Street Artists Block F-Market Stop

By Ellen Huet Thu., Sep. 29 2011 at 4:21 PM

Stop right there

It's less of a NIMBY case and more of a Not-In-My-Selling-Spot case. Street artists who've spent years selling art, caricatures, and photos to tourists near the Fort Mason waterfront are fighting the city's proposal to extend the F-Market and Wharves line to Fort Mason, arguing that it will hurt their business.

The artists claim that one of the proposed route stops would eat up 40 percent of the space where they currently do business. Seeing the economic concern, a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency citizen subcommittee voted on Wednesday to support the artists' request to protect some 30 city-licensed selling spots on Beach Street between Larkin and Hyde streets.

Although the artists were able to convince the subcommittee to move the bus stop away from their businesses, the artists will now have to persuade the MTA Citizen Advisory Committee, the MTA, and National Park officials.

Artist James Millard gathered about 180 signatures, calling on the SFMTA to move the stop farther down the block, between Larkin and Polk streets. At the meeting Wednesday, Millard said that it's not just about art -- it's also about traffic. He argued that the new stop will further clog an already-congested corridor.

The resolution is set for review from the full CAC at a meeting on Oct. 6, after which the relocation could be recommended to the MTA.

"It's hard to say what will happen, especially since this is a council I've never dealt with before," Millard says. "But it was important that we won in this subcommittee. We're gonna have those people talking on our side at the full CAC, which will be an asset."

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Tags:

F-line, NIMBY, SFMTA, street atrists

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njudah

The disinformation fed by the Chronicle created this, and MSR is correct in calling folks out on this nonsense. The sheer amount of lying by the "paper of record" (which is dying btw) is epic, and it's an example of the ham handed coverage that no one questions because it's on a piece of dead tree. More lies, likely fed by "temp Mayor" Ed "Give away the city to billionaires" Lee.

Market St. Railway

Hi, we're Market Street Railway, the non-profit that acts as an advocate for the F-line. Mr. Millard and the artists may not understand that these stop locations have not yet been finalized. The stop can certainly be moved a block to Larkin, if what the artists really want is to have all the prospective customers on the streetcars ride right past them and be deposited directly at the doorstep of Ghirardelli Square, instead of having to walk past all their stalls. If that's what they want, fine, we'll join them in supporting it.

But maybe they'd like to consider the possibility of shifting their stalls across the sidewalk about 10 feet to the north edge, bordering Victorian Park. That would drop all the streetcar traffic off right in front of them without reducing the number of spaces.