May 11, 2011 | Board of Appeals

Board of Appeals - May 11, 2011

BOARD OF APPEALS

CITY & COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO

MEETING MINUTES - WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011

5:00 P.M., CITY HALL, ROOM 416,

ONE DR. CARLTON B. GOODLETT PLACE

PRESENT: President Kendall Goh, Vice President Michael Garcia, Commissioner Frank Fung and Commissioner Chris Hwang. Commissioner Tanya Peterson arrived at 6:30 p.m.

Francesca Gessner, Deputy City Attorney, Office of the City Attorney (OCA); Scott Sanchez, Zoning Administrator (ZA); Joseph Duffy, Senior Building Inspector, Department of Building Inspection (DBI); Jarvis Murray, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Division of Taxis and Accessible Services (SFMTA, DTAS); Dr. Johnson Ojo, Department of Public Health (DPH); Cynthia Goldstein, Executive Director; Victor Pacheco, Legal Assistant.

(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 items, your opportunity to address the Board will be afforded when the item is reached in the meeting with one exception. When the agenda item has already been reviewed in a public hearing at which members of the public were allowed to testify and the Board has closed the public hearing, your opportunity to address the Board must be exercised during the Public Comment portion of the calendar. Each member of the public may address the Board for up to three minutes. If it is demonstrated that comments by the public will exceed 15 minutes, the President may continue Public Comment to another time during the meeting.

SPEAKERS: None.

(2) COMMISSIONER COMMENTS & QUESTIONS:

SPEAKERS: None.

(3) ADOPTION OF MINUTES:

Discussion and possible adoption of the April 20, 2011 minutes.

ACTION: Upon motion by President Goh, the Board voted 4-0-1 (Commissioner Peterson absent) to adopt the April 20, 2011 minutes.

SPEAKERS: None.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None.

(4) ADDENDUM ITEMS:

(4a) JURISDICTION REQUESTS:

Subject property at

171 Lee Avenue

. Letter from John Chow, attorney for Siu Ping Yu, requestor, asking that the Board take jurisdiction over BPA Nos. 2009/11/12/1083 and 2009/12/24/3869, which were issued on Nov. 16, 2009 and Dec. 30, 2009, respectively. The appeal periods ended Dec. 01, 2009 and Jan. 14, 2010, respectively. Permit Holder: Chio Leng Cheong. Project, 1^st permit: 2^nd floor remodel; add one bathroom; remodel existing bathroom; alterations per plan. Project, 2^nd permit: add four bedrooms, one study room, and four bathrooms on 1^st floor.

ACTION: Upon motion by Vice President Garcia, the Board voted 2-2-1 (President Goh and Commissioner Hwang dissented; Commissioner Peterson absent) to deny the requests. Lacking the three votes needed to pass, the motion failed. With no further motion made, the requests were denied by operation of law.

SPEAKERS: Wing Chin Wang, agent for appellant; John Chow, attorney for appellant; Chio Leng Cheong, permit holder; Li Yun Yuan, agent for permit holder; Joseph Duffy, DBI; Scott Sanchez, ZA.

PUBLIC COMMENT: Shirley Li spoke in support of the permit holder.

(4b) JURISDICTION REQUEST:

Subject property at

2344 Market Street

. Letter from Jeremy Paul, agent for Greg Bronstein, requestor, asking that the Board take jurisdiction over a Notice of Violation and Penalty issued by the Zoning Administrator on May 07, 2010. The appeal period ended May 22, 2010, and the jurisdiction request was filed at the Board office on April 08, 2011. NOV&P: noncompliance with conditions of approval requiring all noise to be contained within the facility.

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner Fung, the Board voted 4-0-1 (Commissioner Peterson absent) to deny the Jurisdiction Request.

SPEAKERS: Scott Sanchez, ZA; appellant did not appear.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None.

ITEMS (5A) & (5B) SHALL BE HEARD TOGETHER:

(5A) APPEAL NO. 10-111

SIU PING YU, Appellant(s)

vs.

DEPT. OF BUILDING INSPECTION, Respondent

171 Lee Avenue

Protesting the issuance on Oct. 05, 2010, to Chio Leng Cheong, Permit to Alter a Building (revision to BPA No. 2009/11/12/1083; on 2^nd floor; relocation of bathroom; add storage room; replace 3 windows; revised approved master bath; add 2 X 4 drop ceiling joist to install insulation; no exterior work).

