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History of the BVHP-PAC (click here to download Word document) Table of Contents One Destiny: The Community Vision
Laying the Groundwork for Revitalization
One Destiny: The Community Vision The Community Process - Past & Present The Project Area Committee (PAC) is a publicly elected body representing the interests of Bayview Hunters Point in planning for the future. Since the first meeting in early 1997, the PAC has had two simultaneous concerns: to remember the efforts of community leaders and citizen planning groups who preceded them, and to seek input from the community of today. An old adage says, you can't move forward if you don't know and honor your past. The following is a brief history of the community-based process leading to the creation of this Revitalization Concept Plan, so we do not forget this vital past. All of the reports mentioned are available for review in the PAC office library. The Bayview District Updates the City's Master Plan Beginning in late 1986, members of the Bayview Hunters Point community engaged in an extensive effort with the San Francisco Planning Department to create the South Bayshore Area Plan. This plan currently guides development in Bayview Hunters Point through policies and objectives addressing Land Use, Transportation, Housing, Commerce, Industry, Recreation and Open Space, Urban design, Community Facilities and Services, and Public Safety. Work on the plan involved three major phases: the development of an Issues Report, preparation of a Proposal for Citizen Review, and finally, the preparation of a Proposal for Adoption. The Issues Report was completed in 1987 and included a market study assessing the potential impacts of rezoning in Bayview Hunters Point. The first Proposal for Citizen Review was completed the following year. During these first two phases, citizen input was facilitated through the New Bayview Committee, an umbrella organization and open community forum. Members included representatives from many of Bayview's community organizations, churches and schools. Participation and citizen input was gathered through an inclusive outreach process while the committee's meetings served as an open forum for any community individual, group or constituency to air their concerns or promote ideas. In 1995, the City's Planning Commission approved the South Bayshore Area Plan. In 1999, the community requested the document be renamed as the Bayview Hunters Point Area Plan. After the creation of the City's Area Plan, community leaders requested the development of a detailed Community Revitalization Plan. This is that plan. The Tools of Redevelopment While completing the Bayview Hunters Point Area Plan, community members considered how to translate these policies and objectives into real plans, programs, and projects. Questions were raised about realistic outcomes for implementation and the possibility of engaging the City's development arm: the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA). The Redevelopment Agency has been active in the Bayview Hunters Point community since the late 1960's with four specific redevelopment planning efforts:
While the Mayor's Office of Business and Economic Development, San Francisco Planning Department, and SFRA investigated increased involvement in community revitalization, funding was provided for a Third Street Corridor Study Economic Development and Market Analysis, completed in 1993. The Third Street Corridor was studied to assess existing conditions and needs, identify opportunities for real estate and business development, and describe potential funding mechanisms for an economic development program. The report concluded that despite a trend of declining business activity due to the economic recession gravely affecting the Bay Area and the rest of the country at that time, there were strong pockets of business vitality and growth to build upon. Recommendations focused on the healthiest portions of corridor and suggested strengthening them through providing programs such as building renovation loans, a visual improvement program, improved public services, and improved sanitation services. Finally, the report discussed how "disadvantaged businesses, including those that are minority-owned, women-owned and locally owned," would greatly benefit from public intervention in market forces that have limited their access to traditional business resources. Such interventions included financial and business management assistance. However successful existing redevelopment projects have been in supporting industrial areas and the incorporation of a new philosophy of revitalization that engages the community in guiding SFRA's current work, there is an unfortunate history that the community and SFRA staff have had to confront prior to creating new initiatives. During the 1950's and 1960's, federally funded Urban Renewal programs were created and implemented to address urban decline. These programs were destructive and insensitive to poor minority communities throughout the country, using a bulldozer approach that erased entire neighborhoods and forced the displacement of undeserving people. Many older residents of Bayview Hunters Point were displaced by old Urban Renewal projects in the City of San Francisco, coming to live in the community as a result. Because of this history, the first actions taken in this new initiative were to build new relationships of trust through a respectful public process using principles of community-based planning.
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