Activism saved the Conservatory at 236 Monterey Boulevard. Neighborhood pressure pushed the city to buy the vacant lot at Baden and Martha. But conviction, however sustained, does not transfer a deed. A civic mechanism has to exist to receive the pressure and convert it into public ownership.
For both Sunnyside parcels, that mechanism was the Open Space Fund, established under Proposition J in 1975 to set aside a fraction of the city's property tax revenue specifically for acquiring open space. The fund meant the city did not have to fight for a new appropriation each time a neighborhood identified land worth saving. The money was already dedicated.
The Conservatory was purchased in 1980 for $68,000, as KQED's Bay Curious reported earlier this year, drawing on research by the Sunnyside History Project's Amy O'Hair. Dorothy Erskine Park was acquired in 1978 for $15,000, according to the Board of Supervisors Budget Analyst's acquisition table. Neither sum was large. The legal consequence was: Recreation and Park land can only be sold with voter approval. Once purchased through the fund, these parcels left the private market permanently.
O'Hair put the logic plainly in the KQED piece: "What good is a landmark if you don't own the property under it?" The Open Space Fund answered that question for two Sunnyside sites. San Francisco voters have renewed it three times since 1975.]
The Open Space Fund — A dedicated slice of SF property tax revenue ($0.025 per $100 assessed valuation) reserved for acquiring open space and recreation land. Established 1975; renewed by voters in 1988, 2000, and extended through FY 2030–31.
Sunnyside acquisitions from the fund:
| Dorothy Erskine Park | Conservatory | |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1978 | 1980 |
| Acres | 0.79 | 0.19 |
| Price | $15,000 | $68,000 |
The permanence clause: Unlike other city land, Rec and Park property can only be sold with voter approval. Purchase through the fund is effectively irreversible.
Citywide scale through 2005: 56 sites, 91.67 acres, $25.3 million spent.]