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Board Holds Abatement in Abeyance for 1600 Clement Street; Orders Repairs to Begin Within 30 Days
Summary
The Abatement Appeals Board on Oct. 21, 2020, denied an appeal by the owner of 1600 Clement St. but held the order in abeyance for 90 days on condition that hazardous repairs start within 30 days and be completed within 90; board urged DBI to waive assessable costs where authorized.
The San Francisco Abatement Appeals Board on Oct. 21, 2020, denied an appeal from the owner of 1600 Clement Street but placed DBI’s order of abatement in abeyance for 90 days, provided repairs to address life-safety hazards begin within 30 days and can be completed in 90. The board also directed DBI to consider waiving assessable costs it has authority to waive.
Chief Inspector Mauricio Hernandez presented the case for the Department of Building Inspection, identifying the case as notice of violation 202037031 and saying an inspector visited the site June 10, 2020, and saw structural and plumbing work — including replacement of rotted joists — performed without a building permit. "The notice of violation I'm presenting is 202037031," Hernandez said, and added DBI treated the case as a life-safety concern.
Owner Sophie Lau told the board she pulled an emergency plumbing permit in June 2020 after a shower leak in Unit 105 and later sought building permits but encountered clerical and COVID-related delays. Lau said the plumbing rough inspection passed and said she had been working with inspectors and an architect; she asked the board for a 90-day extension and asked that assessed costs be reversed, calling some fees duplicated. "We really should not be penalized," Lau said, requesting additional time to finish the work.
Tenant representative Jamie Uziel urged the board to uphold the order, saying tenants in the affected unit have been without a working shower for four and a half months and describing a documented pattern of landlord inaction. "The tenants of this unit have not had a working shower in their unit for 4 and a half months," Uziel said, and asked that penalties be enforced to spur repairs.
DBI acknowledged pandemic-related delays but said the department allowed emergency plumbing work and encouraged the owner to obtain an engineer of record and inspections. Deputy City Attorney Brad Russi outlined the board’s options and described an abeyance approach that the board adopted: deny the appeal and uphold the order but hold it in abeyance for 90 days provided corrective work commences within 30 days and may be completed within 90 days, and urge DBI to waive costs it is authorized to waive. The board voted unanimously to carry that motion.
Under the board’s action, the order remains in place but will not be recorded as an active enforcement lien if the owner begins corrective work within the 30-day window and completes repairs within the 90-day abeyance period; DBI representatives said monthly monitoring fees may still apply if the board’s conditions are not met.
The board’s decision balances the department’s life-safety concerns and the owner’s representations about permit filings and COVID-era delays. DBI will monitor compliance and report back per its enforcement process.
