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Board upholds Crossroads Trading ground-floor egress permit despite neighbor safety concerns
Summary
The Board of Appeals denied an appeal by the owner of 2135 Market Street opposing a ground-floor egress permit issued to Crossroads Trading Company at 2123 Market Street, concluding the permit addressed only ground-floor egress and not second-floor ballet-school exiting; the board advised code enforcement or fire-department complaint if upstairs exiting is unsafe.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Sept. 26 upheld a Department of Building Inspection permit that added a secondary egress to the ground-floor commercial space at 2123 Market Street, rejecting an appeal focused on whether that work should also resolve second-floor egress for an upstairs ballet school.
Appellant Ryan Patterson told the board the ground-floor permit fails to secure a second means of egress for the ballet school's assembly use upstairs, which he said currently relies on a temporary license across the appellant's property and a court decision that found no recorded easement. Patterson warned that an unsafe assembly egress could lead to the fire department closing the ballet school.
Gabriel Block, CEO of Crossroads Trading Company and the ground-floor tenant who filed the permit, said the work before the board was limited to the ground-floor tenant's required second exit and was properly approved by DBI plan check. He maintained that Crossroads does not include the ballet school's occupant load in its calculations and that the ballet-school egress and any private license are separate civil matters.
DBI inspector Joe Duffy confirmed the permit was approved through normal plan-check procedures and advised that complaints about second-floor exiting should be filed with DBI or the fire department for inspection. The board focused on the narrow scope of the permit before them and not on broader property-title questions.
Commissioner Ann Lazarus moved to deny the appeal and uphold the ground-floor permit on the basis it was properly issued. The board recorded votes on the motion and carried it, upholding DBI's approval. Commissioners noted that if the temporary license or agreement giving the ballet access across the adjacent property is invalid or expires, the ballet or owner may need to take additional actions to provide compliant egress in the future.
