Opened in late summer of 2014 as part of a package of urban redesigns in the McCoppin, Valencia, Market and Duboce intersections of Western SoMa, the McCoppin Hub Plaza has been an encampment for the homeless and scene of many troubles, day and night.
The nearby residents have documented numerous problems at the plaza located at where McCoppin dead-ends at Valencia Streets, and keep pressuring City officials to deal with the dangerous elements of the area. From defecating and urinating, drinking and drugging and loud music and arguments, barking dogs, blocking the bike lanes with sharp debris or passed out people, to a recent stabbing, complaints have mounted to the point that the Department of Public Works has taken action.
Here's there statement: "San Francisco Public Works has temporarily fenced McCoppin Hub Plaza in order to perform needed short-term construction upgrades, primarily to repair vandalism-damaged concrete and irrigation and electrical systems. During the closure, other maintenance issues also will be addressed and McCoppin Hub will get a deep cleaning. The work is expected to last no more than three weeks. Thank you for your understanding and patience."
These are excerpts from the note Supervisor Jane Kim sent to a constituent this morning. FYI, the hub area falls into both District 6 and District 8:
"I
was not invited to today's meeting with Supervisor Wiener but I am glad
that our residents are meeting with him as well. I have been hosting
meetings with many of our neighborhood associations and
residents in West SOMA over the last year and have been working with
the McCoppin Valencia Neighborhood Watch. In fact, I lived in the neighborhood when I came into office-- I
only moved mid-way through my term because my
landlord sold the unit my roommate and I lived in.
"The
Southern Station Police Captain and I have been actively engaged with this
neighborhood and I believe we had
been making great strides up until the Skateboard Park and McCoppin Hub
opened.
"I do support hours and rules for the Hub and a gate to close this park at night.I appreciate
your feedback and agree that the City has a lot of work to do after we
create new parks to ensure they are successful and safe."
Check out my video shot this afternoon of the now-closed park:
It has been very nice to have this encampment closed for the last couple of weeks. My daughters and I bicycle through it every day to get to Octavia. It is gross, and dangerous. In the last few days people have begun congregating around the fringes of the fence, so it has gotten defiled again.
ReplyDeleteThis place has not worked out. It was better as a dead-end street, and we should go back to that. Whatever they are doing now is good money after bad. It should be torn down.