Transcripts For SFGTV Abatement Appeals Board 92315 20151009

Good morning today is tuesday, september 22, 2015. This is the regular meeting of the abatement appeals board the first item on the agenda is roll call. Commissioner clinch commissioner mar commissioner mccray commissioner walker and commissioner mar commissioner president melgar is excused next item to the oath all parties giving testimony please stand and raise your right hand do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony youre about to give will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth . To the best of your acknowledge okay. Thank you you may be seated the next item is item c one 2 c 16 and these items shall be heard together first, this is a request for rehearing and the aa b will hear the requests on the items together the aa b in some or all of the cases they will proceeded to rehear the cases the initial request appellant come forward has 7 minutes. Sorry the case numbers are 6804, 2846 washington street heard on may 2015 6805, 2856 washington street and 6806, 2846 washington street and another one i apologize the 2858 the request for rehearing on this case washington have the 2862, and case no. 680823 to divisadero street. Good morning melinda with reuben, junius rose im here representing the owners of 7 condo unit in two separate buildings those owners are individually requested a rehearing i have with me stan and bret whos a licensed Structural Engineer asking. So for a rehearing on the basis of abatement orders ive paced a map on the monitor as you can see and you may be familiar the properties that have been issued those abatement orders are adjacent and a common browned vs. Did care the appointment order unfairly asked the appellants to pay fines and repair the retaining walls and therefore the divisadero is are not only the walls should not be the sole factor, however, there is previous and new evidence to show portions of the wall are on divisadero it is the Legal Authority previously unavailable Historical Documents that speak to the original of the wall and the images in a survey document where if so on divisadero we provided a court case with a simple the Chinese Hospital association that is attached to our supplemental it is the Legal Standard for a pair of right lanes constructed for repair work and the survey data it represents o representatives a legal error and bret our Structural Engineer to speak to new evidence regarding the Historical Documents and stan to address new address for this case thank you bret ferrari im going to try to do this quickly i have slide here that for reference can we use the overhead the reference ill refer the properties in theyre short cut washington and upper divisadero and divisadero place and the corner building. This just shows the map where this is Washington Property divisadero place and the cornerstone building an urban divisadero we went back and looked at the San Francisco had Historical Documents this is the handy block book it provides size and ownership of block by block between divisadero and washington street is block 464 blownup it shows that actually, the corner building and divisadero place are owned by one owner this will account for the fact the retaining wall crows the current Property Line and the one partying has control on lines on both sides of the thought wall we look at the san born map if 1899 before the fire those books were fire damaged but divisadero and washington and the corner proposed are shown as such so that as of 1899 and before 1906 there were properties that the corner lot and divisadero place as well this does not show any Property Line i dont know when it was referenced it was subdivided but not sure what that date it. This is an overview of the properties in their current fly overview sth this should see from the current assessors map the four divisadero the red is the exist retaining wall and the blue portion shows the portions of the foundations from upper divisadero and washington that are actually on top of the retaining wall the rest the thought red walls are for retaining we dont know how far into the corner, the wall steps down as it cross this Property Line so what we find the retaining walls were built by the owner for the divisadero for the corner building to provide a level lot for their construction it steps down a retaining walls between the corner lot and divisadero place the retaining walls we are built on the opposite side of the Property Lines to maximize their useful property and done without the neighbors consent or knowledge both upper divisadero and the corner were built on top the retaining walls no reason for them to do that it is not optimal condition for a foundation this shows where the foundation for washington is on top of the brick retaining wall and the building this shows the demising wall the floor of the wall what was plastered and this shows the wall at upper divisadero it steps down and not a foundation until this fence im going to go ahead and reseed my time to stan. Im a licensed survey at 26yearold that specialize in the boundary we have new evidence as a result of david rons testimony where the wall was boo and they were over the wall we dont, in fact, have measurements taken by our firm the wall is over the Property Line that the wall is not going we marked the wall and adopted and held the same exact values that ron used to derive this the wall is one inch and a half over the Property Line i know it is hard to see but in our declaration the wall is marked additional not bowing in addition to that there was prior testimony all the surveys were the same and thats not the same this was a different offset to the boundary lines weve ignored that and held the boundary so