APPLICATION NO. 2010/07/15/6753.

FOR HEARING TODAY.

Administratively Withdrawn.

(5B) APPEAL NO. 10-112

SIU PING YU, Appellant(s)

vs.

DEPT. OF BUILDING INSPECTION, Respondent

171 Lee Avenue

Protesting the issuance on Oct. 05, 2010, to Chio Leng Cheong, Permit to Alter a Building (revision to BPA No. 2009/12/24/3869; revise layout of rooms per plan; add new laundry area and new water heater; no exterior work).

APPLICATION NO. 2010/07/15/6761.

FOR HEARING TODAY.

Administratively Withdrawn.

(6) APPEAL NO. 10-122

FARHAD GOLSHAN, Appellant(s)

vs.

MUNICIPAL TRANSPORTATION AGENCY, DIVISION OF TAXIS AND ACCESSIBLE SERVICES, Respondent

Appealing the revocation on Oct. 18, 2010, of Taxicab Medallion No. 871.

FOR HEARING TODAY.

ACTION: Upon motion by President Goh, the Board voted 4-0-1 (Commissioner Peterson absent) to continue the matter to May 25, 2011.

SPEAKERS: None.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None.

(7) APPEAL NO. 11-033

NIZAR ASKNDAFI

dba “MMC WINE & SPIRITS”, Appellant(s)

vs.

DEPT. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Respondent

615 Sutter Street

Appealing a twenty-five (25) day suspension of a Tobacco Product Sales Establishment Permit, imposed on March 09, 2011. Reason(s) for suspension: selling tobacco products to minors.

DIRECTOR’S CASE NO. FD-011-20.

FOR HEARING TODAY.

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner Hwang, the Board voted 3-2 (Vice President Garcia and Commissioner Fung dissented) to deny the appeal and uphold the department.

SPEAKERS: Nizar Askndafi, appellant; Johnson Ojo, DPH.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None.

(8) APPEAL NO. 11-032

TASO & CELIA MANITSAS, Appellant(s)

vs.

DEPT. OF BUILDING INSPECTION, Respondent

611 Jones Street

Appealing the imposition of penalty on March 11, 2011, for construction work done without a permit.

APPLICATION NO. 2011/03/11/1914.

FOR HEARING TODAY.

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner Fung, the Board voted 4-0-1 (Commissioner Peterson absent) to grant the appeal and reduce the penalty to two times the regular fee.

SPEAKERS: Joseph Duffy, DBI; Taso Manitsas, appellant.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None.

(9) APPEAL NO. 11-030

ANN L. JUNG & JOHN CHEONG, Appellant(s)

vs.

DEPT. OF BUILDING INSPECTION, Respondent

PLANNING DEPT. APPROVAL

1261-1263 Connecticut Street

Protesting the issuance on Feb. 25, 2011, to Murphy Trust, Permit to Erect a Building (two-story, storage facility with 5,000sf of ground floor area).

APPLICATION NO. 200908074397S.

FOR HEARING TODAY.

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner Fung, the Board voted 4-1 (Commissioner Peterson dissented) to continue the matter to June 8, 2011 to allow the parties time to discuss settlement. No additional briefing is allowed. The parties will be given three minutes for additional argument at hearing.

SPEAKERS: John Cheong, appellant; Ann Jung, appellant; Rodrigo Santos, agent for permit holder; Scott Sanchez, ZA; Joseph Duffy, DBI.

PUBLIC COMMENT: Barry Taranto spoke in support of the appellants.

(10) APPEAL NO. 11-031

MARTIN MACK’S

BAR & RESTAURANT, Appellant(s)

vs.

ZONING ADMINISTRATOR

1566-1568 Haight Street

, aka

1576-1580 Haight Street

Appealing a Notice of Violation and Penalty dated August 24, 2009, addressed to Maybelle Schumacher Trust and Martin Mack’s Bar & Restaurant, regarding the illegal expansion of restaurant and bar space without the required Conditional Use (CU) authorization, and violation of the conditions of approval from a previous CU authorization.

JURISDICTION GRANTED MARCH 09, 2011.

FOR HEARING TODAY.

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner Fung, the Board voted 5-0 to grant the appeal and reduce the penalty to $100 per day, to run from September 8, 2009 to November 24, 2009.

SPEAKERS: Brian Molony, appellant; Scott Sanchez, ZA.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None.

ADJOURNMENT.

There being no further business, President Goh adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m.