Lazarus, acting chief building inspector with the department of building inspection. Except when the presiding officer finds good cause to order the presentations otherwise, the order of presentation of an appeal shall be as follows a the appellant shall speak first and shall be allowed seven minutes to present relevant testimony and evidence. Then the permit holder, representatives of the department, board, commission or person from whose order the appeal is taken, and or other parties, shall be allowed seven minutes for presentation of relevant testimony and evidence. Three minutes for rebuttal shall be provided to all parties in this same order; b the board may request a departmental response at its own discretion. For rehearing requests and jurisdiction requests, each party shall be allowed three minutes to present testimony and evidence, with no rebuttal. Other persons desiring to speak before the board on an appeal may speak once for up to three minutes, unless the presiding officer further limits time uniformly zoom, please email or call the board office boardofappeals sfgov. Org or 628 6521150. To obtain a disabilityrelated modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services to participate in the meeting, please contact the board office at least 48 hours before the meeting at boardofappeals sfgov. Org or 628 6521150. Now the chat function cannot be used to provide Public Comment or form opinions. Public comment will be taken from those present in the hearing room. Now we will swear all of those intending to testify. If you intend to testify at any of the procedures and plan to give the board your evidentiary weight, say i do. Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth . Thank you. If you are not speaking please put your zoom speaker on mute. We have one item. 1 will be withdrawn and not be heard tonight. We are now moving to general Public Comment. 1 Public Comment at this time, members of the public may address the board on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board except agenda items. With respect to agenda please raise your hand . Seeing no hands raised, we will move to item 2. We welcome our new commissioner john travisnia. We are very pleased to have him on our panel. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, president swig for those 15 comments and i want to say how impressed i am with all of those who have been involved with my arrival here including the mayor and president including the board of supervisors and i have been very impressed with everyone i have seen thus far. I have seen many issues in public law and policy. I do know the people who are here in the audience, the people who are watching, those who have before the commission and before the board, is very important to them and i respect their importance whether its their livelihood or their home or their neighborhood. I hope i can fulfill the shoes of ms. Lazarus. I look forward to working with you. Any commissioner comments . I welcome you. I guess i was remiss to say goodbye to ms. Lapis lazuli lazarus she is a great example of great public service. I dont know how many commissions she has served on and under mayor she was working since then and she has been giving so much to the city and we thank her for that. Is there any Public Comment . Seeing none, we will move to item about. Adoption of the minutes. Discussion and possible adoption of the july 20, 2022 minutes. Would anyone like to approve them . Move to approve. Is there any Public Comment on commissioner changs motion to approve the minutes. Please raise your hand. I dont see any Public Comment. On that motion, [roll call] that motion carries 30 and the minutes are adopted. We are going to item no. 4. 4 appeal no. 22047 linda matsumura, appellant s vs. Dept. Of building inspection, respondent planning dept. Approval 515 3rd avenue. Appealing the issuance on june 10, 2022, to justin li, of an alteration permit new deck 10 feet by 14 feet at rear, less than 10 feet in height; all work performed at rear yard . Permit no. 2022 06 08 5905. We will hear from the appellant first and i understand shes on the phone. Shes caller no. 3. Okay, ms. Matsumura, you need to unmute yourself. Please go ahead. You have seven minutes. Public speaker good evening, my name is linda matsumura, i live at 515 third avenue. I came home to find this notification of structural addition in the mail and the deck was completed before the appeal period had ended. The attached condition for repair was file miles away in a different neighborhood. I have not received the application to determine if the code was matched. I filed for an appeal. However there was no opportunity to address concerns before construction. Neighbors privacy and security were not taken into consideration. There is a direct line of sight across and over entry of my property. People on my deck will be able to see me in my home without warning at eye level. The deck is less than 58 inches. I do not feel safe with no barrier. Houses were built similarly and do not have decks as this one and would not fit in the character of the neighborhood and results in the invasion of privacy. As a retiree, i enjoy my time in my backyard and outside garden especially during covid. This has affected my quality of life with people looking over at me at my garden would greatly intrude on my safety and security. On june 28th, i received a message from the designer and june 30th we spoke and he said the Property Owner offered to build a 10 feet high deck and my response was that the Property Owner would be required to build and with a deck, i would consider his offer and 10 feet is too high and six feet is the best that the owner can do and this does not provide privacy from the deck. July 8th, i want privacy, i put up a 10 foot fence. I have not received a proper response from the Property Owner. Regarding usage of the deck for many years, there has been frequent turnovers from tenants despite the building being rh 2 family. There is a number of individual tenants that are not seeking the stability and those are imposing