theyre the exact Property Line not bowing. Sorry to quickly close out we believe the new evidence meets the standards it for a rehearing request and obviously appreciate the opportunity to explain it in a more detail at an additional hearing if you have any questions, ill be happy to answer them. Thank you. I think well hear from staff now thanks. John machine for the department it looks like there is is a survey and so if you do decide to rehear us the department will have no argument you, you g decide not thats your discussion. Thank you. Economy questions from the commission. Commissioner. I wanted to ask as part of new evidence about the court case from what i read in here it seems like it was resolved or still pend this court case seems to be contrary on whos property that wall fits on. It was submitted before. Im not in the survey it is hard for me to read it to seems clear at the end commissioner mccarthy. If you want to come up as well one of the reasons why i vote the way i voted was because of the survey and the lack of a survey so, now we have a survey im a little bit confused is this survey not done enough to say there is perhaps new hearing or take it or leave it will you have the same testimony if you had the survey and i think this would be different the survey that was presented last time management in the department made several decisions based on that and didnt have the information on the new survey so i will speak. Patrick o reardon is here and maybe the new survey would have changed the decision im going to turn it over to patrick. Good morning, commissioners as you guys know building inspectors are not survey oversees we look at two walls which are in perilless condition at building inspector saw those retaining walls are back from the upper divisadero and the Washington Building theres seems to be leaning and cracks there bowie did review the new information and from our last gathering here it seemed that wall was completely on both of the other properties except where it was leaning or had bows so this new survey if i can run the overhead here so this new safer is indicating 3 survey points on the retaining wall for d l washington Street Property if we look at the corner right here it shows that the retaining wall is clear at this point and therefore not encroaching on to the divisadero or 2308 divisadero if we can to the survey point the next one it is clear there by some. 03 it is almost on the Property Line the point in the middle does show it is over by. 13 which is E Development by an inch nature so it on over to the neighbors property by inch and nature that tells me we can go bart whether there is a bow but at least not a Straight Line the one the corner and is third point the point in the middle is bowing out it is not a Straight Line whether it was built or formed over the hundred and 16 years is quite a bit of time maybe movement to this wall so i would suggest that whether it be bow or lean it is not a Straight Line between those two points thats what im seeing commissioner president melgar. Can do you do when you have a survey it is over the line an inch one half what do you do in the field. What we try to do is use common sense and judgment and understand a hundred and 16yearold wall may have movement over the years and in cases where it is obvious it is straddling the Property Line we write one for both sides and theyll have the responsibility we didnt have access to this survey back in may this is a new survey point one survey points on the wall it does show on over ridge of. 3 unlawful so the wall is not a Straight Line between the corner and the survey point it is deformed another that point in my opinion. So im just going back to what you advised us when we are heard that this is when the department didnt get into civil argument but to try and get it fixed we expeditecy with what did you say. We dont get into the legal let me see. I concur we made a decision i was clear if it was was over the wall we needed a survey and he think that bans what i see here this passage theyve come back here and i do feel would need a rehearing based on the new evidence and because the survey was one of the reasons i made my decision if this survey was here the last time wed have a different conversation so im thanking mr. Reardon this is the measurement i needed rather than saying take it or leave it i appreciate youre doing that i feel we should have a motion to rehear this. And then commissioner walker and get into the other specs. Public comment . Stone a member the divisadero hoa were short on time ill move extremely quickly you can jump in at the. Can i ask the attorney is the reuben, junius rose indemnifying rep you. No. Were on the one side a you, we have no attorney representation. At the last hearing a few months ago we presented this document showing from the government website our building was built several years after the appellant they sit on top of the Foundation Many years the notion our walls was ours is ridiculous today weve shown you a version this document only larger saying that the trying to debunk by federal and local representing e representing the san born map offering as prove our home was not built after but on the government website the appellants presented the document showing our building alongside theirs they ignored the amendments on the west side this is one click away right here theyve miss labeled the dates it is from 1905 the website is 18 hundred map on the main page of the website one click away that shows our property doesnt exist in 1899 but their Corner Properties did ill move on the chinese case theyve chosen in and out to show you but it is vastly different in this survey the wall stakeholders both properties, however, wrapped