Board grants rehearing on unit-count dispute at 498 Hoffman Avenue, sets March hearing

The San Francisco Board of Appeals voted Dec. 12 to grant a rehearing in a dispute over the legal dwelling-unit count at 498 Hoffman Avenue, ordering new briefing and setting a hearing for March 20, 2013.

Attorney Alan Soule told the Board that new PG&E records and a Department of Building Inspection Certificate of Final Completion and Occupancy dated 1999 list three dwelling units at the property and that those items could not reasonably have been obtained before the November hearing. Soule said the PG&E documents—showing multiple electric and gas meters—support reopening the case to prevent a manifest injustice.

Scott Sanchez of the Planning Department said meter records alone are not dispositive proof of legal units and noted the timing of receipt: records in the appellant’s package bear dates near the end of November and early December. Sanchez reiterated that the Department relies on DBI records and that, in prior reviews, the available permit history indicated a reduction from three to two units.

Board members discussed options for verification and suggested the DBI unit count verification process be completed before any rehearing or that the rehearing be conditioned on that verification. The Board moved to grant the rehearing on grounds of possible manifest injustice and scheduled the hearing for March 20, 2013, with new briefing to follow.

Next steps: the Board will accept revised briefs and DBI will undertake unit-count verification; the rehearing will address whether historical permitting and meter evidence establishes a lawful third dwelling unit.