was being done. and there would be no design review. i was quite compliant and i thought i was encouraging to the neighbors and trying to be amenable as much as possible. they waited until towards the end of their projectat the lasta felon at the rear of the deck -- fill in at the rear of the deck. there has been substantial excavation. there has been more living space added then i am aware of. having requested but never seen any plans, i do not think this will work. i talked to the owners, and i

thought we were going to reach a compromise, but without notification, we decided to go ahead and push it at the appeals level, and this letter i hope you have encourages you to at least drown the planning department to reconsider the work you to at least let the department reconsider the work. i checked, and since the project began there have been five permits. there has been expansion of the patio at the ground floor,

expansion at the lower level, addition of the lower deck in the real level, privacy wings, and we feel that any of those would trigger a design review. there has been no configuration of alternate stairways. i would like to figure out a compromise that would work. i called the owner and ask for a meeting, which he agreed. the owner called back and said he would not appear. we have three meetings. each one was about an hour with his wife. i thought the meetings went rather well.

i received two calls from his wife that they were talking to contractors and i needed to wait. i had to file an appeal because time was passing common so i encourage you to set this fax so we can come up with a mutually agreeable compromise. thank you. >> what do you see as the compromise? >> i would like to see the stairs made smaller. i think they are excessively large. i do not think they have to

become so minimal they become unsafe. good i would also like to know region -- to note the living area has been expanded. i know they have excavated down at least another story, and i have an 18-foot green wall, and the reason it exists is because they have excavated down so far, but when you measure from my level in my backyard, i have a three and a half foot wall, and the highest i have the five and half foot wall. >> what level is your living room? >> my living room is approximately at the landing. >> in relationship with your rear wall, is it at the same level?

you indicated earlier -- >> i am on the second floor. >> just for your information, we cannot romansh region -- remand. >> you want a smaller set of stairs and you want to know which living area has been expanded? >> you cannot do this, but there has been a lot of excavation. i have no idea if it was damaged, but he could look at my foundations, and i was told nothing. i know that is probably outside of your scope, but i would like

to have the design review at least of the stairs. >> they are out of the rhythm of the neighborhood. how far beyond the standard size of stairs are they? >> i am not sure the standard, but they are three times more than anyone else. >>, when we use a larger, are you talking about the amount of space it takes in the backyard? >> the stairs were three and a half feet, but they were circular, and they did not take as much. this could be 8 feet wide, so i think that is substantially more than necessary. >> is it your believe that the

other neighborhoods have -- the other houses have circular stairs salmon -- circular stairs? >> no, but everyone is trying to comply with the law to make it as minimal as possible while still maintaining the safety. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. i am helping the project sponsor on this appeal. the architect is also here. first, there are a lot of things discussed that are not before you, and i do not expect to address somthem, but i want to

assure you everything was done with proper permits for the work that was going to be performed and inspections along the way for the work that was being done, including the stairs, so the same complaint was made commoto ddi -- dbi and the plang committee. they gave him the time to be deliberate in researching what happened, and he did the review and came to the conclusion of the stairs to meet code and were properly released. that is the beginning and the end of what this appeal is about.

of course the circular staircase is going to take less space. it is no longer code compliant. when you build stairs, they are the minimum stairs, and they are on the property, and i do not know what every other house has, but if they were built to code, and now a would-be like what is out there. we were hearing about this for the first time. goowe are here to answer questis if you have any.

>> it looks like they are 4 feet wide. is that the weight of them? -- width of them. there are circular stairs that are 12 or 13 feet in diameter. good >> i do not think these were. they are 3 feet wide. >> they look like they are made out of steel. >> correct. >> thank you. >> for the record, i am with the planning department. we do not have a lot to add to this. i want to emphasize this was

over the counter. the permits involves a spiral staircase and a non-spiral staircase. we did send a permit. we wanted to make sure we had done our jobs right. we have. working with our colleagues, it was a firm our initial approval was appropriate and everything was appropriate because this really a stairway provides under the building code. it can be replaced with a slightly larger stairs. it is the minimum expansion allowed under the building code. we would urge you to deny the appeal, and i am happy to answer any questions. thank you very much.

