Departments project tina tam deputy Zoning Administrator with planning and Matthew Green with department of building inspection. Board meeting guide livens turn off all phones so they will not disturb. No eating or drinking in the hearing room. The rules of presentation are follows, appellates and department respondedants begin 7 minutes to present and 3 for rebuttal. People affiliated have comments during these periods. Others have 3 machines to address and no rebuttal. Our legal assistant will give a warning 30 seconds. 3 votes are required to grant an appeal or modify. If have you questions about rehearing the rules and schedule e mail the staff at board of appeals. Publick setsz are of importance to the board. Sfgovtv broadcasting and stream thanksgiving live and we will have the ability to receive upon comment for each item on the agendaful sfgovtv is providing closed captioning for the meeting to watch on tv go to cable channel 78. Tell be rebroadcast on fridays at 4 p. M. A link to the live stream is on the home page of the website. Public comment can be provide in the 3 ways in person, zoom or our website and click on zoom or by phone. Call 6699006833 enter id access code 898 3139 6903 and again sfgovtv is broadcasting and streaming the number and access on the bottom of the screen if you are watching the stroll. To block your number dial star scent then the phone number. Listen for the Public Comment portion and dial star 9 equal to raising hand so we know you want to speak you will be brought in when it your turn. You miff to dial star 6 to unmute yourself. You will have 3 machine in our legal assist an will provide you with a verbal warning before time is up there is a delay with live and what broadcast on tv and the internet. It is important that people call nothingrous or turn off volume on tvs or computers. If participates or attendees on wareroom need assistance make a request in the chat function to the legal assistant or send an e mail. Now the chas function cannot be used for Public Comment or pregnancy. We will take comment first from those in the hearing room. Now we will swear in our, firm all those who intend to testify. Any member may speak without oath pursuant to the rights under the sunshine ordinance if you testify tonight and wish to have the board give your testimony weight. Raise your hand and say, a do after affirmed. Do you swear or aushg firm the testimony you give will be the truth and nothing but the truth . Okay. Thank you. If you are participate and not speak put your zoom speaker on mute. So item 1. General Public Comment an upon tube for anyone withhold like to speak on the jurisdiction but not on the nights calendar. Is there anyone here for general Public Comment. Please, raise your hand. I see a member. Seth miller. Go ahead. Seth miller. You are here for general Public Comment . Are you here to speak on an item not on the agenda j. No. We will call you latered now we are on general Public Comment. Thank you. Is there anyone here for general Public Comment we move on item 2 commissioner comments and questions. Yep. I just like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the departure of our Legal Council brad russy. He is the backbones of this organization. Providing our guidance to keep us on rack and on the rails. So we dont abuse our privilege. We are aulgsz a group that likes to keep it legal and we preach that and brad helps us helped us to stay organized and stay informed and make sure that we are providing the best opinions for the public. And id like to thank him for his service and wish him the best on the continuation of his career with the city. Hoe is in the leaving the city. We are losing him. Thank you very much, brad we appreciate it. Thank you. Commissioner trasvina. Thank you. Like to join president swig in also expressing my appreciations for you, brad. And your work, our work is shorter than with president swig. I was impressed with the timeliness, quality and the responsiveness of your legal presentations to us. And i seek perhaps biassed im an alumnist. To mr. Herrera now your current City Attorney. We, as a city are well served and your service is no exception. I know you will go on to continue to serve members of commissions making sure that we continue to comply with the law in your next position. Want to express gratitude and wish you well in your next steps. Why we hear from Vice President lopez. Yea, thanks. Want to echo those sentiments and express appreciation. Brad, your advise has been very much on point. It is not easy you know sometimes to have to give advice on the fly. As issues and facts and points of law are raised role time in the hearings. As a fellow attorney i have been very empathetic with this position and you carried it out well. And i really hope that the folk in your next assignment appreciate how fortunate they are to have your service and advice. And we will miss you. And hope we stay in touch thank you very much thank you commissioner lemberg. Welcome and we are on commissioner comments and questions. Your fellow commissioners have been talking and acknowledging brad russys contribution to the board. Thank you, julie. I of course want to echo im a newarkdition to the board and yet i had a few questions for you and i very much appreciate your presence here having attorneys in City Attorneys Office who are devoteed ethics and the order of the law is extremely important. And im grateful for your service to this body and to the city generally and you will certainly be missed. Thank you. Why thank you. Is there im sorry we have someone else who wants to speak. This mic is not working. Ill say, thank you, commissioners i enjoyed this assignment 6 years i had the opportunity to work with many commissioner and with 2 excellent executive directors of the board. It an assignment i enjoyed as much or more than others and i will miss coming here on wednesday nights and working with you all and thank you for your kinds words, i appreciate it. Is there Public Comment. Raise your