History of Displacement and Development on Yerba Buena Island

In the wake of the imminent eviction of over 100 people on Yerba Buena Island, the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project is releasing a timeline detailing the history of dispossession and development on the island: https://antievictionmap.squarespace.com/yerba-buena-development. The map outlines numerous projects that have displaced people on the former Goat Island, from the the colonial project that displaced indigenous inhabitants, to the US Navy project that toxified the region and created Treasure Island, to the current luxury development project proposed by the City of San Francisco, which would wipe out 40 homes and replace them with 285 units of luxury condos.

In 37 days in September of 2015, over 100 residents comprising 40 households on San Francisco's Yerba Buena Island will be forcibly evicted from their homes. On July 23rd, residents facing eviction gathered with Eviction Free San Francisco and multiple community groups on the steps of City Hall to hold a press conference and protest their imminent eviction. Numerous tenants gave speeches, and others wore hazmat suits calling attention to the relocation proposed by the city, which would place them all on Treasure Island, which is known to be toxic.

As they wrote in their demand letter, which was delivered to each Supervisor and the Mayor:

"As representatives of the 40 households about to be evicted on Yerba Buena Island, we are appealing to you today to mitigate the severity of our imminent displacement in September 2015. We represent over 100 people, from children to seniors, all of whom are demanding the right to return to our homes and community after the scheduled development on Yerba Buena Island subsumes. With support from Eviction Free San Francisco, the Plaza 16 Coalition, Somcan, Senior and Disability Action, the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, and other community groups, we held a press conference outside of City
Hall at 11:30 today to demand the following steps be taken to guarantee our right to safe and affordable housing, the longevity of our existing community, and the ability to remain in San Francisco:

1. Before any displacement occurs, now scheduled for September 2015, we request a public hearing on the eviction procedure and development plan. We have many grievances with the current process, and thus far our grievances have been ignored by the City and its representatives. Because the Board of Supervisors is about to recess for August, and because the residents are scheduled to be displaced before the Supervisors resume office, the community demands an immediate stay so that residents can participate in a public hearing at City Hall after the summer recess.

2. We are currently being offered two choices post-eviction: We can either accept housing on toxic lands on Treasure Island or take a paltry relocation payment of $5,500—the same as an Ellis Act relocation payment. As advocates of Ellis Act reform have repeatedly pointed out, the current compensation is far from adequate to acquire permanent housing in the city in which one bedrooms are averaging close to $4,000/month. We demand a third option—the right to return to our homes and community at an affordable rate post-development. Furthermore, we humbly request assistance in the interim as the development is built.

3. We demand that development on Yerba Buena Island, now scheduled to be conducted by Lennar and Sullivan, be 100% affordable, and inclusionary. This is public land, why should it not be in public hands? Given the amount of research that has come out proving the shrinkage in affordable housing in San Francisco, it would behoove the city to create 100% affordable housing on the island and not 285 luxury units. The City has failed to meet its affordable housing goal over the last five years, and if one takes into account loss of rent controlled housing stock, the City has only met 14% of its five-year goal (see http://www.antievictionmappingproject.net/develop.html). YBI is owned by the City of San Francisco, and thus the city should be willing to intervene to create affordable housing for its residents, who are rapidly being displaced from not only their homes but from the city altogether."

The protest was covered by numerous news sources such as:

http://sfbay.ca/2015/07/24/yerba-buena-residents-fight-eviction/

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/New-SF-Housing-Project-Forcing-Yerba-Buena-Island-Tenants-to-Move-318360811.html

http://www.demotix.com/photo/8175265/san-francisco-tenants-protest-eviction-notice-after-navy-sells-land