Who owns the land at 29th and Valley in Noe Valley? This was a question that I found myself asking on a recent broker’s tour…

The city owned land at 29th and Diamond St.

It turns out that the land is owned by the city, and the property is APN 7536-018. While it doesn’t have an official name, you can just think of it as the 29th and Diamond Open Space.

The lot is fairly large, and is also fairly steep… from looking at city records, it appears the grade on the site exceeds 20%, which probably explains why the city still owns this land in Noe Valley and it hasn’t been snapped up by a developer.

What are your thoughts about this patch of green at 29th and Diamond? Should the city keep it as is, consider selling it, or otherwise improve the property to be of more benefit to the neighborhood?

We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Yesterday I received some great news from the San Francisco Parks Alliance about open space in Noe Valley. If you aren’t familiar, there is a lot on 24th street – 3861 24th St – that is currently owned by a church. The lot is located between Sanchez and Vicksburg streets. If you aren’t familiar with Vicksburg, it is between Sanchez and Church streets. From tax records, it appears the lot belongs to the Noe Valley Ministry, and they’d like to sell the lot to allow them to rebuild their building (which isn’t on 24th St.).

Noe Valley Town Square. Image Source: NoeValleyTownSquare.com

The goal is to create a permanent open space along 24th Street. For the past 8 years or so the space has been home to the Saturday Noe Valley Farmer’s Market.

According to the NoeValleyTownSquare website, the estimated cost of the projet is at least $4,000,0000. Yesterday, the SF Rec and Park Commission unanimously recommended the purchase of the lot so that it can finally become the Noe Valley Town Square.

What happens next? The recommendation from the SF Rec/Park Commission goes to the Board of Supervisors now. In the past, the city has suggested they would be willing to spend about $2,000,000 of city funds for the purchase of the lot, which means that for the project to become a reality, private donors need to raise at least another $2,000,000.

If you’d like to make a donation to the Noe Valley Town Square, or learn more about some of the design concepts, I’d highly recommend you visit the Noe Valley Town Square website, which has a ton of background and information about the project. You can also make a financial pledge to help support the project. What are your thoughts about the plan to create a permanent open space in the heart of Noe Valley? And have you made your financial contribution yet?

I was recently previewing a property in Noe Valley and saw the rather curious photo that you see below. It’s located on a residential street, on a hill, but not a particularly steep hill. So I’m hoping someone can explain to me why parking a vehicle over 6 feet high is prohibited on this particular block?

No SUVs need apply?

Did the neighbors rally city hall for a street sign so that the view from their front windows wouldn’t be blocked? Was there once an industrial company or business in the neighborhood that had really big vehicles parked on the street? Was it once a popular spot for tourist buses to park?

I’ve seen plenty of goofy street signs in San Francisco, including the current changes to street sign lettering in San Francisco. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a street sign that prohibits the parking of a moderately tall vehicle on a residential street.

In case you’re curious – or it helps us to track down an answer –  the block in question is the 900 block of Sanchez Street in Noe Valley.

And as long as I’m asking, does this mean that the little go-carts of parking-ticket doom carry tape measures with them? And what’s the fine for parking a 6’1″ vehicle in a no parking 6′ 0″ vehicles zone? If you take some air out of your tires can you get away with it?

It’s a completely random and strange street sign… so what are your thoughts? What could possibly lead the city to decide that within a one block area tall vehicles can’t be parked. And not just not parked temporarily – it’s a permanent 24/7 ban on any vehicle that is over six feet high…

So what are your thoughts? Suggestions about how I could track down the origin of this street sign? And tips or leads that you leave in the comments would be greatly appreciated!