I called and I said I was disappointed about the Planning Commission's decision.
I said that Zeitgeist complained about shadows on their beer garden. I said you have no right to have sun on your backyard and it was ridiculous that this was a consideration.
The woman on the phone started talking about the harmful effects of shadows on open spaces and on public parks. I said this is not a public space, it's someone's backyard.
I tried to go into an analogy about how, if you build a window right up against your neighbor's property, and your neighbor decides to build and block your view, you have no recourse with the city or the law. You can't block them from building on their land just because your view will go away. At first she disagreed with me on this point. Then she started talking about height limits and how you can't build above the zoning code; I probably wasn't very clear in my explanation. Nevertheless I pointed out that the Zeitgeist project conforms to the zoning code and isn't above its height limits.
I then said that when projects like this go before the Planning Commission they introduce uncertainty which increases the price and cost of building in San Francisco. This makes it tougher to build affordable housing. I reiterated it would be a shame to lose the 4 affordable units next door to Zeitgeist.
She said "I don't necessarily disagree with you, I'm just playing devil's advocate" and talked about how Zeitgeist employees might lose jobs. I didn't want to get into a fight about that, though I think she's overstating the impact vs. the benefit of having more people here.
I reiterated that I'm looking for an apartment and it's really difficult due to high prices, and we both love living here and wouldn't it be great if we could let other people live here too and experience the same joy that we do at being able to live in this great city. And again that the Planning Commission should strive to reduce uncertainty in the building process - pass whatever crazy zoning rules you want, but, if a project abides by them you have to pass it, immediately, without complaining. And that was that.