Vol. XLVII, No. 4
April 2023
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THE NOE VALLEY VOICE Noe Garden Tour Reaches New Heights May 6 Fundraiser Features Several Homes on Liberty Hill By Suzanne Herel
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Like in a Fairy Tale: Nine gardens, including this picturesque landscape at a home once used for entertaining by San Francisco Mayor “Sunny Jim” Rolph Jr., will be shared Msy 6 in this year’s Friends of Noe Valley Garden Tour. Photo by Art Bodner
he charm of many Noe Valley homes isn’t visible from the street—it’s hidden behind them in enchanting landscapes. Saturday, May 6, is your chance to peek into your neighbors’ back yards, as Friends of Noe Valley hosts its annual Noe Valley Garden Tour, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tour highlights nine gardens, some in areas of the neighborhood not featured previously, including the home atop Liberty Hill once owned by San Francisco’s longest sitting mayor, James “Sunny Jim” Rolph Jr. Peggy Cling, secretary-treasurer of Friends of Noe Valley and a member of the committee that organizes the tour, said she was thrilled they were able to get the Rolph home this year. Having CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Quake Shack Preservation Project Inching Forward City to Review Plans for 369 Valley St. By Matthew S. Bajko
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he latest plan for a historic earthquake shack structure in Noe Valley is snaking its way through the city’s review process. While planners are now supportive of the proposal, residents and preservationists continue to raise objections about how the noteworthy building will be incorporated into the design for a new single-family home. Property owner John Schrader of Nova Designs + Builds has spent nearly a decade seeking permission to build a new house at 369 Valley St., between Sanchez and Noe streets. The lot currently contains a building composed of two shacks built to house refugees from the 1906 earthquake. Schrader had hired historical resource consultant Tim Kelley, who at one time served on the city’s landmarks advisory board, to evaluate the building for its historical significance. Kelley had concluded the structure shouldn’t be considered a historic resource because it had been moved from its original location in a refugee camp and because modifications made to it over the years diminished its historical significance. Thus, Schrader had initially sought to demolish and replace it with a new three-story, single-family home. Those
plans prompted objections, however, from nearby residents and community groups, as the Voice first reported in its May 2015 issue. That spring, the San Francisco Planning Department concluded that the former shacks were of historical value and eligible for listing on a statewide register of historic properties in California, though the double-shack building is not currently on the registry. Just a handful of the 5,610 earthquake shacks remain standing, with only two found in Noe Valley, according to city planners. Gabled and L-Shaped Since 1907 The front shack at 369 Valley has a prominent gable, a key feature of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
Let’s Not Roll: Companies Put the Brakes on Self-Driving Cars By Elliot C. Phool
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s residents of Noe Valley, you may have noticed dozens of cars cruising around our neighborhood without drivers in the past few years. These are fully autonomous vehicles, robots if you will. And so far they’ve compiled a good safety record. But if they seem to be loitering at intersections or driving around aimlessly, it’s because they were hit hard in the latest round of tech layoffs. “The cost of operating the driverless cars was too much, and unfortunately we had to let them go,” explains Otto
Standing Proud: The cottage at the back of the property at 369 Valley St. is made up of two shacks that housed refugees after the 1906 earthquake. The current owner plans to build a home that would move the cottage closer to the street. 2015 photo by Art Bodner
Motiff, a spokesman for Funston Street car maker WayNo. “But all cars were given strong severance packages: a full tank of gas and a new pine tree air freshener.” Once hoping to replace human drivers, companies such as WayNo, NoVa, and GoWay built cars equipped with enough sensors and artificial intelligence to comfortably drive themselves. However, with the tech economy skidding, manufacturers were forced to cut costs. Motiff said shareholders had urged WayNo to hire cheaper human employees, who often excel in the pick-’emup, drop-’em-off service model. Meanwhile, vehicle rights activist Ethel Unledded has demanded the selfdrivers be reinstalled in their jobs. “These poor cars aren’t trained to do anything else,” she said. “They will need serious counseling to land back on their wheels.” Some cars have been able to find work, though. One was signed on by the Postal Service but is having trouble reading addresses. Another tried crosscountry trucking but couldn’t haul enough freight. In desperation, many have resorted to illegal gigs, such as being a getaway car. Whole Foods manager Tom Joad told the Voice that a car came in recently to interview for an automated checkout stand position. Joad said, “I felt bad, but it just didn’t have the people skills we were looking for.” TOWED TO PAGE 5