Chasing Chinchilla
Will an ex-planning commissioner's indictment affect Walgreens project?

By Savannah Blackwell

Crocker-Amazon residents and business owners upset at the prospect of a new Walgreens drug store opening on Geneva Avenue are hoping their cause gets a boost from the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of former city Planning Commission president Hector Chinchilla.

On Oct. 31, District Attorney Terence Hallinan announced he was charging Chinchilla with violations of state and city conflict-of-interest laws due to his involvement in three separate development projects that went before the Planning Commission.

The investigation stemmed from reports that Chinchilla, a land-use attorney, was paid $20,000 to convince planning officials to approve the Walgreens project. On June 27, when the proposal went before the Planning Commission, former commissioner William Fay failed to show up. With Chinchilla recusing himself, the project got only three votes – one short of the number necessary to secure the required permit. Though Chinchilla didn't actually vote on the matter, Hallinan is charging that he tried to influence officials to approve the project.

In late July, when Mayor Willie Brown advanced Chinchilla's name for consideration by the Board of Supervisors for reappointment to the Planning Commission, Port Commissioner Pius Lee, whose son, Lawrence, is developing the Walgreens project, went to Sup. Aaron Peskin and squealed on Chinchilla – apparently because he didn't deliver.

Peskin then took the matter to Hallinan. In addition, Hallinan has charged that Chinchilla used his connections on behalf of developers behind a South of Market hotel and a Tenderloin housing project.

Meanwhile, on Oct. 10, while the Planning Commission was unable to meet for lack of a quorum (thanks to Brown's delay in appointing new members), planning director Gerald Green approved the Walgreens project. But Lee wasn't satisfied: Green refused to allow the demolition of three existing storefronts at the site. Instead, he asked Lee to convert the old Apollo Theater and the storefronts into the new store.

So Lee has appealed Green's decision to the Board of Supervisors – who will hear the matter Nov. 12.

Nearby shop owners concerned that Walgreens will run them out of business, and residents who aren't thrilled about yet another generic chain store opening in their neighborhood, are trying to get the supervisors to see the whole deal as tainted and turn it down.

"We feel like if [the developers] hadn't paid this commissioner off, we could have stopped them," Ed Nasrah, the owner of Daniel's Pharmacy, told us. Daniel's is located about 300 feet from the site of the proposed Walgreens. Nasrah and nearly 2,000 residents have signed a petition opposing the project.

Many residents say they are worried that, since the developers got planners to approve a design that doesn't include parking for Walgreens customers and for the tenants of eight housing units that will go above the store, the project will jam up traffic in the area.

They also point out another Walgreens is only seven blocks away.

Chinchilla was expected to turn himself in to law enforcement officials Nov. 1, the day after the warrant was issued. However, according to sources close to Hallinan's office, Chinchilla had left for Central America – most likely Guatemala, where he has relatives.

George Niespolo, Chinchilla's lawyer, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Hallinan is giving Chinchilla a few extra days to return. Chinchilla is scheduled to come back Nov. 6 and is expected to turn himself in immediately, according to Hallinan's office.

"This is certainly ironic," Christine Linnenbach, a San Francisco attorney who fought the city's corporate media giants over additions to Sutro Tower, told us. "[Chinchilla] never gave nonconnected citizens any sort of extension to make their case before the Planning Commission and ensure the fair administration of due process. Then lo and behold, when he needs an extension, he gets one."

E-mail Savannah Blackwell at savannah@sfbg.com.