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COMMUNITY MEETING 2-26-2013
A community meeting was held on February 26th 2013 to discuss the draft Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy (JCHESS). Download materials from the meeting below:
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Plan Overview
The Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy is about developing the vision for this neighborhood, focusing on economic development, preserving and enhancing the historic and cultural uses and buildings, and making physical improvements within the project area (see map below). It represents a collaborative effort between the Planning Department, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and the Japantown community.
To download a copy of the map of the project area, click here.
Project Context
The Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy builds off several previous efforts to enhance Japantown’s economy and social heritage, including:
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California Senate Bill 307, passed in September of 2001, allowed for the creation of a California Japantown Preservation Pilot Project, which provided grants to Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco to promote the preservation of their Japantown neighborhoods.
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A San Francisco Japantown Special Use District was established in 2006 that required commercial uses to be compatible with Japantown’s cultural and historic integrity, neighborhood character, development pattern, and design aesthetic.
Between 2006 and 2009 the San Francisco Planning Department help to guide an extensive series of studies and planning workshops en route to the creation of the Draft Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan (2009).
Components of the Strategy
The Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy will contain in one place a range of tools to support Japantown. These include the following:
- A written document containing the context for the strategy and its recommendations. This document will have the same goals as Japantown’s draft Better Neighborhood Plan:
- Secure the Japantown future as the historical and cultural heart of Japanese and Japanese American Community.
- Secure the Japantown future as a thriving commercial and retail district.
- Secure the Japantown future as a home to residents and community-based institutions.
- Secure the Japantown future as a physically attractive and vibrant environment.
- The identification and documentation of Japantown’s important social heritage resources, including buildings and monuments, businesses, institutions and organizations, events, and traditional arts, crafts, and practices.
- The identification of the economic and regulatory tools that may be applied to support Japantown the various kinds of social heritage resources, and to enhance the community’s economic wellbeing.
- Recommendations for which tools to move forward towards implementation, in coordination with the City's Invest in Neighborhoods program.
- The creation of a new Japantown Neighborhood Commercial District with controls tailored to the needs and desires of the community.
- Guidelines to help new buildings and additions support the community’s architectural heritage.
Resources and Links
Background
Links to Affiliated Projects
Relevant Docs
Contact
Make sure to sign up to be on our project mailing list to get updates on the Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy. Questions, comments, and suggestions on this planning effort should be directed to:
Shelley Caltagirone
San Francisco Planning Department
1650 Mission Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94103
shelley.caltagirone@sfgov.org
(415) 558-6625
