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Board holds Ellis Street tourist-hotel use in abeyance with strict vacate, safety and permit conditions
Summary
For Case No. 6794819 (Ellis Street), the board voted unanimously to hold the abatement order in abeyance to Dec. 17 provided the owner meets conditions including 7‑ and 21‑day vacate timelines, filing permits within seven days, weekly inspections, no car repair or advertising, installation of CO sensors and fire extinguishers, and physically closing off second- and third-floor residential access.
The Abatement Appeals Board unanimously approved a motion to hold the order of abatement for Case No. 6794819 (Ellis Street) in abeyance, setting specific conditions and timelines intended to address what staff described as an unpermitted conversion of a commercial garage into a tourist-hotel or hostel use.
Chief Housing Inspector Rosemarie Boske presented photos and a floor plan showing third-floor guestrooms, bunk-bed configurations, blocked or missing required fenestration and ventilation, egress issues, lack of sprinklers and insufficient sanitary facilities. Boske said the use appears to be an R‑1 occupancy without the necessary life‑safety features and said staff “would like to have this use vacated.”
Appellant counsel Brett Gladstone (Hans and Bridal law firm) said the Planning Department might accept a hostel-type use in the future but that outstanding notices of violation must be cured. Gladstone offered a list of stipulations his client would accept, including closing third-floor entries, weekly DBI inspections, no car repair while people are present, ceasing advertising, filing permits to remove illegal work, and distributing handheld fire extinguishers. He cautioned that immediate recording of an abatement order could prompt a lender foreclosure and raised a subordination mechanism that could facilitate financing for required repairs.
The board’s motion—moved by Commissioner Walker and seconded by Vice President Melgar—held the order in abeyance to the December 17 meeting on these conditions: within seven days all transient occupants must be vacated; within 21 days all longer-term residential occupants must be vacated; building-permit applications to cure the notices of violation must be filed within seven days; no car repair, no advertising of unauthorized uses, no new construction; carbon monoxide sensors and hand‑held fire extinguishers deployed immediately; and the owner must close off access to the third floor, the residential portion of the second floor, and elevator access to those areas. Staff was instructed to conduct weekly inspections to verify compliance. If the conditions are not met, the order will record as provided by the motion.
The board voted unanimously on the motion.