around on both sides to the downhill property that is on the downhill a completely different case no relevance to this and the company that did this survey it the representative will speak but now to the main event the surveys nobody no survey disputes the fact that the beginning and end of the both walls the beginning and end of those on the corners and both ends nobody including the droshlgz and appellants are arguing that and behaving chief reardon theyve visited the spot twice in person and see several leaning spots on both walls and there are points at ground level that are bulging over but the important pointed noting none the points are anywhere near points ab are completely on their side of the privately Property Line tyler hundred percent consistently and the photos on the new point g it is the most important thing for the point g their showing you no context to see i put a hockey strict as a point of reference major damage to the wall that is creating look at of bowing an inch of a foot thick wall. We need to move on to next to member of the public that wishes to speak. Thank you. Hello my name is david ron im the surveyor that produced the original survey im here to duty dispute this doesnt show more evidence from reardon and the previous speaker talked about i agree that where the balls are at the end of the underneath the building and corners their clear the Property Line where youre seeing the wall go over the april is in the middle where the backyard and cracking and all of the dangle thats happening the new point the point that basically the only new information from the surveys other surveys he showed 2 new points thats it they dont dispute the that the assistant middle that is the reason why youll have a new hearing that new point on his mark up is 5 to apples and oranges pretty much where he took his point and left the mark you want to emphasize is right here above the cracking in the bowing i dont understand why were talking about a points on the wall with visual damage and failure that place where this measurement taken is not effected to me i take a step back and say at the either thought or end of the wall where the cracks and bows it is over the Property Line i dont dispute this new measurement if i took the measurement or mushlth are market 5 feet over i took the shot where i took it thats it. Do you have any questions. Just one question you had no new survey youre going on the old survey. I dont believe that the new survey shows new new information it is the same as what weve shown i dont know why a new survey triggers a new hearing in my opinion. Actually sorry since i have a minute left i want to mention the Chinese Hospital because your firm was the company that did the survey for the Chinese Hospital it was a downhill property there was a couple of uphill properties that were effected it is connecticut eventuality it is hard to see the Property Line is the heavy line that runs along here through the wall now the wall when it comes here entirely into the chinese property and theres a major part of the wail on the Chinese Hospital property or the downhill property but in addition it to that all the Structure Elements the columns and the foundation or footing for the wall all appear on the downhill property in addition to showing the Property Line stakeholders in the middle of the wall all the Structure Elements on the downhill so say it is a similar case. Ive got to up to the time but you off your time is up any other Public Comment . Good morning. Im kate with the divisadero homework association i want to state this is inadequate no civil suit we have a gate that blocks off the whole world from the Property Line and the two adjacent properties have always come into the properties to take the vegetation grown through the waltz and come on with others experts we left the Washington Property ive opened the gates their painting the wall they say were owning 8 feet up i stair i take ownership the wall thats ridiculous you think im responsible for dry rot weve not seen a full surveys were not for years and presented every possible piece of information no question our building was built after the two properties from the last time from the city document not a document in the city they basically miss labeled now a document saying oh, it is a brown it is not we were if you look at the website built after 1901 it sdmoornt that divisadero and its been owned by one owner theyre basically asking you to say at the Corner Property it is responsible for a retaining wall of a property two doors down thats what theyre asking for it is the same as is the Corner Property 83 and its a ridiculous thing the point they give is below it is cracked this is a 12 foot huge wall the only place it at all ininfringe on the property is where it is failing thats the point i want to indicate were not here because our association filed something were here because those walls are hazardous i was walking my doug dog around a corner and one of the owners harassed me and said excuse me. I dont think you should be walking your dogs your building is going to fall down i found a female frightening it is in my neighborhood i walk my dog properly around the block theyre trying to say by the way, we say stare at and the gate a ours and its failing it is our wall someone wall didnt man and woman make it become ours do you have any questions. Thank you any other Public Comment . Commissioners. Seeing none, commissioner walker. I tend to that that there isnt new new information it seem to me the same information we saw maybe adding a point or two doesnt change anything ill move to deny did rehearing request. Second. Any other comments. Commissioner mar. Im concerned with the new information but i think