readily available and observable from the street of a large addition on the roof and it will change the character of that side of the streets significantly. what we are fearing is that we will set a precedent. this is the building of the project. as you can see, these are architectural details on the roof that were put there when the buildings were originally built to have a low skill residential feeling. according to our calculations indicates what we will see from the street once this project is

put in. it will be out of character with everything else on the block. in addition, we have a beautiful deck and this is what is seen today. this has a wonderful view and so on and so forth. this is what we project. the wall will take a significant portion away of the airiness of the deck and that would be the consequence. here is an isometric indicating the scale of this development in relationship to our property that we are on. what we are requesting today and is that a portion of this front be pulled back no more than five or 6 feet.

we feel that it would be less observable from the street and will have less impact on our deck and it will also protect the resources, which is the streetscape. we don't have too many of these in san francisco anymore. this is one area in a small street and this is very very handsome. this fits in very nicely with the streetscape. that is what our concern is today. >> thank you. >> speakers in support of the dr requester. >> you have had a very long day. i owned the building. i bought it in early 2003.

when we understood that troy and mary wished to improve their building, we were delighted, they are the third young couple to live there since we have been there and we're hoping that they will live next to us for a long time, however, we're asking for only two changes to their project. this is the view of my building on the left and they're building on the right as it exists now. that picture was taken this week.

this was drawn from the documents that were distributed by your department in october showing how we believe the third floor will look. this is the view that we expect if they build out the project as it is currently drawn. my question to you is why should i have to look at this wall and why should this third floor loom over the street? why should improve in their building, which i am in turley in favor of, why should that impinge on my enjoyment? we are asking for those two changes to be brought back and

for that wall to be brought back in for the wall to be reduced. >> thank you. >> additional speakers in favor of the dr. >> good evening, commissioners. every week, i hear stories about a neighborhood keep a special and hearing special treatment -- and requiring special treatment. the subdivision are not on the san francisco grid. all of these were stucco, tiled roof, flat trams. many have been changed by misguided improvement, the

northeast side reflects the original concept. the houses still appear small in size because the upper floors are set back and are low enough in height. you just don't see them from the street or you minimally see them. i have been walking towards san francisco for more than 20 years with city guides and visitors and residents often comment that it is the distinctions that make the city special and we don't treat our city like so many others. i am not against change. i am excited that they want to improve their place but it should be wise change. there is no reason to break the current streetscape. this is the same picture that you saw before.

we can expand at a lower height but with more of a setback. besides changing the streetscape, this proposal will drastically change our upper deck. since our rear yard as to the north, it does not get much sun. the upper deck is our major up your space -- outdoor space. this is spoken of as a small addition but as you can see here, this is number 66, our house. this is their addition. please help retain an area and makes san francisco special and

require that this conform to the neighborhoods housing and height and setback. it is unfortunate that we had to come for you -- come to you for help but we were told that they have already made changes and they were not interested in hearing our concerns and making any more changes. thank you. >> additional speakers. >> hai have lived here with 30 years. with cars parked in the street, and two cars cannot pass one another. the houses are built close

together. all of the houses behind me are three stories. all of them are built in the mediterranean style. when i moved in, the house to my right was an original three story structure and in 1990, the house to my left added on a third story that was not set back from the street. this caused shadowing in my light well and the garden. the deposed addition appears to be overbuilt for the lot, building another house on top of the existing one. if the addition is allowed to proceed, this will cause loss of sunlight, shading, and shattering to my living room, entryway, and front garden. in addition, with a three story structure is behind me, across from me, my house will appear to be smaller than it currently is.

moss will grow on the front driveway and back. the houses are all set back and are not visible from the street. no one would like the marine at too have many skyscrapers. houses for sale in this street are described by many retailers as the best street in the marina. this would no longer be desirable. i am not opposed to homeowners modernizing their houses as long as this is not a detriment to the neighborhood or the neighbors. i asked you denied a permit until such time as the plants

can be changed to be similar to the other houses on that side of the street and set back and not visible from the street. please preserve the character of rico way. thank you. >> i am a friend of the good people at 66 rico. i am disappointed that they are building a mcmansion that is out of scale and out of character.

