Committee forwards plan to renew and slightly expand Yerba Buena Community Benefit District

The Government and Oversight Committee on Thursday voted to forward to the full Board a resolution of intention to renew and slightly expand the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District (YBCBD).

Krzyszia (OEWD project manager) told the committee the district’s board presented petitions "representing 37.9 weighted percent in support of renewing and expanding the district" and that the proposed annual budget for the expanded district is $3,100,000. She said services would continue for existing parcel owners until December and, if the property-owner vote threshold is met, assessments would begin July 1, 2015 and services would begin in January 2016.

Kathy Maupin, identified in the record as executive director of the YBCBD, outlined seven years of neighborhood services that the district provides, including a clean team, community guides and an SFPD bike-patrol officer. Maupin said the district has removed more than 15,000 graffiti tags, logged more than 61,000 extra steam-cleaning and sweeping requests, and addressed more than 8,500 instances of aggressive panhandling during its current term. "We far exceeded the 30% weighted support requirement for the petition phase, coming in very close to 38%," she said.

Maupin and OEWD staff described minor boundary adjustments — absorbing a small parcel at Fifth and Folsom, adding Perry Street south of Harrison, and removing several parcels at Fifth and Mission at the request of the property owners — and said the number of parcels would rise from 2,104 to 2,123. They said administrative costs are projected to fall from roughly 15% of the budget to about 13%, while more than 73% of the budget would go to cleaning and streetscape improvements.

Speakers from neighborhood institutions and businesses spoke in support at public comment. Deborah, identified as CEO of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, said the district’s work "directly feeds the cultural life of our neighborhood" and helps manage rising visitorship as SFMOMA and Moscone Center expand. Longtime storefront owner Ray Bob described the district’s ambassadors and clean team as essential to small businesses. Board members and residents also cited the district’s Community Benefit Fund, which Maupin said has granted $840,000 through 98 grants.

After questions about zone maps and outreach, the committee moved the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation. If the district’s property-owner ballot achieves the required threshold, the Board may establish the renewed and expanded district following the scheduled ballot hearing on July 28.