that the question before us i wish the staff could be a little bit more definitive i know our building inspectors are not surveys oversees the question ever whether or not the point of that survey was legitimate or not you can play along with it and the same thing the engineer youll probably know you know that failing part of the wall i mean, if you shot it a little bit lower there will not be cracks but higher it is bulging over that kind of bothers me no new information you know doctoring what were voting to rehear this so i would rehear it if that were new information im not an expert to say this survey is right this is the one we should go by. Id be interested to hear commissioner. I tend to agree with commissioner walker theres no new information it a major enough yeah. New information inform warrant im inclined to agree with commissioner walker on her motion. Commissioners you know obviously this looks at we dont say have the boats but the new survey regardless how you feel by the early presentation to me it is i think it is relevant in that we have a foot one half we didnt have the last time or inch one half excuse me. Down to the walls it is what it is all about and regarding the san born map and those are relevant to me to understand that that information is true or not true which id like to hear it in a rehearing i mean at the end of the day, we have a huge responsibility here he think that due process should be given with regards to whether you feel there is not new facts but looking at this this is a detailed package it deserves a rehearing minimal ill deny not rehearing it and support a rehearing if i could get a second. We can only have one motion contaminate and commissioner lee. Question for patrick did you say you would have acted different the department would have acted differently with a new survey. I dont believe so when we saw the picture of the rule next to the wall where the exchange was at the bottom right there that probably is still the up till hill property and because of the damage and the information of the wall. I personally if i you were a building inspector i would have done exactly the same thing. I have a little bit of a followup question originally what expiration said those retaining walls are a headache for consistency and fairness any question before whether it is a shared wall we issue that to both to Property Owners you, you guys first went out inspectors when you looked at this wall clearly it was failing and clearly somebody was going to get it you there was no thought to issue to one property owner. Just to be definitive this has been spoken to the wall projects from the rear of both properties and they intersect where we come together at the juncture of the structures and where they come together they clear the Property Line the wall a damages it is bowed and leaning and cracked for forefront is at the immediate fix just looking at it we yes, we would write to novs it it if there a strarlgd at the because of wail it is leaning and crackled it is leaning and cracked in a direction of corner building the 2308 believe so i think i would do exactly the same thing as we did when we first went out there because all the survey shows you is that the wall is damaged to a point it is because it has damage encroaching over the neighbors property thats the way i see it. Thank you just to your point sorry im getting mixed signals here my understanding that survey shows the bottom part of wall it is one inch one half it shows a inch one half at the bottom the survey is 2 feet out can i get clarification if i can show you so this is the can you see that i show turn it this way you can see point g and the rule is probably an inch one half away from the ground ill turn it upside down it works better this is the inch one half of bow i think thats what i see so the rule indicates riffling close to this point shows damage to the wall above the survey point g if theres a crack and damage to the wall in livelihood it causes defamation of the wall that probably gets us to the. 13 thats how i look at it. Thank you for that. Through the chair i dont want to turn this into a full hearing would the commissioners object if i ask the surveyor to come up would the surveyor come up and talk to that point. Commissioner walker. Id like to have the other surveyor answer. Then i dont want to i will take the chairs lead. If new information. The chairs lead if he wanted to call this. This is new information the measurement of point g youre not looking at the same photo theyre not g that of taken at a flat spot 2 feet up from the base not bowing look at this photo and this is point g we mark our points and take the murths and claimed 3 times the declaration all the measurement were taken place where it is bowing take into account the declaration we took this not bowing above the ground and it is flat in this one area. So the testimony as i look at this photo that is where the bowing is as i look at our photo it is one inch one half onto the Property Line. The wall and the base 2 feet you i ca could have taken it 2 feet up one inch one half if you compare this photo at the base and see where it is theres a crack at the bottom and no crack in the step theyre not showing you point g. Thats the clarification i needed. I didnt take more photos he didnt indicate o are for bowing on the prior map to we had sufficient issues on the map when we testified all were bowing we found a point it is not bowing to show it is over. Im not exactly sure why were getting confused it photo is sdoemd into to conveniently miss the cracks. I see to our point you are you saying that is the exact same photography. Not. This photo was taken two days ago it was marked i raise your right hand my client to