Board upholds variances for 101 Hyde Street project after appeals; variances allow denser corner design

The Board of Appeals on Sept. 2 denied two appeals to variances that allow an L-shaped eight-story residential building at 101 Hyde Street to proceed with reduced rear-yard exposure and an emphasized corner bay-window element.

Appellants John Nolte and Otto Duffy argued the variances skirted protections for livability, window exposure, and historic-district context; Duffy said the project would reduce open-air exposure and could degrade living conditions for nearby residents. "If the variances are not granted, there'll be 28 fewer units... and we might get a better mix," Duffy said, urging stricter literal enforcement of the code.

Project counsel and Planning Department staff said the design was iterative and intended to meet downtown and historic-district design goals: planners noted a prior mitigated negative declaration under CEQA and that the project meets the affordable-housing requirement in Planning Code section 4.15 (12% affordability), yielding 10 affordable units overall and three additional affordable units enabled by the variance.

Planning representative Scott Sanchez and project counsel described the corner bay-window treatment as a modern interpretation of allowed bay windows and said the aggregate fenestration area is not greater than code would permit; the variances were recommended as modest, design-oriented exceptions. Commissioner Fung moved to deny the appeals (i.e., uphold the ZA/Planning decisions and variances) on the basis that the five variance criteria were met; the motion carried 4–0.

The project can proceed under the approved variances; appellants may pursue other administrative or legislative avenues if they seek code changes.