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Commission curtails Broderick addition, denies side-yard encroachment after large neighborhood protest
Summary
After hours of testimony from Marina residents who said a proposed expansion at 3700 Broderick would erase characteristic side-yard open space and block property-line windows, the Planning Commission granted a restrained approval: it allowed limited rear-yard extensions (first and second floors) and a fourth-floor roof/top change but denied further encroachment into the side/rear open spaces. The discretionary review was upheld and the related variance was granted conditionally; the motion passed 6-1 (Commissioner Wu opposed).
The commission heard an extended discretionary-review hearing on a proposed multi-floor expansion at 3700 Broderick Street. Department staff described the project's side and rear additions and recommended approval after Residential Design Team review. Dozens of adjacent neighbors and long-time Marina residents filed discretionary-review letters and urged denial, arguing the block's garden-like side yards are a distinctive neighborhood pattern that provides light and air to adjacent properties and must be preserved. They argued the project would eliminate an 8-foot side yard that functions as the primary light source for several rooms and set a harmful precedent if allowed.
Project sponsors and the architects said the changes respond to accessibility needs (an elevator for aging owners), would restore historic facade elements, and had been adjusted to reduce massing; they proposed post-hearing modifications that included stepping the addition back and removing a third-story element. Commissioners carefully weighed the history, Sanborn maps and the existence of nonconforming lot-line windows; several members said the corridor of open space between the two houses functions effectively as a rear-yard light well and merits protection.
The commission voted to take discretionary review, deny the proposed encroachment into the side/rear open area (no new encroachment beyond the existing rear-wall footprint), allow limited squaring off at first and second floors and to permit the fourth-floor rooftop/top modifications proposed; that motion passed 6-1 with Commissioner Wu dissenting. The zoning administrator indicated he was inclined to grant the variance as modified; final decision documents were to be prepared and circulated.