on my property. They are able to watch over me while negatively impacting my quality of life. The photos that i have submitted have been seen now with assistant. The proximity of the large deck from my porch from my backward from ground level demonstrating the intrusiveness that i would endure. If this deck was built to code, im requesting that the board grant my appeal by requiring the Property Owner to build a fence between the two properties and privacy screen on the deck facing my porch from the deck floor to the height of six feet to protect my privacy and security while i am inside or outside of my home and all construction must be to code. Thank you. Thank you. Are you finished . Yes. We will now hold from the permit holder. Mr. Lee, you have seven minutes. Yes, i believe i sent some slides this evening. Yes, well get the slides ready. We have the slides up. Good evening commissioner, im at 515 third avenue. The deck proposed to the citys Planning Department meets the code of less than 10 feet of height under the five feet front back over the counter. This is the current photo measuring five feet away from the neighbor our Property Line. The appellant property is a 32 inch setback and with my five feet setback makes the total setback of seven feet 10 inches. Because of the five feet setback, there should be enough privacy for both of our neighbors. This is the actual rear of the deck with ten feet in height and only one bedroom has access to the deck so it would not be whatever the appellant has concerns about privacy and security. Only one person is living in that one bedroom and only one person has access to the deck. That is about 70 feet by 14 feet in width and the stairs come down to the deck due to egress issues. The neighbor mentioned about the characteristic of this house and the neighbor has a two story deck and expands more out into the backyard for many many years. That is the aerial view of the whole neighborhood. The appellant has no deck in the back. The rest is the deck size and as you can see from the third avenue, there is an existing porch and it has a two story deck. Both the current deck posted for the city plan include the setback and side setback. So, i have tried to reach out to the appellant numerous of times and we only got to text a couple times and only one short phone call. Having the neighbor to pay for the six feet fence is a really huge step for us because if the appellant is very scared for privacy and everything, i told her that she can build a 10 foot fence on her side with no question. In the future, if she wants to enjoy the sunshine in the yard, the current owner 100 support her. Thank you commissioners, if you have any questions, let me know. President swig has a question. Yes, one of the requirements of the board of appeals is there is a submission of the appellant and the permit holder. You did not submit a brief as i noticed. Is there a reason that you did not submit a brief . Because the neighbor, the owner does not speak much english to begin with and i was called suddenly yesterday to represent the owner. The owners english is not his first language and thats why im representing him tonight. A brief, i can write a brief for you tonight this evening to share my story, but the presentation i presented will exactly match the brief. Okay, im sorry that your owner does not have the english language, but the rules are the rules and unfortunately i have to bring that to your attention. Second and to notice the reason that we have a requirement for a brief is that we can properly prepare to support your needs as well as the needs of the appellants. So when there is not a brief, it places us on this panel at a significant disadvantage and places you at a disadvantage because we are not prepared which is why we ask for a brief. This may or may not work to your clients advantage, but it is a disability and we dont for ourselves and quite frankly its not appreciated. I have a question. Did this deck get built without a permit . The appellant claims that she came home from a break and suddenly there is a brand new deck in the backyard. Was this deck built without a permit. And you have a permit as an afterthought. What is the chronology of the building of this deck, please . First and foremost, my apology to all the commissioners as the owner was last minute and we did not provide a brief, as i mentioned a brief can be provided upon this hearing. To address your comment, the permit was approved first and then the next couple days built it. The deck can be built in 34 days. There was a span of two weeks, i saw the permit june 8, two weeks later that i got an appeal. The neighbor filed an appeal two weeks later. We did not build a deck until we had approval from the city planning approval department. Thank you. Okay, thank you. We will now hear from the Planning Department. Good evening, members of the board. Tina tang. Building department. The property is a potential historical resource. The construction is to construct a one story at the end of the stairs of the property. Four feet wide ten feet deep and five feet and 15 feet from the south side Property Line. The appellant is the neighbor to the north and her concern is about privacy. In regard to new decks in general, there is going to be some loss of privacy to neighboring property and thats expected. Based on the design of the proposed desk, the department believes it is compatible with the neighborhood character and also consistent with other decks in the immediate vicinity as well as those approved over the counter in the city. They are taller, two stories in height, one taller than the proposed story deck. The new deck is located entirely with the area of law and less than ten feet in height and setback from both sides of the Property Line. No neighborhood, no vacation is required. The project complies with the planning code and consistent with the residential Design Guidelines and the department respectfully ask that the board deny the appeal and uphold the issuance of the permit. Thank you. Do you have a question . Can you