Board grants rehearing in Heaven Mini Theater case, schedules Oct. 15 session

The San Francisco City Board of Appeals voted unanimously to grant a rehearing in an enforcement matter involving 483 Broadway, known in the record as the Heaven Mini Theater case, after the appellant’s counsel said a continuance had been authorized but not properly formalized.

Attorney Terrence Hallinan told the board he had asked the zoning official for a continuance because his client was out of town and his wife was undergoing cancer surgery; Hallinan said there was a miscommunication about scheduling that led to the appellant’s absence at the July 16 hearing. “...this is a significant issue. It does involve First Amendment issues,” Hallinan said, asking the board to hear the case on its facts rather than dismiss it on procedural grounds.

Planning staff told the board the zoning administrator does not have unilateral authority to grant continuances for calendared items and that staff had no record of an approved continuance. Commissioners debated whether a procedural miscommunication should block a merits review and several members said that when misunderstandings occur they prefer to let the facts decide.

Vice President Frank Fung moved to grant the rehearing; the board voted 4–0 to grant the rehearing and directed staff to set briefing and hearing schedules. The board and parties agreed an initial rehearing date of Oct. 15 would allow sufficient time for filings and for staff review of any supplemental materials.

The rehearing will revisit the notice-of-violation and related factual claims; no new merits finding was made at the Aug. 13 meeting.