As garage construction at Golden Gate Park’s Music Concourse continues and a proposal to widen Martin Luther King Drive waits for court approval, some are wondering if this is another example of San Francisco kowtowing to developers’ interests over the public good.
“To me it’s very disturbing to see that a small group of people with lots of wealth and power can subvert the democratic process so easily, that’s something we should all be very concerned about,” said Catherine Roberts a member of Trees Not Cars, one of three organizations trying to halt construction through court action.
When voters decided in 1998 to pass Proposition J and create the Concourse Authority, many assumed that the garage being constructed was meant to help create a pedestrian oasis in the park. Prop. J was supposed to create a garage with a dedicated entrance that would not enter the park’s boundaries but come from underground, and developer Warren Hellman promised to get private money to finance the project.
Since then the surface roads leading into the park at 9th Avenue in the Inner Sunset and 10th Avenue in the Richmond have been proposed as dedicated entrances to the garage, Hellman has formed a non-profit called the Music Concourse Community Partnership and taken over the Concourse Authority’s oversight role, and the promised private financing has been replaced by funds from San Francisco’s already cash-strapped Recreation and Parks Department.
Besides Roberts’ lawsuit, the Sierra Club and The Alliance for Golden Gate Park have also filed separate lawsuits citing improprieties against the construction and design plans of the Concourse’s parking garage, the most recent design being the widening of MLK Drive so that it can handle a higher flow of traffic.
Roberts’ own lawsuit will be appearing before the San Francisco Superior Court on May 13th, but she worries that Hellman and his network of powerful friends have already squashed any opposition, apparently Senator Diane Feinstein has already sent several representatives to city hall to plead Hellman’s case.
“The battle against the widening of MLK is going on in the courts right now but the community is ignoring that. The city attorneys tell city hall that there’s nothing really for them to do. The best thing for people to do is to coalesce behind the lawsuit because that’s the best chance we have,” said Roberts.
Roberts points out that groups that have traditionally been advocates for the community like the D5 coalition, the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Coalition, and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition have all been lukewarm in there support of her and in their opposition to the proposed widening of MLK Drive.
Beyondchron tried to reach both Hellman and the Recreation and Parks Department for comment but neither responded by press time.