take pictures. Can we see that up close. It looks like the same place same stain. I dont want this to be csi. Oh, please. This is the man that took the photos and can i make a point about the photos i took it. Sorry let me look at these first. Is this a patch mark. Youll see it right here. It does look like the same place. Im confused i okay. This is the little arrow. Field trip . Yeah. Different angle. Right. Commissioner mccarthy. If i understand i look at those photos thats the same spot. Looks like to me. The reason we say that is because it says g; right . Okay. I took the photo and i took it wider because i got access to the appellants photo on friday so i saw is conveniently was a tight shot not showing the damage so for your benefit i put a hockey stick and pulled 80 out to see a foot or two off the ground and a short distance mr. Above that it to the damage i took it on my iphone well zoom in thats point g there are the same. Through the chair one more thing can i ask the excessive reardon if he will concur that is the same location. Oh, right here. Yes. Based on the two pictures i believe thats the same location. Okay. Okay. My phone does clearly show the g marking with you zoom on this were appalled by the notation we took a different photo and misrepresented it as the same spot. The other thing i want to address yeah. I think we have to sorry. We may i call you back. Got more to say and be any more deliberations. Call the motion. Okay there is a motion and a second to deny the request for rehearing roll call vote. Commissioner clinch commissioner mccarthy commissioner mar commissioner lee sxhshgs commissioner walker okay. The that motion carries unanimously we have item b general Public Comment any general Public Comment for items not those on the abatement appeals agenda. Seeing none, item e adjournment is there a motion to adjourn. Move to adjourn. Second. Second. Okay. Were now adjourned we will reconvene in the next 10 to 15 minutes as the building inspection well, he wanted to welcome everybody to it gorgeous day at contemporary hundred and 65 people registered to attend this conference mayor we couldnt be more existed that is beyond our expectation but as you may know dreamforcwe is for the just about having a good time and innovation but giving back thats one the salesforce core values and thats why we invited you as the superintendent of sexual Richard Carranza welcome to, here we have our 1 millbrook drive so, yeah exciting so we have obligate our school house to keep everybodys on the eye bone the ball k through 12 not only in San Francisco needs our attendance and the people that make the difference which if come to the k through 12 education are the people attends dreamforcwe that is, of course, all those great embarrassing insures and innovators and companies and we that to inspire them to remember to go and work in the k through 12 system were, of course, doing f that in San Francisco we want to tutor giving but e us the inspiration that work in our Elementary School and hopefully e heroism into our high schools. Thank you mayor and mr. Superintendent for being here and being our inspiration to remember the kids and why were here at dreamforcwe to give back mark thank you. Good morning, everybody. 2015 dreamforcwe in San Francisco well mark thank you for just starting this company here years ago growing it and making that successful and youre right hundred and 65 thousand people i felt that, too blocks away i want to sass say welcome as to the customers and Business Partners this is a wonderful time in the city not because dreamforcwe is here with a cruise ship liner people are living in and filling up the hotels it is a time we can clear have examples hour how successful businesses benefit everybody in our city this is a job that i enjoy doing that Richard Carranza our superintendent. I. Do solemnly swear. Doing whether we work with the Business Partners epa mark and benioff looeldz with salesforce with our corporate character that is so important to emphasis the companies coming here today have an opportunities to exhibit character to take into account what the commitment to social values and ultimately it is a part of what we do is weve got to create the talent for those companies for future generations salesforce noted here for 5 years but 20 years richard and i got together wed love you to recruit from the people that live and grew up in San Francisco this is Little School house is is got wonderful kids from jildz that want to work for salesforce they love to be part of a 111 and part of the fact that dreamforce has has a theme for giving back starts within an understanding where tlaernts a derived it is education, education within the house education in the schools, education in the community it begins with some basically things like read thats why mark im here with my 3 books any daughter said youre giving away my books yeah, you read them 10 minds i want this threatened to be transferred to the talent those kids are about to have and be supported by upstairs companies walk salesforce im so enthusiastically but with we are doing with you and the other companies with the circulation of Tech Companies through sf city that are encircling the schools and making sure our principals and teachers are is the resources and is volunteers have the books have everything they need to be successful it is already making a difference mark with Salesforce Foundations investment in the middle schools and the Stem Education weave already seen some increases in the performance of our kids this is the third year im so happy that the millions of dollars were pitting in are not just financial contributions by making a difference in their making a defensive in the enthusiasm of