Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Encroachment Permit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board grants encroachment permit at 1335 Stanyan with conditions after neighbors and applicant debate safety and open-space concerns
Summary
After hearing testimony from the Department of Public Works, neighbors, medical experts and the applicant, the Board of Supervisors disapproved DPW’s denial and granted an encroachment permit for garbage can enclosures at 1335 Stanyan Street, subject to conditions protecting mature plantings, public sidewalk visibility and ongoing maintenance.
The Board of Supervisors on Dec. 9 heard an appeal of the Department of Public Works’ denial of a minor sidewalk encroachment permit for 1335 Stanyan Street and approved granting the permit with conditions.
Background: The property owner, Penny Sempell, applied for an encroachment permit to place covered enclosures for three large garbage cans near a private stairway that connects Clarendon Avenue to a lower block. DPW staff, represented by John Kwong, reviewed the application and said it satisfied technical requirements but recommended denial after neighborhood objections and departmental hearings, concluding the proposed encroachment did not provide “convenience of the public and the neighborhood.”
Public testimony: The hearing drew testimony from neighbors who said the green, largely undeveloped Stanyan right-of-way is a valuable open space and that prior placements of garbage cans had led to animals and scattered debris. Neighbors argued a permanent encroachment would damage mature plantings — especially a large rose bush — create odor and vermin risks, and set an undesirable precedent for private uses of public land. The applicant and medical professionals countered that hauling three heavy cans up 130 vertical feet of stairs each week posed a documented health and safety risk for residents; Dr. Margaret Miller, a physician and public-health specialist, cited OSHA guidance on repetitive lifting and back injury risk.
Board action and conditions: Supervisor Elsberg moved to disapprove DPW’s decision and grant the encroachment permit with amendments imposing specific conditions. The board approved the motion without objection. The enumerated conditions require, in summary: - No mature plantings shall be disturbed in constructing the enclosure; - No encroachment onto the public sidewalk; - The garbage enclosure must be covered and hidden from public view; and - The permittee must maintain the area and keep it clean on an ongoing basis.
Outcome and practical effect: The decision grants the applicant the right to place a small, covered enclosure at a location set out in the record so long as the conditions protecting plantings and public sightlines are met and the permittee maintains the site. DPW and the permittee will implement the design to meet those conditions.
Quotations: John Kwong (DPW) said the departmental review found technical compliance but neighborhood opposition and a failure to meet a convenience criterion. The board accepted a compromise permitting an enclosed, concealed structure that preserves existing mature plantings.
