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Abatement Appeals Board upholds Ellis Street order, holds abatement in abeyance until April 15 with fees to be collected
Summary
The Abatement Appeals Board upheld an order of abatement for 6794819 Ellis Street but held enforcement in abeyance until the boardmeeting on April 15, 2015, while staff continues inspections and the owner completes permit work; fees will be assessed.
The San Francisco Abatement Appeals Board on Dec. 17 upheld an order of abatement for 6794819 Ellis Street but agreed to hold enforcement in abeyance until the boardmeeting on April 15, 2015, with all fees assessed.
Rosemary Boskey, chief housing inspector for the Department of Building Inspection, told the board that staff had conducted reinspections on Nov. 26, Dec. 11 and the morning of the hearing and found that transient occupancy on the second and third floors had ceased. Boskey said city inspectors observed safety devices in place and reported that "they filed a building permit with an accurate set of plans yesterday to address removing all the wall partitions that were put in without permit." She recommended continued periodic inspections while the owner completes required work under permit.
Brett Gladstone, attorney for the property owner, confirmed the owner had removed transient occupants promptly after prior hearings and said some limited vehicle maintenance for a taxi fleet is confined to a basement area and is covered by a minor repair permit. Gladstone said his client filed permits this week to legalize long-standing office walls and to remove unpermitted partitions and asked the board to delay recording an order that could cloud title while work proceeds.
Commissioner Walker moved to uphold the order and hold it in abeyance to the April 15, 2015 Abatement Appeals Board meeting. The board approved the motion by unanimous roll-call vote and clarified that all applicable fees were to be collected. The board directed staff to continue regular follow-up inspections to ensure residential use is not reintroduced and to track permit progress.
The April 15 meeting is the next procedural step for monitoring compliance; staff indicated the permit work to remove unpermitted partitions had been filed the day before the hearing and that follow-up inspections will continue.
Details: staff showed photographs of prior unpermitted partitions and bunk beds, reported inspections and an itemized staff bill of approximately $3,000 for enforcement activity, and recommended the abeyance rather than immediate recording of an order so as not to cloud title while work proceeds under permit.
