Name: Opponents decry city proposal to keep Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park for four more years
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Opponents decry city proposal to keep Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park for four more years

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe 150-foot-tall SkyStar Observation Wheel in Golden Gate Park would stay for four more years under a plan by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, but environmental groups and some residents of the area oppose the move.The Historic Preservation Commission, an agency of the San Francisco Planning Department, will vote on the plan Wednesday. If the commission grants the requested Certificate of Appropriateness, the big Ferris wheel will operate in the park until March 2025, and will reopen as soon as San Francisco is removed from the purple tier of restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.“We want to make good on our promise that people are going to have a ride on this thing,” said Tamara Aparton, spokesperson for the Recreation and Park Department.Among those opposing the extension is Supervisor Dean Preston, who represents the neighboring Haight-Ashbury. The Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council has already voted to oppose the four-year plan.“I’m not seeing the basis for such a long extension,” Preston said by text. “As one constituent said to me ‘this is a park, not an amusement park.’”More for youSupervisor Connie Chan, whose district includes that portion of the park, also expressed concerns. She has been hearing complaints from constituents about the lights and noise associated with the SkyStar and is hesitant to endorse an extension unless those problems are addressed.Seconding that opinion is Sierra Club San Francisco Bay, which objects to the lighting. The local Audubon Society also expressed concern about the lighting.“Wildlife needs darkness,” Katherine Howard, a member of the group’s executive committee, “Light pollution can have a negative impact on birds — both resident and migrating — as well as bats, insects, amphibians, and other animals.”But the advocacy group Grow the Richmond has sponsored a petition, with 135 signatures, to keep the SkyStar spinning.“It struck me as really, really ridiculous to be against a Ferris wheel,” said Jane Natoli, organizer of the petition. “It’s not like it will be there until the end of time.”The amusement arrived in March 2020 to be a major attraction for a citywide celebration of the 150th anniversary of the park, which had been scheduled for April 4. But because of the shelter-in-place order, it did not open until 200 days later, on Oct. 21, and then it was allowed to run at 25% capacity until it was shut down again on Nov. 29, after 39 days in operation.It has been empty ever since and will stay empty until San Francisco is released from the most restrictive tier of COVID-19 lockdowns.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.The SkyStar is operated by the firm Skyview Partners and costs $18 to ride for adults, $12 for seniors and kids. Five hundred free rides per month were offered to underserved communities in San Francisco. The arrangement calls for a portion of ticket sales to go to the Golden Gate Park Fund. In its truncated life in the park, 65,693 passengers took the ride, which made three revolutions, lifting to 15 stories in height and affording views to the Pacific Ocean during daylight and to Salesforce Tower at night.Projections were for half a million riders during the first year, and the hope is to provide those 500,000 rides and recoup the costs of having the SkyStar sit idle by extending its run for four years.The wheel was intended to evoke the Firth Wheel, a 120-foot-tall amusement from the California Midwinter Fair of 1894. The modern version has 36 enclosed gondola cars, which rise to 2 feet higher than the observation tower at the de Young Museum.The meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission is at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, and is open to the publicSam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe 150-foot-tall SkyStar Observation Wheel in Golden Gate Park would stay for four more years under a plan by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, but environmental groups and some residents of the area oppose the move.The Historic Preservation Commission, an agency of the San Francisco Planning Department, will vote on the plan Wednesday. If the commission grants the requested Certificate of Appropriateness, the big Ferris wheel will operate in the park until March 2025, and will reopen as soon as San Francisco is...

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Opponents decry city proposal to keep Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park for four more years

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