Board upholds planning approval for 1420 Taraval, rejects neighborhood appeal 10-1

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 on June 30 to uphold the Planning Commission’s conditional use authorization for a mixed‑use development at 1420 Taraval Street, allowing demolition of an early 20th‑century house and construction of a four‑story building with three dwelling units and ground‑floor commercial space.

The vote came after a multi‑hour public hearing in which neighborhood groups, preservation advocates and nearby tenants argued the house is a rare surviving example of early Parkside housing, provides “naturally affordable” rent‑controlled housing and that the planned replacement would block narrow side windows at 1414 Taraval that tenants use for light and ventilation. Eileen Vulcan, president of the neighborhood group SPEAK, said the appellant ‘‘believes that the house at 1420 Taraval is guilty of three crimes,’’ listing loss of naturally affordable housing, inappropriate ground‑floor commercial in that block and unequal treatment of West Side historic resources.

Planning…