News Briefs News Briefs (December 10, 2004)

New plans for abandoned cardroom

The R Club, a windowless building with no front door at 155 Castro St., has sat abandoned for six years. But after the city council unanimously approved plans for a three-story building for a restaurant and offices in its space, the site City Manager Kevin Duggan called "the ugliest building on Castro Street" will be getting a makeover.

The new building will extend closer to a pedestrian walkway, and construction could temporarily displace the local farmers market, according to city project planner Nancy Hutar. The larger first and second floors will become the new home of Fu Lam Mum, a Chinese restaurant currently located a block away.

Council appoints new commissioners

Margaret Abe-Koga and Eric Anderson were named to the environmental planning commission Tuesday after a group interview in front of city council members. The commission is an advisory body that makes recommendations to the city council.

Abe-Koga, who lost a bid for the council this year, is a member of the human relations commission. Anderson is the chair of the bicycle/pedestrian advisory committee.

Recent council candidate Stephanie Schaaf was selected to serve on the parks and recreation commission.

Shoreline ramp closing

The on-ramp from northbound Shoreline Boulevard onto southbound Highway 101 was expected to close on Dec. 9. Traffic headed in both directions on Shoreline will now share one ramp, and the closure is likely to create additional congestion in the area, according to Valley Transportation Authority spokesperson Brandi Hall.

Delayed a few days due to rainy weather, the closure will last approximately nine months while construction crews continue work on the Highways 85-101 interchange project. The massive three-year long project is on track to be finished in January 2006.

NASA changes tune on former wetlands site

Environmentalists calling for a full cleanup of a polluted Moffett Field area got a new ally last week, when NASA officials announced they want to see part of the site restored to tidal marsh. Site 25 is currently used as a storm water drainage pond for Moffett Field. Migratory birds use it as a stopping ground, but the water dries up every summer.

Pollution from the Navy's operations left the sediment too toxic to support a fish population or a year-round ecosystem. But an intense public pressure campaign, which included letters from U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo and Senator Barbara Boxer, helped convince the Navy to consider cleaning up the site enough to support tidal wetlands.

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