the teachers and the resources they have and the principals and Holding Everyone on the campus affordable to the success of our children thats why a school house in the middle of hundred and 65 Person Company conference in the middle of the San Francisco thats exactly a kind of relationship we want with every single business in the city so im proud of dreamforce and proud of the employees that work there that are part of the 11 culture im proud of everybody that spends that additional time to think about what success medians for others that are in need not just themselves this is why we have a shared prosperity in San Francisco ive got on obligation to build and rehab enough housing for everyone that want to be here including the teachers ill work hard but ill tell you you said something earlier he think mark you and lynn inspires us to give more this is an exciting times lets continue a collaboration pea make the link more and more before all the things we do successfully to help those at the heart of that i said earlier it is education this is where the sams i Salesforce Foundation has made to their contributions on a day to day basis i have the privilege of working with a superintendent who also has that as his goal and making the relationship with the city with an the success in the Education System our superintendent Richard Carranza. Thank you clapping. thank you mr. Mayor and mr. Benioff mark thank you all for being here in front of of the light go school thousand what do you think isnt that gorgeous more than anything i want to thank you, mr. Mayor for our words we live by the fact you cant have a worldclass city without a worldclass Education System it didnt reside in one seblth of the community you have to are the Philanthropic Community and the private Business Community and obviously you have to are on the other hand, it elected still officials on the same page im proud to have our board of education this is here with us to say were all rolling in the same direction and as evidence of that justices three years ago when we started the partnership you wouldnt have heard in the middle schools anything like a maker space or Design Thinking or Computer Science and programming now new middle grade or middle schools in San Francisco youll find maker spaces and kids programming youll find pre k kindergarten is the Students Learning the fundamental of convert science we recognize in the 21st century a language we need to have this would not to have happened without the investment in the partnerships are salesforce im so proud that is more than just stuff it is more than Just Technology it is more than a investment and resources those are important but the 111 model salesforce volunteers and employees that come into our schools and sit sibdz side by side shoulder to shoulder with the students the students have a sense of empowerment maybe i could do this kind of work and not thought about stem field the young girls that didnt think that that all of a sudden see other women in stem i can do that San Francisco is the mesopotamia in the world everything stems is from what happens in San Francisco is many make sense mr. Benioff your planting seeds our students will be your future employees everyone here at salesforce director Barbara Garcia it an appropriate title youre helping our students to be part of the dream of stem and innovation the draechl open in a deft way the corner of that all it the strong literacy students need to read and write and do margret and the one million drive will trofrp our pre k to rich libraries of books that students want to read and stack and learn and go to the next level this is an dribbling i incredibly important investments coupled with the investment in the middle grades so for us this is a symbolic day a the bernie were over threequarters of what to the goal 0 so ill say like jerry louis but we can do it we want books in the schools and want to thank all the participants at dreamforce for mcthat happen and burglary benioff and mrs. Benioff but other folks wherever susan it shes guarding the school house i love it we want to thank you for your partnership a model for the nation everyone from that is here from director Barbara Garcia across the world take that back and talk about how it is possible to have those 3 kinds of the public and private and elected to come together e together and rally around the Public Education on behalf of the 48 thousand students in the Unified School District well take a million books and put them to good use lets have a great director Barbara Garcia and thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Mayor and mr. Superintendent and salesforce is deeply committed in the San Francisco Unified School District the first thing i want to thank both of you here no San Francisco our superintendent implicit report to the mayor our school board and you guys dont have to Work Together ensue you do it is because you Work Together so well and have an incredible partnership that is what inspires us and so were noting now in year 3 of a 10 year commitment for more than bone madam clerk, are there any announcements . I hundred Million Dollars to be dedicated to the Unified School District i hope that goes 10 and 20 and thirty years the salesforce through the money the technology is important but i guess im proud of, of course, your employees who are dedicating what will be hundreds of thousands of hours to do the taken care of and the tutoring to augment youre amazing teachers and principals in the schools so thank you for giving us that opportunity without you two working together we couldnt do with what we are doing were quick to gratitude and happy to be here i think we should put the books into the school house what had you say