i think this setback requirements, i don't know them, of course. i am not your expert here on that matter. the setback is not far enough to the scale of this house as it has been shown in the plans. this is too big and allows -- it would cause more precedent for every home on that lot once sold, there is about 2600 to $1,601,600 feet. why? i would like to see you enforce your limits here and encourage a discretionary review. thank you. >> thank you. are there additional speakers in

favor? if not, project sponsor. >> i have some handouts for the commissioners. >> we are the owners of 60 rico way. we moved there with plans of raising a family. we need to address the floor plan currently to create a little space. that is the only reason that the growing family sold the house before us and moved. it was necessary that we addressed the odd configuration of this space and add a third floor which would allow us to have our children's rooms as the same floors as ours and this is

a modest addition and the majority of the homes are three and four story homes. we looked to stick to the guidelines and with the character of the homes. we held several meetings and shared plans with neighbors. we sent out certified letters to all residents within 150 feet inviting them to come over to our house. we had one neighbor attend and then a brigade of support. all of the meetings we had with our neighbors resulted in support of our project. many of our neighbors wanted to make their support known to the commissioners and they have written letters which you will find in the last 8 pages of your packet. we met numerous times with the dr requesters tend to we

provided them with their own set of the enlarged plans. they made it clear their goal was to prevent the addition from coming to fruition and have now followed through with filing this frivolous dr. we have worked very hard that not only met our needs, addressed neighbor concerns come respect to the neighborhood characteristics, and met the city guidelines. we need to create bedrooms for a growing family. the plan will allow us to reconfigure the nonfunctional layout of the home. we have made a great number of concessions to address the concerns of the dr requesters and planning staff. we had a redesigned which

resulted in a loss of our staircase which was the core of our design. we sat back 22 feet. this resulted in a loss of square footage in the master bedroom and bath. we eliminated the front overhang as staff request. this was originally designed to make the architecture of the new match the old. we have spent a significant amount of time and money trying to work with the dr requester, given them plans, as "as a significant number of hours to prepare. at meet with the request and their representatives. we made every effort to work with all of our neighbors and respond to staff and even though this calls for only a 15 foot setback, the planning staff required that we set back more than 26 feet.

this was called a historical asset as exclamation. this was very painful and also confusing as similar applications, one at 27 has been approved in last year. also, none of the recent projects on the street or connecting streets have been designated with this historical significance that staff has solely decimated to our property. i hope you will be allowed to get more clarity on this anomaly. even though we have such a small amount of square footage to work with, we progress in lee complied and submitted the plan be have before you today. we have figured out a way to get the bedrooms on the same floor, we are disappointed with the reduced size rooms. with our responses to staff, concessions, and support to the

neighbors. we hope that you will approve our project. we are available to answer any questions you have. >> thank you. >> speakers and support. -- in support. >> i am the designer for the project before you. i would like to draw your attention to what i think are of the facts of this proposal starting with the neighborhood. we are in the marina district. it looks like this. all of these houses behind it, they are all three or four story structures.

on the opposite lot, all three or four story structures. on the road itself, predominantly three or four story structures. every one of these back lots is a parcel with a three or four story structure on it. to do this with numbers, in the two blocs, 87% of the homes are three or four stories. on the street itself, 71%. on the subject blog face -- block face, 72%. the facts speak for themselves. this is a three or four story neighborhood.

we would like to join the other three and four stories in the neighborhood with a third story of our own. a way to notice this tile roof on the top because it will be significant in a moment. here is what this is going to look like from across the street. you have approximately 2.5 feet of the third floor that shows above the front roofline. nothing at all like the other picture you saw. this was computer-generated from the plants. it is accurate. i am running at a time. am i to know we had -- we can walk you through it later. i have things to say about the

historical designation. this is an issue i wish i had time to talk to you. taken altogether what we're left with is a project we have modified three different time significantly. we're squeezed down to a size that is barely tolerable and we would like to be asked to be allowed to bring this proposal back to the 15 feet in front. thank you. president miguel: project sponsor? >> good evening. i am here with my wife catherine. we have lived on supervisor mar: re -- rico way. i am here as a neighbor of troy and mary. anctually bruce and margaret. the majority of the homes are three stories. our house is not like theirs.

