Here are two quick update stories of interest to the safe and livable streets community.
Court rejects wasteful lawsuit to overturn Prop K
Advocates have a town hall scheduled Wednesday/tomorrow, Jan. 7 with District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong to discuss the future of Sunset Dunes (details). In the meantime, some good news came down on Monday concerning the future of the park. From Friends of Sunset Dunes:
A San Francisco Superior Court judge has issued a ruling in the lawsuit filed by Sunset Dunes opponents to overturn Proposition K denying its four legal claims. This lawsuit, Boschetto vs. the City and County of San Francisco, sought to undo this voter-approved measure that established Sunset Dunes, a popular coastal park, by permanently closing the Upper Great Highway to private vehicles.
Advocates reiterated that in 2024 Proposition K won with 55 percent of the vote. They point out that this ruling affirms Proposition K’s legal foundation and the city’s authority to move forward in creating a permanent coastal park to serve future generations of San Franciscans.
“While our volunteers are giving their time to bring a coastal park to life, the anti-park zealots continue to waste more public resources in their attempt to overturn the will of the people and close Sunset Dunes,” said Lucas Lux, President of Friends of Sunset Dunes. “Now that they've lost two lawsuits and two elections, we invite them to accept the will of San Franciscans and work with us to make the most of our collective coastal park.”
Call to action: help preserve San Francisco's tree canopy
Tree-lined streets clean the air, beautify, and make cities more inviting. They even help slow traffic by tightening the apparent width of streets. That's why advocates are taking exception to the proposal from Mayor Lurie and Supervisor Wong to allow developers to buy their way out of replacing trees that are eliminated during construction projects.
From advocate Joshua Klipp:
It's one thing to streamline permits. It's another thing to harm the minimal green infrastructure SF has. Mayor Lurie wants to allow developers to choose between planting trees, or paying an inadequate fee to the City to do it instead. This means not only do we lose trees, but developers can permanently design over spaces that might have accommodated trees in the future.
This doesn't just apply to developers, as Klipp points out:
This isn't about housing or development. This would include, for example, when SFMTA sought to remove every tree on Van Ness (~200) for the new bus lane. Or when SFPW sought to remove every tree on 24th Street (~77) between Mission and Potrero. Or when Better Market Streets sought to remove every tree on Market Street for its new sidewalks (~700). If the public didn't have the right to appeal, these trees would be gone.
Be sure to sign the petition.
