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Board of Appeals denies rehearing request over removed bathroom at 34 Baltimore Way
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Appeals denied a rehearing request on Feb. 18, 2015 related to an unpermitted second bathroom at 34 Baltimore Way. The Board voted 4–0 to deny rehearing after reviewing a new plumber's memo and photographs presented by tenants' representatives and hearing the permit holder's response.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Feb. 18 denied a rehearing request from tenants at 34 Baltimore Way who sought to revisit the Board’s Jan. 28 decision upholding a Department of Building Inspection permit.
Courtney Brown, a law student representing the tenants under the supervision of attorney Raquel Fox, told the Board she had two exhibits — a one-page memo from a plumber and photographs — showing that the bathroom at issue had adequate space for required fixtures. "This is a manifest injustice. Removing someone's bathroom, especially a family of 6, who's now left with only 1 bathroom, is creating intolerable living conditions," Brown said, noting two household members have diabetes.
Permit holder Tiffany O'con responded that she had not had adequate opportunity to review the new exhibits and questioned the credentials of the plumber presented by the tenants. O'con said a licensed plumber she hired found insufficient clearance in the existing configuration when a shower door was open and that she removed the bathroom after a complaint. She told the Board she was only willing to reinstall fixtures "if I'm not gonna be required to then take it out," citing the cost and uncertainty of reopening walls and permitting work.
Joseph Duffy, senior building inspector for the Department of Building Inspection (DBI), told the Board that DBI's notice of violation offers owners the option to legalize or remove unpermitted work. Duffy said DBI issued a permit to remove the unpermitted bathroom and to legalize the rear deck under a separate permit and that DBI had not seen plans showing how the bathroom could be legalized.
After discussion, Vice President Darrell Honda moved to deny the rehearing request. Commissioners Frank Fung, Anne Lazarus and Bobby Wilson voted "Aye". The motion to deny carried 4–0. The Board directed that a notice of decision and order be released.
The ruling preserves the prior decision upholding the permit; Board staff will issue the formal notice of decision with the order denying rehearing.
