filling the old bald dirt spots nicely. iously designed, and the lawn on the south side of The International High School is among the tower was restored to better than its former many citywide volunteer organizations, coordi- glory. It is now surrounded by low rock walls and nated by Rec Park, that have volunteered time to drought tolerant native plants. help with the reforestation. One of the IHS 10th A decade ago, thanks to several drought graders was also present at the first work party as years and ever tightening city budgets, the five a kindergarten student 10 years ago. What a acre park surrounding Coit Tower was a bit down beautiful change in our park this decade has seen. at the heels. Inadequate pedestrian circulation, Thanks to Rec Park and to all who have helped. overgrown Monterey cypress at the parking lot, New neighborhood volunteers are also wel- and overuse by tourists, partiers and neighbors come; come join us on the second Saturday of who had loved the hilltop park to death, all con- each month from 9 a.m. to noon. tributed to the its demise. One particularly well- Contact us by e-mail at “fjosephbutler@hot- connected neighbor heard rumblings that chain- mail.com”. link fences would be erected and she set out to PioneerPark hilltop, 1995 (left) and 2005 (right) Issue #174 • Winter 2006 PAGE 9 INSIDE THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMITTEE By Art Peterson the building was one document perused by the THD’s Planning and Zoning Committee has the jus- THD’s Planning & Zoning Committee meeting tified reputation of doing work that is at the very at its Jan. 12 meeting. heart of the Hill Dwellers organization. Yet few of our Committee members, perhaps anticipating 800-plus members attend the committee’s meetings to fewer Friday night Harleys roaring away into the get a close-up look at the nuts and bolts of the way night, examined the plans with interest and this vital committee operates. The report below is offered a few suggestions. The ground floor win- intended to give some insight into what happens at dows? Shouldn’t they be sound-proofed? And these first-Thursday-of-the-month sessions. windows that can’t be opened would guarantee that the sound of indoor revels would be less like- This just in: A spanking new dart board is ly to intrude on the street. Members also noted about to be installed on the 1300 block of the buildings exterior exhibited some cool fea- Grant Avenue. The new owners of that tures that should remain. The committee will good times bar, The Lost and Found Saloon, invite the owners of the building to discuss their intend to convert the facility to an Irish pub. They plans in more detail at an upcoming meeting. plan to keep the bar’s entertainment license. This discussion is pretty typical of one way A rendering of the proposed new exterior of THD’s Planning and Zoning Committee oper- ates. Part of the committee’s mission is to advo- cate — in discussion with owners who want to build, alter, or renovate property — for the aes- thetic and community concerns of the neighbor- hood. The January P&Z meeting presented sev- eral examples of this process at work. 1345 Montgomery Street. Cynthia Wilsey and Gunther Gopp have pur- chased the property on the southwest corner of Montgomery and Filbert, the former Dalla Torre Restaurant and, in a previous lifetime, the vener- able eatery, The Shadows. The couple, with the help of their architect Doug Thompson, intend to turn this historic public location into a single family residence. Thompson and Wilsey attended the meeting, to inform the committee of their plans. Obviously, the interior work required to convert an old restaurant into to a modern dwelling is a yeoman’s task. But, Thompson said changes to the exterior of the building will not be major. Two new dormers will be added, along with a garage and a roof deck, and minor changes in continued on page 10 PAGE 10 Issue #174 • Winter 2006 Planning & Zoning continued from page 9 the window configuration will be made. As often 550 Green happens at P&Z meetings, neighbors were on The next presenter was Giovanni Toracca, hand to express their concern. In this case, next the mover and shaker behind the renovation at door neighbor Sue Cauthen was asking some 555 Green, the so called New Pisa Project, after worried questions about the new roof deck next the Dante Benedetti Restaurant that for many to her window. years inhabited the building’s ground floor. Some members of the committee considered According to the North Beach-born and the materials submitted for review rather sketchy raised Toracca, the renovated structure will con- and asked for a chance to look at perspective sist of an upper floor with 22 residential hotel drawings and floor plans, of the renovation, as rooms, this in a space that has remained empty well as story poles to determine the extent of the for 50 years. The street level will house an oyster additions to the roof. bar and fish market and a luncheonette serving A main issue of discussion involved the food, beer and wine. There will be no liquor bar. installation of a glass guard rail that will be Torraca emphasized his intention to preserve required when the roof becomes a roof deck. Will the character of the original building. The stucco the rail be visible from the public right away, has been removed, high quality wooden windows especially the Filbert Steps? If so, will the glass are being installed, the store front awnings on the railing be compatible with the character of the original building will be replicated, divided building? If it isn’t compatible would a wooden clerestory windows will be returned to the store rail be more appropriate? Well, maybe, but a fronts. Toracca said he expects the commercial wooden rail would encroach on the view of a next sites in the building will be open in May or June. door neighbor, which is why the proposed rail is “When you are doing this kind of work,” he said, glass. At P&Z, not much is easy. “everything takes time. Right now, we are waiting for the right octagon tiles for our fish market.” Torraca’s presentation left P&Z members with but one basic ques- tion: What’s not to like? A few points of information needed to be clarified: Will the shutters go back up? (No) Will the sign that extends from the top floor of the building remain? (Yes.) However, the com- mittee’s excitement over this authentic renovation was almost overshadowed by another enthusi- asm “We’ll be able to buy fish!” one member exulted. 1345 Montgomery St. continued on page 26