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San Francisco Board of Appeals denies jurisdiction in neighbor fence dispute
Summary
The Board of Appeals denied a jurisdictional appeal from neighbor Peter Birmingham over two fence permits for a property owned by Douglas Durkin, finding the requester did not provide an adequate excuse for a late filing; the board voted 4–0 to deny jurisdiction.
Vice President Kendall Goh and the San Francisco Board of Appeals on June 16 denied a jurisdictional request from neighbor Peter Birmingham seeking review of two fence permits issued for a property owned by Douglas Durkin.
Birmingham told the board he feared animals would become trapped by a narrow space behind the fence, saying, "I'd like you to take down this pin fence because if any animals fall in behind this fence, they're going to die straight away." He also told the panel he had physical health problems, including a broken ankle, and said that affected his ability to file on time.
Scott Sanchez of the Planning Department told the board there were two permits: a 2009 permit for most of the fence and a later permit to close a remaining six-foot gap. Sanchez said none of the fence exceeds 10 feet in height and therefore did not trigger discretionary notification under Section 3.11 of the Planning Code; a block-book notation (DBN) courtesy notice was mailed to Birmingham on April 1, 2010.
Mister Soriano, counsel for the permit holder, told the board the jurisdiction request lacked "adequate reasons" for the late filing and characterized Birmingham's actions as part of a long-standing dispute. Lawrence Kornfield of the Department of Building Inspection noted that the building code does not require special posting or notice for fences and explained code expectations about light, ventilation and maintenance at property lines.
During deliberations commissioners repeatedly said the record did not supply a persuasive, timely reason to take jurisdiction. Commissioner Frank Fung moved to deny the jurisdictional request. The board voted 4–0 (Vice President Goh and Commissioners Fung, Michael Garcia and Chris Huang voting Aye; President Tanya Peterson absent) to deny jurisdiction.
The board did not order removal or alteration of the fence; the action taken was a denial of jurisdiction over the late appeal. The board's decision ends the board-level jurisdictional review, though other remedies or processes referenced by counsel or in the building code discussion remain separate from this ruling.
