Photo: Maren Caruso/Modern Luxury

Walking down Valencia Street, it's hard not to notice the radical change that the corridor has undergone in the last two years: hours long waits for “Marina Girl Salads” at Tacolicious, tables full of wine-sippers on the sidewalk outside of Farina Pizza and Mission Cheese, that weird techno lounge that apparently serves Indian food next to Luna Park…and that's just to name a few.  Sixteen new restaurants have opened between 16th and 19th street in the last 18 months, reportedly adding “nearly 1,000 new restaurant seats on these three blocks alone.”

“Overall, it's good for consumers. It reminds me a little of North Beach in the '80s, with all these restaurants popping up at different price points,” Slanted Door and Wo Hing General Store's Charles Phan told the Chronicle last month. “It's a good vibe here. To me, it makes it more San Francisco than a lot of neighborhoods.”

But many don't want to see the Mission become North Beach 2.0—a neighborhood exclusively defined by its former glory and largely dismissed by Mission residents, who understandably want nothing to do with a mainstream tourist trap.

“Valencia needs to be a cohesive neighborhood for people who live in it,” Deena Davenport, proprietress of Glama-Rama Salon & Gallery and President of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association (VCMA), told us over the phone. “We have no florist, no hardware store, no large grocery store.”

“Restaurants are taking over so rapidly, it's as much as tripling rents lately and creating daytime dead zones that are uninviting to shoppers.”

The Merchants Association has become so alarmed by the changes that they added a line to their mission statement specifically addressing the problem: “We endeavor to combine our voices and views toward the goal of maintaining the unique identity and independent spirit of the neighborhood.”

“It's not change that we're against. I think that we all get that change is inevitable.  And that while sometimes uncomfortable, it's not always bad,” explains Jefferson McCarley, General Manager of Mission Bicycle and VCMA board member. “But there are a variety of concerns with so many high-end dinner-only restaurants opening up at such a high rate.”

He breaks down their concerns for us:

• The impact it has on our rents.
• The impact it has on foot traffic during the day when these restaurants are only open at night.
• The impact that valet parking has on the safety of our cyclists.
• The impact it has on where we can get an affordable meal as locals.
• The lack of variety of businesses in the hood. (We want a hardware store!)
• The impact it has on traffic and parking (the patrons of the businesses are almost always driving in from other parts of the city or from other cities).
• The impact it has on the spirit and vibe of the street.

At a point, it sounds like retailers rebelling against restaurants, but that's not the case.  Some restauranteurs and cafe owners hope to prevent a similar fate that The Summit had earlier this year, when their landlord tripled their rent and tried to bring a La Boulange Bakery into the space.  This includes the proprietor of 780 Cafe Jose Ramos, who's trying to save his cafe after the same landlord raised rents from $9,000 to $30,000 in hopes to bring a multi-million dollar sports bar to the location.

So what is there to do?

Well, there's doing nothing and letting Valencia become a high-end truck stop for Uber cabs crisscrossing the city, but everyone seems to agree that's a lousy idea.  So that leaves us with two viable options: putting a moratorium on full-service restaurants or setting up a Special Use District along Valencia, requiring any new restaurants to meet community approval before opening.

The Valencia Merchants voted Wednesday to approve a combination of the two ideas: a 1-year temporary moratorium by the Planning Department on any new full-service restaurants (counter-service and cafes are exempt) from opening between 16th and 24th, followed by the Special Use Permitting process for restaurants.  The proposal has already received support from Supervisor Scott Wiener, who will take the proposal to City Hall for a final vote.

It's not perfect, as it burdens prospective new establishments with higher start-up costs (potentially making restaurants even more expensive).  Never mind that it threatens 24th and 20th Streets with hyper-gentrification as would-be Valencia restaurants look for alternative locations for expensive eateries.  But as the legislation is expected to stabilize—if not collapse—rents along Valencia, it strikes us as the right approach for the problem.

(Note: we're told merchants along 24th are considering similar legislation before it's too late, but we were unable to reach anyone to discuss it.)

In what could be the greatest proof of San Francisco's status as a truly awesome and zen-like place to be a voter (unless you live in District 5—sorry guys), hundreds of D9 residents were given the divine privilege of voting in the middle of Hua Zang Si Buddhist temple at 22nd and Capp.  You know the place:

Photo: Nolehace/Flickr

Have you been in there yet?  You really should.  And I mean it—even if your polling place is in a school or hair salon or somewhere bullshit like that.  Churches are generally frightening places full of hatred and bad crackers, but Hua Zang Si is nothing like that.  It even has a storied history that predates the earthquake and involves heroic efforts by the Buddhists to spare the building from being converted into condos:

The impressive building that houses Hua Zang Si was constructed shortly after 1900 as St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Built in a Gothic Revival style, the church served the local German immigrant community who worked at the tanneries and breweries along Precita Creek. The building narrowly escaped the fires that followed the great earthquake of 1906.

By the close of the 20th century, the European immigrant families that remained in San Francisco had mostly moved to the west of the city and the neighborhood welcomed a growing Latino community instead. In 1992, the congregation that met in St. John's Church voted to move to a church around the corner, which would be named St. Mary and St. Martha Lutheran Church.

The old Lutheran church was deconsecrated and became a private residence. Plans were underway to turn it into condominiums when the United International World Buddhism Association purchased it and the adjoining parish residence for $2.5 million in 2002. The church building was left intact but given a dramatic makeover with red paint, Chinese-style doors, and a fully remodeled interior.

The basement, where we voted, is an impressive enough space.  However, the second floor still contains the Church's original organ pipes and stained glass windows and also houses a 21-foot tall Amitabha Buddha statue that was imported from Taiwan, which one of Temple's volunteers said was the largest Buddha statue in all of North America.  In other words? It's an impressive amalgamation of various religions and cultures.

They're open to the public from 9am-6pm daily and seem more than thrilled to show people around.

Burning shit in the street was fun and all, but seriously, when will Popeye's bring 99¢ Tuesdays back?

Mission Local reports:

Two men were shot and one of them killed near 24th and Harrison streets on Wednesday, police said.

The  victims, whose identities are unknown at this time, were approached at around 6 p.m. by two men who shot them. One of the men died at the scene while the other was taken to San Francisco General Hospital. His condition was not immediately disclosed, but according to police Sgt. Matt Rodgers, he was being treated for a gunshot wound to the foot.

Wednesday’s killing was the third homicide in the Mission in the last eight days. Jose Escobar was shot and killed early Saturday morning on 16th Street. Caesar Chuc, a cook at Serpentine Restaurant, died this weekend from injuries he sustained when a group of suspects attacked him on Valencia Street the previous Tuesday.

SF Appeal also reports that late last night, three men did a drive-by shooting at an officer:

At about 1:30 a.m., a San Francisco police officer was shot at multiple times from a moving vehicle that had three possible suspects inside.

The officer avoided being in the line of fire, police said.

The officer pursued the suspect vehicle and three suspects jumped from the vehicle in the 2500 block of Bryant Street, which is near 23rd street, police said.

The officer captured and arrested one suspect, police said.

Stay safe, everyone.