Encroachment on Open Space-Adverse Visual Impact-Increasing Shadows
New Hospital from Golden Gate Park
The new hospital encroaches on the Mt. Sutro Open Space Reserve across Medical Center Way. In addition to physically intruding on the reserve, the proposed gigantic structure completely obstruct the public view of the western portion of City, a view which now extends all the way to the Pacific Ocean. On its website, UCSF describes the Parnassus area as an oasis in the city but the new hospital will transform the initial access to a popular hiking trail from an entry point to the natural world to an experience reminiscent to the view of the happily long ago demolished Embarcadero Freeway. Two viewpoints, shown in UCSF’s EIR, from the Kezar Triangle and Lincoln Way/Arguello Ave are both on the route of the designated scenic route of the 49 Mile Scenic Drive. As seen in the simulation included in the EIR, the proposed New Hospital is so tall that it not only blocks the mountaintop view of Twin Peaks, but also blocks entire structure of the iconic Sutro Tower. This plan therefore substantially and specifically damages scenic resources from a scenic route.UCSF refers to the proposed new campus as a “Park-to-Peak” design, but the proposed New Hospital blocks both the view of the park from hikers enjoying the public trails on the peak and the view of the peak from people enjoying the grassy Kezar triangle in the park. The only beneficiary of this supposed Park-to-Peak plan will be UCSF.
The impact of the New Hospital is completely out of scale and in direct conflict with applicable zoning regulations - in height, square footage, and positioning on Parnassus Ave at the edge of the campus directly at street level. Not only that, it goes against many of the design principles UCSF set for themselves in the 2014 LRDP.
Certain areas along Parnassus Ave and Irving St. will be subject to “frequent shadows” throughout the year as a result of the new hospital. These are public sidewalk and streets that are frequented by pedestrians and passersby. These areas currently receive shadows from existing structures but, it can be expected that the increased height of the proposed new hospital and Milberry Terrace and Irving St Gateway projects will further increase the time and frequency of the shadows along Irving St and Parnassus Ave.
UCSF's Environmental Impact Report shows significant shadows on Golden Gate Park, including the Koret Playground, Kezar Stadium and the baseball diamonds. The EIR shows shadows going at least as far as Independence High School on 7th Avenue in the Inner Sunset. It also shows shadows as far as Gamble Park to the East. The EIR only covers public open space in its analysis, ignoring all the other parts of the surrounding neighborhoods which will experience even more significant and more persistent shadows. This means that much of Cole Valley from the hospital all the way to at least to Gamble Park will have significant lasting periods of shade. Likewise in the Inner Sunset at least to 7th Avenue, as well as the area between the hospital and Golden Gate Park.
The Embarcardero Freeway stood blocking views of San Francisco Bay for decades and it took an earthquake to remove it. The harm done to San Franciscan’s sense of place by the New Hospital will be no less than the that done by the freeway. The Regents should not allow themselves to be forever associated with a project, like the Embarcardero Freeway, where the blinkered pursuit of a seemingly commendable objective resulted in profound and unpopular changes to the entire City of San Francisco. See The Embarcardero Freeway, the blight by the Bay.