Board of Appeals upholds planning denial for wider garage door at Telegraph Hill after split vote
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Summary
The Board of Appeals voted 3–2 to uphold the Planning Department’s denial of a permit to widen a garage door at 1406 Montgomery Street, after hearing competing arguments about neighborhood design rules and a homeowner’s disability-related need for additional clearance.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Jan. 14 upheld the Planning Department’s determination denying a permit to widen the garage door at 1406 Montgomery Street, voting 3–2 to leave the decision in place.
Planning staff told the board the proposed increase — from 12 feet 6 inches to 14 feet 2 inches — would conflict with the city’s residential design guidelines and could degrade the pedestrian realm and neighborhood character. Tina Tam of the Planning Department said the guidelines limit most garage doors in residential neighborhoods to roughly 8 to 12 feet and that even though the planning code allows up to 16 feet in some circumstances, the department saw a negative visual impact that outweighed convenience.
The applicant, homeowner John Lee, speaking with counsel Brett Gladstone, said he needs more clearance because severe arthritis in both hips has left him permanently limited. Lee provided a letter from his UCSF surgeon documenting his condition and said the extra opening would allow him and a companion to park more safely. Disability and fair-housing advocates, including Bob Planthold, urged the board to consider state and local fair-housing obligations and argued the department had not analyzed accommodations adequately.
Architect Jeff Burris described structural and seismic work previously completed on the building and said the proposed wider opening, and associated wide-flange beams, were feasible and intended to allow a second car to be stowed without extensive additional work. Planning countered that the project could be accomplished through alternatives — for example, reconfiguring interior depth or using a single accessible space — and said the American with Disabilities Act does not compel alterations to single-family homes.
Commissioners split along lines weighing neighborhood design against accommodation and precedent. During roll call on a motion from Commissioner Michael Garcia to overrule the zoning administrator’s determination, the board recorded votes with President Frank Fung and Commissioner Tanya Peterson voting aye and Commissioners Kendall Goh and Rafael Mandelmann voting no; the motion failed because the city charter requires four votes to overturn a department action. The board therefore left the planning denial intact.
The board’s action preserves the Planning Department’s interpretation of the residential design guidelines for the Telegraph Hill area; the record notes competing legal citations raised by counsel, including references to planning code section 144 and local fair-housing provisions, which were discussed but not dispositive in the vote.
The board said it would adopt findings consistent with its standard for overturning departmental actions at a later time. The matter concluded with the letter of determination upheld by a 3–2 vote.
