The Cole Valley Improvement Association (CVIA) had another incredible year in 2019. Below are just some of our highlights.

As a reminder, our next community meeting is taking place on Wednesday, March 4th, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at Wooden Coffeehouse (862 Cole St). See details here. Both members and non-members are invited to attend. If you’re not already a member, consider joining our wonderful organization!

Clean Cole Street

730 Stanyan (Formerly McDonald’s)

The City purchased the McDonald’s at 730 Stanyan to build affordable housing two years ago. Thankfully, the area’s infamous reputation as a hotbed for drugs, crime and violence has steadily diminished since the closure. However, plans to activate the space with an interim use during the 3–5 year pre-construction period have been continuously delayed since the city issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) back in 2018.

CVIA, along with the Buena Vista Neighborhood Association and the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association, continued to press city officials to activate the McDonald’s site with an interim use that will benefit the entire community. In that vein, we helped craft a proposal submitted by Street Soccer USA, which was modeled after Playland in the Outer Sunset and PROXY in Hayes Valley (also on land to eventually become affordable housing), as well as Bryant Park in New York City.

MISSION. SSUSA, in conjunction with its partners, seeks to transform the site into a vibrant space, offering a broad range of benefits to the community at large. By providing health, wellness and outreach services for a marginalized portion of the community, recreational and sporting opportunities for youth that traditionally have lacked access, jobs for low and moderate income people and a shared space in which the community can gather and socialize, it is our belief the 730 Stanyan will improve the quality of life for those living and working in the local community.

Street Soccer’s proposal would have brought together soccer fields, Off the Grid food and beverage services, senior services by San Francisco Village, health and wellness services by UCSF and the Department of Health for youth and senior populations, as well as homeless services focused on transitional aged youth. Additionally, there would have been a flexible community space for events, play structures for children, urban farming, art installations and onsite security. This proposal was also financially self-sufficient, with the for-profit components subsidizing the community and non-profit components.

The proposal garnered near-universal praise and the city issued a letter saying it was “the high-scoring response to the Request for Proposals issued by the City.” Our submission even garnered the attention of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Sadly, the interim use has been delayed again, but we continue to press for a safe space that activates this long-blighted area in a meaningful way, serves the residents (especially families and seniors) and does not allow the intersection of Haight/Stanyan to return to its problematic past.

Streetscape Improvement Project

In 2019, the SFMTA completed its Inner Sunset Streetscape Improvement project, which created bulbouts and streetscaping designed to bring safety, color and life to N-Judah stops in the Inner Sunset. What you may not know is that the Carl/Cole and Carl/Stanyan stops were originally not included in this project, but CVIA pressed the City to include them. Thankfully, SFMTA agreed and solicited input on the design aspects from the community.

It has been exciting to see the completion of this street beautification project for our Cole Valley N-Judah stops. Carl/Cole is one of the most highly trafficked MUNI rail stops in the city, and now there’s a place for riders headed downtown to sit while they wait for the N-Judah to (finally) arrive.

Grattan Playground

Cole Valley has become one of the most family friendly neighborhoods in the city. Sadly, our neighborhood’s main children’s park at Grattan Playground has seen better days. It received a “D” rating from the Failing Playgrounds Taskforce several years ago, and there were plans for a major overhaul in 2015, but the funding failed to materialize and the focus has shifted to making small incremental improvements.

**In 2019, CVIA agreed to provide a donation to** **Friends of Grattan Playground** **in order to further these improvements. Additionally, one particularly generous CVIA member agreed to provide a large donation for improvements to the playground.**
Throughout the year, CVIA also leveraged its relationships with city officials in the Recreation & Parks department to help quickly address problems that popped up at the playground. For example, we were made aware of faulty swings and dilapidated conditions in the bathrooms last year, both of which were brought to the attention of city officials and resolved.

Traffic Calming

You will soon see traffic calming measures on parts of Frederick Street and parts of Clayton Street. Last year, CVIA worked with the SFMTA and former supervisor Vallie Brown to highlight these areas for special consideration of increased traffic safety measures since they already had pending applications through the Residential Traffic Calming Program.

We’re happy to announce that these projects were allocated funding in 2019 and are currently in the community outreach phase. Traffic calming could include speed humps/bumps, improved pedestrian crosswalks, bulbouts, etc.

