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Board requires repairs to Mariposa Street stairway begin promptly and finish within 90 days
Summary
The board upheld an abatement order for a two‑story deck and rear stairway found to be dry-rotted and a life-safety issue, modifying the order to require work to begin within 30 days and be completed within 90 days; the decision included assessment of costs.
The Abatement Appeals Board unanimously upheld the order of abatement for the rear stair and deck at the 4-unit property on Mariposa Street (Case No. 6773) and modified the remedy to require that work begin within 30 days and be completed within 90 days. The board also affirmed staff’s assessment of costs.
Rosemarie Boske, the department’s chief housing inspector, told the board the notice of violation dated to February 2004 and that subsequent inspections showed the stair structure was substantially deteriorated and unsafe. Chief building inspector Patrick O'Riordan described the deck as "severely dry rotted" and said the initial abatement focused on life-safety concerns; he said staff had barricaded the deck for safety and planned further enforcement because no final inspection had been scheduled.
The property owner and appellant, Richard Thomas, said he had hired an engineer and a master carpenter and that substantial work was underway; he asked the board for 90 days to complete repairs, citing the structural complexity of the deck that spans roughly 40 feet and serves multiple tenants. "The engineer basically came up with plans that require much of the deck to basically be laterally reinforced," Thomas said, explaining why the repairs would take longer than a simple patch.
Board members balanced the appellant’s need to complete repairs with the department’s concerns about life-safety exposure in an occupied building. Legal staff advised that, where a life-safety hazard exists, the board may modify the order to impose a firm start-and-completion schedule: work must commence within 30 days of service of the decision and be completed within 90 days.
On that basis the board voted unanimously to modify and uphold the order: work must begin within 30 days and be completed within 90 days, and assessments for staff time and enforcement remain in place. The order stands while the owner continues the permitted repair work; staff indicated they will follow up with inspections and that unresolved items could proceed to director’s hearing and further enforcement if the deadlines are not met.
The board’s action preserves immediate life-safety protections while imposing clear time limits on remediation.