hand. Okay. I dont see hands raised. We will move on to item 3 the adoption of the minutes commissioners before you for discussion are minutes august 24, 2022 meeting. And i want to let you know commissioner lemberg reached out about a correction to pronoun in item 3. On page 2. The draft minutes state commissioner echoed commentses of fellow commissioners and should read. Echoed the words of their fellow commissioners thats his request to the amendment. Any other amendments or comments. Commissioners anybody want to make a motion. I like to move to approve the minutes of august 24 meeting as corrected by commissioner lemberg. Thank you. On commissioner trasvinas motion. Vice president lopez. Aye commissioner lemberg yea president swig. Yea that carries 4zero and minutes are adopted. Om to item 4a and 4b. These are appeal 22057 and 58. Linda zider versus belling inspection and ron summers versus building inspection appealing the issuance to vassiliki peritos the 2 story r3 structure for 1 ad u per california code section 65852. 2. No work to front a2 on lot permit number 2022 0207 7451. We will hear from ms. Ziders attorney first. Welcome. Over head is working, the screen is not on. It is appearing on the commissioner screen. Yes. I call maintenance to will it work. Maintenance is on the way. Do you want to pause and wait. I can get started it was a set the tone thing. If tell come on shortly. We dont know we dont want to impact you were presentation we can wait. They are coming now . Also several the mics dont sound like they are on. Yours are not on. I dont think this one is on. I hear you. Everybodys is on except alex and he did not turn hisson. That was my fault. And i we can see your image for the record. The public cant. Public cant. Cannot can they see this on zoom . Sfgovtv said the you across are coming up if you want to take a break that is up to you. Or continue. We are fine with the break if you want to wait. Tell being a couple minutes than i are coming now. Take 5. Okay. We will take 5 minutes thanks for patience. Okay. Okay. Welcome back. The september 7, upon 2022 meeting of the San Francisco board of appeals on items 4a and b. We are going to hear from the attorney for the appellate for appeal number 22057. You have 7 minutes. Thank you very much. Good evening president swig and members of the board. Steve williams on behalf of linda zider. Lives adjacent to the property and to the west and here tonight. Lived there for more than 40 years the big picture for the case. During the past 1 and a half years the sponsor does not live at the site. Filed 5 different permit applications for construction work. That rears building in the minimum rear yard. November 20 between they filed a permit for ateration of subject cottage not to take it down and rebuild arc catched the summary of this permit to the brief as common one in john of 21 they filed number 2 to demo and rebuild a reariard green house temperature is mostly glass structure now reconstructed as a solid new building extension. Exhibit five is the brief and summary of that. After the permit to alter and rehab the cottage was approved the sponsor switched gores in february of this year in 2022, and filed a first permit 3 to demolish the cottage and permit 4 to build a now ad u in the rear yard. And permit 5 was filed in march of this year 2022, to construct a deck in the rear yard on the third floor. Appeal of had permit application is coming before this board in 3 weeks. The sum row of that is attached to exhibit 6. For all of these 5 per mitts the planned construction in this year yard there has been wherevero public out reach no sit downs with neighbors. No heads up to a neighbor over a fence when asked mrs. Zider told it would be used for storage only while the permits were pending the subject cottage is in the rear yard and this is the crucial issue for the board this is unauthorized unit defined by planning. That is a fact. And there is in dub about this fact. Planning code section 317b13 defines unauthorized units a room or rooms built without permits used as a separate living or sleeping space inspect from residential units on the same property. And inspect means, the space has inspect access. Does not require entering the other units on the property or no open or visual connection to another unit on the property for that unit again that is satisfied here. Nervous confirm the cottage has been occupied. The sponsors have confirmed by declaration the cottage least used as a sleeping space and that bring its within the defy nifgz unauthorized unit. The units are considered a resource to be protected. If you serve on the board in part to protect Affordable Housing now is your chance. General plan and planning code of section 317a made clear the units part of the Housing Stock other greatest source of rental andk seszable residential units and a public hearing for cu authorization is required prior to the approval of any permit that might remove existing housing this subject permit would. The department was not told this this unauthorized unit had previously been used as annual inspect living or sleeping space. Planning was told this is a garden shed. So lets look at the form used by planning to make the determination of whether or not unauthorized unit is there. This is the udu unauthorized unit check list part of the Research Planning does to determine if an unauthorized unit is present. You see from the form the first question is what i explained to the board. Does this meeting space meet the physical independence describe in the planning code 317b13. Yes. The department agreed with my analysis under this section for 317 for independent access. Question 2. Has space used a separate living space. This is where planning provided misinformation. The question is whether the cottage used as a separate or sleeping space. Independent from initial units on the same property. Thats a quote from the statute. The furthermore is marked, no. True answer is, yes the niches and sponsor confirmed the cottage is used as