Board approves revised 575 Belvedere plans despite neighbors’ objections
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Summary
After extended public comment about sunlight, ventilation and bulk, the Board of Appeals approved a revised permit for 575 Belvedere Street on Oct. 10, 2018, adopting plans dated Oct. 2 and conditioning issuance on those revised documents.
San Francisco’s Board of Appeals voted Oct. 10 to allow a horizontal addition at 575 Belvedere Street to proceed on the basis of revised plans dated Oct. 2, 2018, after a long public comment period in which nearby residents urged the board to reconsider the project’s scale.
Neighbors Steven and Lisonbee Kubik and many others described potential loss of sunlight, ventilation and the creation of a "tunnel" effect behind the block’s single‑family homes. Steven Kubik said the expansion “will place us in a tunnel, dwarfed between two much larger looming structures, severely restricting natural sunlight and ventilation.” Several neighbors and local preservation advocates asked the board either to reopen the project to discretionary review or to require a redesign that increases the side yard setback.
The property owner, Daniel Buza, and his partner Calvin Shee said the design had been scaled back in response to neighborhood concerns: Buza said the project eliminated a previously proposed fourth‑story vertical addition, reduced the size of upper floors and stepped the addition so that 50% of the work is on the ground level. Architect Robert Fink and the project team presented a solar study and diagrams showing the changes.
Planning staff (Zoning Administrator Scott Sanchez) said the permit application complies with applicable planning code and residential design guidelines and that the planning commission had previously declined to take discretionary review, noting the sponsor had addressed requested changes. After debate, the board adopted the revised plans as the record for a special‑conditions permit, and the motion to issue the permit with those revisions passed on the floor.
The board directed staff to note the revised plans in the permit record; parties were told the project will proceed subject to the adopted drawings and any necessary staff review of submitted addenda.
