This Week's Top Stories

housing

Safeway Fight Moves to Fine Print: Opponents Argue the Yacht Harbor Isn't 'Urban Use'

With the big legal arguments largely foreclosed by state housing law, neighbors fighting the 848-unit Marina Safeway towers are now pressing narrow technical claims in federal court.

The months-long battle over Align Real Estate's proposed twin-tower redevelopment of the Marina Safeway has entered a new and more arcane phase. With California's housing-streamlining laws having stripped away most traditional avenues for blocking large residential projects, opponents of the 22-story and 18-story development at 15 Marina Blvd. are now concentrating on statutory fine print — arguing, for instance, that the Marina Yacht Harbor and Fort Mason do not qualify as the 'urban uses' that must border 75 percent of a project's perimeter for it to qualify for expedited approval…

Presidio Heights

Presidio Heights Resident's Viral Video Asks: Are Neighbors Faking Construction to Hoard Street Parking?

A local history buff counted 14 no-parking signs on one side of his block and found the city's temporary street space permit is surprisingly easy — and cheap — to obtain.

Greg Long, a 56-year-old product designer and amateur neighborhood historian who documents Presidio Heights mansions on Instagram, posted a video this week that quickly went viral: standing on his block along Jackson Street, he counted roughly a dozen red-and-white construction tow-away signs and wondered aloud how many were backed by real renovation work.

Pacific Heights

Hamlin School Files Plans for a Four-Story Addition Next to Its 125-Year-Old Pacific Heights Mansion

The all-girls K–8 school on Broadway wants to replace a play area with a new academic building featuring art studios, a maker's space, and multipurpose classrooms.

The Hamlin School filed plans with the San Francisco Planning Department this month for a new four-story academic building at 2120 Broadway, directly beside Stanwood Hall — the 1901 mansion that has anchored the school's Pacific Heights campus since 1923. Hoodline and SF YIMBY reported on the filing on October 17. The proposed structure, designed by Mark Cavagnero Associates — the firm that led the school's 2022 full-campus renovation — would rise 39 feet on a parcel Hamlin purchased in 2006 that currently serves as a play area.

Upcoming Events

Every Sunday through the season

Fort Mason Center Farmers Market

📍 Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, 2 Marina Blvd, Marina District · 9:30 AM–1:30 PM · Verify · Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture

Monday, November 3

District 2 Supervisor General Election

📍 Polling places throughout Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, and Presidio Heights · 7:00 AM–8:00 PM · Verify · Wikipedia / SF Elections

Friday, November 6

Fort Mason Night Market — November

📍 Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, 2 Marina Blvd, Marina District · 5:00 PM–10:00 PM · Verify · West Coast Craft

Saturday–Sunday, November 7–8

San Francisco Coffee Festival 2026 — 10th Annual

📍 Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina Blvd, Marina District · 9:00 AM–4:30 PM · Verify · SF Coffee Festival

Thursday, November 12

Points of Departure Fall 2026 — Program 3: 'Life on the Water: A Reunion'

📍 Bayfront Theatre, Building B, Third Floor, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd · 7:00 PM–8:30 PM · Verify · Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture

More from the Community

Marina Harbor Dredging in Final Days; Weekly Channel Soundings Suspended This Week

West-entrance dredging at the San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor, which began October 17, is running through its expected ten-day window.

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