SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco is a city of controversies and there is a new one brewing. This time over the estimated cost of a public restroom that will make your nose scrunch.

There is also a competition of sorts in America to earn the right to be in the hall of fame for public bathrooms. Bryant Park and Greeley Square Park, both in New York City, and Bancroft Park in Colorado, all of them shown here in full glory.

MORE: San Francisco ‘fixer upper’ home with no bedrooms sells for nearly $2M

San Francisco public toilets have never reached that claim to fame.

“We have not had any winners from San Francisco,” revealed Julia Messinger of Cintas Corporation, the large restroom supply company actually honors the best, brightest and most innovative public bathrooms.

“It’s not something that people talk about often, but I think everyone values ​​a clean and functioning bathroom,” she added.

Maybe San Francisco is not ready to give up yet. Why not? The plumbing already exists. The city has secured state funding to build a small, 150-square-foot public bathroom right in the heart of the Noe Valley neighborhood at a cost of $1.7 million.

VIDEO: Exclusive tour inside luxury senior living complex coming to SF where studios cost $7,700 a month

“Put it to better use. It’s ridiculous. $1.7 million for a stupid bathroom,” expressed Augusto Illidge, a San Francisco resident.

That’s the estimate given by the Department of Recreation and Parks because of all the permits, planning, union labor, etc. that would be involved.

City officials hope it won’t cost that much.

“They have an idea of ​​what it will be but I don’t think they have the formal final plans but now they will be in a position to be able to put that together,” said State Senator Scott Wiener.

MORE: SF considers taxing vacant apartments to help with housing crisis

Still, people here wanted to have a commode in place. By the way, commode comes from the French meaning suitable or convenient.

“You know it would be nice to have some facilities like that,” said George Matiasz, a resident of Noe Valley.

“Having public access rather than having to go into a restaurant and say can I use the bathroom, I think that’s what a neighborhood should have,” added Kay Taneyhill, also a resident of Noe Valley.

New York, for example, is considering legislation that would force the city to build public restrooms in every ZIP code.

“We don’t have nearly enough public restrooms in San Francisco,” said Wiener.

Like most things in San Francisco, big dreams start in small places at a high cost.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

Copyright © 2022 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

The post San Francisco is in want of public restrooms, however is $1.7 million an excessive amount of for a 150-square-foot facility in Noe Valley? appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Bay Area // san francisco

May 26, 2022Updated: May 26, 2022 8:46 am

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

1of2

PG&E crews work to restore power to around 750 customers in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood after what appeared to be a blown transformer scorched a utility pole.

Andy Reinhardt / The Chronicleshow moreshow less

2of2

A PG&E worker addressing the burned top of a utility pole in San Francisco, Calif. An apparently blown transformer scorched the pole.

Andy Reinhardt / The Chronicleshow moreshow less

About 750 residents near San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood were without power Thursday morning following an outage that impacted more than 3,000 customers on Wednesday night, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said.

The outage was first reported at about 11 pm Wednesday and affected 3,272 customers, said PG&E spokesperson Karly Hernandez.

PG&E crews were working Thursday morning to restore power to the remaining 751 customers, and expect full restoration by 2 pm, said Hernandez.

The cause of the outage was under investigation.

Residents reported hearing a loud “bang” around 11 pm Wednesday when a transformer may have blown. PG&E crews were working to replace a burned utility pole Wednesday morning.

Jessica Flores (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores

Jessica Flores is a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining The Chronicle in 2021, she worked for USA Today, NPR affiliate KPCC and Curbed LA. Originally from LA, she received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles.

The post A whole lot in San Francisco’s Noe Valley with out energy appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Parking in San Francisco is a difficult part of life here. You find a spot… but get a ticket anyway.

For Judy and Ed Craine it seems especially unfair.

“We always use the carport,” said Judy.

SEE ALSO | FTC sues Walmart for allowing scammers to use money transfer services, take millions from consumers

“Parked in that driveway every day and every night,” confirmed Ed.

They live on a steep hill where parking can be a gravity-defying challenge.

But they could slip into their driveway and park on their carpad, which they’d been doing every day for the past 36 years.

But not anymore.

“We got this email saying we can’t park in the pad anymore. I said what, that’s crazy,” recounted Ed.

RELATED: Plainfield family almost loses $11K to thieves using ‘grandchild scam’

Out of the blue, the couple got a ticket for parking in their own driveway.

“It was very surprising, to say the least,” said Judy.

And worse? It came with an enormous fine: $1,542 dollars, plus another $250 per day if they didn’t get the car off their carpad.

“I wrote them back saying I thought this was a mistake,” Judy said.

But it was no mistake. And no ordinary parking ticket. It came from the city planning department, telling them it’s illegal to park in the front of a house.

SEE ALSO | Stranger who moved into Chicago home and refuses to leave says she was scammed

“And if we were found parking there again, it would be a $1,500 fine,” Judy said.

And so they quickly pulled the car out — but none of it made sense.

“Why are you taking away something that has great utility?” asked Ed.

Ed and Judy had been parking there for nearly four decades. And as far as they could tell, the space was used for parking since the house was built back in 1910 – one of the first in their Noe Valley neighborhood.

“To all of a sudden to be told you can’t use something that we could use for years. It’s, it’s startling. Inexplicable,” Ed said.

RELATED: What are NFTs: How to avoid NFT scams before you invest

And so the Planning Department gave them a challenge: prove that parking was a historic use on the lot, and they might get a waiver.

