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Board requires 42-inch glass guardrail on Filbert Street addition, corrects an elevation error
Summary
Facing privacy and glazing concerns from neighbors, the Board of Appeals upheld a Filbert Street vertical addition permit but required a glass guardrail at a 42-inch height as a compromise and requested corrected elevation drawings.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Feb. 21 upheld the permit for a vertical addition at 1820'18 22 Filbert Street but imposed a condition requiring a higher glass guardrail as a neighborly compromise.
Neighbors Klaus and Rosetta Zimmerman (represented by Mark Toppacher) asked the board to address what they said were discrepancies in approved drawings and expressed concerns about increased glazing, privacy loss and potential noise from a new top-floor deck. Their representative argued the approved set of documents showed changes (including an apparent additional 30 inches of height in one elevation) that heightened privacy concerns.
The permit-holder's counsel, Jeremy Paul, acknowledged a single approved elevation drawing contained an error; he said the project will be built with the correct 2-in-12 roof pitch and offered to correct the drawing. As a compromise to address the Zimmermans' privacy concerns, the permit-holder offered a guardrail enclosed in glass higher than a standard picket rail.
Planning and DBI staff confirmed the plan-notification process had been followed and explained that second means-of-egress questions do not, in this 2-unit configuration, necessarily require another exit. After discussion about neighborhood pattern, privacy, and feasibility, Commissioner Fung moved to uphold the permit with a condition converting the open picket rail to a glass rail set to 42 inches (the board equated 42 inches with a higher guardrail compromise). The motion passed unanimously, 4'0to 0.
The board asked staff to correct the erroneous elevation drawing and include the guardrail condition in the permit documents.
