North Beach library faces obstacles
June 8, 2009
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| Planning stages: The proposal for a new North Beach Library. (Courtesy) |
SAN FRANCISCO — The design for a wedge-shaped library and a plan that could close off a street at a busy North Beach corner has won praise from architects, librarians and many neighbors, but condemnation from others who say building on the site may be illegal.
The library would sit on what’s now a parking lot in the triangle formed by Lombard Street, Mason Street and Columbus Avenue. The lot created a land-use battle earlier this decade after a developer proposed building condominiums there. Community groups successfully lobbied The City to seize the land by eminent domain to preserve it for open space.
Last year, controversy flared up again when The City proposed building a library at the site to replace the aging branch across Mason Street. Under the new plan, a section of Mason Street would be closed to make way for a plaza, garden and playground.
The two-story library would be 60 percent larger than the existing branch.
At a Library Commission meeting Thursday, peer reviewers architect Craig Hartman and Contra Costa County Librarian Anne Cain, along with about 20 residents and library commissioners, commended the design.
Parent Liz Diaz, who lives down the street from the site, said she and her 11-year-old can hardly wait for a new library and park, and are not bothered by the road closure.
“I don’t drive down Mason anymore. I drive around our future library, and we look down that street and say, ‘Yes! That’s going to be trees and open space!’” Diaz said.
But opponents of the plan argued that diverting traffic around Mason Street would cause a logjam in the already well-trafficked neighborhood, and that the building could block views of San Francisco landmarks.
The project could be legally problematic as well, said Howard Wong of the Coalition for a Better North Beach Library and Playground. The site was seized for conversion to open space and only voters have the authority to change that mandate, he said.
Neighborhood association the Telegraph Hill Dwellers has also expressed concern about the project, but has yet to take a position on it, said organization board member Gail Switzer.
Members of that group and others will have the chance to make their voices heard in the coming months, as the proposal undergoes an environmental review before returning to the board for final approval.
Library groundbreaking is estimated in spring 2010 and completion in late 2011.
kworth@sfexaminer.com
