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Board approves revised plans to legalize roof at 40730 Fifth Avenue after code corrections
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Appeals granted an appeal and approved revised plans to legalize a roof over an existing light well at 40730 Fifth Avenue after the permit holder submitted fire‑rating corrections and departments recommended approval.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on March 19 granted the appeal in case 20-468 and approved revised plans to legalize a roof over an existing light well at 40730 Fifth Avenue, provided the revised plans are incorporated into the permit.
The board said the permit holder submitted drawings addressing required fire rating and support protection after the matter was continued on Feb. 12 so the owner could work with the Department of Building Inspection (DBI). Planning and DBI both told the board the updated design meets minimum code standards.
Deputy Zoning Administrator Natalia Fassi told the board Planning had reviewed the revised plans and found them “fully code complying,” that the work did not trigger neighborhood notification under the planning code and that the design “is consistent with the residential design guidelines.” Joseph Ospital of DBI told commissioners the submitted solution would bring the unpermitted construction into compliance by wrapping supporting posts with Portland cement plaster, adding gypsum board to the underside of the roofing and applying cement fiber board as the finished layer to achieve the required one‑hour rating to the property line.
Sam Kwong, the architect for the permit holder, said he had worked with the building inspector and submitted drawings showing how the roof can be made compliant; Kwong asked the board to deny the appeal because the corrections addressed the department’s earlier concerns. Appellant Jonah Yee said he had received the drawings by email about a week earlier and repeated concerns about shadowing and sightline impacts, but conceded the revised filing addressed the building‑code issue.
After questions from commissioners about distribution of the revised plans and whether the appellant had been able to review them, the board voted 4–0 to grant the appeal and issue the permit conditioned on the revised plans being adopted into the permit record. President John Trevino said he would follow up with the permit holder on next steps.
The board’s action formalizes the technical corrections DBI identified at the prior hearing; it does not address non‑code neighbor concerns about shadows and privacy, which commissioners said fall outside DBI’s code review. The permit file and revised plans will be incorporated into the official record and the board directed staff to confirm plan delivery to the parties.
Details: Permit no. 202412116584; notice of violation no. 2024429869; permit originally issued 12/12/2024 and continued by the board on 02/12/2025 so the permit holder could submit code corrections.
