Mission District residents were posited a conundrum at a Thursday night meeting: Should 10 units be eliminated at a 100 percent affordable housing project, or should the units be preserved, but block sunlight for children at nearby Marshall Elementary School?
The community’s vote will be taken over three meetings and tallied at the end of the final gathering.
The changes proposed by Mission Housing and the Mission Economic Development Agency would slash three stories, or 10 units, of affordable housing at the 388-unit “La Maravilla” complex planned for 16th and Mission streets.
The newly proposed alterations are rooted in concerns over one of the project’s buildings blocking sunlight over the playground at Marshall.
A shadow analysis presented at a community meeting on Jan. 15, showed one of the structures blocking 95 percent of the sunlight from the school’s playground during winter recess time. The results created concerns for parents.
“We recognized the effect of the shadows over Marshall’s playground. We know this is important for parents and teachers,” said Dairo Romero, community planning manager at MEDA. “This is an important decision to have to balance. How do we build housing and at the same time allow children to develop and grow with everything they need.”
The units that would be slashed are all low-income, available to families making between 30 to 80 percent of the area median income — for a family of four that would be between $46,750 and $124,700.
“There’s always pushback. This is why we have the housing crisis that we have,” said Sen. Scott Wiener on Friday morning, adding that while he understands the concerns coming from part of the community, the priority should be housing families.
“[The project] is right next to BART and in the heart of the Mission,” he said. “This is where we should be maximizing.”
On Thursday night, in front of about 120 attendees at the Women’s Building, developers unveiled their updated version that would reduce the shadow exposure on the playground by 20 percent.
The development is divided into three different structures: a 136-unit building of supportive housing on Mission Street, a 150-unit building for family housing on Capp Street, and a 112-unit building of family housing on 16th Street. The latter is the structure that would shadow the school’s playground, and if the community agrees, it would be reduced to a six stories rather than a nine.
MEDA’s project manager, Laura Daza, said a peak in shadow-casting comes for about 45 days of the year with its zenith in December. There is at least 95 percent of shadow exposure on the playground in the original plan, and 75 percent with the revised proposal.
Attendees broke into six groups and discussed further concerns, and asked both developers questions.
“We should think about the greater good rather than our personal interest,” said a woman who spoke in support of keeping the units.
“This decision should be made by those who are going to be affected the most,” said another woman.
“We will have another meeting at Marshall with parents and staff later this month to hear their concerns,” a MEDA representative said.
Organizers reminded attendees that voting was not necessary today and that they could take more time if they wanted to think a little more. Many, however, cast ballots even before the end of the meeting. It is unclear how the developers will prevent residents casting votes twice.
Currently, the developers are submitting an application to the state’s Tax Credit Allocation Committee for about $30 million worth of tax credits to complete the financing of the first phase of the project — the 136-units of supportive housing. If the funding is approved, construction could start by the first quarter of next year.
Two more meetings are planned: A meeting for parents and staff of Marshall Elementary will take place on May 16, and another meeting for community members on June 5 at the Women’s Building.
After the meeting, planning commissioner Gilbert Williams reflected on the decision before the community.
“I think it’s going to be a tough decision for the community to make around the impacts on the school,” said Williams, who said he is not leaning any one way yet because he still needed to see more information.
“I came in late in the process. I feel like I don’t have enough information yet,” he added.
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