help me with the chronology. We have seen decks before and its typical and you are right that there are decks in the neighborhood. This isnt the First Venture into this area. And it probably and im taking your word for it and it does probably comply. Tell me about the chronology of the appellant. The appellant goes away and comes back and there is a deck. But she has time according to the law to appeal the permit. Should have the permit holder wait until the appeal period was over to construct the deck . A deck was built before the neighborhood had a chance to appeal. Give me some help on that and what we should do about this . Sure, thats a really good question. Based upon the information we have the permit was issued june 10, 2022, the permit can start construction. They do take the risk of appealing and they have to stop and wait for the outcome. I dont have the exact date of when the appellant filed her appeal. It sounds like it may have been the last day of the appeal period. I dont know when it was built between the time it was filed. I can let ms. Green speak to this more since it is in her jurisdiction. When there is a privacy issue, they are built up to code. Neighbors arent happy and they appeal. I have seen lot worse than what is presented today. What is the responsibility of the builder of the deck and this is for the appellant to know to build a privacy screen. We can ask because this commission has a right to ask to build a privacy screen. What is the legal responsibility of a permit holder for a deck just like this which is typical to build a privacy screen or build a fence or any of that . There isnt anything technically required in the planning code for Something Like this in terms of preserving or preserving or protecting privacy from one neighbor. We technically ask that they resolve it on their own and we hope that there would be a design that they can come up between both parties. It seems like there was discussion about building something in between but seems that it did not go forward but there is nothing required from the Planning Department. This is viewed from a legal standpoint would be out of our hands unless it is an egregious situation. They have to understand that they are going to be living next to each other and would be nice if they can be polite. Its out of the departments hand. And i will ask mr. Travisnia. Thank you, commissioner. It was described, the question is access to the deck and it was stated in mr. Lees representatives testimony that the only access was from one bedroom. Are you aware of any access from the ground up to the deck . I think the answer has to be given by the Planning Department, please. I am looking at the floor plan for the permit and it does show there is a door from the bedroom, at the back that connects to the deck. Which also connects to the stairs to the yard. I would say there is more than the owner using the deck. Thats correct. Other occupants of this property could use the stairs to access this deck. I dont know if there is an opportunity for me to get a correction. Both parties will have a rebuttal following the testimony of the department. Right, then hell have the opportunity to clarify that. The second is if you can educate me on, is there any requirement to notify the neighbor prior to receiving the permit . Because of the location of the deck and the height of the deck, there isnt any neighborhood requirements from the Planning Department, the planning code side. No. Is there any requirement from anywhere in the city . That Building Department, matt can elaborate on that. Im trying to get a sense if ms. Matsumura missed out on her opportunity to make a complaint, whether the owner of the deck failed to fulfill and any obligation to notify because you have here you have two neighbors, you have a situation where one neighbor says i went away and came back and found this deck. On the other hand, as our president notes, the owner did not file any kind of a brief with us, and then on the third hand, in case you have three hands, im interested to know and my question is, what type of access and materials there are from the department in languages other than english. If the homeowner is nonenglish speaking or not proficient in reading english, what opportunities do they have in order for me to understand, how reasonable is it to say the individual to say my language ability couldnt enable me to do what was expected under the rules . The planning does have multiple languages in there and there is information about how to access somebody that may need a translator. For the purposes of this permit, this deck and stairs, no notification is required by the Planning Department. Thank you. Okay, thank you. President , did you have a question . Okay, well hear from the department inspection. Good evening, im matt, with the Building Department inspection tonight. Building is to add a new 10 foot by 14 foot exterior deck in the rear and its below the unit and the deck is five feet from the side. The permit was approved june 10, 2022, and issued the same day. Dbi states that this was built properly and ask that you deny this appeal. A fence less than six feet would not require a permit. Im available for any questions you may have. I just want to give a clear and broad hearing to both parties. We have the broad powers so to speak to require a privacy fence if we feel that it would be just. But we would be given this deck is a typical deck, something we have seen over and over again in the neighborhoods. It passes all the legal hurdles. Do you see a solution to a privacy situation or is this something that we should really leave to two Good Neighbors to be Good Neighbors about . I think it should be left between the neighbors. The deck meets the code requirement, meets the minimum height seven feet over the basement below and does not exceed the Property Line and doesnt require a firewall. It meets code. Thank you. You are asking if it was built prior to the permit being issued . We dont have any complaint prior to the permit being issued. Thank you for your help. Thank y