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Neighbors and tenants clash as Board upholds rear‑yard variance at 2523 Steiner by default
Summary
The Board of Appeals reviewed a heavily contested variance for 2523 Steiner that neighbors say would harm light, air and privacy in adjacent rent‑controlled units. Planning Commission had disapproved the related permit; the acting zoning administrator granted a narrowed variance with conditions. The board failed to muster four votes to overturn the variance, so it was upheld by default.
A long, often partisan hearing on Nov. 15 focused on a rear‑yard variance for 2523 Steiner Street. Neighbors and tenant groups argued the proposal would reduce light and air, eliminate or box in existing rear open space, and allow deck occupants to look directly into bedrooms of adjacent rental units.
Appellant Kirk Dinero and multiple tenants presented photographs, 3‑D renderings and a record of the Planning Commission’s prior 4–1 disapproval of the associated building permit. Dinero argued the zoning administrator’s subsequent variance decision conflicted with the Commission’s discretionary denial and that the variance effectively authorized elements (rear decks/terraces) the Commission had rejected. Tenants and neighborhood organizations — including the Pacific Heights Residents Association and several tenant groups — told the board they viewed the…
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