Board approves street restoration change, utility‑undergrounding enforcement and parakeet feeding ban; several appropriations adopted

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 5, 2007, approved a series of ordinances and resolutions, including an amendment to the Public Works Code governing street restoration after excavations, a first‑reading ordinance to strengthen enforcement of the city’s utility undergrounding program, and a ban on feeding red‑masked parakeets in parkland.

Supervisor Tom (as listed in the record) Ellsberg spoke during debate on the street restoration ordinance to express concern that some city utilities and transit agencies were exempted from full-block restoration requirements. "While the trains might run better, the street itself looks absolutely horrendous," Ellsberg said, urging the city to consider requiring full-block restoration for more public utilities. Supervisor (recorded as) Mercurini, the sponsor of the ordinance, acknowledged litigation limits on utility franchises but said the board should explore ways to hold the Municipal Transportation Agency and Public Utilities Commission to a higher standard.

On a separate but related matter, the board heard a lengthy presentation on the utility undergrounding program, which the record describes as originating in a 1996 ordinance that designated 42 miles for undergrounding. The sponsor of that item described an amendment declaring properties that refuse to complete required conduit connections a public nuisance and allowing the Department of Public Works to install conduit and recover costs via the property tax roll when owners refuse to act. The sponsor described roughly 8,000 properties in the program with about 3,000 not yet fully converted and said DPW would work with PG&E and property owners to complete work; the measure…