No On Prop H

Why Prop H is Bad for Hayes Valley and the City

By Jason Henderson

Everybody knows that parking is a problem in San Francisco. But Prop H, or the “Parking for Neighborhoods” Initiative, is a misguided ballot initiative that does not solve parking and in fact creates more problems - especially for our neighborhood. That is why the membership of HVNA opposes Prop H.

Prop H is a one-size fits all solution that takes away local control from neighborhoods. It will mandate the same parking requirements across the city, even though we all know that the Outer Sunset has very different needs than neighborhoods like Hayes Valley. For years residents throughout the city have worked tirelessly to improve their neighborhoods through a well-vetted community planning process. In Hayes Valley we have worked tirelessly on the Market and Octavia Plan. Prop H will nullify the Market and Octavia Plan and take away the choices other neighborhoods have in determining their future.

Prop H is a corporate-driven initiative that has had no community input. The proponents of this initiative each spent $60,000 of their own money to pay signature gatherers to get this on the ballot. It is not citizen-driven and it taints the democratic process. No one asked for it except a handful of downtown developers.

Prop H will bring more traffic to Hayes Valley. The main thing it will do is dramatically increase parking for downtown offices. This will add more cars to our already-over burdened street and highway system and choke transit.

You think Oak and Fell are bad now, add more cars. Prop H will lead to more air pollution and more carbon emissions, countering San Francisco’s efforts to curtail both.

Lastly, Prop H is bad for families and all San Franciscans. It will raise the cost of all housing in San Francisco. A parking space can add more than 20 percent to the cost of housing and this will stand as a barrier to supplying affordable housing for working families. The initiative will also banish the diversity in housing types that makes neighborhoods like Hayes Valley special. Prop H will also allow the removal of bus stops and street trees without community input or proper planning. So all the tree plantings we have recently accomplished could be undermined. If this measure was in place 100 years ago, The Hayes Valley we know and love would not have been built. Instead, Hayes Valley would look like Daly City.

There are better ways to manage parking and traffic, and cities all around the world are making progress. In Hayes Valley, we have worked diligently on the Market and Octavia Plan and the passage and implementation of that plan will go further to address our community’s needs than Prop H. There is another measure on the ballot, Prop A, which will institute MUNI reform and also ensure the survival of neighborhood-specific parking controls. Please join the Board of Directors and membership of HVNA in opposing Prop H and supporting Prop A this November. It really matters.