Business Streamlining Legislation and Zoning Changes for Cole Valley

Signing Ceremony at Wooden Coffeehouse. Attendees included SFPD Park Station Captain Una Bailey, Mayor London Breed, then-Supervisor Vallie Brown, Wooden Coffeehouse Owner Steve Wickwire and CVIA Board Members Steven Madrid, Lena Emmery and Carole G… — Signing Ceremony at Wooden Coffeehouse. Attendees included SFPD Park Station Captain Una Bailey, Mayor London Breed, then-Supervisor Vallie Brown, Wooden Coffeehouse Owner Steve Wickwire and CVIA Board Members Steven Madrid, Lena Emmery and Carole Glosenger (among many others)

We supported former supervisor Vallie Brown’s legislation to streamline the permitting process for small businesses in San Francisco. Permitting and zoning restrictions are a frequent cause of frustration for small businesses in SF, and we were happy to support legislation to make these matters easier.

This legislation was particularly important to Cole Valley because even though Cole Street and Haight Street are two very distinct corridors, certain zoning restrictions on Haight Street were being applied to Cole Street because of these two streets’ physical proximity to each other. In particular, Wooden Coffeehouse on Cole Street was not allowed to obtain an alcohol permit to sell beer/wine at its comedy nights due to zoning restrictions on Haight Street. Thankfully, this legislation removed the applicability Haight Street’s zoning restrictions from Cole Street, and Wooden is in the process of seeking its alcohol permit.

Bikeshare Stations

In 2019, we, along with the SF Bicycle Coalition, helped conduct outreach regarding where a Cole Valley bikeshare station could be located and advocated for the installation of a station at Carl/Cole. This was the first bikeshare station in the greater Upper Haight, which was quite the accomplishment. We also supported the Buena Vista Neighborhood Association in their efforts to install a bikeshare station at Buena Vista West and Haight Street, which was approved in late 2019.

We understand that bikeshare is a polarizing topic and some residents feel strongly about the loss of parking, while others feel equally strongly about creating a viable bikeshare network. We have not expressed universal support of all bikeshare stations and we will continue to evaluate our support of potential locations on a case-by-case basis.

Friends of the Urban Forest Projects

Friends of the Urban Forest had a tree planting project in the Cole Valley and Haight neighborhoods last year and over 40 new trees were planted. We were very eager to help spread the word about this program to our members and the greater Cole Valley community. Additionally, a CVIA board member spearheaded a separate sidewalk garden planting project in Cole Valley where eight new sidewalk gardens were planted. Anything we can do to make the neighborhood a little greener!

Summer Social

1_NwnpwQw991cW0iEmAf5Erg (1).jpeg — Last August, CVIA hosted its annual Summer Social at Kezar Bar & Restaurant. It was the usual relaxed Saturday afternoon of snacking, sipping and schmoozing with neighbors. Present District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston and then-supervisor Vallie Brown were both in attendance.

Our special guest was Leah Garchik, a longtime San Francisco Chronicle columnist and Haight neighbor, who gave a speech about a variety of topics impacting San Francisco. In addition to honoring Leah, we presented special commendations to Julia Strzesieski, Cole Hardware’s longtime marketing coordinator, and Bill Hancock (posthumously) for donating considerable seed money to begin the daily cleaning of Cole Street.

We are once again thankful to Kezar owners Steve Schick and Jim Angelus for supplying appetizers and allowing us to host the party at Kezar. If you didn’t already know, 2019 was a big year for Kezar as they got a new co-owner, new chef, revamped menu, started serving brunch and added outdoor seating, so be sure to give them a visit.

Cole Valley Tree Tour

Last Spring, CVIA member Mike Sullivan, author of the 2013 book “The Trees of San Francisco,” led a fascinating tree tour through Cole Valley for our members. Mike showcased landmark trees — including a famous yellow-blooming New Zealand Christmas Tree — and non-tree curiosities such as a renovated church where the Grateful Dead once practiced and Shrader Street’s “Angel of Hope” statue.

Santa on Cole Fundraiser

Cole Valley Fair

We once again organized the car show at the annual Cole Valley Fair. CVIA also had a booth at the fair where we talked to residents about what our organization does for Cole Valley and the greater Haight Ashbury. It’s always a wonderful experience to chat with people (both members and non-members) and discuss what matters most to them in the neighborhood. Plus, we had many new members join our organization.

2019: A Year in Review