Board upholds Planning Commission approval for 3832 Eighteenth Street after neighborsappeal

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors on Tuesday affirmed the Planning Commission's conditional-use approval for a proposed five-story group-housing building at 3832 Eighteenth Street, rejecting an appeal from nearby neighbors who argued the project was too tall, would cast significant shadows and did not meet group-housing rules.

Neighbors and the project sponsor presented competing technical, design and legal arguments during a public hearing that lasted more than two hours. The board voted 11-0 to approve the commission's decision and table related motions that would have directed staff to make alternate findings.

The project would replace a two-story single-family house with what the sponsor described as a five- or six-story building providing 19 group-housing units, three of which would be below-market-rate (BMR) units. Planning staff said the proposal used the state density-bonus program and required waivers for height and other development standards; the commission approved a modified version of the project after…