Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) members gathered for their April meeting to approve projects, thank departing members and officially seat new members elected earlier this month. It was a picture of new relationships forged and old wounds salved, with least one new proposed project stirring familiar arguments in the way of development.
The board thanked outgoing members for their service. District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer thanked Mignon Scherer in the tradition of past boards. Scherer received the thanks to an applauding audience, while other former members were not present to be thanked for their service.
“I want to tell you how much I appreciate “¦ the time you put in, the sacrifice,” Faulconer said. “It means a lot.”
The new board passed the first motion to seat new chair Charles Mellor unanimously.
The board officially acknowledged the resignation of Kathryn Rhodes.
Rhodes’ resignation brings the board membership to 13 and sets up a vacancy likely to be filled by a vote of the board. The board has 120 days as of Thursday’s meeting to do so, according to the PCPB bylaws.
By secret ballot, the board voted to seat Helen Kinaird as first vice chair and elected Dee Wylie as second vice chair. Darrold Davis was elected secretary and Cidney Shinn retained her position as treasurer, reporting about $433.91 in the PCPB’s coffers, partly a result of bake sales during the election.
As the board continued business, it unanimously recommended approval of a project that would knock down an old house at 766 Rosecrans St. to build a newer, bigger residence.
Not everyone agreed with the move.
“[The project] is a questionable precedent setting in bulk and scale,” past board chair Cynthia Conger said.
Though some may agree with Conger in principle, the project appears to comply with city code. Project architect Rebecca Michael said the project also addresses and accommodated neighbors’ concerns that the project would block surrounding views.
The project was approved by a 5-2 during the PCPB’s Project Review Committee earlier because committee members “could not find any objection that had teeth,” said committee chair Jay Shumaker.
In other business, the board approved the construction of a retaining wall along the 3300 block of Talbot Street designed to look like a plant-peppered slab of mountain.
Construction of the federally funded retaining wall is expected to last about three to six months and is slated to begin in December 2009, according to project managers. The city would cover maintenance after construction.
Traffic would likely slow from Martinez Street to Harbor View Drive during construction.
Board member Mark Hoppe said he hopes the city won’t be stuck with a bad investment.
“I’m afraid it’s going to look horrible over the next ten years,” he said.
During the meeting the board also addressed former board chair Geoff Page’s attempt to publicly reprimand sitting board member Suhail Khalil over a city document.
Kahlil demanded no less than a formal written apology from the board.