i am bothered by their misrepresentation. he showed you some houses where he should do our home. some of the houses are three stories. this is an issue for a very unique block. throughout this process, mary and troy have reached out as have margaret chan burris and they have been very professional about this. we have barbeques and block parties, we talked in the street every night. where are out there with our dogs. we have close relationships. my concern was i became involved this would have set the nature of this unit block as you will hear that most places that go for sale so within days. even in this market. it is unique. as an attorney and believe in fairness. the fairness is the overwhelming majority of the houses are four

stories and the fairness is 16 -- the house has had six owners since we moved in. one couple moved due to divorce and the other, there were transferred to new york but the three other families moved because the house was not conducive to a family. they moved to orange county. my wife and i raised our family in a single one -- a similar situation. it was enjoyable. we had hoped to be had more space but maybe someday we will ask for that and before you. in this day and age, we really hope that we keep our new neighbors and i think bruce and margaret agree. they too can raise a family on this box that there is no war flight of families and they have reached out. the design is in keeping. otherwise i would not allow it. i would not allow in the mansion on my block. everyone has been fair and open and sometimes it is difficult to come here as a neighbor but no matter where you decide we will

have a great block and we will have great neighbors. in fairness we should allow them the opportunity. thank you. president miguel: additional speakers in favor? >> i am rebecca schumacher, we own the property. i am a realtor. i am the number one agent in the marina district and have been if you add up the transactions from 2008 to the present month. i represented the sellers of 55 rico way in the past year and as a matter of disclosure indicated to all potential buyers that the house at 60 rico way was petitioning to add a fourth. it would stand back 15 feet from the street. i knew that was the regulation

and believed that is what they had asked for. i am astonished that anyone is asking them to step back even further because when you stand on the street, you can barely see anything that is above the roof line. not a single person who looked at the party objected to the plans that were proposed for the house across the street. we received four offers on the house. we countered three of them. we went significantly above the numbers that the initial offers came in for. and never was the proposed project across the street and issue. that speaks to market value and the street is, you saw a picture of a small section of the street. i have lived on this block and on property here for 10 -- 12 years.

most of the block, especially as you round the curve and you get to this little section where 66 is, most of the block is three story houses. i would also like to say the argument that there would be a shade on the neighbor's house on my side of the street who stood up and spoke in behalf of the d.r. respondent is incredible to me, given the addition would be made on the north side of the street and therefore, impossible to create shadow on a neighbor living on the south side of the street. with regard to resale value, i certainly can speak to the resale value of being able to offer houses with a family for plan. thank you very much. i hope you can support try and mary's -- troy and mary's plan.

president miguel: d.r. requestor, you have a to middle -- to minute rebuttal -- two minute rebuttal. >> everything in the neighborhood is three stories. there are more buildings across the street within the bloc and so on and so forth. what the neighborhood character is about here is to stories and that is what we have got. we have nine houses in a row, two stories from the street. our house has 3 stories but we have a penthouse that is put back. what we are requesting is the character of this side of rico way, this project be in character with the existing development on this side and the

fact that we have this neighborhood character which is unique. this is definitely a planning issue. of character in the neighborhood. this is a lovely block and we would like to keep it in character. thank you. president miguel: product sponsor, you have two minutes. -- project sponsor, you have two minutes. >> thank you. this is to correct a dysfunctional layout that allows us to have our children germs on the same floor. our project is extremely modest and fits within the existing neighborhood. we worked hard to make sure the neighbors understood what we were doing, address any questions and concerns the may have. we spent hours over the last year-and-a-half meeting with neighbors in showing our plans. every neighbor we met with has given their complete support except for the d.r. requestors

even though we have shown there is minimal impact. we have letters indicating additional support and we have to neighbors who have spent the day here to support and be here at the hearing. we have done everything city staff has asked and in the process have reduced the original scale and the impact of our design. we set back our project beyond the city guidelines and are left with a project that is less than ideal. the rooms are narrow and tight. the city guidelines required a 15 foot setback but we are made to be at 22 feet. we are forced to do a reasoned -- a redesign. we have -- the current plan shows less than a foot. we ask that we be allowed to reduce the set back from 22 feet