Changes Sought for Castro Plaza

San Francisco officials are again revamping the Castro district's much-maligned Jane Warner Plaza, hoping that new furniture, entertainment, and other improvements will activate the parklet, making it attractive to neighborhood residents, tourists, and others.

The patch of concrete at Castro and Market streets has long been seen as a magnet for violence and harassment. Those concerns were highlighted recently after a man allegedly stabbed a woman in the plaza.

The public space, which opened in 2009 after a portion of 17th Street was closed off, had undergone some minor modifications last year as part of a major overhaul of the streetscape on Castro Street.

But it was repaved in such a way that at least two planters that surround the space were closer to the ground. Neighborhood leaders complained that led to people allowing their pets to pee in the planters or using them as storage for bags and other items. City officials held a community meeting in February to address the issue and announced they'd close the plaza for several months.

The parklet never completely shuttered, as the Muni F line runs through it, but the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, which helps oversee the space, stopped putting out tables and chairs there.

The nonprofit benefit district is proposing the city spend about $313,000 over two years to bring in new chairs, lighting, and art, as well as staff to help with entertainment and other activities.

CBD Executive Director Andrea Aiello noted in an interview last week that the Castro is a neighborhood known by people "all over the world."

"Right now, Jane Warner Plaza welcomes them in a pretty crappy way," she added.

Aiello said, "I know the neighborhood is pretty pessimistic," but she thinks the plaza will eventually serve as "a destination" for everyone.

Concerns mostly include homeless people who are seen as monopolizing the parklet.

Among the possible changes, Aiello said, are new chairs that are designed "so that you can sit there for an hour or so and be comfortable, but you're not going to be sitting there for six hours."

She said there are people who "don't want the tables and chairs back," but there are two choices: Open up the space to cars again, bringing the same "pedestrian safety hazards we had before," or the plaza can be made "into a real destination space."

To keep the plaza open, "You can't just leave it this empty place where nothing happens, and the only people interested in being there" are those who want to sit, lie, or sleep on the ground, Aiello said.

Homeless people would be welcome in the plaza, she said, but "we have to make it an inviting space for lots of people and have some cool things happening there that make people want to come."

Possible Changes

One element Aiello's group is proposing is to expand its "Live in the Castro" performance series from summer, weekend-only events to live shows weekdays and weekends year-round.

To manage activities in the plaza, the CBD wants to hire a half-time employee.

The organization would also like to contract with a local nonprofit that serves at-risk youth to provide two young people to help keep the space trash-free, among other work.

Altogether, the improvements to the space would cost about $190,000 in the first year and approximately $123,000 in the second.

Aiello is hoping to have the funding for at least the first year by July 1. The money would come from the city's general fund.

One change that's already come is putting new plants around the plaza. Aiello said the new, "hearty" plants won't "encourage people to put their junk" in the planters. The planting started last weekend and is expected to be done by May 23.

In an email, she said, "Some activation can happen without city funding."

For months, Aiello has been promoting Castro Cares, a coalition of neighborhood groups, businesses, and programs designed to help link people to services, among other assistance.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose District 8 includes the Castro and who's supporting the benefit district's proposal for funding, credited the coalition with helping to bring improvements to Jane Warner Plaza and other parts of the neighborhood.

"There has been a significant increase in police presence through Castro Cares" and Mission police station, "which has been good," Wiener said.

Wiener said "bad street behavior," such as harassment and monopolizing public space is the problem, not homeless people. He said he and others are working with the city attorney to craft legislation that would at least "make it illegal to put anyone or anything on the landscaping" at the parklet. He's not sure when the legislation would be introduced.

Mark McHale, a gay man who's lived in the Castro for about 20 years, said, "There's no clear solution" to the plaza's problems, but he indicated he doesn't see opening the space back up to traffic as the answer, since it holds importance as the neighborhood's "front porch."

On a recent Sunday afternoon, three men lounged in a corner of the mostly empty plaza. One had his headphones on, one was falling asleep, and the third man declined to speak to a reporter.

Phillip Wilson, who stood nearby preparing to smoke a bowl of marijuana, said, "I hang out here, but I don't know much about it."

Wilson, who said he's homeless, declined to state his age.

In what police have described as an "unprovoked" attack, Andrew Eduardo Zaldivar, 50, allegedly stabbed a 22-year-old woman in the thigh as she walked past him in the plaza at about 11 p.m. Monday, April 27.

Zaldivar, who's in custody on $350,000 bail, pleaded not guilty Monday, May 4 to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and battery causing serious injury.

He has two strikes under California's three strikes law, which enhances prison sentences. According to court documents, in 1991 he was convicted of robbery in Contra Costa County, and in February 2015 he was convicted of aggravated battery in Kern County.

Outside the courtroom Monday, Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Young said, "It's not apparent from the police report" what led up to the incident. Police didn't have an address for Zaldivar, and Young said it's not clear whether he's homeless.

His next court date is May 29.