Aiming the stream in another direction — paint vs. pee

An example of the hydro-phobic pee-repellent paint that is currently being used in Hamburg, Germany. An example of the hydro-phobic pee-repellent paint that is currently being used in Hamburg, Germany. Photo: St. Pauli Pinklet Zurück, Courtesy Photo: St. Pauli Pinklet Zurück, Courtesy Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Aiming the stream in another direction — paint vs. pee 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

The urine-soaked walls that line San Francisco’s alleys and streets are getting ready to fight back.

Mohammed Nuru, head of the city’s Department of Public Works, is looking at a new weapon in his long-running — and so-far losing — war against people who make the world their toilet.

The streets czar is looking for public suggestions about the best places to test a new paint that is so, ah, water repellent that a stream of, shall we say, liquid directed against a wall rebounds onto the shoes and pants of the offender.

“We saw this report on the Internet and thought it looked interesting,” Nuru said. “It’s costing us a lot to send teams out and do cleanup.”

A recent survey by the city’s Chamber of Commerce found that quality-of-life issues like public urination are a growing concern for San Francisco residents — and city officials, who are willing to try just about anything that may fix the problems.

“If a suggestion sounds reasonable, we’ll try it,” said Nuru, who invited the public to leave suggestions at dpw@sfdpw.org.

The new coating, Ultra-Ever Dry by Ultra-tech, a Florida company in the chemical cleanup and waste management business, already has one well-known customer. Hamburg, Germany, is using the spray on walls in its notorious St. Pauli red-light district, where beer drinkers too often can’t be bothered to find their way to a bathroom.

Now, as an English-language sign warns: “Do Not Pee Here. We Pee Back.”

— John Wildermuth

Muni money: Way back in November, San Francisco voters sided with Supervisor Scott Wiener and voted for Proposition B, which boosted Muni’s budget. Mayor Ed Lee opposed the proposal, labeling it ballot-box budgeting.

But now the money, or at least the projections, are rolling in, and the Municipal Transportation Agency is deciding how to spend what amounts to a $26 million windfall. Prop. B raises the Muni budget to keep pace with population growth and requires that 75 percent of the money be spent on making Muni more reliable and increasing its capacity, with the remaining 25 percent going to street safety improvements.

A spending plan, which will be presented to the MTA Board of Directors soon, would steer the transit portion — $19.5 million — of the money to buy 18 more new Muni buses: 13 standard 40-footers and five 60-foot articulated buses. The $6.5 million in street safety money will be spent on pedestrian safety improvements, bicycle facilities, traffic signal controllers and red-light camera upgrades, and safety improvements near schools.

Wiener, the author and champion of Prop. B, was thrilled with the news of how Muni planned to spend the new money.

“It’s exactly what we said we wanted to do and what we told voters we would do — improve Muni’s reliability and frequency and improve street safety,” he said.

The amount of the windfall was also a pleasant surprise. When Prop. B passed, it was estimated to bring in $22 million this year but higher-than-anticipated tax revenues pushed the total higher.

While the news looks good for Prop. B, Muni and Wiener, the supervisor declined to gloat.

“I don’t think there was ever really a disagreement on the need for Muni to make more expenditures,” he said. “It was how to get there.”

Paul Rose, an MTA spokesman, said the money helps Muni fill funding gaps in its plan to replace the bulk of its aging and partially fuel-inefficient fleet. The agency plans to buy a total of 200 new 40-foot buses and 224 60-foot buses over the next five years. All will be hybrid buses.

— Michael Cabanatuan

Petite parks: What better way to celebrate the fifth anniversary of parklets — those slivers of landscaped seating that replace a parking space or two or three — than with a new competition to build yet more?

There are 57 in San Francisco already, from North Beach to the Outer Sunset and the Bayview to Pacific Heights, but a new round of submissions is scheduled to begin April 13 and conclude on June 26. This time around, the goal is to give preference to perches that aren’t linked to restaurants or cafes, as often is the case: Parklets sponsored by youth or community groups or nonprofits and institutions will be moved to the front of the line.

Another angle that will help some entrants? Planners are looking for “locations with fewer than three parklets within a two-block radius.” Which is a testimony to how much the craze has taken hold on corridors like Valencia Street and Columbus Avenue — and that doesn’t count the 13 now under construction or in the works.

For more information, go to pavementtoparks.sfplanning.org

— John King

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