a separate santa fes. Planning asked the right questions and provide incorrect information. A completely different analysis would have and should have occurred if Accurate Information had been provide. This is the analysis that must be done now. Question is the existing unauthorized unit viable for rehab legalization through the dbi process and the planning process . These processes have long been in place now to legalize units. And they have been in place since 2014 at dbi and 2016 at planning. This project must be reviewed to see if that is a viable option. Grant the appeal and save this informly Affordable Housing. And use your common sense judge for yourself look at the exterior photos of the garden shed. It looks residential. As the neighbors testified. And as the sponsors have confirmed has residential doors and windows and look at the interior photos provided by the project sponsor. A finished surfaces. They have dry wall. Sinks. You know it is a living space and the confirmation from the experiences now this has been used as the neighbors said it has over the years for sleeping, living, separate from all the other unitos this lot confirm its is unauthorized unit within the meaning of section 317. Thank you very much. And im available to answer questions you might have. Thank you, we have a question from president swig. Councillor i agree that this is going to come down whether it it is inspect unit or not. Um or a unist which does not um i will ask our City Attorney questions related this. If this is a unit that has been used for residencey i want to qualify that then it seems that you are correct. Or you might be correct. I dont know im think burglar it. What you used inspect unit. What is your definition of inspect unit . Im interested i will ask the same of the City Attorney and then i will ask the same of planning what is your definition of inspect inspect inspect unit that block has been checked you have by Planning Section 317b13 it means access that does in the require entering through another residential unit on the property and no open or visual connection to another unit on the property, it is in the attached to the other units not department on the other units. What i stumbled upon and i agree with your observation in nose terms, it was truly an independent unit it was rented separately and a different tenant than other part of the remining part of the building. And with that, id like to shift my question to mr. Russy and that to help mow with the definition of independent unit and whether an independent unit is manage that has a history being rented separately or may have been used as a residential unit to an existing address. And therefore is less independent or does it merit . Commissioner, i would gnu like to defer answering until we hear from planning and dbi i know well is an issue raised in the appellates brief whether this cottage is even the Square Footage is sufficient to constitute a separate unit below that is required for a minimum unit 123 square feet it might be good to hear from the departments on their view whether or not they view third degree as a dwelling unit. Great. I still look forward to your legal view but had is good advice i let the burden placed on planning. Okay. We have a question from commissioner trasvina. Thank you, and thank you mr. Williams for your presentation. Since i have been here i have seen a lot of the cases that come before us. As issues of communication. Sometimes between the city and the permit hold and sometimes the city and neighbors and sometimes permit hold and neighbors it is apparent from the materials that have been provided there is in the much communication going on in the neighborhood. And you use stated there was no public out reach. I wanted to know what for this proceeding, how much what public out reach is required . And under what authorization is this requirement put in place . Well, for i believe that there was a preapplication meeting required for the deck permit. And it is a common sense thing if you build a new 2 story build nothing the rear yard of your house you should mention it to your neighbors. That did not happen. Neighbors were shocked. Mrs. Zider was at her Vacation Home in tahoe. And if you looked was sent to the board the neighborhood was shocks and surprised by this appearance of you know reconstruction of the rear yard. Building and the proposed ad u. I i read the materials but what i have not heard or what is not Crystal Clear is what the legal requirement is for public out reach and if there is i legal requirement, how much . Manslaughter i cant answer that as far as the ad u i can for the elevated deck permit y. We are not talking about elevated deck permit sir. We are not talking about that. I cant answer farz the ad u i assume the Planning Department recommends public and neighborhood out reach. Im assuming that. If they dont they should. Okay second, you expressed your view that this has been used as a sleeping space and sight the declaration from the Property Owner permit holder. Is there under 317b, is there a threshold or can if someone sleeps there over night and get tired and go for an afternoon and sleep in the shed does this make it a sleeping space or is there a threshold. Does not seem like the declaration you are citing seems oceanal use by a Family Member. Does that is that all that is needed . To qualify as a sleeping space. You know that issue is in the fleshed out. I looked for interceptions in the planning code that is in the fleshed out. But you know certainly there has been more than a Family Member sleeping in the garden shed that you know and then we are going by their declaration the neighbors say people have lived there and the owners are saying no people slept there occasionally we had relatives sleep there and others sleep when they were job hunting that is in the declaration. If you look at the statute the statute says separate living or sleeping space. And looking at the photos thats what this is. Okay. And finally our deputy City Attorney elud