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Historic preservation nomination for 770 Wolsey Street fails to advance after heated debate
Summary
The Historic Preservation Commission declined to add the community-sponsored landmark nomination for 770 Wolsey Street (University Mound Nursery) to its landmark designation work program after extensive public testimony for and against the proposal. Commissioners split over preservation goals and housing impacts; no alternate motion was made and the application failed to advance.
Commissioners on the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission on July 17, 2019 effectively declined to advance a community-sponsored nomination to add 770 Wolsey Street (the University Mound Nursery) to the commission’s landmark designation work program.
Staff planner Michelle Taylor described the 2.2-acre site in the Portola/Excelsior as the last remaining commercial cut-flower nursery in the city and said the department had received roughly 96 letters of support and several letters of opposition. The nomination’s author, Stacy Farr, and other supporters argued the site is significant for its association with the city’s early 20th-century flower-growing industry and the role of Italian and Italian-American families who operated nurseries in the Portola district. Friends of 770 Woolsey representatives presented a feasibility study they said showed options for an active community farm and other public uses.
Speakers for the property’s owners and…
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