>> thank you superior -- thank you. anything bowman -- anything? >> just to clarify, these were spiral stairs but were replaced. there is a different kind of circular stairs. the spiro one was the most narrow they are not as safe to navigate. it requires it to be as wide as the door.

and when it will require landings. there is a signed letter verifying the stairs. the other background is there was substantial ongoing work on this project, a loss of alteration, and i went through the job cards today. the inspection was nearly performed, and the work is complete. >> is there any public comment on this item?

please step forward. >> my partner and i have owned our home for 24 years. i am going to change the order of presentation. i have copies of our photographs. i will also put it on the overhead projector.

this shows what happens in our neighborhood. we are a series of brown shingle houses. we went to the city planning, and we have something that fits into the neighborhood. these owners have the same option. we got zero information about their projects. this project started in july of last year with jackhammers nonstop at the back of the house. neighbors were complaining to me about it like i should do

something. we had zero information about anything. gooi went over there, and none f the workers knew who the contractor was. it is only a sign for street parking, and you could not even talk to anyone about it. i finally was able to find somebody from the construction company. i had to write him a fax with information about the project, and his response was that it was in the record.

it was an absolute liar. i will read it to you. after several days of thinking about what the project was, this is what they say the project is. the project includes new fluke things, connections, and additionally, we will be retrofiting laundry rooms as well as installing a new rear windows and doors. that is the project. the only notice i have got, and that is not what they have done.

we lived through hell with this project. we never complain once to this owner. not one single person complained about this. i am outside the envelope, and and we have all been through this process before, and this particular neighbor was up the process three years ago, and he was strongly against of projects -- against the project. is was the most non-compliant. it boggles the imagination. i have not seen a single plan. >> thank you.

>> what you have youis a serial permit. goyou cannot do piecemeal, and this is what happened. i called the planning department. no one can come up with any drawings or steps on expansion. goothis is one of the worst processes i have seen in a long time. the noise is so loud people from two blocks away were complaining, but they still said they had the right if it was inside the lines. the building has been expanded. the steps have been expanded. the steps are 20 feet longer than they were superiore.

tony says it is a planning issue, yet we have not seen a pair of drawings that states how long these are, and i really think these should be revoked. i am sorry, but that particular block works very well. scott complied with what everybody else wanted. they just did it, and they objected to other expansions but not their own, and you have a legal boundary of peace and healing of project -- piecemealing the project. you are not allowed to do that. thank you. good >> is there any other public comment?

seeing none, we will move into rebuttal. >> mr. rubin in his statement said the project was done in good faith, and i tried very hard to negotiate interface, and they encourage me to negotiate, and as time was running out, i had to file this appeal. his wife called me twice and said they are working hard to affect it. thank you.

>> mr. rubin. >> the building has not been expanded at all. the staircase is the only issue, and that is the issue before you. all of it was signed off by both. scott sanchez suspended a permit to give himself the time to investigate. he lifted it was properly done. thank you for lifting this. goo>> can you explain how many

permits there are? >> not off the top of my head. >> there were two permanent taken at the same time in july of last year, and one was for the voluntary seismic of grain. they originally started out wanting to do kitchens and baths. once they decided to do that, they decided not to do the kitchen, but they decided to do some additional work, and then

there were revisions to each of these permits, and there was one revision to the seismic upgrade. >> can you describe those? >> sure, the first one was to add a full blast to the basement region -- a full bath to the basement and to add a shed in the rear and a teacher and lightning and fans in the basement and a structural modification to the stairs, and the revision to the voluntary seismic upgrade was a structural provision.

>> the shed was added to the rear of the building or the property line? >> the rear of the building. >> thought was for mechanical e equipment? >> it is closer to the building than to the stairs. gerd >> did any of the work require excavation hamas -- require excavation? >> just for the foundations. >> were you are approached in an effort to try to understand what the project was about, or were you not the contact person bowman -- the contact person? >> the first i heard was when the project was suspended. >> thank you. >> anything further?

the issue is yours, so the standard of review it is discussion. >> thank you for the reminder. >> we get a lot of these cases were clearly people are being neighborly and not communicative in figuring out what the improvements are and the design. we do not necessarily regulates staff. it seems like based on the planning assessment, this was done to code. they are the minimum size required. we just do not have the big systems to overturn this permit.

we encourage people to solve these cases, but we cannot necessarily dictate. i am inclined to uphold the permit. good the heavy constructionk for seismic and foundations is done, and the irritation that occurs through the construction is heavily over. the problem is probably one of the issue will change, because the stairs look so much different than the circular stair. the issue of privacy that is raised, as one goes down, the spiral staircase would have the same . did given that it is barely

above what the code mandated, it appears it is based on the heights that has to transition downward. it appears it is code- compliant, and i would support the merger. good >> i share in my sentiments which are already expressed. i find it troubling communications were not air between the neighbors, because if you are putting improvements in your house, presumably you are going to be there for a while. >> i will move to deny the appeal and of hold the permanent. >> you would be moving to uphold the release of suspension.

you might suggest you have no error. >> we have a motion to deny this appeal, of pulled the order on the basis there was no error -- uphold the order on the basis there was no abuse of discretion. [calling votes] the vote is 4-0. the zoning administrator is of help. >> we will take a break. 10 minutes.