Board upholds three retaining-wall orders despite disputed survey evidence

The Abatement Appeals Board considered three related appeals tied to a failed retaining wall between 28 Hill Point Avenue and two adjacent Parnassus Avenue properties on Nov. 20, 2024.

DBI staff said field inspections beginning in early 2022 confirmed a retaining wall failure and that owner-initiated over-the-counter permits were incomplete or remained in the filing stage pending structural plans. In each case the department recommended upholding the director's order of abatement and assessment of cost because the unsafe condition persisted and required corrective construction.

Owners and representatives disputed liability and ownership. Noel Carrasco (owner of one Parnassus address) presented a surveyor's report he said showed the wall was on the adjacent owner's property and asked the board to shift responsibility. Owners of 28 Hill Point and their representative said the wall failure stemmed partly from activity on neighboring parcels, that civil litigation and insurance claims were pending, and that rushing reconstruction could impair evidence needed for civil proceedings.

DBI counsel and staff explained departmental practice: when a retaining wall fails near a property line, the department issues NOVs to potentially affected owners and will dismiss an NOV only if undisputed survey evidence is produced that both parties accept. After deliberation and questions about mitigation and timing, the board took three separate roll-call votes and upheld the orders of abatement and assessments of cost for case numbers 6936 (28 Hill Point Ave), 6938 (336 Parnassus Ave) and 6939 (338 Parnassus Ave). Each motion carried unanimously.

Commissioners noted the complexity of ownership disputes and civil litigation but said the board's remit is limited to whether DBI made a procedural error in issuing the NOV; absent undisputed evidence of a mistake, NOVs remain until abatement is complete.