“We could be grandfathered in. If we show them a historical photo that showed a car… or a horse-drawn buggy in the carport,” said Judy.

Right away they dug up a photo of their daughter 34 years ago – a part of the car barely visible.

But officials said: not old enough.

“I did a number of online searches,” said Ed.

And so they combed through hundreds of historic photos.

Plenty showed the early days, when there were few streets or homes.

SEE ALSO | Ex-CPS principal admits defrauding district of hundreds of thousands of dollars

“Our house and our neighbor’s house had empty fields all around,” Ed said.

But to find a photo of a car or horse in their particular driveway, back before the days of iPhone cameras?

Nearly impossible.

And then, bingo.

“To me, it’s pretty compelling that was a car,” Ed said.

An aerial photo from 1938 shows their exact home – and Ed is sure he can see a car – or horse-and-buggy — pulling into his driveway!

“So this little black blob looks like it’s pulling into our house,” Ed said.

It looks like just a blob from above. But Ed says it must be a car — like all the other blobs you can see along the road.

“I don’t know what else they would be,” he said. “To me, it’s pretty compelling that that was a car pulling in or out of the parking pad.”

They rushed the photo to the Planning Department – the proof they need!

RELATED: Sextortion scams: FBI warns of schemes targeting teenage boys in effort to extort money

Right?

wrong

“They said they were too fuzzy,” Judy said.

The Planning Department said this was not clear evidence.

Officials tell 7 On Your Side the couple was violating a code section banning vehicles in a setback in front of a house, even if it isn’t blocking a sidewalk.

Though it’s OK to park in front of a garage, like many of their neighbors.

Planning Chief Dan Sider said it was enacted decades ago for aesthetic reasons, to “Ensure that front yards don’t turn into parking lots.”

Yet, it’s OK to park in front of a garage, like their neighbors,

“I don’t think our car looks any worse than all the cars stacked in front of garages,” Ed Craine said.

And why enforce the rule after all these decades?

Sider said someone made an anonymous complaint to the city. Two neighbors also got tagged for the same violation, parking in a front driveway.

In an email, Sider wrote:

“I recognize that the property owner is frustrated. I think I would feel the same way in their situation. But the Planning Code doesn’t allow for the City to grandfather illegal uses on account of their having flown below the radar for a length of times.”

And so their carport sits empty — the oil stain a testament to easier days — as they struggle to park on the hill.

“I had to use my head to keep the trunk open while getting out groceries,” Judy said.

“The onus is on us to prove we’re innocent… though I don’t feel guilty,” Judy said.

The city did close the case without charging any penalties after the couple got the car off the carpad and kept it off. And the city says they could build a covered carport or garage to park there – or maybe find that old photo.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

Have a question for Michael and the 7 On Your Side team? Fill out the form HERE!
7OYS’s consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 3-5 business days for a response.

Copyright © 2022 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

The post San Francisco, California couple in Noe Valley all of a sudden will get $1.5K high quality for parking of their driveway as they’ve for 4 a long time appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

But this home in the Noe Valley neighborhood is anything but typical.

The real estate website The Real Deal reports the home sold for $1.97M.

RELATED: Burned down Walnut Creek home hits real estate market for $850K

It comes with zero bedrooms, and two baths.

However, you do get a backyard, if you want to call it that.

RELATED: Victorian house in Oakland hits market for free, but there’s a catch

The Zillow listing describes the fixer-upper as a “contractor’s special” and the “worst house on the best block”.

Report a correction or typo

Copyright © 2022 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

The post San Francisco ‘fixer higher’ house in Noe Valley with no bedrooms sells for almost $2M appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – The San Francisco Fire Department had a three-alarm alarm on the 4200 block of 23rd Street in the Noe Valley neighborhood that damaged four homes early Wednesday morning and left a firefighter with minor injuries.

The San Francisco Fire Department Twitter account about the fire was posted at around 2:12 a.m. On the Citizen app page for the incident, the fire was reported in the garage of a house just before 2 a.m.

CONTINUE READING: Newsom: Residents over the age of 16 can be vaccinated until the end of April

UPDATE 3 – Three alarm garage fire (Noe Valley, San Francisco) Live on @CitizenAppSFO https://t.co/u1yWm6bYPa

– SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) November 4, 2020

Fire officials said there was a live wire involved in the crime scene. At 2:19 a.m., a third alarm went off and the fire had spread to the roof and two other family homes.

CONTINUE READING: East Bay High Schools are reopening football and cheerleading

Firefighters said an initial search of the structure revealed no one was trapped in the home. So far there have been no reports of injuries.

At around 2:45 a.m., on-site firefighters reported that the fire was contained and had stopped spreading.

After initially saying the fire damaged three houses, the fire department later announced that four houses were damaged and six adults were displaced by the fire. The update also found that a firefighter suffered a minor injury and was reportedly treated for exhaustion.

3 ALARM FIRE 4200 BLOCK OF 23RD Street 4 DAMAGE DAMAGED 6 ADULTS ADULTS 1 FIRE BRIGADE INJURY AND OKAY – FIRE IS INVESTIGATED https://t.co/jdUfmzrVUo

– SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) November 4, 2020

MORE NEWS: Asian-American Attacks: Elderly Daly City woman robbed on camera in an attack

The post San Francisco Crews Comprise 3-Alarm Hearth In Noe Valley; Four Properties Broken – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.