Board of Appeals denies rehearing request over wireless pole at 2215 Leavenworth

The San Francisco Board of Appeals denied a request for rehearing of an upheld permit for a personal wireless service facility at 2215 Leavenworth during its Aug. 12 meeting.

Randall and Anne Brubaker asked the board to rehear appeal No. 15-074, alleging that the Department of Public Works and Planning applied Article 25 inconsistently and that newly changed conditions — notably additional carrier equipment they say has been added to a city pole — create safety and view concerns. Randall Brubaker argued the pole is “overly laden” and that the new configurations could worsen private views and public safety.

Jim Hurd, representing Verizon Wireless and Extenet Systems, told the board the rehearing standard requires new or different material facts showing manifest injustice. He said the appellants relied on a CPUC regulation (General Order 95), which he characterized as a state regulatory matter outside the city’s permit standards, and that the examples cited were not new facts that would change the permit outcome.

Carla Short of the Department of Public Works and board counsel also told commissioners they did not see new material information that would justify rehearing. Commissioners debated whether subsequent vendor activity on the pole could constitute a change in condition but several members said the rehearing threshold had not been met.

A motion to deny the rehearing request carried (recorded in the hearing as a 3 to 0 vote). The board recorded that earlier the permit had been upheld on code-compliance grounds.

The board’s action leaves the underlying permit decision intact; the appellants’ arguments focused on how added equipment and differing treatment of similar poles affect views and safety but did not persuade commissioners that the administrative rehearing standard was met.